Where is it going wrong for Nuno Espírito Santo and Tottenham? | OneFootball

Nuno Espírito Santo was named Premier League manager of the month 17 days ago.

Tottenham Hotspur’s official Twitter account posted a Tweet showing the Premier League table after three games.

They were top after winning all their matches, while Arsenal lay bottom with zero goals to their name.

Since then, Spurs lost their next three Premier League fixtures, conceding three times on each occasion and have now been overtaken by their nearest rivals following the defeat at the Emirates.

But what has gone wrong?

Nuno Espírito Santo’s side may have won those three games but they were all by the same scoreline (1-0) and there hasn’t been a gluttony of goalscoring opportunities from the team so far this season, just look at the xG figures.

The highest Spurs have accumulated came in the win over Wolves where they mustered up 1.57 xG from eight shots. However, the meetings with Crystal Palace (0.10 xG) and Chelsea (0.78 xG) saw a team that barely threatened in the opposition half.

They’re averaging 9.3 shots per match which is down on the Premier League average as a whole (13.7). The result? Just four goals in their opening six fixtures.

In a team containing Tanguy Ndombele, Dele Alli, Son Heung-min and with Harry Kane now back involved, this is a line-up brimming with quality which will leave supporters questioning why they are so blunt in attack.

Much of that could have been down to the way Espírito Santo has set the team up to approach matches so far this season.

The Portuguese manager has opted for a 4-3-3 formation on all six occasions and appears set on remaining disciplined behind the ball with the idea of hitting teams on the counterattack.

Spurs have only had more than 50% possession of the ball in two of the games – against Watford and in the north London derby defeat to Arsenal.

Adopting a defensive-minded set-up doesn’t automatically equate to a lack of success and the strong start to the season suggests something was working early on.

But if a passive approach is adopted then Nuno would at least be expecting his defence to be watertight. However, with 33 shots on target and nine goals conceded in the last three fixtures, there is a lot of work to be done there.

The way in which Emile Smith Rowe wandered past Pierre-Emile Højbjerg for the first goal on Sunday should ring alarm bells. The Danish midfielder was one of the club’s best players last season but has been found wanting in recent weeks.

Espírito Santo could be forgiven for cursing his luck when it comes to Kane’s current run of form.

The Spurs captain has yet to score a league goal and of all the problems he would have anticipated when taking over, he wouldn’t have been legislating for that.

Whether the 28-year-old’s goal drought is down to him trying to regain match sharpness or whether it’s a systemic issue remains to be seen.

There’s no doubt Tottenham should be doing better, and the new man in the dugout might be about to start feeling the pressure to turn it around.