Five Spurs players who need to buck up their ideas after losing at home to West Brom.
The honeymoon period for new Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino seems to have well and truly drawn to a close after they were beaten 1-0 at home by struggling West Bromwich Albion to follow up an insipid Europa League draw against Partizan Belgrade on Thursday evening.
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With Tottenham expected to at least put together a credible challenge for the fourth Champions League spot under Pochettino this season they need to shape up soon, with these five in particular not performing well enough:
Vlad Chiriches
The Romanian centre back was touted as one of the most highly-rated young central defenders in Europe before he made the move from Steaua Bucharest to White Hart Lane twelve months ago, but Chiriches is yet to really show the same form since moving to Spurs, save for the occasional dominant display. He was particularly dreadful against West Brom this afternoon and needs to improve if he is to have a long term future at the club.
Moussa Dembele
Tottenham are yet to find the right balance in central midfield since Pochettino came in and need one of their plethora of central players, such as Belgian international Moussa Dembele, to take things by the scruff of the neck and become the dominant presence that Spurs need in the middle of the park if they are to put more pressure on teams than they were able to do so against Alan Irvine’s Baggies today.
Erik Lamela
The fact that Erik Lamela is regularly on the pitch for Spurs this season is, admittedly, a significant step up from his contribution last term – but he has still not found the level that he had at AS Roma and which persuaded Spurs to shell out such a significant sum for his services. Lamela’s play has been neat and pleasing on the eye so far this season, but this needs to be backed up by goals and assists if the Argentine is to prove to be value for money.
Aaron Lennon
Winger Aaron Lennon has never had the most consistent end product, but the attribute that has earned him such a long spell at White Hart Lane is his ability to inject pace into a game – something that Spurs clearly lacked both tonight and when trying to counter attack in Belgrade during the week. When he is next given a significant opportunity by Pochettino, Lennon needs to grasp it with both hands.
Emmanuel Adebayor
After an anonymous display at White Hart Lane this afternoon, there has to be some concern over whether striker Emmanuel Adebayor is reverting to type after looking like a real asset under the management of Tim Sherwood at the back end of last season. When he is on form and interested the Togolese frontman is a nightmare for defenders with his cocktail of pace and strength, but Adebayor has shown little of that so far this time around.