Win over Watford whitewashes troubles for Tottenham Hotspur

Three huge points and a late victory at Watford change the narrative, however, it is painfully obvious that Tottenham Hotspur is an imperfect team that needs improving.

Unbeaten now in eight Premier League matches under Antonio Conte and moving from ninth in the table to fifth, there is no doubt Tottenham Hotspur are improved. With a goal difference that has gone from -7 to +3 and coming off a late, late win at Watford, Spurs should have some confidence. Despite the progress, Tottenham still has some areas that they need to improve quickly if Spurs are to make a real run at the Champions League places.

Tottenham need to get better wide

There is little doubt that both Sergio Reguilon and Emerson Royal get up and down the flanks well in Conte’s wing-back-oriented system. That said, neither has demonstrated the kind of quality going forward into the final third to make things dangerous for opponents, as noted in our player ratings.

Against Watford, the Hornets left Royal essentially unguarded for much of the first half, only applying pressure as the Brazilian got near enough the box to provide some service. Although Royal was able to find room and get around the defender on numerous occasions, the quality of crosses was quite lacking as pass after pass failed to find a target.

While Royal had lots of room but could not find that final pass, Reguilon had much less room and simply had little impact at all beyond one decent shot on goal. To break down opponents and create more chances, Spurs need quality from their wide players and right now this is an area that needs to vastly improve.

Three is a crowd in Tottenham midfield

When Harry Winks was brought on to replace Oliver Skipp in the second half against Watford, the change was really negligible for Tottenham. It is not so much that Winks was poor, it is that Winks offers little that Skipp does not, and both seemingly do everything Pierre Hojbjerg does as well.

Herein lies Spurs midfield problem. Tottenham essentially has three midfielders who are all pretty similar and all lacking in some of the same areas in terms of finding key forward passes. Each of the three, Winks, Skipp, and Hojbjerg have had moments of decent forward play this season but all three are essentially holding midfielders, leaving Tottenham struggling to find that key, creative spark.

Just as the crosses were not good enough against Watford, the forward balls into the strikers – whether to feet or into space – were simply not good enough in the small spaces against the Hornets’ deep defence. Getting someone to make space through dynamic passing in the final third could make a huge difference for Tottenham down the stretch, especially when this third problem also exists.