Daniel Wales and James Trembath review what has been a mixed start to the new Premier League season for Spurs.
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00:00I think it is important to look at it from the sort of the standoffish approach and try and be a bit more pragmatic about it.
00:05And I think that's sort of the way Spurs have been a bit this season.
00:07It's not too flashy.
00:10It's not the sort of flamboyance we saw at the start of last season.
00:13And could that bode well for the future?
00:15Or as we've mentioned already, is there something missing for Tottenham at the moment?
00:20Yeah, I mean, there's definitely something missing in the final third.
00:23But I think, you know, and a number of journalists have alluded to this who cover the Spurs beat.
00:27I think it was always going to be a little bit more of a slow burn this season.
00:30We had a very, very unusual position in that a lot of our European players at the Euros in the summer were all defenders.
00:37So there's a number of players, you know, you could throw Romero into that mix as well, who were a little bit undercooked, I think.
00:43And you can tell that we're starting to fade in games.
00:46You know, the Newcastle game is a really, really good example.
00:48There's not many teams that go to St James' Park and dominate the ball like we did, particularly the second half.
00:53But you could see players were tiring towards the end.
00:56And Romero again switched off and cost us a couple of goals that day as well.
01:00So, you know, there's certain individuals and there's certain things we need to tweak as a team.
01:05There's certain things just perhaps not gelling.
01:07You know, we've obviously missed Slanky.
01:09Very, very unlucky that he was injured in that first game.
01:11He's missed a month of football.
01:13Looked a little bit rusty yesterday in front of goal.
01:15You know, there was one where just had that little bit of, you know, sharpness to get the ball out of his feet and get the shot off.
01:21You know, that might have been a different story.
01:23But I think there was definitely positives there.
01:24He certainly bullied Saliba in that first half.
01:27Showed some flashes of what he will deliver for us.
01:30But, you know, we need to start playing to him as well.
01:32There was, you know, there's a time where, you know, the passing through the lines isn't working.
01:36So what's the plan B?
01:37You know, can we mix it up a little bit, go longer, you know, get wide, get those balls into the box, into that six-yard box?
01:42You know, the Newcastle game there was a classic example.
01:45We put so many balls into the six-yard box.
01:47There was nobody there.
01:48That didn't really happen yesterday.
01:50So, you know, there's little tweaks, little things that are not quite sticking at the moment.
01:54But I think it's hard to hold your nerve.
01:56I know in the midst of a bit of a crisis, the bare-faced facts tell you we've lost seven out of the last 11 games in the Premier League.
02:02If you go back to last season, that's not good form for anybody.
02:06You know, I don't think I should be under any pressure at the moment.
02:08But I do think we need to certainly look at certain aspects of the team and certain players.
02:13I mean, you know, you could pick out Romero as a good example yesterday, you know, again at fault for the goal he switched off.
02:20You could argue the goalkeeper should have come out and been a bit more commanding.
02:23But, you know, either way, despite the fact he got a small nudge, he was the wrong side.
02:27He switched off.
02:28He's done that at Newcastle.
02:29You could argue he was at fault again at Leicester as well.
02:33And he was very, very passive in his build-up yesterday.
02:35So I do think there's individuals there that need to be, you know, for a senior leader in the team, needs to start having a look at himself.
02:41And, you know, does Ange needs to take him out?
02:43Is he tired after the summer's excursions with the Copa America?
02:46You know, the internationals do a lot of travelling, especially the South Americans.
02:50So maybe we need to mix it up and then perhaps bring Dragos in for a bit of an extended period.
02:55But we'll see what he does in the next game.
02:58And so what does this say about Spurs' overall direction at the moment?
03:02Because as we've alluded to there, they are perhaps a bit more rigid.
03:07They're not quite the sort of open team they were last season in the sense that A, they were good going forward.
03:13But they did also concede a lot of chances.
03:15It's sort of the opposite on both sides this season.
03:17They don't concede a lot of chances, but then they don't really look like scoring too much either.
03:21So I don't know whether that's a step backwards or is it a step forwards in another sense as well?
03:26So how do you see it after four games?
03:30Yeah, I mean, it's a good, I mean, one of the things that worried me last season particularly was the sort of basketball nature that we played at times.
03:37It almost went back to sort of the years of Aussie idealists when, you know, you score four, we'll score five.
03:41That's never going to get you anywhere.
03:43So, you know, I think we've definitely made moves and, you know, the coaching staff you can see that have come in in the summer.
03:50There's definitely been tweaks in the way that we're setting up, particularly around set pieces.
03:54As I say, we're not as open on the transition, but yet we've lost something going forward.
03:58So we need to we need to find that balance.
04:01You could sort of tell yesterday Madison was playing everything a little bit safe.
04:04Is that because he was worried because we had two number eights and only one number six with Benton Kerr, who's not really a natural number six?
04:10So, you know, there was almost a little bit of fear there in terms of going forward, trying to risk that pass.
04:14So the front players, that's on Ange, you know, we need to get the front players back firing, give them that confidence.
04:21There's one or two players out of form.
04:22Brennan Johnson's had a very, very in and out start to the season.
04:26Odebrecht's only just come in.
04:27He's obviously a young talent.
04:28He looked very, very bright against Everton.
04:31He's faded in the last game against Newcastle, then he started on the bench yesterday.
04:36So that front three, you know, it's not quite as fluid as it was last season in the set-up.
04:40We've obviously got Richarlison out injured, Solanke's been injured as well.
04:44So maybe that'll just come with freshness, with, you know, routines, patterns of play, as people get more familiar with each other's games.
04:51But we definitely need more in that midfield.
04:53And it is a problem, as I said, over the summer, we were crying out for a real defensive-minded number six, a Rodri Mould, if you like.
05:00You could really sit in front of that back four, receive the ball, you know, lay off those quick passes and start the play.
05:06We're missing that at the moment.
05:07And I'm not convinced Benton Kerr or Bissouma is that sort of absolute number six.
05:13So I think that's definitely a problem and a cog in the wheel that's not quite working in the midfield.
05:17And I think that's where the problems are lying at the moment.
05:20Obviously, the individual mistakes, we need to cut those out as well.
05:22But maybe we need to see a bit of Achi Grey, Lucas Bergvall perhaps, two very, very promising youngsters.
05:29Lots of games come in thick and fast.
05:32I think Achi Grey's a real talent.
05:33And I think we could see a bit of a Dele Alli situation once he gets in the team.
05:36I don't think he'll come out of it.
05:37So maybe the Carabao Cup and a Europa League game coming up is a good opportunity to sort of blood those youngsters and be brave in those team selections as well.
05:48And just finally then, looking at Ant Postakoglou himself, because, of course, he's come out in the media a lot lately and sort of said, you know, he always wins something in his second season.
05:57He seems quite confident in himself despite the start, I suppose, he's had to the season.
06:01What do you make of the comments he's made?
06:03And do you think he's been perhaps overconfident or do you think he's just been sort of just himself?
06:10Well, every single fan and journalist will have saved that video interview from yesterday.
06:13And if we don't win anything at the end of the season, that'll be coming straight out.
06:16And, you know, he's almost laid down the gauntlet there and you could argue setting himself up to fail a little bit.
06:21But, you know, I think it's a statement of intent.
06:24It's a confidence boost for the players.
06:26He's got the belief.
06:28As I say, the performances in the first four games have been pretty good, you know, on the main.
06:34We've obviously lacked, as we've just been mentioning, the cutting edge there.
06:37But, you know, one or two wins and I think we'll still be in business.
06:43We'll still be up there at the end of the season.
06:44Yes, it's the worst start for nine years.
06:47You have to go back to Pochettino.
06:49The last time we had a very, very poor start, but we ended up finishing third, I think, and challenging Leicester in the title race.
06:55We started in second that season.
06:57So, you know, Rome's not built in four games, is it?
07:00We need to wait and be patient.
07:02But, you know, undoubtedly, you know, the pressure is going to start coming.
07:04We've spent a bit of money in the summer, albeit not to some fans' levels, but we have invested.
07:09We've also revolved the door and let ten players go out the club.
07:12So we're in transition.
07:14There's no doubt about that.
07:15And we're in the process of a rebuild.
07:17You know, I think all the fans, we need to keep our feet on the ground.
07:21You know, we also need to manage expectations a little bit and understand where we are this season.
07:26But that said, you know, it's a results business and we need to start picking up results very, very soon.
07:30And we've got another couple of tough away games coming up at Old Trafford and the Amex in the next three weeks.
07:35So the fixtures haven't necessarily been too kind to us.
07:38The performances have been good.
07:40Yes, we need to start winning games.
07:43And, you know, hopefully against Brentford on Saturday, we can get back to winning ways.
07:46And that can just give the team a bit of confidence and we build from that.