Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham are a huge mess and it won't end soon | OneFootball

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Lewis Ambrose·17 October 2019

Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham are a huge mess and it won't end soon

Article image:Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham are a huge mess and it won't end soon

When Manchester City kicked off against Chelsea in mid-February 2018, the Premier League title race was considered a three-horse event.

Tottenham had beaten Leicester 3-1 earlier that day, moving them to just two points behind the eventual champions and five behind Liverpool.


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But, while Spurs went on to reach the Champions League final, it all came crashing down domestically.

Maybe it shouldn’t be such a surprise that this season has started poorly.

Here’s why.


This isn’t a new problem

Article image:Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham are a huge mess and it won't end soon

Having positioned themselves for a late title charge in 2018/19, Spurs slipped away at breakneck speed.

After that win against Leicester, Mauricio Pochettino’s side won just three of their remaining 12 matches and had the 16th worst record in the league from mid-February until the end of the season.

It’s easy to look at the league table now, plus results against Colchester United, Olympiakos and Bayern Munich, and declare there’s a shock crisis in north London. It hasn’t, though, come out of the blue.

While VAR was busy saving them in Manchester, and Lucas Moura delivered heroics in Amsterdam, the club could hardly buy a win in the Premier League.

Article image:Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham are a huge mess and it won't end soon

Slinking over the finish line, they ended up finishing below Chelsea and barely making it over the line ahead of Arsenal – the Gunners would have pipped their north London foes to fourth had they beaten just one of Crystal Palace and Brighton in their last two home matches of the campaign.

But Spurs did reach the Champions League final and did finish fourth, so the good times rolled on. Even as Mauricio Pochettino publicly toyed with the idea of leaving the club.

“It should be fantastic, no?” Pochettino said as he pondered the idea of winning the trophy in Madrid. “Close the five-year chapter and go home.

“It’s not a joke.

“To win the Champions League in this circumstance, in this season – maybe I need to think a little bit to do something different in the future.”

Of course, the Argentine stayed. But to what effect?


Burnout

The fact the club had not signed a single player in the summer of 2018 only makes the charge to the biggest game in club football more remarkable.

It also makes this season’s struggles all the more surprising.

Spurs addressed last season’s primary issue in a big way in the summer, signing Tanguy Ndombélé and Giovani Lo Celso. Harry Winks is a more prominent fixture in midfield too, as Pochettino moves away from the model of using two of Eric Dier, Mousa Dembélé and Victor Wanyama that proved so successful back at White Hart Lane.

Article image:Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham are a huge mess and it won't end soon

Having gone to the Champions League final despite signing a single player in the summer of 2018, and having to make do with Wembley as a makeshift home for well over a year, things should have gone from strength to strength now.

Ultimately, though, this is the same team as last season with more quality and depth in midfield. And somehow it looks so much worse.

Is Pochettino out of ideas or are the players just worn down after so long playing for him?


Wantaways

Spurs are in trouble and it’s not going to end anytime soon.

Not since the departure of Sol Campbell in 2001 has a key player left for nothing. This summer they faced the prospect of three regulars doing exactly that.

Christian Eriksen publicly asked for a move in the summer, while Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld look no closer to signing new contracts.

Article image:Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham are a huge mess and it won't end soon

Then there’s also Danny Rose, who has looked close to moving two summers in a row and has just one more season left on his deal beyond this one.

While midfield has been rebuilt, the full-backs symbolise an issue at the heart of their struggles. The best Spurs teams of recent years had Rose and Kyle Walker rampaging down the flanks.

Walker is now long gone and still not replaced – the erratic Serge Aurier is simply not good enough – while Rose isn’t capable of charging up and down the pitch at high speeds anymore.

Almost all of these players were at the club when Pochettino arrived (as were Hugo Lloris, Dele Alli and Harry Kane), while Alderweireld (and Son Heung-min) joined just one season into the Argentine’s reign.

Article image:Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham are a huge mess and it won't end soon

The same training methods, the same messages, the same team-mates, the same challenges. Again and again and again.

After finishing in the top three for three consecutive seasons (one with 86 points), after reaching the Champions League final, and still having nothing to show for all the effort.

It’s little wonder if many of the players, who were hailed as a vibrant young squad just a few years ago, have grown weary with the status quo.


Kane and Alli

Article image:Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham are a huge mess and it won't end soon

Two players who still appear completely committed to the cause at Spurs are Harry Kane and Dele Alli.

Unfortunately, there are more questions about the pair than there were a few years ago. At 26 and 23 respectively, that shouldn’t be the case.

Yet here we are. The dynamic attack that shot Spurs to the Champions League final was built on the movement, speed and manipulation of space of Son and Lucas, who shone in Kane’s absence.

Yet the England captain started the showpiece final despite looking way off the pace.

The trend doesn’t look good for Tottenham’s star striker, who hasn’t looked the same player since recurring ankle injuries.

Kane for club and country since 2016:

  1. 2016: 50 games – 27 goals – eight from penalties
  2. 2017: 52 games – 57 goals – five from penalties
  3. 2018: 63 games – 42 goals – seven from penalties
  4. 2019: 29 games – 22 goals – nine from penalties

Kane’s record remains strong but he is playing less and when he is fit he is less effective in open play.

He may be more prolific than in 2016 (when Kane was finding his feet for club and country after exploding onto the scene the year before) but is much more reliant on spot kicks than he was then.

It was Kane’s goals record, one of a genuine world class striker, that propelled Tottenham to great seasons from 2015-2018 but what he’s adding now is not much better than your average Premier League striker.

As for Alli, he’s gone from being arguably the biggest young talent in England to what can best be described as a footballing identity crisis.

The development of Son Heung-min has left him without an obvious place in the team and he doesn’t have the playmaking abilities to replace Christian Eriksen.

Is he an all-round midfielder or a second striker? It’s hard to say anymore. It’s even harder to find a way to squeeze him into the team on a regular basis.


What next?

Spurs could sack Pochettino, sure, but it’s unrealistic to think they’d find somebody better.

Article image:Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham are a huge mess and it won't end soon

They could decide to build a new attack around Son Heung-min, the only player who looks world-class right now but that would marginalise homegrown hero Harry Kane and fans are unlikely to have patience for a project that does that.

Or they could try to wait this out.

The new midfield needs time but appears to be one more suited to keeping the ball and probing the opposition than Spurs teams of yesteryear – no longer is there an emphasis on being strong and pressing intensely but instead on carving teams open.

Such an idea will be hamstrung by Eriksen’s exit but Pochettino is already prepared to drop the Dane and Lo Celso’s involvement will be a huge boost when he is fit again.

If a week is a long time in football, a year or more sounds like an excruciatingly long time to wait.

But Spurs will have to dig in, get through and give Pochettino time to deliver a new project, one that works, and revitalise an ailing team.