Heading into the first North London derby of the Premier League season, Tottenham Hotspur had endured a slow start to their campaign with just one win from their first three matches. Tottenham had dropped points against Leicester City and Newcastle United prior to the clash against arch-rivals Arsenal. The derby itself only made things worse, showing how far they have to go if they are to mount a serious challenge for a top-four finish for just the second time in six seasons.
Despite attempting more than twice the number of shots as Arsenal did and having almost two-thirds of the possession, Tottenham succumbed to a 1-0 loss on home turf. Brazilian centre-back Gabriel Magalhães scored the Gunners’ winning goal in the 64th minute. The result ensured that Arsenal would keep pace with league leaders Manchester City. As for Tottenham, on the other hand, their second straight loss saw them slip five points behind fourth place and the last Champions League spot after just four matchdays.
This match could have been said to be a microcosm of Tottenham’s last few seasons. Even when it seemed as though Tottenham appeared to be turning the corner, the reality was the exact opposite. It seemed as though Tottenham were in control of the majority of the match; however, it was actually the case - and hardly surprising - that Arsenal were outplaying them the whole time.
First and foremost, on the surface this current Tottenham squad almost certainly doesn’t have the personnel to finish in the top four. Despite spending over £100 million in the off-season transfer window, Tottenham somehow managed to make no signings which moved the needle in any significant way. To make matters worse, almost all of that money was spent on two players: Archie Gray and Dominic Solanke. Neither of them should ever have required Tottenham to bring out such hefty transfer fees to sign them.
Tottenham once again fumbled the transfer window. Last season, they could easily have made better use of the windfall they received following the departure of club legend Harry Kane to Bayern Munich. While they did use the money to overhaul the squad, one does wonder if what they did was “too much too soon”. Bringing in 11 new players including five starters as well as a new coach in Ange Postecoglou did raise eyebrows - and while they got off to a hot start, in due time it became clear that many of these signings were a case of “just because they can doesn’t mean they should”. The team never quite gelled as they should have; the pieces didn’t quite fit in the way Tottenham would’ve hoped - a major reason why they again missed out on Champions League qualification.
Even more damningly for Tottenham, this match exposed their general lack of heart and grit. Taking a closer look at the corner kick from which Arsenal’s goal came, it could be seen that Tottenham’s players shied away from the ball and allowed Gabriel enough room to put his header into the net. This more or less summed up Tottenham under Postecoglou thus far: as smooth and appealing as their play might look on the surface, in reality basically nothing has improved, especially in crucial game-changing situations such as that.
Last season, Tottenham lost the lead to emerge with a draw or loss in an alarmingly large number of matches. They’ve brought that with them into the new season - though they never led against Newcastle, they did concede the winning goal in the 78th minute after having pulled level around 20 minutes before. Just like they did against Arsenal, Tottenham had the vast majority of the possession and shots against the Magpies but couldn’t turn that into a win. The way things are going, such outcomes are almost expected at this point.
Postecoglou’s time in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium could start being called into question before too long. After the initial boost which so often comes with hiring a new coach, the reality of where Tottenham stand under him has now become evident; he might just get the axe before too long.
“Lads, it’s Tottenham” isn’t a meme for nothing. For years they have been labeled as an unserious club - and given their achievements (or lack thereof), it’s difficult to argue against the tag being a deserved one. The outlook isn’t promising to say the least.
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