Tottenham Hotspur supporters have noticed how their team have conceded a very similar goal four times in the last three weeks.
Over the last month or so, Spurs’ form has been quite mixed, to say the least, as despite beating the likes of Manchester City and Aston Villa, they have also handed first league wins of the season to Crystal Palace and Ipswich Town.
Ange Postecoglou is now coming under a bit of pressure to stop Tottenham’s form from being so volatile following his side’s shock defeat to Ipswich. One major issue the Australian manager needs to sort out is how his team are conceding goals, as a similar pattern is emerging.
Tottenham have conceded a similar goal four times in three weeks
Mohamed Kudus’ goal for West Ham vs Tottenham
Mohamed Kudus was the first player to take full advantage of this weakness from Tottenham as the West Ham forward found himself in space at the back post to slam home his effort.
Jarrod Bowen managed to turn Destiny Udogie in the penalty area and square the ball across Spurs’ six-yard box into an unmarked Kudus.
Pedro Porro’s positioning is questionable, although he’s been given little help from Cristian Romero who is ball-watching on the goal line and Brennan Johnson who’s left the Ghanian the freedom to have an effort on goal. The lack of communication and awareness from the players is schoolboy.
Jean-Philippe Mateta’s goal for Crystal Palace vs Tottenham
Jean-Philippe Mateta was the next player to profit from Tottenham’s poor defending at the back post as he scored after a sumptuous flick from Eberechi Eze. The Frenchman, like Kudus, found himself unmarked at the back post and had the simple task of drilling the ball home from close range.
The move again started down Udogie’s side as the Italian was nowhere to be seen and Daniel Munoz was allowed to pick out Eze with his cross. However, the England international only ends up with the ball following a mix-up from Porro and Romero as they fail to communicate and both go for the same ball.
Matheus Nunes’ goal for Man City vs Tottenham
In a game against Manchester City, you cannot afford to make such silly mistakes and the timing of this goal made it even worse, as it came just before half-time.
As pictured, Matheus Nunes finds himself in acres of space at the back post with nobody closing him down. Where is Porro, Johnson or Romero?
Sammie Szmodics’ goal for Ipswich vs Tottenham
Now, in fairness, this goal was actually just very well finished by Sammie Szmodics as he improvised well with a spectacular overhead kick.
But there is still a sense more pressure could be on him as Johnson shies away, Porro is stood off him and Romero and Udogie are both marking the same man, meanwhile, Radu Dragusin is nowhere to be seen.
It’s clear there is a communication issue in Tottenham’s defence and someone needs to step up and take responsibility for the goals the team are conceding.
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