Tottenham Get Their Groove Back — For Now

A week of tepid performances from Tottenham got turned up to a boil as a Harry Kane hat-trick sunk Fulham in the FA Cup’s fifth round.

Mauricio Pochettino boldly choose a strong Tottenham starting XI for the trip across London on Sunday, and got the desired result. Fulham hardly looked up to the task of keeping their visitors at bay.

Given what occurred in Belgium just three days prior, this was hardly a guaranteed result even with Kane, et al starting. Gent contained the best Pochettino had to throw at them in the Europa League Round of 32 first leg on Thursday, then scored to give the home side an advantage in the tie.

That was, as we argued, the nadir of Tottenham’s season. Injuries to key players and mental fatigue appeared to coalesce into a truly woeful performance. In the wake of that defeat, a result was far from certain. In their preview for the match, WhoScored even tipped the Championship side to win given Spurs’ form.

With the second leg of the Europa League tie coming on Thursday, Pochettino could have chose a heavily rotated team for Fulham. The FA Cup might justifiably rank third in importance behind the Premier League and Europe, so a poor showing could easily be shrugged off.

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Perhaps recognizing that his starters would gladly exchange rest for a win, Pochettino instead chose to plow ahead. The results speak for themselves.

Will this have the desired effect though, and what might be the consequences?

Assuming Pochettino intends to take the second leg against Gent seriously as well as Sunday’s trip to Stoke City, a sizable chunk of Spurs’ best players will have been asked to play five matches in 15 days. That includes the likes of Kane, Toby Alderweireld, Dele Alli and Victor Wanyama — unarguably the side’s spine.

Pochettino relied on a similar spine last season, of course. The results spoke for themselves — finishing third is no mean feat — but the squad still had limits. With the title still theoretically on the line, Spurs succumbed to fatigue in the last month of the season. Over the final four games, they drew twice and lost twice — including a humiliating 5-1 defeat on the final day of the season away to an already-relegated Newcastle side.

Precisely to avoid such meltdowns, Pochettino worked with Daniel Levy to acquire appropriate depth in several areas of the squad. A more effective rotation with trustworthy players would prevent fatigue while also, in theory, provide starters with a bit of beneficial competition.

To date, that is not exactly how things have worked out. But for Wanyama, none of the summer acquisitions get meaningful minutes. Moussa Sissoko and Vincent Janssen increasingly look closer to expensive mistakes than potential first team regulars. Georges-Kévin Nkoudou could very well end up on the same periphery Clinton Njie and Nabil Bentaleb found themselves prior to their loan moves.

Next: Tottenham Advance to FA Cup Quarterfinals

Questioning Pochettino’s faith in his B team is at times appropriate, but it’s not as if these players give him much reason for such faith. What’s left is a Catch 22: Spurs suffer from a glut of unplayable players who will only improve if they get more playing time.

Put aside potential downsides for the moment and focus on the short term: this is the result Tottenham needed. Morale was undoubtedly low and a loss to a Championship side would only sink Pochettino and his team deeper into the mire.