Brighton vs Tottenham: Aaron Connelly heaps more misery on Mauricio Pochettino - 5 things we learned

Brighton 3-0 Tottenham: The Seagulls compounded a terrible week for Spurs after their 7-2 thrashing against Bayern Munich

Tottenham‘s recent turbulence continued as they fell to a 3-0 defeat at Brighton, conceding twice to 19-year-old Aaron Connolly and headed opener by Neal Maupay as Lloris was stretchered off.

The French ‘keeper looks to have broken his arm in the process of spilling a cross which handed Brighton their first. Maupay the beneficiary as he nodded home unopposed.

Connolly then tapped home his first senior goal after Paulo Gazzaniga parried his initial effort, before a second half curled effort from the left hand side condemned Spurs to yet more woe.

More questions will now be asked over Mauricio Pochettino’s future.

Here are five things we learned as Spurs slump once more.

1. Lloris replacement needed

It’s difficult to think of a worse week in a goalkeeper’s life. Last Saturday Hugo Lloris’ attempt at turning Danny Ings resulted in the ball being bundled into his net, in midweek he shipped seven against Bayern, and now another error cost Spurs and his health in equal measure.

A seemingly routine cross from the left hand side somehow had the French World Cup winner spilling the ball back into the six yard box allowing Neal Maupay to nod home unopposed.

And to top it all off, Lloris appears to have broken his arm in the process. Tottenham’s recent struggles are approaching ‘you couldn’t write it’ territory.

Despite his ability to pull off top saves, Lloris has become increasingly error-prone in recent seasons, with the World Cup Final blunder a prominent symptom in what looks a psychological block for the Spurs ‘keeper.

Hugo Lloris suffered a serious arm injury (Reuters)

At 32, Lloris isn’t getting any younger, he’s making more mistakes and lacks the ability required of modern goalkeepers to effect the game with your feet and your hands in equal measure.

Next summer may be the apt time to invest in a fresh, contemporary goalkeeper.

2. Maupay and Mooy key to a more expansive Brighton

A major criticism of Chris Hughton as he departed Brighton this summer was the lack of ideas going forward. Under Graham Potter the Seagulls are reinvented, and new signings Aaron Mooy and Neal Maupay have been the cornerstones of the new style.

For all his obvious benefits to a team, when Glenn Murray is your talisman, your style of football is always going to be restricted to early crossing and direct football.

With the introduction of Maupay, suddenly Brighton have a striker who doesn’t simply act as a wall to play one-two’s off, but excels when dropping deep for the ball, running in behind and poaching goals in the box as he did today.

Combine that with the almost nonchalant class of Mooy in midfield- suddenly the passing and moving is seamless having been rigid an unconvincing just last season.

Potter had his doubters upon his arrival from Swansea, but his quietly progressive mantra has rejuvenated Brighton.

Maupay was a pest for the Spurs defence (Action Images via Reuters)

3. Spurs need to address lack of wide options

Kieran Trippier was condemned to near-parody status during last season, but his recent form in Madrid combined with Spurs’ woeful lack of options at right back has proved that the £20 million fee didn’t come close to justifying the impact of his departure.

Serge Aurier has never inspired trust from his coaches, Kyle Walker-Peters is still growing in to Premier League football and beyond that Moussa Sissoko lacks the technical ability to offer imagination in the wide areas.

At right back Spurs have no forward thinking player, which would be fine if they had natural width in attack. However, with Lamela playing on the right and Lucas Moura on the bench , Spurs lacked the pace and natural width to stretch Brighton.

Even the left hand side of Tottenham’s defence produces similar issues, with Ben Davies only a solid squad player and Danny Rose frequently embroiled in transfer speculation.

Unless Lucas is brought back into the lineup, Spurs are relying solely on Son for any sort of dynamism. A problem that will only ever lead to goal-scoring struggles.

Connolly was excellent for Brighton (Getty) (Getty Images)

4. Connolly the real deal

Maybe he benefited from Sissoko’s occupation of the right back role in Spurs’ defence, or possibly he slots in to the well versed category of ‘unknown quantity’. Regardless, after today’s performance 19 year old Aaron Connolly will have a few more admirers. Two goals, the second oozing with finesse, topping off a remarkable display.

It was his his fifth Premier League appearance, but his calmness of thought accompanied by animated movement and dribbling left Tottenham’s right hand side a wasteland of misjudged tackles and despairing recovery runs.

Toby Alderweireld had a particularly turbulent afternoon, reluctantly bringing himself into Connolly’s wake to desperately try and cover the right channel.

The young Irishman only scored his first senior goal today, but he may already have graduated to the Seagulls primary threat.

Mauricio Pochettino looks on as Spurs suffer another defeat (AFP via Getty)

5.Poch on the brink

Following the 7-2 humiliation in midweek, Pochettino knew a defeat at Brighton could leave him in serious danger.

And here we are, a comprehensively poor performance, and a result to match.

There are an array of diagnoses that can be attributed to the chaos at Spurs; fatigue, tactics, transfer speculation, a stale feeling after six years of Poch reign.

It seems a combination of all these things has contributed. Rose, Alderweireld and Eriksen looked gone in the summer, selecting Eric Dier surrendered the midfield control to the home side, and the right back problems have been persistent.

Whatever happens this season, next summer will certainly see plenty of familiar faces depart, and a few new ones arrive in North London.