There are about a thousand things I loathe about modern-day football discourse, which has somehow sunk below its previous lowest common denominator by the devolution in quality of football sites and the increasing popularity of social media accounts that exist solely for the purpose of engagement.
I preface this article with a rant, because no team seems to bear the brunt of false criticism moreso than Tottenham, who are readily meme’d by the multiverse of imbeciles of the Internet without any of these individuals actually placing a modicum of thought into their assertions.
Tottenham are coming off a deeply disappointing loss to Brighton, blowing a 2-0 lead to fall 3-2 to one of the best-coached and most talent-laden sides in the Premier League.
There’s honestly no shame in losing 3-2 to Brighton. Even Arsenal and Manchester City on their best day could get outplayed by the Seagulls, because, yes, Brighton is very good.
Had Tottenham lost 3-2 in a match where they were down 1-0, drew 1-1, went down again 2-1, then tied it up at 2-2 before losing 3-2, we would all be spared the same inane takes about “Spursiness” with that smug mug of Giorgio Chiellini gloating about his heavily favored Juventus side winning. (And by the way, think about all the big Champions League matches Chiellini blew in his career.)
Totteham’s biggest problem isn’t Ange Postecoglou, some mythical curse, or any number of the bizarre explanations people seem to be pulling out of their asses. The problem is that Postecoglou and Tottenham have set their team up to be high-risk, high-reward and are willing to take on vulnerabilities that leave them susceptible to these kinds of results defensively.
This past summer, Tottenham were supposed to invest heavily in overhauling a midfield that was nowhere near good enough for the top four, which, in a way, is a backhanded way of complimenting Spurs, because they were very close to the top four just one season after missing out on Europe entirely – and that was with the benefit of the world’s best striker, Harry Kane.
On the one hand, Tottenham spent upwards of 50 million euros on the young and highly promising midfield duo of Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall. But on the other hand, Tottenham didn’t sign a single experienced presence in the midfield who could immediately provide the stability Spurs need to avoid inevitable defensive collapses or calamities.
Spurs have one of the best center back trios in world football among Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, and Radu Dragusin. Individually, all three are legitimately among the best in the league, and you’ll find many Tottenham fans capable of constructing a very compelling argument that Romero is one of the best players in the entire league irrespective of position.
The thing is, all three of those guys are great athletes who are capable on the ball and love making the kinds of high-risk, high-reward aggression plays in defense, just as the fullback duo of Destiny Udogie and Pedro Porro likes to get forward.
Then, Tottenham manager Postecoglou is giving Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison minutes in a 4-3-3 midfield with Rodrigo Bentancur at the base, which, while highly exciting, doesn’t exactly invoke a sense of defensive stability.
Tottenham don’t have a traditional midfield. They traded last season’s issues of stagnation and a lack of creativity for something that, at times, resembles a chaotic mess.
Through seven matches, Tottenham sit ninth in the table, which is four spots behind where they finished last season and well behind their goal of cracking the top four.
Defensively and offensively, Spurs have a lot to like with an excellent back four and a talented attacking trident with new striker Dominic Solanke, so far, impressing next to superstar left winger Son Heung-min.
The problem is that Tottenham are going to disappoint their fans with a few more displays like the one against Brighton, precisely because they don’t have a real 6 or even an upgrade on the 8 situations from last season.
Until Tottenham sign a world-class anchoring midfielder, a top box-to-box player, and a deep lying playmaker who can screen adequately, they are going to struggle to keep up with the other teams competing in the top four.
There’s a lot to like about Spurs under Postecoglou, but they don’t have as balanced of a squad as Liverpool or Aston Villa, for example, and forget comparing them to Manchester City or Arsenal at this juncture.
Right now, their loss to Brighton shows you that, compared to a team close to them in the table, Spurs still have a talent gap they haven’t bridged in the immediate future, and despite Solanke’s decent start to life in London, perhaps they would have been better-served spending a portion of that transfer fee on the midfield help everyone knew they needed.
Forget this talk about “Spursiness” or a nebulous discussion about “mentality’. Tottenham are honestly fine on that front. And they do have a great squad in most respects. They just have one glaring weakness, and, unfortunately, that weakness is in the very foundation of any squad trying to be truly great.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.