Opinion: Five things we learned from Tottenham’s 1-0 defeat to Wolves

Tottenham Hotspur made it back-to-back defeats today with a 1-0 loss to Wolves, just days after their FA Cup exit at the hands of Sheffield United.

Let’s take a look at the five things we learned from the match:

Consistency Deficiency – 

Tottenham’s biggest problem this season is that while they can beat absolutely anyone on their day, they can also lose to absolutely anyone. There is only so far you can go in the Premier League when you can’t win more than a couple of games in a row. I very much worry about Liverpool cruising past Spurs in the final portion of the season now.

Bentancur Problem – 

There are many problems at Spurs right now, but I think we are already seeing the lack of creativity in midfield. Tottenham do not have a playmaker, and haven’t really since Eriksen, but Bentancur often filled that void from a deeper-lying position. With him gone, Skipp and Hojbjerg are by no means playing poorly, but creativity isn’t high on their list of skill sets.

Defensive Changes – 

As strange as it was, a back three with Davies and Emerson as wing-backs was working, to an extent. I’m a little confused as to why Conte and Stellini chose to then mix things up in the next two games, rather than trying to ride some kind of momentum. First Romero was dropped against Sheffield, then Dier today. I understand they wanted to prepare Lenglet for his central role against AC Milan, but the Frenchman was horrific today.

New Free-Kick Taker – 

When Pedro Porro, who has a set-piece reputation, rattled the crossbar from a free-kick, it seemed as though Spurs had finally found a new regular taker… only for Harry Kane to blast the next one. I’m hoping that as Porro plays more, he can make the job his own because Spurs really do need that.

You Know There’s A Bench, Right?

Is there bad cell reception in Italy? Did Conte order a sub after 60 minutes but it took half an hour to get through? I don’t understand why Spurs seem allergic to making changes when certain players are not delivering, or the game needs changing. Moura, Danjuma, and Richarlison were on the bench, and a couple should have been on around the 60-minute mark. Richarlison only ended up getting five minutes at the end after Spurs were already 1-0 down.

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