Mauricio Pochettino's future at Tottenham: Spurs continue struggling start to the season with Cup defeat at Colchester, why have they been so bad?
Mauricio Pochettino's odds of leaving Spurs were cut in half after has said that continued dressing room unrest is a major reason behind Tottenham's poor start to the season.
Things were meant to be on the up for Tottenham as they started their first full in their sparkling new stadium on the back of a magical run to the Champions League final - they'd even made a splash in the transfer market for once!
However, a penalty shootout defeat to Colchester, who are 71 places below them in the football pyramid, in the Carabao Cup brought Spurs' poor start to the season into sharp focus, and all eyes will be on them this weekend as they welcome Southampton to north London in the Premier League - now desperate for a positive result.
As a result of that damaging defeat, and Pochettino's post-match comments, his odds to be the next Premier League manager to leave were cut in half from 16/1 to 8/1 with Sky Bet.
So. where has it all gone wrong for Spurs? Almost four months ago they were on cloud nine in the Champions League final, now they're in seventh in the table and, more worryingly, are not playing anything like their usual style - and even Mauricio Pochettino has been making worrying noises.
The manager claims Spurs are still struggling to make up for lost time after becoming unsettled in the summer with worry over the futures of Christian Eriksen, Jan Vertonghen, Danny Rose and Toby Alderweireld.
Their futures, though, will also be subject of conjecture in the January transfer window so it's not looking that promising for Pochettino if things continue as they are - and this talk of players having their own agendas within the dressing room will be a huge worry to Spurs fans hoping for an up-turn in results sooner rather than later.
League Two @ColU_Official heaped more misery on @SpursOfficial and Mauricio Pochettino by dumping them out of the Carabao Cup 4-3 on penalties.
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) September 25, 2019
Lucas Moura and Christian Eriksen miss in shootout for Tottenham: https://t.co/jmcWRjzpv8 pic.twitter.com/nTSctlthSh
The manager's view
"When you have an unsettled squad always it's difficult and you lose time and then you need time to recover the time you lose," said Pochettino.
"That's where we are. Maybe our performances are good but you need this extra, which is mental, connection, it's energy to be all together, not to have different agendas in the squad.
"We need time again to build that togetherness that you need when you are competing at this level. We are in a period where it's a bit tough for us but we keeping working to find a solution.
"When this type of thing happens it's about staying clear and fresh and calm. We're trying to find solutions and we only need time."
Was the @Carabao_Cup @SpursOfficial's best chance of silverware this season? 🏆
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 25, 2019
Former #THFC head coach Tim Sherwood says Mauricio Pochettino's side produced a stale performance as @ColU_Official knocked them out on penalties. pic.twitter.com/wQKlhgucMT
Is Poch getting itchy feet?
Pochettino is now in his sixth season at the helm, and nine of his current strongest starting XI were in the side that challenged Leicester for the 2015-16 title. There has been virtually no turnover of the squad in recent years and there is a chance that it has all gone a bit stale for both the players and the manager.
The players have been listening to the same man giving the same message for several years, and Pochettino has been unable to freshen up his squad in the way he would have liked. He spoke about the possibility of leaving the club had they won the Champions League, but now with things not going so well could he be ready to call it a day?
His body language and post-match comments haven't given off the best vibe and many are pointing out that he looks a disillusioned man at times - there's a lack of the Pochettino positivity we've come to expect at Spurs.
Spurs struggling at both ends of the field
Pochettino did warn there would be a "painful rebuild" of his squad this summer, but it ended up being more painful than expected. The inability to sort out the future of a host of players before the season kicked off left them in limbo until the European transfer window shut at the start of the month, and it seems they've struggled to click since then.
The lack of cohesion is strange given that plenty of players have been together for years, and it must be troubling to see these players looking like strangers after spending so long together.
Spurs' Carabao Cup embarrassment was a result of their inability to break down a team who put 10 men behind the ball, and that has been an early theme of the 2019-20 season.
They remain a devastating side on the counter-attack, but when there has been a wall to break down they simply have not got the creativity to get through. That saw them lose 1-0 to Newcastle, labour to a 0-0 draw at Colchester and need two late goals to beat Aston Villa.
At the other end, Spurs' stingy defence used to be the foundation of their success - they conceded only 29 times in the 2016-17 Premier League season.
But, even though four of the back five remain the same, they have become very leaky this term. In addition, they have been flaky when holding onto a lead. Twice they have drawn games from 2-0 up and they lost at Leicester having led 1-0 going into the final quarter.
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