Error Prone Spurs

When one looks at Liverpool and their high press game with similar assets on the field in the year Spurs challenged for the league title, Liverpool today is the team Spurs should have become.  The only difference is one cannot buy heart and mindset.  One can buy skill and talents just like Spurs did in obtaining Ndombele and Lo Celso - but they are the kind of players that do not normally suit a Jose Mourinho side - too many luxury's expressed in talent but not enough ruthless endeavour that backs up the talent.  That is what makes Liverpool so incredible right now - the balance of their team, the way Klopp can switch pieces in that balance and Liverpool still play as a ruthless whole - though like Pochettino when he had the Rose and Walker combination, Liverpool still need the powerful front three and the two incredible wingbacks in Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander.  With that core the rest of the chess pieces connect with that beating heart.

The greatest difference of a Spurs team facing Norwich and a Liverpool team when they faced Norwich is that Norwich live in the hope that they put on a good show and do not leave the field of play embarrassed and beaten out of sight, but when they face Spurs, they get emboldened that Spurs have a team based psychological weakness as well as a lack of ruthless will to win possessed by teams like Liverpool this season.   Today the dropped points were a result of this confidence lacking but talented group of players who have shown in prior years that they can hit the high point in games, but Liverpool hit it consistently, for Spurs it is a moment and then in the celebration of that moment, another false dawn.

Lo Celso and Ndombele are potentially brilliant players but they have not been coached as finished articles.  Mourinho sides treat such players as an unnecessary luxury, especially with Spurs chasing for a win, it is Ndombele who decides to cross the ball with a rabona cross.

https://www.caughtoffside.com/2019/12/28/tanguy-ndombele-rabona-cross-video/

It is not just Mourinho who does not care for this kind of extravagance especially when his team is behind in the game. Pep Guardiolo of Manchester City cares not how much his team pleases the crowd, but the value of scoring a goal utilizing superior technique and ruthless finishing and pleasing the crowd is a great luxury when the purpose is winning.   When City lost their composure on Friday night, they gave up a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 to Wolves.  To Mourinho's relief, Spurs managed to turn around a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1.  Against Brighton, Spurs again got very lucky in a game Brighton should have also taken points.  Norwich City did take points today, but yet again VAR came to the rescue of Tottenham when the goal from Pukki was determined to be offside.  Just like Kane's VAR ruling on Tuesday, the margin used to rule out Brighton's goal on Thursday was the insanely razor thin judgement margin used again today.  Then unlucky, today lucky.

Norwich's 2nd goal was cruelly taken away and had it stood Spurs would probably not have come back.  Mourinho is not known for sides that leak goals.  His unbeaten streak against Norwich continues but that streak was 5 wins and 1 draw, so the draw today was something Norwich were deserving of.  Mourinho is currently managing a team that he is beginning to see - which means he is guessing lineups hoping to see a Mourinho-like performance.  The Spurs backline is far removed from the years that Mourinho could win while keeping the scoresheet.  Mourinho knows what he likes in players, but the players in the current Spurs team cannot match that.

Christian Eriksen is now odds on to leave and probably straight into the arms of Real Madrid, at a time when Manchester United won't sell their midfield general Paul Pogba to Real Madrid.  In exchange it makes sense to ask for either Isco or more doable, which is bring back Gareth Bale for a Christian Eriksen trade.  Yet it seems Spurs are showing some signs of expediency and maybe even desperation, but throwing in allegedly a cash deal of 27 million pounds. 

This is hard to fathom other than newspaper gossip, when Bale is noted as being worth 34 million pounds in the market.  Since they are going to lose Christian Eriksen for free in the summer, tagging him along for free seems logical now.  Yet so did buying club record signings Ndombele and Lo Celso.  Great players as individuals but still not team players in the Mourinho system.   The plus side is that Spurs did gain 7 points out of a possible 9 points from what should be considered beatable opponents.   That they drew 2-2 against Norwich had just one silver lining, Norwich did not risk starting Todd Cantwell.   Maybe they should have because in recent games he seems to be their chief talisman.

Both Brighton and Norwich played some very good team football.  For brief spells, Spurs played a game that involved domination but there was far too much time when they were not coordinated or slick.  Too many errors, including an own goal are costing clean sheets and points.   The idea of paying a big fee for Real Madrid's Rafael Varane sounds good also since Spurs need solid central defenders who can link up with the midfield and attack.  

This Spurs team was meant to be matured after being together for nearly six years - but it is anything but a team that looks like a winner which has been together for half a decade.  Norwich deserved way more and this draw did nothing for their relegation fears.  It now looks odds on that it is Watford rather than Norwich who are the most likely to survive relegation.  Mourinho will instill his design into the team, but for now he is having to hand hold the mindset of Tottenham, for this mindset is easily distracted, turned negative and destroys actual player potential.  The January transfer window will be interesting and the two Real Madrid players stand to make a difference - that is if Spurs Chairman agrees to invest.