At the weekend, a screenshot of a WhatsApp message circulating in North London was promulgated, raising awareness of the true causes of Tottenham Hotspur's problems. An unnamed Spurs insider talked about deep ditches in the cabin, far-reaching family rivalry, a reluctant trainer Mauricio Pochettino, who would soon be heading off to Real Madrid with striker Harry Kane.
No word of these supposed disclosures is verifiable, on the contrary: It may be confidently assumed that the informant is in fact a supporter of the local rivals FC Arsenal. Scattering morale-killing malice over the hated neighbors is understandable in both camps as part of the fan-missions.
Even the fictitious, however, as every reader of successful novels knows, can hit the true heart of a thing.
Of the former strengths has remained little
Pochettino personally had moored after the out in the League Cup (3: 4 on penalties) against the fourth division Colchester United the shame on "opposing performances in the team". The Champions League finalists preseason lack "the extra, the mental, the energy of cohesion," said the Argentine. "We need time to rebuild this unit, without which you can not compete at this level."
Competitive is his team that receives the evening Bayern (21 clock, live ticker at SPIEGEL, stream at Dazn), actually not at the moment, she is not strong enough, except for the exception offensive with Kane and Heung -min Son, to decide games against equal or even better opponents solely with playful quality. Tottenham owes its steady outperformance since 2014 under Pochettino of collective strength, a closed aggressive style of play and the willingness, based on deep camaraderie, to try everything until the last second.
Reuters / John Sibley
Harry Kane with teammates in training
If this attitude vanishes even in nuances, as in Colchester, or in the similar sluggish 2: 2 draw against Olympiakos and Arsenal in Champions League and Premier League, Tottenham looks a bit drained in the current season.
The data shows that Tottenham is becoming more passive
Pochettino had seen this danger coming. The 47-year-old wanted to rejuvenate the largely unchanged team for half a decade in the summer to set new impetus in the fabric and not least to lead the Spurs back to that high-energy pressing, which formed the actual basis of the rise to the top club.
According to a recent data analysis by The Athletic, the pace and regularity with which the lily whites chase the ball has decreased significantly since 2017. Kane, the often injured Dele Alli or playmaker Christian Eriksen no longer appear able to put pressure on the opposing structure throughout the season.
Pochettino is rightly not afraid that the increasingly wait-and-see tactics could eventually drift off into passivity. His plan was to exchange Eriksen, 27, who had been courted by Real Madrid, and defenders Danny Rose, 29, Jan Vertonghen, 32, and Toby Alderweireld, 30, for newcomers capable of development and enthusiasm. But the quintet found no takers.
The desired transfers did not work
Argentinian Giovani Lo Celso (Real Betis) and midfielder Tanguy Ndombele (Lyon) remained the only reinforcements of the format. Tottenham are currently sixth in the table, ten points behind leaders Manchester City. The team has arrived at a point where players, coaches and fans are beginning to wonder if and how to move up together. With the championship you will certainly have nothing to do this year, and it is also not to be expected that the 2018/2019 can be repeated with a lot of effort and not least a big pinch of luck achieved success in the Champions League. Right now, in other words, it lacks a perspective.
Reuters / Paul Childs
Tanguy Ndombele - one of the few real reinforcements
This is probably also Pochettino so. The coach recently spoke about the possibility of continuing the renovation work in January. Until then, however, one should by no means make the mistake of misjudging the currently noticeable stagnation in the Spurs as an inevitable decline. The overall rather mediocre squad is still able to "kill" the opponents with a few light moments, as New Munich Ivan Perisic warned a few days ago. The Croatian was able to experience the enormous will to win of the Londoners on the pitch in the preseason in the group stage with Inter.
There are bright spots
Tottenham may have since lost a bit of the extraordinary drive for the taste of Pochettino. But there are also occasional rays of hope. In Saturday's 2-1 win against Southampton, the team was able to wrest familiar virtues with hard, collaborative effort in 60 minutes (red card for Serge Aurier), and there was no talk of particular interests behind. "We're all pulling in the same direction," said the coach, "that's the start of working on more consistency."
On Tuesday evening will show whether the Spurs actually manages to defeat not only Bayern but also the oppressive feeling that the time of this team is slowly coming to an end.
