Five things we learned from Tottenham’s 3-0 defeat to Fulham

Tottenham Hotspur put in arguably their worst performance of the whole season tonight as they fell to a crushing 3-0 defeat against Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Here are five things we learned from the game:

Postecoglou needs to change things quicker

Spurs went in at half-time a goal behind. Fair enough, Ange Postecoglou probably expected his team talk at the break would be enough to get the team going. Within five minutes of the second half, it was clear the game was getting away from us as Fulham hit a second, and yet Postecoglou didn’t make any changes.

It wasn’t until Fulham struck their third and the game was already dead, that Postecoglou decided to make a triple switch. By then, it was far too late to salvage anything from the match. The Tottenham bench is stronger than ever right now, and the manager has to call on those players a lot sooner when we are trailing.

Micky van de Ven makes us tick

Radu Dragusin got his first start for Spurs today, and it’s hard to say that he did anything particularly wrong. The only thing he’s guilty of is that he is simply not Micky van de Ven.

The Dutchman brings the speed, composure, and passing ability that Tottenham need to make Ange-ball work, and without him, we look a much weaker team at the back. He may not deliver goals or do anything especially fancy, but van de Ven is the glue that holds the defence together, and we need him back as soon as possible.

Porro and Udogie exposed

Both Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie are usually so reliable. Granted, they often offer more going forward than they do defensively, but tonight, they failed on both counts.

Fulham’s first goal came from a break down Tottenham’s right-hand side, with Porro nowhere to be seen. Then, the Cottagers second goal came from an attack down Spurs’ left-hand side, with Udogie unable to close down the danger.

Sometimes, we can forgive these moments of defensive weakness because the pair are able to deliver something in attack, but they did nothing to get the game going for Spurs in advanced areas, either, and were both guilty of a very poor performance tonight.

Yves Bissouma has to be dropped

After an incredibly strong start to the season, Yves Bissouma has never been the same since he served his suspension from the Luton game where he was dismissed for diving.

He’s no longer controlling games like he was in the early stages of the campaign, with sloppy possession, a lower workrate, and a seeming lack of grit and drive in his game these days. Tonight was a real low point for Bissouma, who was probably the worst player on the pitch, and he has to be dropped for the next game.

The goalscoring run is over

Before tonight, Tottenham had registered a goal in each of their last 39 Premier League games. Now, that run is over, as the Lilywhites failed to really test the Fulham defence in what was ultimately a flat and frustrating performance from the Spurs attackers.

Brennan Johnson, Timo Werner, Heung-min Son, and James Maddison all had really good chances, but when you play poorly as a team, you’ll find that things very rarely tend to go right for you.

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