Tottenham fans are all too familiar with ‘slow starts’. Thankfully, under Mauricio Pochettino, Spurs tend to eventually find a way through teams despite often misfiring in the first half of matches.
Take the Middlesbrough game, for example. Tottenham failed to score in the first half, but it was clear that if the team kept working the ball into the box in a similar manner, they would eventually be rewarded with the opener.
And the goal did come; Harry Kane calmly found the net from the spot ten minutes into the second half.
Spurs’ slow starts would be a real problem is matches ended at half time. Independent blog THBN has published a Premier League table that shows where each team would be if that was the case — Tottenham would be sixth.
Of course this is all rather irrelevant. Games last 90 minutes, and teams take advantage of that. So what does this table show?
Well, it exemplifies Spurs’ slow starts and also shows how other sides approach Pochettino’s men. Many teams sit back at White Hart Lane, and Tottenham take a long time to break them down.
So while it’s not an immediate concern, Spurs could certainly do with starting matches a tad more urgently.
It’s a game of 2 halves… how about do your own work show a table if games started at 0-0 on 45mins
Spurs are a very fit side with all these youngsters. They can afford to wait till later knowing they will have the legs over the opponent in the late game.