Worst defence in the world?

Do we have the worst defence in the world? After conceding yet another comedy goal against Manchester City on Sunday, the question must surely be asked. I suppose I sound like a typical moaning Spurs supporter but is it enough just to be grateful that we didn’t concede our customary five or six against them? We’ve now let in 50 premier league goals this season.

At the time of writing only four Premier League teams have let in more goals than Spurs – Newcastle, Leicester, QPR and Burnley. Three of these teams weren’t even playing in the Premier League last season so it’s perhaps not surprising that they might not be up to speed. (The other team is Newcastle and yes, let’s be honest, it must be even worse to be a Toon fan than a Spurs fan right now.)

[linequote]We have the sixth highest wage bill in the Premier League yet we defend less well than sides who pay their players half of what we do[/linequote]

I am not writing this to criticise Mauricio or our back four. (In the modern game all eleven players are defenders anyway, especially the way Poch plays.) I am writing because it’s amazing to me that it hasn’t been a bigger talking point this season.

Forbes reckon we’re the 13th richest club in the world. We have the sixth highest wage bill in the Premier League yet we defend less well than sides who pay their players half of what we do (even Newcastle’s wage bill is only three-quarters the size of ours.) The protection afforded Spurs goal resembles that afforded to France by the French army in 1940 – full of top of the range, high-specification hardware but most of it in the wrong place at the crucial time.

Obviously total wage bills don’t tell the full story. It’s about players on the pitch but to me our defending is even worse if you look more closely at the players because in Hugo Lloris we have one of the best keepers in the world – we can all remember saves that have kept us in games or prevented an even bigger hammering. Without Hugo I think we can say we’d probably have conceded at the very least half a dozen more goals and be languishing mid-table if not worse.

So what’s the problem?

Is our system workable at the very top level?

Southampton did pretty well playing Poch’s system last season. In 2013-14, 14 teams conceded more goals that Saints – they conceded 46 (four less than we’ve already let in with three games to go). But they only finished eighth. Punching above their weight, for sure (Southampton have the 14th highest wage bill), but still eighth.

Are our players incapable of playing the system?

One of the good points this season has been our improved fitness. Usually by this stage of these season we have more sick notes than Darren Anderton’s doctor. And we look, to my untutored eye, pretty good most of the time until suddenly there’s a gaping hole and there’s Mesut Ozil standing completely alone in our penalty area. Even in our best game of the season, the 5-3 win over Chelsea we conceded two absolutely ridiculous goals. If you don’t think that three goals clear of the league leaders with half an hour to go is a time to play solid defence, when is?

Are our players not good enough?

That’s the easy thing to say and no doubt we’ll see a few changes. But I doubt we’ll bring in players significantly better than the ones we already have. While some back four combinations may be better than others, it’s hard to pinpoint individual players – and, as I said, defence is not down to the back four alone.

[linequote]We look, to my untutored eye, pretty good most of the time until suddenly there’s a gaping hole [/linequote]

A couple of daft goals can be put down to individual errors but when you have conceded as many howlers as us, it suggests something more. I wasn’t going to mention individual players but I will mention one: it’s odd that the wide player who, to me, works hardest on defence, Aaron Lennon, is the one who was loaned out.

I don’t have the answer to these questions but we need to find them. The two prem seasons we finished top four, we conceded 41 goals.