Alan Shearer believes that Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City have all improved this season, but Tottenham are at risk of being left behind.
His assessment comes after Spurs suffered their first defeat in the Premier League this season away at Chelsea, but ultimately performances haven’t been great from them in recent weeks.
Coupled with their early exit from the Champions League last week, it hasn’t been a positive start to the campaign for Mauricio Pochettino, and Shearer has taken exception with the Argentine tactician on his decision-making in Europe too.
“Chelsea in particular have improved, but Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal also look stronger than last season,” Shearer started in his column for The Sun.
“Not so Tottenham, however. I see no improvement from a side that got so close to winning the title last campaign.”
The Newcastle United legend’s focus quickly switch to that controversial decision from Pochettino to shuffle his pack against Monaco with Chelsea in mind, while he also questioned the quality of the players that the club brought in over the summer.
“You simply do not weaken your side when faced with a game you have to win to stand a chance of progressing in the Champions League.
“What is the point of working so hard to get into it, if you’re going to take a risk like that? And it backfired badly as they lost both games in any case.”
Shearer had plenty of praise for Chelsea and Antonio Conte in particular, and believes that the summer signings have worked well while the Italian has got some of the players he inherited back playing at their best level.
In contrast, he has seen a dip from Spurs players including Eric Dier and Dele Alli, and believes that is what is also costing the north London outfit right now.
Pochettino has got some difficult questions being asked of him, and he’ll be desperate for a response from his players against Swansea City this weekend.
A win would get them back on track and in the mix with the top four, but another disappointing setback and their solid start to the season could start to unravel.