Tottenham Pay Price, Against Fulham, For Earlier Errors of Judgement

Tottenham suffered an unexpected home defeat to Fulham but the loss of three points could have serious consequences on the outcome of the club’s season. The cause for the defeat might be put down as tiredness following a gruelling two hours in Milan on Thursday evening but decisions taken earlier in the season contributed to the defeat.

Tottenham missed Aaron Lennon [Photo: Jav The_DoC_66]Tottenham gave a lethargic display against a well organised Fulham team and while Mark Schwarzer made two excellent saves to deny Jermain Defoe, he had a relatively comfortable afternoon at White Hart Lane. It was the perfect away performance from Fulham – good organisation at the back, hard work in midfield and always looking for a quick counter-attack from which Dimitar Berbatov scored the only goal of the game.

Andre Villas-Boas refused to blame tiredness for the defeat in his post match interviews. Teamtalk.com reported that when questioned on the issue, AVB said,

"“”No. We played lots of players who were not involved recently and had a couple of fresh legs on the pitch – five at least.”"

Spurs should have been prepared for such a performance from Fulham – they’ve faced many other teams playing in a similar style at White Hart Lane. Tottenham struggled to have any impact on the game and while weariness and injuries played their part for Spurs, the deeper reasons lie with decisions taken much earlier in the season. The problem hasn’t just appeared against Fulham but in previous matches they have been hidden due to the exceptional form of Gareth Bale and the goals scored by Jermain Defoe in the opening months of the season.

Tottenham’s 3 Errors of Judgement

1. Lack of Creativity:

For the past two seasons, Luka Modric and Rafael Van der Vaart provided the creative touch from midfield for Tottenham – they were the two players the team looked to against a packed defence. They were able to find a pass, a flick or a cross-field ball to create an opening which played the strikers in on goal. The transfer of both players last August left Andre Villas-Boas lacking in that department. It was common knowledge that Modric was looking to join Real Madrid and after protracted negotiations the deal was competed in mid-August. Without signing a replacement for Modric, Van der Vaart was allowed to return to Hamburg on the final day of the transfer window, leaving the team without a truly creative player.

Tottenham signed Mousa Dembele and Gylfi Sigurdsson in the summer, along with the late acquisition of Clint Dempsey who fulfills a role between midfield and striker but none were a direct replacement for the two departed players. Numerous reports appeared of news of Tottenham seeking that replacement but the failure to ensure that signing was completed was a major error which was compounded when nothing was done to address the issue in January. Lewis Holtby arrived but again he was not a direct replacement and was seen as a young player for the future.

Against Fulham, the midfield was static and as in previous matches, the ball was passed sideways and backwards. On a good day that is described as “patient build up play” but when it isn’t working, it is just so easy for the defending team to wait for a misplaced pass. Frequently, the central defenders were forced to carry the ball forward in an attempt to create an opening.

For the final 23 minutes against Fulham, 20 year old Tom Carroll was brought on and he at least attempted to pick a pass and be a creative force in the team. He was eager to receive the ball and was always looking to play someone in behind the defence. His run from central midfield which saw him go past three defenders before playing a ball for Gareth Bale to run onto was one of the few creative passes from Spurs in the whole match. Only the speed of Schwarzer off his line denied Bale a scoring opportunity. Carroll showed what the team had been lacking for over an hour but while he has shown the ability to do that in previous matches in Cup and European games, it would be too much to expect him to be able to do it regularly in the Premier League.

The point remains, however, if that was what was needed against Fulham why wasn’t a player signed who could fulfill that role for the team on a regular basis.

2. Strikers:

Tottenham have a squad with an abundance of central defenders and central midfield players but lacking in strikers. It was always going to be a risky strategy to try to get through a season with only two strikers. It has been made even more difficult with Emmanuel Adebayor’s failure to rediscover the form he displayed last season. For various reasons, Spurs have gone through much of the season with only one senior striker available. In the opening months, Jermain Defoe’s goals managed to hide the problem but he hasn’t scored since Boxing Day and in the opening months of 2013 Gareth Bale’s exception run of goals has helped to overcome the inability of the strikers to find the net.

Not recruiting an additional striker is another serious error of judgement. At some point in the season, it was going to become an issue and it may be now as the season reaches the crucial final games. Without a cutting edge in front of goal, Tottenham gave Fulham a relatively easy afternoon – at no point were Fulham forced back into a backs to the wall defensive display, holding on to take the three points.

3. Loan of Andros Townsend

It might appear strange to include allowing a young reserve to go out on loan as a major issue but Tottenham’s game is based on width and pace from the wings. Bale and Aaron Lennon have had an excellent season but there is no cover if either of them is missing. That makes the decision to allow Andros Townsend to join Queen’s Park Rangers, on loan, for the rest of the season difficult to understand. Townsend was never going to get in ahead of either Bale or Lennon but he could have been useful to bring off the bench or start if either was absent.

Spurs missed Lennon and Bale against Inter and the decision to use Lennon at the San Siro as a substitute, back-fired as he aggravated his injury and had to miss the Fulham game. Townsend came on against Swansea in December and showed that he could trouble defences and has shown for QPR that he can score and create chances in the Premier league. The decision to send him to Loftus Road was taken for the further development of his career but it has left Tottenham lacking a replacement on the wing and having to alter the shape of the team to accommodate the introduction of Sigurdsson or Dempsey in a wide position.

On a team selection point from yesterday’s match, it seemed strange to omit Kyle walker when Lennon wasn’t playing. While Walker has struggled recently, the team could have used his pace on the right, something Kyle Naughton who played quite well, doesn’t provide. With neither Walker or Lennon on the right, Bale played a considerable part of the game there, rather than the roving central role he has taken on, of late.

The three decisions have created a lack of variety in the Tottenham squad and contributed to the defeat to Fulham. If these difficulties persist and Villas-Boas fails to get a positive response from the players in the coming weeks, the lack of foresight through the season could bring about the ultimate failure of Tottenham achieving their objective for the season – a top four season, and that could have dramatic consequences in coming seasons.