Red Faced Liverpool Get Thrashed

Last week Spurs crept by Bournemouth with a not so elegant performance that squeaked out a 1-0 win thanks to a defensive error in the opening minutes of the second half, that allowed Christian Erikson to score.  By midweek a defensive error by Real Madrid had given Tottenham a far more creditable 1-1 draw in the Bernabau, a game that they could even had won, had Real Madrid goalkeeper Navas make two super saves.  Today defensive errors cost Liverpool big time.  The chief blame was placed on centre-back Lovren, but even by taking Lovren off before even 30 minutes of the game had been played, Liverpool never looked like they had the kind of shooting boots they used to punch 7 goals in against Maribor.

Liverpool were also stymied by Mauricio Pochettino's increasingly developing game plans.  Spurs allowed nearly 65% possession to Liverpool and looked to attack on the counter.  Liverpool unlike what Manchester United did last week to them, refused to park the bus and hit Spurs on the counter.  It may be 9 years since Spurs have beaten a Liverpool squad, today there was an air of confidence in how Spurs approached the game.  More than this being a solid win for Spurs, this was a very bad loss for Liverpool.  Spurs players continue to be wasteful with their chances but so have Liverpool.  The difference now is that Spurs have a far superior defensive resilience, something Tottenham teams have not been known for in the past.

The defensive frailties of Liverpool negated what is one of the strongest forward lines.  Liverpool have built their team from their forward line, Pochettino has focused on creating an extremely tight and well disciplined backline and then add a strong attacking lineup to link up with that. Next week comes one of the two biggest tests in this league season - the visit to Manchester United that will test their championship aspirations.  The other test is the two games against Manchester City.  Spurs are now level on points with United but trail City by 5pts. If Spurs are to hold title aspirations they may need to win both games against Manchester City.

For Liverpool, today's 4-1 defeat was a bad loss, especially since it now puts them 12 points behind the.  For Spurs Pochettino's project continues to blossom and Chairman Levy has backed up that project with investments in a state of the art training ground, coupled with the build of a new $850 million dollar 61,000 seater stadium that is also going to be a cutting edge design, with a retractable pitch that can change the stadium for NFL matches and a fully digitally connected stadium.

The next step after the Old Trafford visit next Saturday morning is the return Champions League fixture against Real Madrid to be played at Wembley.  After these two games are complete, we will finally get a sense where Tottenham really are as title contenders this year.