Tottenham have struggled to maintain consistent form this season, highlighted by their 1-1 draw against Fulham at the weekend. Spurs took the lead in the 54th minute through Brennan Johnson, but Tom Cairney levelled the score for the visitors.
Cairney was later sent off, leaving Fulham with ten men for the final seven minutes, but Spurs failed to capitalise on the numerical advantage as usual.
Pundit Steve Nicol, the former Anfield defender, highlighted that Liverpool have demonstrated this season that there are various ways to secure wins, but he believes Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham only know one approach.
Tottenham must evolve their approach to compete for trophies
Tottenham’s inconsistency continues, as they go from impressive wins like a 4-0 thrashing of Manchester City to disappointing draws against teams like Fulham. With six losses in all competitions and 11 draws, their ability to falter even after a win remains evident. The pundit delved into this issue, focusing on Postecoglou’s tactics, stating that despite initial optimism when they were top of the league, Spurs have not evolved their play style. He argued that unless every player puts 100% effort into running at full intensity from the start, Tottenham won’t succeed. He firmly believes that relying on such an approach isn’t sustainable for long-term success.
While Nicol’s opinion may be seen through the lens of his past affiliation with Liverpool, he pointed out that Postecoglou’s philosophy demands every player to be at 100 per cent, putting in maximum effort. Nicol believes this style of football, while energetic, is unlikely to bring Tottenham the trophies they crave so dearly.
Nicol speaking on Espn, explained
“They [Liverpool] have shown there are different ways that they can skin a cat; unfortunately for Tottenham, they only have that one way”,
“We have tried to give Postecoglou a lot of time to get past that initial ten games when they were sitting top of the league because of the way they played, but they have not changed the way they play.
“Unfortunately, unless every one of them is busting their gut, the veins are coming out of their neck when the game starts and they are getting after everybody and running 100 miles per hour, unless they do that, they are not beating anybody.
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Tottenham have struggled to win back-to-back league games since September, and Postecoglou now faces a challenging task in finding the consistency needed to secure a top-four finish. Their next match is against Bournemouth, where Dominic Solanke will face his former team.