Spurs’ midfield situation as toothless, lacking leadership identity becomes clear this campaign

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Tottenham’s midfield has been exposed as toothless this season, lacking both leadership and a clear identity.  Despite moments of promise, inconsistency and a lack of control in key matches have highlighted their struggles. Without a dominant presence in midfield, Spurs have often been overrun, raising concerns about their balance and long-term stability.

Transcript

00:00Tottenham's midfield has been a major talking point this season, with inconsistency, injuries

00:09and a lack of depth causing real issues for Anj Pasterkoglu's side.

00:15As the summer transfer window is approaching, a significant overhaul is expected with several

00:21players potentially on their way out as Spurs look to rebuild in the middle of the park.

00:27So who could be leaving and what kind of reinforcements are needed to fix the problem?

00:34To break it all down, I spoke to James Trenbath of London World.

00:40You mentioned the midfield a number of times this season. It's so key to whether any team

00:47is doing well or not so well. Is the midfield a key factor into where Spurs have really

00:53suffered this season in terms of their confidence, their decision-making and then maybe Anj not

00:59getting it right with who's playing there?

01:01Yes, the midfield is the biggest problem in the side in my opinion. We lack anybody with

01:05any composure in that midfield. Lucas Berval, his B has been absolutely terrific. I'd exclude

01:10him and I'd exclude Archie Gray as well, who's never actually got the chance barring that

01:13sort of first 60, 70 minutes against Fulham to actually play in his rightful position.

01:19In terms of the future, the future looks pretty bright in that engine room. But this season

01:24that's been a huge, huge problem. I think you could blame the players for that in terms

01:28of the way they get after the ball, the presses all over the place at the minute. Also the

01:34tactics as well. The inverted full-backs are pushed so high up the pitch. One ball through

01:39the midfield, it just takes out everybody. Highlighted none better than when Kerkes ran

01:4470 yards unchallenged against Bournemouth. He put in a great cross, fantastic goal, but

01:50nonetheless, the midfield, Porro's out of position, one ball over the top and they're

01:55in. That's been the problem all season long. We lack anybody with a bit of composure in

02:01there. When Anj Ball first started going, we had Bissouma in there at the heart for

02:04that first 10-game run when he first came in and we looked really, really solid. He

02:09was sat right in front of that back floor, he could take those tight passes. But the

02:13wheels have just fallen off completely. Huge gaping gaps in the midfield, puts pressure

02:18on the two central defenders who are having to cover so much ground because the full-backs

02:21are so high up the pitch. That goes back to the manager, not changing. If it clicks like

02:28it did for that third goal against RZ, it's fantastic, but the times it's clicked this

02:32season have been few and far between and the rest of it's just been pretty, pretty sorry.

02:37The away performances, up until the Fulham game, we hadn't lost by more than one goal

02:43barring the Liverpool debacle at home. But we just haven't turned up in so many games

02:48and we don't look like scoring. We just wilt. We're almost waiting for the opposition to

02:55capitalise. We make silly mistakes at the back and it's just a holy mess at the moment,

03:01unfortunately, for Spurs fans and it's been a pretty desperate, diabolical season.

03:06The situation this season, it's not been ideal. It's not been something that many Spurs fans

03:10wanted, obviously, after narrowly missing out on the top four, those higher echelons of the

03:16Premier League last season when they did so well. Then the fall-off has been quite remarkable,

03:22really. In terms of the last few months, the last six months or so, it's not been good.

03:31Does Ang deserve all the blame? Because you've got this group, this core of still top-class,

03:37world-class players on their day and they've just simply not performed. So,

03:41where do you lay that blame in terms of the on-field problems,

03:44if we look at that, and how they can move forward together?

03:49Firstly, you're right in saying the season's been a complete disaster. I think we're on for our

03:54worst league finish since 2008, ironically, the last time we won a trophy as well. But in terms

04:01of where the blame lies, it's a collective effort, but obviously the responsibility

04:06rests with the manager. Ang had such a bright start to his tenure at Spurs. He really lifted

04:13the club, re-energised us, reconnected us as a fan base, and then slowly but surely,

04:17the cracks have just been starting to appear. Like I said in previous videos, we've got half

04:23the fan base wanting the manager out, half want the chairman out. There's unrest in the stands

04:29every game. We saw it against Fulham, more fans calling Ang out again. We saw with Romero and

04:36van der Ven back inside in the Europa League, the difference they make. You take them out and

04:42we just look rudderless.

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