OPINION
Tottenham suffered a humiliating night in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
The game, against League Two opposition Colchester, ended 0-0 after Spurs dominated without really creating many clearcut chances.
Tottenham had 75% of the possession and 19 shots with just four on target, compared to just four shots and none on target from the home side. [SofaScore]
The attack momentum graph from SofaScore above shows how one-sided the game was, with Colchester barely making a mark until towards the end of the 90 minutes.
But the Colchester goalkeeper wasn’t forced into making many saves, with a Lucas Moura free-kick one of the few big chances for Spurs.
Pochettino did give debuts to some youngsters, with Troy Parrott and Japhet Tanganga playing for the first time, but neither looked particularly out of place.
Parrott did get the lowest rating of any Tottenham player from WhoScored, but he wasn’t provided with much service from big-hitters like Dele Alli.
The overall team was strong, though. Alli, Lucas Moura and Eric Dier started; Christian Eriksen, Heung-min Son and Erik Lamela came on in the second half.
These players should be good enough to get past League Two opposition.
We believe they’re being let down by their manager.
Pochettino is not helping Tottenham
Mauricio Pochettino has talked again of his unsettled squad and was quoted by the BBC as saying after the game: “We need time again to build that togetherness that you need when you are competing at this level.”
But the manager isn’t helping matters with these comments. It’s one thing to say that when the transfer window was still open and speculation was rife about players such as Christian Eriksen. [Football London]
But now he needs to work with the players he’s got and get the very best from them.
And it gets worse. Pochettino was at FIFA’s BEST Ceremony on Monday night and hinted once again that he would be open to managing Real Madrid.
As quoted in the Daily Mail, when asked about the possibility, he said, “Maybe some year”.
It might be an honest answer but is it what his unsettled squad wants to hear? Is it what the fans want to hear or what Daniel Levy wants to hear?
We’re not advocating an environment where managers and players can’t say anything that doesn’t toe the party line.
But Tottenham are in trouble at the moment. Since mid-February, they’ve lost 12 of 26 games and won just eight. Pochettino needs to circle the wagons and get his side back on track.
That doesn’t include hinting at leaving for another club and it doesn’t mean blaming players or the squad for the mess Spurs are currently in.
Tottenham’s record since mid-Feb: P26 W8 D6 L12 — and that’s with tonight’s embarrassment at Colchester classed as a draw rather than the defeat it ultimately was. They somehow got to a Champions League final in the midst of that run, but something really isn’t right #thfc
— Oliver Kay (@OliverKay) September 24, 2019