Tottenham Hotspur have played a cruel trick on their supporters this season. Every time Ange Postecoglou’s side appear to take a huge step forward, they stumble the following week.
It happened just before the October international break, when they recorded what felt like a statement 3-0 victory against Manchester United at Old Trafford only to then throw away a two-goal lead over Brighton to lose 3-2 in their next fixture. In their first game after that window, Spurs ripped West Ham United apart 4-1, then feebly lost 1-0 at Crystal Palace.
Getting beaten 2-1 at home by Ipswich Town — the promoted visitors’ first top-flight win since 2002 — on Sunday, a week after demolishing top-four rivals Aston Villa 4-1 on the same pitch, is the latest instalment in this series.
Tottenham have only won back-to-back league games once this season. It is a pattern which they need to correct quickly if they want to be successful and fulfil Postecoglou’s so-far-factual statement that he “always wins trophies” in his second year at a club.
The underlying data suggests Spurs are a much better team than this time last year, when they won eight of Postecoglou’s first 10 league games following his summer arrival from Scotland’s Celtic. They score more goals and do not concede as many. They win the ball high up the pitch regularly and have become better at playing out from the back. Their squad has more quality and the players in it are fitter.
But it is difficult to keep preaching about the different ways they have improved when they have lost five times in 11 outings. This is still a young group overall, with significant room for growth, but the expectations are higher now.
Tottenham have a bizarre habit of letting their visitors take the lead — which feels unsustainable if they want to challenge for a top-four finish.
Since the start of last season, they have conceded the opening goal at home on 14 occasions — more than any other Premier League side, apart from Manchester United. They seem to enjoy making life difficult for themselves. Sammie Szmodics’ overhead kick was an impressive piece of skill but Jens Cajuste should never have been allowed the time and space to weigh up a cross into the box, and Brennan Johnson should have done more to challenge the Ipswich forward for the ball.
To give them some credit, Spurs have recovered from conceding the first goal to win 10 times (this includes away fixtures) under Postecoglou, which is the joint-most in the league, with Manchester City. They had a “mountain to climb” on this occasion though, because Ipswich scored a second.
The move for that goal actually started when goalkeeper Arijanet Muric’s pass was intercepted by Pape Sarr. Tottenham had around five players in and around the penalty area but Son Heung-min’s cross was cleared and Ipswich then cut through them on the counter. It was baffling how Spurs first threw away a great chance and ended up conceding.
Postecoglou constantly tinkers with the make-up of his midfield. In recent weeks, he has preferred Sarr to partner Dejan Kulusevski instead of James Maddison, while either Yves Bissouma or Rodrigo Bentancur acts as the holding midfielder. Sarr is combative in midfield and his runs from deep stretch defences, while Maddison’s creativity is his biggest asset.
On Sunday, Postecoglou did not make his first substitution until the 66th minute, when Sarr picked up a knock and was replaced by Timo Werner. And although Maddison played poorly in Thursday’s 3-2 Europa League defeat to Galatasaray in Istanbul, he should have been given more than 10 minutes to make an impact yesterday.
Spurs had 66 per cent possession in the game but apart from Pedro Porro’s corner which led to Bentancur’s goal, they did not give Ipswich too many problems. Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna said in his press conference that the pace of Liam Delap and Omari Hutchinson on the counter prevented Tottenham from completely trapping his side in their own territory.
Ipswich kept Tottenham at a safe distance and forced them to shoot from long range. Getting Maddison’s passing range on the pitch before his 84th-minute arrival would surely have helped them pose a bigger threat.
There have been too many times during this campaign when Postecoglou has described his team’s performance as passive. Is it an interesting quirk that all of their victories in the league have been by at least three goals, or is it a sign that when opponents frustrate them and prevent them from playing expansively, they struggle to find alternative ways to score?
The display against Ipswich was a mirror image of that Palace defeat and the second half of their 1-1 away draw with Leicester City in August.
Postecoglou rejected the suggestion that his squad are finding it difficult to juggle the Premier League and Europe. They did not return from Turkey until Friday morning, but he believes they are finishing games strongly, which would not be the case if they were fatigued. Although he did speak about how up and down their form has been.
“That’s down to me,” Postecoglou said. “That’s my responsibility. The inconsistency we’re having this year, ultimately it comes down to me and my approach and it’s something I need to try and fix and see if I can help the players in that area.”
This is the third international break in a row Tottenham have gone into on the back of a defeat.
Postecoglou now has a couple of weeks to fix things before they face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on November 23 in the clubs’ next match.
It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if they beat City for the second time in a few weeks, following the recent Carabao Cup tie. But while this team are capable of producing some thrilling performances, any chance of significant progress is being held back by their inconsistency.
(Top photo: Clive Rose/Getty Images)
