Still Not Champion Material as Spurs Nearly Blow 3-0 Lead

The deck was stacked against West Ham the moment Michail Antonio had to come off in the first half with what looked like a hamstring injury.  Antonio has historically been the lynch pin in the games West Ham have beaten Spurs before, so it was a good sight to see him come off.

Yet Spurs nearly conspired to hand West Ham an improbable come back from 3 goals down because Pochettino gambled that Aurier would not incur a 2nd yellow card.  Any Spurs fan who see's how Aurier commits to the game know that the possibility of a mistimed tackle is probable, and when it came on cue, Aurier cannot be blamed for his aggressive playing style.

The blame lies with Pochettino who had a right back replacement in Trippier on hand to neutralize the possibility of a second yellow.  That he trusted that Aurier would not get a 2nd yellow card is Pochettino's call and therefore the manager holds the responsibility, but Spurs did escape from this game with a win and so some Spurs fans would be very satisified with a 3-2 win.  Yet if Pochettino is going to declare his side a championship contender, then he needs to learn how to close games out and not make them nervous lotteries.

While Deli Alli did contribute to an assist, there is something not right about his overall play.  Somehow he is one second slower in his decision making and no where near the player he was last season.  He made several poor decisions other than the layoff for Kane to score and readily looked for the foul and thus went to easily to ground and gave the ball away that snuffed out the possibility of creating dangerous attacks.

That Mousa Sissoko could be said to have played with less faults bodes well for Pochettino's strength in believing in players when fans are deriding a particular player and Sissoko put in his best performance for Spurs so far, though he remains vulnerable and not playing anywhere near what his physical presence should warrant.  He is buying into the Pochettino system and while he is being played out of position, he is now doing the minimum job that Pochettino demands from him.

Fears that Harry Kane is not the same player as last year as well, have thoroughly been dispelled in the month of September.  Kane has found his scoring boots and nearly claimed a hattrick, missing his third goal when driving a freekick against the West Ham post.  Christian Erikson was substituted yet played another great game for Spurs, and the youngster Harry Winks showed maturity as a late substitution to protect Spurs lead when being reduced down to 10 players.

Serge Aurier does not deserve criticism for his red card.  He has won the French League Championship twice with his old club PSG and his full-blooded commitment and some really good footwork with the ball makes him a fabulous addition to the club.  If Spurs are going to be champion contenders then they cannot allow teams like West Ham back into the game.  

Whereas Manchester City and Manchester United this year have balanced squads, both of them are competing so far with a champions mentality.  The vast majority of goals scored this year are attributable to both Manchester Clubs.  Today Spurs should have swept West Ham aside, instead they hung on for dear life to present the embarrassing spectacle of nearly losing a three goal "winning" margin.

Davinson Sanchez while still very young (aged 21) has enough presence in the center half position, to let the left-side and right side center halfs to join the attacks the way left back Danny Rose and right back and former Spurs player Kyle Walker did.  With Aurier on one side and Ben Davies on the other, Davies (while not as great a threat as the injured Danny Rose is), has found his own effective style to help push the high line to pressure teams on the attack.

That Erik Lamela is still injured means his return will be like having a new player.  The semblance of a championship winning team is there for Spurs this year, but the reality of having a champions mentality was not fully present today.  Goal difference may matter this year and had a few Spurs players been on their A-game, West Ham should have been shred to pieces.  West Ham fans began leaving the stadium on mass once the Hammers were losing 3-0.  That Spurs did not crush West Ham and also failed to to make the right adjustments through substitutions, puts a dampener on league title ambitions.

It could still happen because despite opening week question marks at home, 3 wins out of 3 away from home has very much kept Tottenham competitive in the league.  That the away form has so far compensated for a terrible home form at Wembley.  The reality is that Spurs did what they had to do and sometimes on the way to winning a title, one must ride through and grind out results, but not against teams which had lost their game plan through key injury.  There is no reason why Spurs could not have scored 7 against West Ham today.  For sure they won, but to nearly lose a 3-0 lead would have been very damaging in terms of building momentum and creating doubts about what Pochettino has done very right, which is to assemble a team system that earned Spurs two successive league title runner-up spots.