Are Tottenham Regressing to Early Season Form?

After a remarkable six match winning streak, Tottenham seem to be losing their luster. Could we be seeing a return to the often stagnant form of the season’s first half?

Short answer: it’s far too soon to tell. Though the past four matches in all competitions hardly live up to the standards Tottenham themselves set with the seven straight wins that came prior, there’s not quite enough justification to panic quite yet.

Still, what are we to make of the difficulties Spurs appear to be suffering through?

First, a qualification. The “difficulties” we speak of here take the form of two wins and and two draws. Compared to the plight of Middlesbrough and other relegation candidates, they hardly rank.

Second, a definition. What exactly do we meaning by stagnation here? Saturday’s match ends up providing an answer over 90 minutes. Despite utter dominance in both defense — Boro recorded no shots on target — and midfield — Spurs held 65% possession and outpassed the visitors by a factor of over 2 to 1 — they looked out of ideas in attack.

When Spurs’ rivals for a potential shot at the title or, at the very least, Champions League football are all separated by a single point, a draw and a loss don’t look that much different. Tottenham need maximum points whenever possible in order to stay in the hunt.

More from Match Reports

• From glory, glory to gory, gory, for Mason and Tottenham Hotspur
• Ryan Mason’s Elegant Solution to Tottenham’s Problems
• Tottenham – Defensive needs show over last two games
• Tottenham Hotspur hold off Brighton in much needed 2-1 win
• Mason moves make the difference for lucky Tottenham against Brighton

Vital to that pursuit are the efforts of Kane et al. The three or four or six players Mauricio Pochettino name in attack need to mesh in such a way that teams like Sunderland and Middlesbrough can’t possibly hope to hold them.

In that December-January winning streak, Spurs’ attack never once made their opposition think that parking bus was a viable option. They put four goals past each of Southampton, Watford and prior-bugbear West Brom. Even prior to that streak, they managed to pound five past a hapless Swansea side.

These were remarkable results in any context, but they seemed particularly important compared to what came before.

Though Spurs were the last unbeaten side in the Premier League, they rarely won matches by more than a single goal. When both Kane and Toby Alderweireld went down injured, Pochettino’s sides suffered four straight draws that seemed to put the hoped-for title run out of reach.

Those two players’ return in November and December, respectively, helped matters, but the real advantage came in a tactical switch. Pochettino instituted a change he only experimented with previous: the 3-4-2-1.

As we’ve discussed many times before, the primary advantage of such a system is just how much it frees up the attack. With Danny Rose and Kyle Walker in advanced wing-back roles and Mousa Dembélé pushing up, that’s as many as six players threatening the opposition’s third.

Unfortunately, as counter-intuitive as it might sound, a pair of defensive injuries in recent weeks dismantled such an advantage. First Jan Vertonghen then Danny Rose suffered knocks to their ankle and knee, respectively.

Without bench players able to properly fill in their roles in a 3-4-2-1, Pochettino felt forced to revert back to the 4-2-3-1 formation he used last season.

As devastating as that was then, it seems as if teams now know how to deal with it. Especially without the devastating wide play of Rose, a narrow and deep defense can often keep Spurs’ chances to a surprisingly low quality.

Next: Five Takeaways: Tottenham Get Much Needed Win

There’s still room for hope even if Spurs look dour of late. Rose might return to action as soon as next week, and Vertonghen might return by early March.

Meanwhile, Pochettino himself learn to have more faith in the likes of Kevin Wimmer. Should the Austrian be permitted to grow into Vertonghen’s role in a back three formation, Spurs might be able to return to commanding ways.