Tottenham Hotspur are firmly in the Premier League relegation zone after a poor 1-0 defeat against Sunderland on Sunday.
With six games remaining, Tottenham are 18th in the league standings. They are two points behind West Ham, three behind Nottingham Forest, and six behind Leeds United. The relegation battle is out of their hands now.
The north London side haven’t won a single Premier League game since December 28, making it a winless run of 14 games. Meanwhile, their rivals are not only picking up points but also putting in good performances.
Jamie Carragher highlights Tottenham’s midfield issues
Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge saw him start a midfield of Archie Gray, Conor Gallagher, and Lucas Bergvall. They failed to make a big impact, despite Gray being one of the few decent players for Spurs this season.
On Monday, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher spoke about the midfield issues at Tottenham and compared them to their rivals. He named Gray and Bergvall as two of Spurs’ better players and said on Sky Sports:
“I just looking at that midfield, and I was really worried yesterday after the game, and it was because of the midfield area.
“Two young kids learning the trade are not gonna get you out of a relegation battle. Conor Gallagher’s come in, who the manager likes, because he’s tried to buy him, but it just hasn’t worked for him so far at Spurs.”
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Carragher added:
“But the one area I look at in terms of centre midfield, I do think the teams they’re fighting against, West Ham have got a better centre midfield than Tottenham.
“So have Nottingham Forest, and so have Leeds. So that is my one big worry for Tottenham in terms of going down. And when you think about De Zerbi, he’s got to do different, he needs to fix midfield, because that has been a problem for three managers already.”
Sunderland’s Granit Xhaka racked up better stats, in both attack and defense, than the entire midfield three of Spurs combined on Sunday.
Tottenham’s midfield has been a problem all season
Spurs have needed a highly technical pass-first midfielder since last season. However, all they managed was bringing in Joao Palhinha on loan from Bayern Munich. Then, in January, they added Conor Gallagher, bloating the squad further without improving it.
Currently, Tottenham have Gray, Bergvall, Palhinha, Gallagher, Yves Bissouma, and Pape Matar Sarr. While they are different in their own ways, they are similarly in terms of preference to carry or dribble. Rodrigo Bentancur’s potential return might help, but it’s unclear when that will happen.
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Moreover, with Cristian Romero out for the season, they need the midfield to turn up to have any chance of building up through the middle.
If Spurs are to save themselves, De Zerbi needs to find his best midfield combination before the clash against Brighton on April 18. Moreover, that midfield absolutely must have Xavi Simons starting in the No. 10 position and not Gallagher, Bergvall, or Sarr.
