You can blame Harry Kane if you like. You can obsess over the summer transfer window. And you can fret about the World Cup. Add it all together though and the team that beat Manchester United 3-0 last month, apparently with some swagger, suddenly isn't firing.
Mauricio Pochettino says he always saw this coming. Even when they had three wins from the three games at the start of the season, he says that he had predicted this bump in the road.
'I was never really happy,' he said. 'I was always thinking about providing the team with better tools because we knew this situation was going to happen. The performance wasn't great. But there is no change if you analyse the first five games.
Tottenham suffered a 2-1 defeat by high-flying Liverpool at Wembley on Saturday lunchtime
Mauricio Pochettino (centre) watched his side come out second best in front of their own fans
'The performances were similar. The reality is we need to improve a lot. And this type of game show you that we need improving if we want to be contenders for some type of titles.'
That much is clear. And title races are not won in September. But in a league in which 100 points has become the new benchmark (an average of 2.6 points per game), two defeats in your first five games gives you very little leeway. Tottenham can only afford to lose one, maybe two more, if they expect to get close to the points total we might expect Manchester City to accumulate. Or Liverpool, on this showing.
There are some obvious explanations. The lack of a summer signings is an itch that will continue to scratch right through until January. It's the go-to reason for any pundit. Liverpool added £191million of players and look like they might challenge Manchester City.
At Wembley, they had Alisson, Virgil van Dijk and Naby Keita playing, all of whom have been added since the 4-1 humiliation here in October last year. They also had added Fabinho and Xherdan Shaqiri on the bench.
It's hard to argue with the subsequent improvement Liverpool have shown. How might Tottenham have fared if they were blooding Jack Grealish in games such as this? It seems unlikely that he would have made the difference. The option of Wilfried Zaha's pace would have added more danger.
Gini Wijanldum pounced on hesitant goalkeeping from Michel Vorm to give Liverpool the lead
Roberto Firmino tapped home a rebound to double the lead in the second half at Wembley
However, the problem is perhaps as much that each and every setback now can only be viewed through the prism of the summer transfer window. That doesn't mean it is the reason. But the constant discussion is a millstone around Tottenham's season.
'I trust completely in my squad,' repeated Pochettino again on Saturday. 'Not one hundred per cent. Two hundred per cent. That was my feeling two months ago and that is my feeling now.' Of course, it is the only answer he can give until January.
It dovetails with the other explanation to which Pochettino has alluded, the World Cup, which featured ten Tottenham players in the semi-finals. Add in the Asian Cup, which confined Heung min-Son to the bench at Wembley, and that's a team full of players some way off their best.
'I don't want now to complain about the World Cup,' said Pochettino. 'But from the beginning I told you, it's a massive challenge to work with a team that arrives a few days before the start of the competition. But I am not worried, I promise you. We are going to win a lot of games.'
Of his World Cup players, the principal worry must be over Harry Kane. An ankle injury last March seems to have curtailed his game. He is getting nowhere near the amount of shots per game as he before them. His energy levels seem depleted.
How much is it down to Tottenham's new system, playing up front with Moura and, on Saturday, with diamond midfield behind him? Lucas Moura fizzed all around and was the source of Tottenham's energy.
Stand-in Vorm was unable to keep out Wijnaldum's header along with defender Kieran Trippier
That was once Kane's role. He was the sole talisman, the leader. It is almost as if playing in a front two has stolen his spotlight and put him in the shade. Certainly there was not a clear combination between the pair on Saturday.
'For me, it's a collective problem,' said Pochettino. 'I am not going to put the finger at some player.' Common sense says that Kane won't play like this forever and that Pochettino will tweak the system to get him closer to goal and improving his shot ratio.
But aside from the grander issues, it is often the seemingly small details of a game which often undermine Tottenham. 'We must go and kill with every single action,' said Pochettino before this game, referencing the defeat at Watford two weeks ago.
But Tottenham didn't do that. They can be good for a spell; maybe for a run of games; even over months; eventually a lack of ruthlessness lets them down. They settle for something a little less than excellent. Tottenham hit excellence plenty of times. Now the challenge is to ensure they do all the time if they want to progress.
Against Liverpool, they failed that test. Sometimes they were just plain sloppy. It is the accumulation of minor errors which construct a defeat. Like Eric Dier's under-hit pass which played in Mohamed Salah on 24 minutes. Michel Vorm saved the day on that occasion. But on 38 minutes, Tottenham had cleared an initial danger when the ball came to Christian Eriksen, ironically one their most reliable passers. Yet his back-pass but his defence back under pressure and Sadio Mané to forced a corner.
Firmino's close-range effort on 54 minutes gave Liverpool breathing space at Wembley
Of course, Michel Vorm should have dealt with it better, though Pochettino exonerated him. Maybe he had Dier's weak clearing header in mind as the principal reason for the goal?
But Tottenham consistently put themselves in vulnerable situations. When Moussa Dembele dithered, slipped on 49 minutes and allowed Mo Salah to break and cross for Mané, Vorm would save. They had got away with it. Again.
But a pattern is emerging, which only these players can resolve. There is a reason why you fail in crucial games, in the season-defining moments: against Juventus; in semi-finals; in the run-in for the title.
If the top four is the ultimate goal, current standards may well be satisfactory. And in a season when your captain is arrested for drink-driving, when the location of your home stadium is a source of constant uncertainly and after a summer in which you haven't added to the squad, that may be all that can expected.
Except that you know from the relentlessness with which Pochettino approaches the job, it won't be enough for him. You sense he believes his players can do much better. Certainly they can do much better than this.
Link articlehttps://hienalouca.com/2018/09/15/the-small-details-that-could-end-up-costing-tottenham-in-title-pursuit/
Main photo article You can blame Harry Kane if you like. You can obsess over the summer transfer window. And you can fret about the World Cup. Add it all together though and the team that beat Manchester United 3-0 last month, apparently with some swagger, suddenly isn’t firing.
Mauricio Pochettino says he...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Sport HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1/2018/09/15/13/4306500-6171007-image-a-28_1537016053189.jpg
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