October Has Not Been Good for Tottenham Hotspur

There’s something going on with Tottenham but it’s hard to pinpoint what the problem is exactly.

Remaining winless in October has been bad, but Tottenham have found ways to consistently draw and earn a point each time. However losing losing to R.S.C. Anderlecht yesterday in the Europa League is a sign that something is currently off with the team. Tottenham has matched their winless streak from August thus far. With one more game left in October, a Premier League fixture against A.F.C. Bournemouth, the winless streak might be snapped. If not, then it could be time to panic.

Looking at how the team has played and their current form, it would be easy to say the team is in another winless streak due to injuries or fatigue from minimal rotation.

However that’s not really a good answer. So instead, a winless August and October could be because of the team’s reliance on Harry Kane or being overconfident if they’re winning early or late in a game. This has happened throughout the season already.

Now while Anderlecht aren’t pushovers, getting a goal in the fourth minute courtesy of Christian Eriksen. The pressure was on the Belgian club to find a way to recover — which they did. But more so to the point that Spurs should not have let up in their attack. It’s easier said than done of course, but there’s a reason why Pochettino continuously talks about “dominating” the other team and needing to have the “killer instinct” to kill the game off in his post-game interviews. He knows fully well that Tottenham should be, at the very least, winning more than drawing or losing.

Maybe the actual real reason — while childish and not 100 percent true — is based purely on the fact that the entire 24-man squad has no players who play with the mentality of dominating or having a killer instinct during games.

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There are certain players who do, surely Dele Alli and Eric Dier want to go after players with conviction to win the ball back. Mousa Dembélé is great at this too.

But is Érik Lamela a scorer who can just score at will, let alone be a person who can put the team on his back so to speak? Is that supposed to be Harry Kane who isn’t in form this season?

Are Christian Eriksen, Clinton N’Jie and Heung-Min Son scorers in the sense that they will run into a defense with or without the ball (probably demand the ball if they don’t have it) and score at will and continue to put the pressure even if Spurs are ahead 2-0 or 3-0 in the first half? In essence, do Spurs have players who can dominate the game single handily this season? The answer is no because that’s not who Tottenham are.

Tottenham are a young team and a team that can consistently grind out results whether it’s drawing or winning. But what they can’t do consistently is put teams away when they have the chance to. They don’t have those kinds of players yet.

The roster right now has plenty of good players — talented players — but under Mauricio Pochettino’s guidance, Tottenham has not and maybe will not be a team that will go out and outscore opponents or even attempt to. They win games by keeping possession, high-pressing, having a solid defense and have a great goalkeeper. Yes, other teams rely on the same tactics, it’s common, but if Tottenham doesn’t score many goals (which they haven’t this season) and still wins (the month of September), it’s because their style of play works, it’s just not consistent or sustainable throughout an entire season, hence Spurs’ up and down months from August through October.

Next: Tottenham Hotspur Links: 10/23/2015 Late Morning and Early Afternoon Edition

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The Month of October Has Not Been Good for Tottenham Hotspur

By Alexander Balano | Oct 23, 2015

There’s something going on with Tottenham but it’s hard to pinpoint what the problem is exactly.

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