Liverpool vs Tottenham: Stretched to the maximum, Spurs enter new era at Mauricio Pochettino’s lowest ebb

Tottenham’s previous resilience seems to have evaporated, symbolised by Hugo Lloris’s soft hands

It is the grandiose new stadium that is intended to take Tottenham Hotspur to unprecedented new levels as a club so it is a cruel quirk of fate that, just as they finally arrive at it, the team itself seems to have gone back several levels.

The last-minute loss to Liverpool made it four defeats in five games, and thereby the worst run of form in all of Mauricio Pochettino’s time as manager. It also ensured they have now lost as many games - at 10 - as both of the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons combined. This side’s supreme consistency and resilience that goes back over three years has given way at precisely the wrong time. Only Fulham are on worse form.

So the question, ahead of the big move, is whether this is just bad form or something a lot deeper - that may point to a bad problem. The lingering worry, as yet mostly unstated but still lurking there, is the fear this side may have now run its course.

It is still just a worry, for the moment, though. One league win and it will go away. But there is now more pressure to that get that win, a feeling they haven’t had and Spurs just don’t look all that convincing. Their previous resilience seems to have evaporated, symbolised by Hugo Lloris’s soft hands.

And the worry there is that it actually predates this spell of form. It has really been happening since late December. At that point, they began to steal wins, to just about get by. And while this is commonly seen as a sign of strength, it can just as often be a warning that you’re running out of steam.

Having the legs was part of the issue, since Spurs did start to have a lot of injuries at that stage, added to the fact that so many of their key players played to the very end of the World Cup and didn’t get much of a pre-season. Hence the even greater relevance of relying on them and how that just reflects a greater factor.

This is a squad that has had no investment in it for two windows and had already been somewhat stretched to the maximum. That was always going to tell and is arguably what we’re seeing now. They’ve just been so limp.

Moussa Sissoko missed a glorious chance to seal victory for Spurs (Reuters)

It could yet bring the wider debate that Spurs invested in this stadium at precisely the wrong time for this team. There is the possibility that one of the greatest generations of players they’ve ever had didn’t quite get the financial backing that could really have taken it to another level. Those resources were diverted elsewhere.

But, mercifully for the moment, this debate will only come if they fail to make the Champions League. That, all of a sudden, is the big challenge now. That is where the massive pressure is, especially given they seemed to have it wrapped up in January.

The fact it is now so close is perhaps the greatest indictment of their current form. But that doesn’t mean it’s terminal.

One other irony is that it was actually this defeat that cemented their worst run of form in over half a decade, that also saw their best performance in some time.

Hugo Lloris made a disastrous late error (EPA)

Pochettino was right in that regard. Spurs were the better team for the vast majority of that game. Even more impressive was the way the bravery of his half-time change made that even truer. They really went for a Liverpool that for much of that match actually looked like the mess that many are now saying Tottenham are. And the discussion would look very different had it not been for the blind bad luck of a Lloris error.

“That’s football,” as Pochettino also rightly said.

That may, however, be one other issue. Lloris may well be at least one player who genuinely has run his course. You only have to look at that stat already doing the rounds, that he is the goalkeeper responsible for more errors leading to goals since 2016-17 than any other bar Jordan Pickford.

Some sources say key club figures would even be open to selling him, and have been for about a year. He did cost his team here, but the hope is it doesn’t cost them any sense of progress. Because that’s what the performance did represent. It was better. It was actually good.

And, for all the unfortunate timing that this bad run comes just as they arrive at the new stadium, arriving at the new stadium may be perfect timing for this run. It may well help end it. If the performance from Anfield can be emboldened by atmosphere that will come from a grand opening, it may well see a grand revival.

It may well see that long-awaited win. It may see them return to what should be their level. They badly need to.