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#2 Pochettino’s substitutions didn’t help matters
Liverpool and Manchester City have been head and shoulders above the other ‘big six’ sides in the Premier League this season, and part of that – particularly when compared to Tottenham – is their strength in depth. Both City and Liverpool can often call upon substitutes who can affect a game – and can score key goals – whereas today, in particular, Tottenham couldn’t do that.
The direct Fernando Llorente was Pochettino’s first choice from the bench but today he made barely any impact at all, running into the brick wall that was West Ham’s central defensive partnership of Issa Diop and Fabian Balbuena. Pochettino even deployed Vincent Janssen – who Spurs have been trying to offload for what feels like years now – but despite the Dutchman almost scoring late on, he had little to no impact either.
Simply put, Tottenham look exhausted right now – hardly a surprise given their congested fixture list this season – and within his current squad, Pochettino just doesn’t have the options that he needs to rescue a game like today’s, particularly with the extensive injury list he’s having to deal with too. It’s something that head honcho Daniel Levy will have to address very quickly in the summer, or games like today’s may become even more common.
