Tottenham are in trouble

Some of you are likely to think that this article is too reactionary after Tottenham’s embarrassing exit to League 2 side Colchester United in the Carabao Cup last evening, however, Tottenham have been in a difficult stage for a few months now with poor results being frequent themes at the North London club. Tottenham fans have had to wait a long time and have shown a lot of patience since their side last won a trophy so we’ll be taking a look at Tottenham and the state they are in and what they need to do to sort themselves out.

Apart from their magnificent away win against Ajax in the Champions League semi-final back in May Tottenham’s form away from home has been awful, winning only 8 of their last 26 games in all competitions and picking up only 2 points out of a possible 27 from their last 9 Premier League games and not winning a Premier League away game since January 20th thanks to a 93rd minute winner against Fulham. A worrying occurrence for Tottenham is that they frequently lose leads when they are away from home, with their last 3 games away from home being perfect examples after: being 2-0 up away at Arsenal to draw 2-2, being 2-0 away at Olympiacos to draw 2-2 and being 1-0 away at Leicester to lose 2-1.

It’s Tottenham’s away form that has hindered their chances for silverware in recent years as well, with last seasons FA Cup exit being away to Crystal Palace and this seasons Carabao Cup exit being away to Colchester United. It’s hard to pinpoint why Tottenham are so poor away from home, but if they want to push themselves to possibly challenge for the Premier League and win trophies, it’s something that they are going to need to sort out and quickly.

After Tottenham’s defeat to Colchester, Mauricio Pochettino mentioned that splits and tension within the Tottenham dressing room played a part in the performance and the result, with players having “different agendas in squad” and saying that it will take time to rebuild the team spirit. It’s fairly obvious that Pochettino was referring to Christian Eriksen after the Danish midfielder admitted that he wanted to leave Tottenham back in summer, with the likes of Manchester United and Real Madrid rumoured to being interested in Eriksen. Pochettino added “ maybe performances are good but we need this mental connection, this energy to be all together… we need time again to build that togetherness”.

Eriksen isn’t the only Tottenham player who appears to be uncertain about their future in North London, as Jan Vertonghen, Danny Rose, Victor Wanyama and Toby Alderweireld were all linked with moves away from Tottenham during the last transfer window along with Eriksen. A strong team spirit was key in Tottenham’s brilliant Champions League campaign last season, and it will be needed if Tottenham want to push on from this defeat and rescue their season.

Right now, Tottenham have a huge chance to establish themselves as one of the best sides in Europe thanks to their: manager, fantastic new stadium, talented squad and impressive Champions League campaign last season. It’s time for them to push on from their poor start to the season and remember their strong team spirit and determination that pushed them to the Champions League final and end their long wait for silverware.