Tottenham Hotspur were well beaten by Arsenal in the first North London derby of the season on Saturday.
Saturday was a dark day for Tottenham Hotspur as they allowed Arsenal to wrestle back the bragging rights in North London with a comprehensive 2-0 win at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners were better than their well-fancied rivals all over the park, but all teams have bad days and there aren’t many facets of his side that Mauricio Pochettino needs to be overly concerned about.
However, central midfield has the potential to be a problem area for the Spurs manager in the next couple of months, with Victor Wanyama still injured and Eric Dier covering for Toby Alderweireld in defence.
The enforced partnership of Mousa Dembele and Moussa Sissoko left Spurs badly short against Arsenal. The pair of powerhouses did not offer protection to the defence, nor a quality link to the attacking three.
Passing is neither Dembele’s nor Sissoko’s strength and they did not have the vision or technique to find Christian Eriksen or Dele Alli in the dangerous pockets that Tottenham’s attacking midfielders often find.
In the absence of Dier and substitute Harry Winks, both of whom have the ability to play these forward passes, Tottenham had no route through the pitch and were largely forced to chip hopefully up to Harry Kane.
Winks had been enjoying his best run in the first team prior to picking up a minor injury and is likely to be back for Tuesday’s trip to Borussia Dortmund, or failing that the visit of West Bromwich Albion this weekend.
But if the talented 21-year-old were to be unavailable again while Wanyama is also sidelined, Pochettino must return Dier to midfield so that Tottenham aren’t left with the pairing of Dembele and Sissoko once more.
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