Spurs star correct in withering assessment of defence
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To everyone on the outside, it’s obvious what Spurs are trying to do. A winless three-game run has been timed perfectly to give Southampton and Swansea a sniff of overtaking the north Londoners for a Europa League spot, but everyone at the club insists that’s not the case.
The latest Lilywhite to come out in support of Spurs’ supposed committed push for a place in Europe is Harry Kane, who berated “sloppy mistakes” in the 3-0 loss to Stoke at the weekend.
England’s newest hero, whose 30 goals in all competitions for the club deserve to be aligned with a far more successful campaign, claims the White Hart Lane side will achieve nothing if they cannot cut out such errors.
“We gave away two sloppy goals in the first half. We have been doing that all season and it’s something we have to improve,” the striker said.
“I think we were fully motivated, but giving away sloppy goals doesn’t help – especially at grounds like this.”
Despite the slump in form and the obvious attraction in not having to travel to far-reaching corners of Europe on a Thursday night, Ladbrokes still make Spurs 4/11 chances to finish in the top six this season.
Ultimately though, this will be written up as a disappointing term for Spurs, who have a trip to the Capital One Cup final and a potential top-six finish to their name despite wanting Champions League football.
Defence is a problem for the club and Mauricio Pochettino intimated as much in his post-Stoke comments.
Just one clean sheet in the last 13 Premier League games is a sorry state of affairs for any side, let alone one with top-four aspirations, and both a personnel change and style shift will be required if the Argentine is to correct the problem.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
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