Tottenham 1-1 Sheffield Utd: Five things we learned as Mauricio Pochettino looks to the future

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Dan Kilpatrick @Dan_KP9 November 2019

Mauricio Pochettino answered the prayers of many Tottenham fans by putting faith in the future against Sheffield United but the result was familiar and deeply frustrating.

The Spurs manager left out Toby Alderweireld, Christian Eriksen and Danny Rose – players with seemingly no long-term future at the club – and kept faith with summer signings Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso, who started for the first time in the Premier League.

Eric Dier also kept his place at centre-half, as Pochettino made just two changes – both at full-back – from the 4-0 win at Red Star Belgrade on Wednesday. Spurs cannot have started many – or indeed any? – Premier League games without Hugo Lloris, Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Eriksen under Pochettino and, ultimately, there were reasons to be optimistic about what is ahead.

The performances of Lo Celso, who looks like a classy and gritty playmaker with an eye for goal, and the rejuvenated Dele Alli were particularly encouraging but a draw, which was greeted with boos at full-time, was about the right result at the end of a pulsating match in which the newly-promoted club were very much Tottenham's equals.

Action Images via Reuters

Spurs simply do not look an elite side anywhere on the pitch any more, with the defence shaky, the midfield porous and lacking technical quality, and even striker Harry Kane unusually subdued and brilliantly marshalled by United.

Pochettino's willingness to start looking to the future is good news for the long-term but in the here and now this performance was another reminder that Spurs have had to take a number of steps backwards in order to move forward again.

A fifth consecutive failure to win in the League could see them finish the weekend 12 points behind Leicester and Chelsea, and a fifth consecutive year of Champions League football is looking increasingly unlikely.

Spurs may sweat on Ndombele

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The counter-point to Pochettino's bravery was a possible injury to Ndombele, who was replaced by Harry Winks at half-time after appearing to tweak his groin early on.

The Frenchman played 90 minutes against Red Star and he has often looked short of fitness during the first three months of the season.

Pochettino's caution with him has been frustrating for fans who are craving glimpses of the "new chapter" but it may ultimately be for good reason.

Luckily for Spurs, the international break is ahead and, given he played on, Ndombele should be available for their next fixture. However, it will clearly take time before him – and Lo Celso – and fully up to speed.

VAR farce nearly decisive

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Another weekend, another VAR farce. David McGoldrick thought he had equalised shortly after Heung-min Son gave Spurs a 58-minute lead but the goal was ruled out by the technology for the most fractional offside against John Lundstram in the build-up.

During a delay of at least four minutes, multiple replays and multi-coloured lines revealed the midfielder's big toe – at the very most – was just beyond Eric Dier's knee.

There was so much to question about the decision, which would barely have been acceptable if we knew the technology is 100 percent accurate, which it still isn't. Lundstram's cross wasn't even the final ball.

Doubtless there will be supporters of VAR, who will point to the lines, the body parts, the centres of gravity but if they need to fall back on these points, the argument is already lost.

Just give the benefit of the doubt to the attackers when the decision is that close.

Spurs fans will point out that they were robbed by a similarly absurd decision against Leicester, and fortunately the Blades did score a deserved equaliser, which meant the ridiculous decision was not decisive.

Spurs shaky at the back

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If Dier and Davinson Sanchez are truly the future at centre-half, the pairing is going to need extensive work. For the second game running, Spurs were all at sea defensively and if John Lundstram's big toe had been an inch shorter and his finishing a fraction sharper, the visitors would surely have won.

Lundstram guided a volley inches wide after a Sanchez air-kick before hitting the post when he was left entirely unmarked in the 18-yard box. At the start of the second half, Lys Mousset turned the Colombian inside out and flashed a shot past the far post as United continued to threaten.

Dier, meanwhile, was booked after 75 seconds and lost McGoldrick for the Blades' ruled out equaliser before also failing to clear George Baldock's cross, which crept in at the back post, for the Blades goal.

The pair were not aided by poor defensive showings from Ben Davies and Serge Aurier at full-back and it was no surprise that Pochettino introduced Juan Foyth for Dele Alli and switched to a back-three for the final 20 minutes to try to shore it up. It didn't work, and there is work to do.

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