SPURS LOSE AIR OF SUPERIORITY
Pochettino’s team look short of cohesion, athleticism and shape as Gunners close the gap
FOR To t t e n h a m , another helter skelter affair, another day when the margins favoured them.
At Manchester City two weeks ago, Mauricio Pochettino’s side were saved when VAR denied the home team a last-minute winner. Here at the Emirates, it was an offside call against Arsenal.
So, Tottenham have two draws from two difficult away games and they probably would have taken that. But the devil of their season so far is in the detail and that leads us closer to the truth.
Spurs led 2-0 here but were often ragged, just as they were at City. Pochettino’s team have lost their shape, cohesion and, strangely, even their athleticism. Currently, at a time when they desperately need to be moving forwards, they look like a team in regression.
Pochettino can only hope his players will return from international duty in a fortnight to prove this has been a mirage.
The decision that rescued them here was correct. Arsenal left back Sead Kolasinac was marginally offside before he crossed low to the far post for the ball to be turned in with 10 minutes left. But even in that moment Tottenham looked desperately vulnerable. The move began with a free-kick to Arsenal 40 yards from goal and it proved far too easy to slice the Spurs defence open.
This is a side who have lost their resolve. Spurs can still play. Some of their football on the break was dangerous. Harry Kane looked sharp, Son Heung-min was the first half’s best player while Christian Eriksen was a threat on his recall. Another Englishman, Harry Winks, was effective, too, especially in the run-up to Kane’s
39th-minute penalty that briefly placed his team in control.
But without the ball, Tottenham look a little lost. At their best, Pochettino’s side are technically able but physically formidable. Currently, with Eric Dier injured, Moussa Dembele gone and summer signing Tanguy Ndombele unfit, Tottenham are missing a fundamental part of their makeup. As such, they are vulnerable against teams who move the ball quickly. Arsenal, for all their crazy and enduring contradictions, can still do that and finished this captivating game with their tails up, smelling a famous comeback in the late summer sun.
On this evidence, there is not much between these rivals and that should worry Tottenham. Arsenal have improved marginally under Unai Emery but not sufficiently to reach the heights touched by Tottenham in their Pochettino pomp.
Tottenham’s problems have levelled things up in North London, that is for sure. As this game wore on, the visiting team could not track Arsenal’s runners, nor could they combat the increasing influence of the combative French midfielder Matteo Guendouzi.
The 20-year-old was excellent as Arsenal grew into this game. A year ago, it was midfield partner Lucas Torreira that people talked about. But when Emery decided to chase the game late on here, it was Torreira who came off, Guendouzi who remained.
With a similar ‘look’ to teammate David Luiz, the two men could not have contributed more different performances. Luiz was his usual, infuriating self, defending dreadfully before the break and then looking altogether more assured after it. One tackle on Son in the 67th minute was so perfect somebody should have painted a portrait of it. Some of what went before was almost comically bad.
Guendouzi was altogether more consistent; full of running, timing tackles and playing simple balls well. If he continues to develop, he will be a star for this side.
That said, where Arsenal are heading this season already looks predictable. Emery has changed a few things since taking over from Arsene Wenger in 2018 and the attacking trio he fielded together for the first time here — PierreEmerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe — will hurt plenty of teams.
But Arsenal remain capricious and unreliable. Emery has done little to solve long-term problems across his defence, for example. Luiz looks no more the answer than did Shkodran Mustafi before him and anybody could have told Emery that, if he had just bothered to ask.
As a spectacle, this was terrific. The pace of the game was unrelenting, some of the finishing — and indeed the goalkeeping — of a high order. What is also clear is that neither of these teams will threaten the dominance of Manchester City and Liverpool.
Last year, the race for the top four was not worthy of the description. Tottenham, for example, lost 13 Premier League games. To compete this time, they knew they had to improve and it is this that lies at the heart of Pochettino’s recently expressed frustrations. But he is not free of blame.
Here he played with a centre half — Davinson Sanchez — at right back with a real one, Serge Aurier, on the bench, while two other recent incumbents — Kyle Walker and Kieran Trippier — are now playing at other big European clubs. Sanchez looked like he couldn’t wait to get off at the end and it was easy to sympathise.
Spurs are a muddle, on the pitch and off it.