da cassino online： In a season where we’ve seen few outstanding attacking talents, we’ve seen plenty of imperious defensive displays. That’s probably been the recurring theme of this season. The teams with the best defence have done very well indeed.
da cassino： It’s not that there have been no wonderful attacking displays, though. Diego Costa and Cesc Fabregas lit up the league in September. Eden Hazard carried on that mantle for Chelsea for the rest of the season. Sergio Aguero deserves a very honorable mention too having run away with top scorer, he’s even been out injured this season too.
For Spurs, the attacking highlight is obviously the arrival on the elite stage of Harry Kane. With over 30 goals in all competitions and 20 league goals despite having only become first choice mid-season, he’s probably been even more impressive than the players i’ve mentioned above. And that’s high praise indeed.
Let’s hope he can keep that form going. He needs to be managed well over the next few months to maximise his contribution to club and country, but also to aid his development into a top player for years to come.
That’s what Pochettino has done well this season. He has got his team to attack well, and he’s brought through some good young players too. These are certainly two of Pochettino’s strengths as a manager.
But this season has been a strange one in the Premier League, and it’s been a strange one for Spurs.
It’s been a defensive season in many ways, yet no team has come close to beating defensive records. Chelsea have conceded almost double the amount they conceded in 2004-05 when they set the record for fewest conceded and Southampton have been impressive at the back, but have conceded a few more goals over the last few games.
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And no team is even close to 90 goals let alone the 103 that Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea managed in 2009-10. Man City are head and shoulders above the rest on 81.
So teams have been relying on their goalscorers in one game and then going on to relying on their goalstoppers in the next game. Spurs’ problem hasn’t been so much the goalscoring – though take Harry Kane out of the equation and Spurs may have been in big big trouble – but the real problem has been the defence.
Pochettino’s defence has conceded 53 goals so far this season with one game to go. That’s the same number as Burnley and more than Hull and Sunderland. And that’s been the problem, really.
When you’re able to compare Spurs’ goals conceded stats to clubs who will be relegated, you know it’s been a poor season at the back.
They’ve clearly conceded too many goals, and there’s been too much of a reliance on Kane too. And the key here is the word ‘too’. It’s probably a bad thing to rely on one player, and it’s probably a bad thing to concede lots of goals, but if the likes of Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela had been able to chip in with more goals overall, Spurs could have won more games. Conceding three goals isn’t a problem when you score five, like Spurs managed when they beat Chelsea on New Year’s day.
But it’s much easier to win games when you don’t concede. It’s fine relying on Kane if he’s on form, but you can’t ask too much of him. And that’s exactly what Spurs’ defence has been doing. When you concede three goals, you’re asking a lot of your strikers to score five. They can’t do it every time.
Pochettino has had a fairly successful first season because he’s laid a foundation for the future in terms of young talent and in terms of some attacking play too. And I think that’ll be a benefit in the long run. But he really needs to address the problem in the defence.
If Spurs concede the same amount of goals again next season then Harry Kane’s goals may not be enough to see them challenge. It’s fine to rely on a very good player, but if you do that then you better not ask too much of him. And that’s what Spurs have to avoid next season.
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