I see a lot of longing for Vertonghen to come back, maybe that will fix things maybe not, he was in the first XI last season and we conceded the same shitty goals constantly so that’s not a given.
The most obvious thing that has to change is the attitude of the team, these slow starts are something that is purely an attitude issue and it’s been going on for more than a year. We start matches in this weird mode where we play complacent tippy tappy football (and invite errors) yet combine it with this timid sideways approach when we attack.
Despite the limitations of Winks and Sissoko there is no reason for them to play such safety first football. We are Tottenham FFS, enjoy the game and go out there and win. The team has still not adjusted to the departure of Dembele but they have to do it, he was a great player but we shouldn’t be labouring against dross like we were today just because he isn’t there.
Winks and others have gone backwards and started playing AVB-ball, just running out the clock passing sideways. You win games by passing the ball forward, not sideways.