Tottenham Hotspur’s Season So Far: Pochettino Delivers Yet Again

Tottenham Hotspur have made an impressive start to the Premier League season this campaign and sit fourth in the league table with 27 points from 12 games. Mauricio Pochettino has managed his resources well despite a host of injuries in the early few weeks of the league and saw his team make their best ever start in the league.

However, Tottenham’s form in the Champions League has been far from perfect, having won just one of their four matches this season.

Here is a report card for Tottenham’s season so far.

Tottenham’s Standout performers

Although Spurs perform well as a unit and don’t focus on individual talent, Harry Kane has managed to rack up six goals despite not having the best of starts. He has also bagged four goals in the Champions League, which is quite impressive given the fact that he faced Barcelona and Inter Milan.

Erik Lamela has also shown signs of finally reaching his true potential and has added the spark in the attacking third. The Argentine seems to have put his injury nightmare behind him and has scored four goals in eight league games so far.

Players who need to step up

Ben Davies has struggled with consistency this season, often failing to stay composed against the pressing while appearing tentative against quality opposition. This could be a huge worry for Pochettino, who relies heavily on squad rotation.

Another player who hasn’t been at his very best this season is Eric Dier. The English international has struggled to come up with assertive performances in the defensive midfield role.

The manager and tactics

Efficiency is the key for Pochettino and Tottenham have been able to replicate his same old formula this season. The Argentine has employed his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation, where the attacking midfielder plays in a free-flowing role while either or Lucas or Lamela, use their dynamic movement to cut through opposing defences.

The full-backs break forward with every opportunity, providing width into the attack and service Kane who is good in the air.

However, frequent injuries to star players have clearly has restricted Pochettino to make swift rotations week in week out and Tottenham are in dire need of some reinforcements in the upcoming January transfer window.

Stat courtesy: Whoscored