Inability to win the small battles
Tottenham have won against Manchester City, drawn Arsenal and Liverpool. Chances are they won’t lose against United and Chelsea, but a West Brom and Bournemouth – teams in the bottom half on the log would give them a hard time.
While it is true that every top-flight opponent poses a different type of challenge, and victory isn’t totally ascertained no matter the gulf in quality, dominating a not so great team and picking up all 3 points against the lower sides is something the real title contenders master.
Tottenham still struggles in this regards and aren’t looking like a side that would get the key to unlocking those small doors, regardless of how proficient they are in dismantling top teams.
Draws to West Brom over both fixtures and losses to Newcastle both home and away did hurt their title ambitions last time out.
History is repeating itself again. And this particular weakness of theirs is not champion-like.
Defence alone doesn’t win leagues
No player has made more clearances than Vertonghen this season in the Premier League (107), and the Belgium international has the best aerial duel win ratio of any central half (72%) thus far.
His quality mirrors exactly what the Tottenham’s backline is. Pure steel and verve. But unfortunately, while such a solid defence is a necessity to an extent, it isn’t always enough to win the league.
6 league goals conceded and just 1 from open play prove they are best there is at this job, but their midfield and attack need to match the quality level of the rearguard.
That’s proving impossible a task for Mauricio Pochettino’s charges to surmount, and it could be the reason why the league title won’t be theirs come May 2017.