Three Areas of Opportunity for Tottenham in the Second Half

We are as close as we are going to get to the midpoint of the season for Tottenham Hotspur and Spurs are in one Cup final and alive in three other competitions. While it is true Tottenham have been advancing, are competitive, and have some bright spots; it is not all sunshine and roses at Hotspur Way. Here we look at some areas for potential improvement from Tottenham Hotspur moving forward in the season.

Tottenham Must Overcome Their Issues

Tottenham Hotspur have a shot in all of the competitions, which is about all a team can ask for going into the second half of the season. A league cannot necessarily be won in the first half – though the last couple years may say otherwise – it sure can be lost, ask Fulham, West Brom, and Sheffield United. Within that bigger picture, Spurs cannot complain about their position. However, Tottenham want more and if Spurs are to win some trophies they have to address some issues.

Spurs need to stop losing it late

In case we forgot when Tottenham played Sheffield United last weekend the announcers here in the States reminded viewers again and again about Spurs dropping 10 points from leading positions this season. After Sheffield scored to get the game within one, then the statistic was in overdrive.

Fortunately for Tottenham, a moment of brilliance from Tanguy Ndombele reaffirmed the cushion and Spurs won the match. Of course, if the announcer was annoying the viewers like me, one can only imagine what the voice inside some of the players heads was saying.

If you’ve played football for a length of time, you may have experienced a stretch like Spurs have, where you just question when that next shoe is going to drop. This is not a Spursy thing, it is a confidence thing and it only takes a couple slips to go from scoring last minute winners to giving up late goals – ask Liverpool.

Slumps happen and the mentality of not just holding on, but transitioning to finishing the game can be difficult. At times it looks like Spurs have turned that corner, then Sheffield score out of nothing and questions pop up again. Tottenham must have the mental fortitude to get beyond ghosts of this season and seasons pasts and believe they can win.

Tottenham need to avoid dropping deep

We have heard the coach say it and Harry Kane say it, Tottenham are not intentionally dropping deep at times in the matches, it just sort of happens. Whether it is because of a dumb foul that gives up field position or falling too much in love with the counter attack, Tottenham cannot be content with sitting deep.

Granted the teams in the Premier League today are not the teams of 20 years ago and most of them have a go at you, Tottenham need to be able to absorb that and then more quickly punch back. Not in terms of an immediate counter attack, but a stifling of any possession that starts to build against them, particularly against bottom half clubs.

Spurs need to be more willing to dominate possession and more adept at quickly winning it back or slowing the opposition before the ball gets into Spurs half. Many teams have used a similar defensive strategy for years against Tottenham. Teams try to go at Spurs, hoping they will sit and then look to just hack the players down when they try to counter. It has shown to be effective, unfortunately. If Tottenham are the team primarily in possession they can avoid the deep block and getting stuck in to begin with, which will win a lot more games as we have seen this season.

José Mourinho Needs a Fix these Four

Whether it is the muscles and ongoing injuries like Giovani Lo Celso and Erik Lamela seem to be constantly hampered with or it is some mental obstacle to overcome like we are seeing with Gareth Bale and likely Dele Alli, Tottenham need a fully fit squad. It is growing more obvious by the day that Spurs are unlikely to sign anyone who will impact the first team this season before the window closes.

Thus if Tottenham is going to have a real chance they need contributions from a greater breadth of their squad and that starts with availability. Erik Lamela and Giovani Lo Celso are chronically unavailable at this point for Spurs. It seems just when one or the other really starts to play well and impact matches he gets hurt.

Likewise, Gareth Bale may be good in the dressing room, but at his rate the club needs more as does Real Madrid. To have any value after this season, Bale has to have a season. Dele Alli is another who seems to be in and out of the lineup as much from his availability than anything. Some may argue he needs a chance but training all week creates the chances.

Sure Steven Bergwijn, Lucas Moura, and Carlos Vinicius can all do a job as can Tanguy Ndombele in a more advanced role. Those four all are supposed to be part of the rotation with the four just mentioned, creating more depth and flexibility within the squad. With that idea in mind, it is not even necessarily production Spurs need, but they certainly need minutes.

Combined the quartet of Bale, Lo Celso, Lamela, and Alli have only played 2526 total minutes, which is less than 300 more than Pierre Højbjerg has himself. For a different perspective, of the four, only Lo Celso has more minutes than Joe Hart this season. Carlos VInicius is learning the language, team and league, the other four have no excuse for the minutes other than availability.

The bottom line is Tottenham have a good squad, when fully fit and functional. When the team is short in one area or another it creates stress and strain, which can lead to negative results. If Tottenham can get the other half of the attack at least fit and available, maybe attacking and controlling possession for 90 minutes will not be as difficult. Some may want new blood, we say get what we have on the field and let’s see what happens.