Tottenham Hotspur suffered their ninth Premier League defeat of the season Saturday, losing at City Ground to Nottingham Forest FC. Here are my quick reactions to the loss today.
Tottenham didn’t look like they came to play in the first half. Tottenham usually comes out blazing in most games, flying to loose balls and not allowing the opposing team to have possession for long. However, during today’s first half, Tottenham appeared comfortable with simply maintaining possession and absorbing their opponent’s onslaught. This did not appear to be a shift in manager Ange Postecoglou‘s tactics, as the club maintained their high defensive line and a few players played with the urgency Spurs fans have come to expect this season.
Spurs are condemned to yet another defeat away in the Midlands.
This lack of effort, I feel, originates from the team’s inability to win consistently this season. This season’s highs have been tremendous. Only 11 days ago, this same squad thrashed Southampton 5-0, resulting in their opponents firing their manager a few hours later.
With that said, the lows have been the polar opposite, and a 6-3 loss to Liverpool on Sunday, a game Tottenham was never really in a position to win, appears to have shaken the squad’s confidence.
Combine it with a game against an opponent who is riding high after a run of games they never expected to have this season, under a manager whose previous history with Tottenham has led his players to play harder against them than anybody else, and you get a game like this.
The transfer window cannot arrive fast enough. This club really needs defensive reinforcements. Today, they fielded a patchwork back four with Archie Gray, a former midfielder, at centre back, Djed Spence, a promising young player, at right back, and Destiny Udogie, the team’s only full-time defensive starter in the starting lineup today, at left back. Finally, Radu Dragusin, a reserve centerback, joined Gray in the middle.
This was a plan imposed on Ange Postecoglou due to injuries and fitness. Micky Van De Ven and Cristian Romero are still out with injuries, and Pedro Porro has been dealing with a relatively minor injury in recent weeks. Porro was forced to sit on the bench until the closing minutes of today’s game due to an injury. Tottenham must spend in their back four during the summer window if they are to turn this season around.
The fact is that Tottenham‘s back line depth was lacking prior to the season, and now that the whole starting back four has been sidelined by injuries, inconsistency has become the Spurs’ defense’s calling card. Radu Dragusin, a promising centerback, is not suited to the Spurs’ current scheme.
The Romanian defender is designed to thrive in a counter-attacking system, absorbing pressure before capitalizing on long balls from their back four. Dragusin excels at deep passes over the top, but his lack of pace has plagued Tottenham all season, and today’s goal came from a high-speed counterattack.
Finding some quick central defenders to replace Romero or Van De Ven should be the club’s top priority in January.
I’m going to say something that I don’t think most Spurs fans will agree with: removing Ange Postecoglou will not fix Spurs’ problems. This squad has bought into the system that the Australian manager has implemented, and history shows that if the team can get healthy and consistent, it can go on runs. Postecoglou went unbeaten in his first 11 Premier League matches as Spurs manager, and that was no fluke.
This squad, when healthy, is designed to prosper in Ange’s system, but the absence of health has revealed the squad’s greatest flaw: depth. Tottenham fans can point to numerous instances over the last decade in which the club has chosen not to delve deep into their pockets and invest in a team, and one of the Spurs’ own players has mentioned this this season.
In an interview with Telemundo Deportes after Tottenham’s 3-4 setback to Chelsea on December 8th, Cristian Romero said this when asked about Tottenham’s lack of investment in their roster. “The truth is I would say no comment but… Manchester City competes every year, you see how Liverpool strengthens its squad, Chelsea strengthens their squad, doesn’t do well, strengthens again, and now they’re seeing results.”
Spurs fans have been skeptical of Chairman Daniel Levy for years, and the truth is that until the club understands that spending is necessary to win, they will continue to lose. You can fire any manager you hire, but unless you learn to invest in the players you put on the field, no manager will be able to reach the goals that the club’s fans expect.
Spurs’ next game is against 18th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers on December 29th, a game that could provide them a chance to go into the January window with a win.
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