Exploring Tottenham loss to Watford
By Aaron Coe
Dembele is the easiest to pick on here, as he really didn’t have a great game. Mousa misplayed several passes and lost the ball a couple times on the dribble. Very non-classic Dembele game.
Dele Alli popped up a couple of different times in some good places, but like he was a foot short on the neat free kick from the side, see below, Dele just missed connecting. Christian Eriksen was less active than last week and seemed to be pressing at times. He took a team high 4 shots and not one from inside the penalty area.
His insistence on taking a couple of corners and the last free kick smelled of a player thinking about his place. The reality is, Eriksen’s job is to be the engine of the team, having someone else to take freekicks and corner kicks takes pressure off him and allows him to be used in creative ways, like the one nice set piece we ran. I know I don’t think any less of Eriksen if he isn’t taking all the freekicks.
Ultimately this week, the midfield was too slow moving the ball and lost out on several tackles and duels. Winks brought energy and directness when he came on, which is effective, but he just didn’t have a plan when he reached the final third.
While I know Dier is tired from everything done over the summer, but could we have not gotten 60 minutes out of Victor Wanyama? If he couldn’t play for at least 60, why was he on the bench? Asking 180 minutes from Dembele in 6 days isn’t a good idea, thin bench or not.