Same old problems for different Tottenham

Matt Stead

“I think we’re in a good way but it’s true, you feel a little frustrated because you play better and draw, play better and draw, play better and draw. That is a little upsetting. Why? Because we deserve more.”

Mauricio Pochettino said it himself: “Frustrated.” What other emotion could he feel after another draw, another winless game, another performance which provided more questions for the Tottenham manager than answers?

The only surprise is that the above quotes are from August 2015. The Argentinean was discussing a 0-0 draw with Everton last season, not Saturday’s setback against Leicester. Both results represented a third consecutive Premier League stalemate for a side proving tough to beat but increasingly incapable of finding a way to win.

“We need to improve in front of the opponents’ goal and to be more clinical,” Pochettino said after watching his Tottenham side held to a goalless draw against Roberto Martinez’s Toffees 14 months ago. It was their third draw in the opening four games of the 2015/16 season; they lost the other. They registered 20 shots in front of an exasperated White Hart Lane crowd, but could not find the breakthrough.

A little over a year later, and it all sounds so familiar. The same difficulty in breaching a stoic defence was on show against Leicester, Vincent Janssen’s penalty the only one of 22 shots which beat Kasper Schmeichel. The same difficulty in building a consistent run of form has emerged, with Tottenham now having won only one of their last six games in all competitions. Pochettino and the fans have encountered the same difficulty in trying to explain the problems.

“It is true we are disappointed with the last few results but, in a bad period, we are very positive because we are unbeaten,” said the manager at the weekend. Tottenham are indeed the only Premier League side yet to suffer defeat after ten games of the campaign, but none of the four sides above them are casting envious glances backwards. Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea would not swap invulnerability for fewer points and more disappointment.

The challenge facing Pochettino is not to identify the problem – five sides have scored more league goals, and Watford and Crystal Palace have as many (14) – but to find a solution that does not hinder the side’s effectiveness in other areas. They have conceded just five goals; every other side has conceded at least three more, as the manager preaches the power of avoiding defeat.

“Maybe we didn’t win but we didn’t lose, and that is important,” he said on Saturday. But not half as important as losing ground on your rivals with such avoidable draws. That was supposed to be the speciality of the 2015/16 vintage, something which cost them a first top-flight title since 1961. It is slightly concerning that the same problems have returned in Harry Kane’s absence.

That neither Dele Alli nor Heung-min Son completed a single pass to Janssen against Leicester is damning. That Tottenham attempted nine shots from outside the box against the Foxes is troubling. That they have neither won nor scored more than one goal in their last five fixtures is unfathomable. Sunday’s visit to Arsenal provides an opportunity to banish the doubts, but it could so easily backfire.

The issue is not that Tottenham have regressed, but that they have understandably found it difficult to sustain the progress they built last season. Their main rivals, Manchester United aside, have all improved. Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Everton have all learned – or are learning – from the mistakes of an underwhelming campaigns. Tottenham have not and yet, like last season, they are still one of the frontrunners in the Premier League chase. The only difference is they now face at least five opponents. They finished third in a two-horse race last year, as Leicester fans delighted in reminding them.

This time last year, Tottenham faced questions over their starting striker, their inability to generate consistency and their title credentials. Swap Kane for Janssen, compare 13 costly draws to five avoidable ones already this season, and remember that the club followed a statement victory over Manchester City in September with a damaging winless October run in both campaigns, and it is difficult to shake off the frustrated feeling of déjà vu at White Hart Lane. A measure of how far they have come, for sure, but also a reminder that there is still plenty of scope for improvement.

 

Matt Stead