Stumbling Spurs give rivals hope in top four dash
THE MANNER of Tottenham’s emphatic defeat to an unusually committed Arsenal in Sunday’s north London derby might have been startling, but the loss itself was in fact a continuation of a stalling of their momentum.
Spurs enjoyed an astonishing purple patch throughout the autumn which brought them 10 wins from 11 Premier League games and laid the foundations for a season that still promises to far exceed expectations.
Yet momentum has tailed off in recent weeks and, although they still enjoy a comfortable lead, Tottenham risk being chased down by Arsenal and Chelsea in the race for Champions League spots if they do not address this slump.
Since their 1-1 draw with Chelsea on 22 December, Spurs have taken 19 points from 11 league games or an average of 1.73 points per match.
That is far from crisis territory, but a marked deterioration from their previous 11 fixtures, in which they took 28 points, or an average of 2.55 points per game. Their seven-point advantage over their London rivals would be far smaller by now had Arsenal not suffered a similar dip and Chelsea an even more chronic malaise.
Pinpointing one overriding reason for their relapse into inconsistency is tricky when there are a number of plausible explanations.
Gone is the predictability of selection, and therefore continuity, from earlier in the campaign, with injuries to Aaron Lennon and Rafael van der Vaart depriving Spurs of key components in their 4-4-1-1 system. Lingering uncertainty over the future of manager Harry Redknapp, and the two-week absence his court case entailed, cannot have helped, while perhaps that purple patch was always unsustainable.
Whatever the root cause, Tottenham can ill afford to let the slide continue, especially following Sunday’s 5-2 wake-up call, with at least one of Arsenal or Chelsea likely to mount a charge in the run-in. The return to fitness of Lennon and Van der Vaart offers Redknapp more options, while he too must want to sort out a mooted deal to become England manager sooner rather than later.
Painful though defeat at Emirates Stadium must have been, the agony will be greater and longer-lived if it is not dismissed as a blip and recognised as evidence of Tottenham’s gradual but steady decline.
THE RUN-INS | TOTTENHAM HUNTED BY LONDON RIVALS
SPURS: 53pts
Man Utd (H) 4 Mar
Everton (A) 10 Mar
Stoke (H) 17 Sat
CHELSEA (A) 24 Sat
Swansea (H) 1 Apr
Sunderland (A) 7 Sat
Norwich (H) 9 Apr
Bolton (A) 15 Apr
QPR (A) 21 Apr
Blackburn (H) 29 Apr
Aston Villa (A) 5 May
Fulham (H) 13 May
ARSENAL: 46pts
Liverpool (A) 3 Mar
Newcastle (H) 12 Mar
Aston Villa (H) 24 Sat
QPR (A) 31 Sat
Man City (H) 8 Apr
Wolves (A) 11 Apr
Wigan (H) 14 Apr
CHELSEA (H) 21 Apr
Stoke (A) 28 Apr
Norwich (H) 5 May
West Brom (A) 13 May
Everton (A) TBA
CHELSEA: 46pts
West Brom (A) 3 Mar
Stoke (H) 10 Mar
Man City (A) 19 Mar
TOTTENHAM (H) 24 Mar
Aston Villa (A) 31 Mar
Wigan (H) 7 Apr
Fulham (A) 9 Apr
Newcastle (H) 14 Apr
ARSENAL (A) 21 Apr
QPR (H) 29 Apr
Liverpool (A) 5 May
Blackburn (H) 13 May
1.73 Spurs average points per league game since 22 Dec
2.55 Spurs average pts/game in previous 11 league games