{"id":1086392,"date":"2019-04-28T18:38:30","date_gmt":"2019-04-28T17:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1086392"},"modified":"2022-09-20T22:26:46","modified_gmt":"2022-09-20T21:26:46","slug":"souness-tottenham-spursy-west-ham","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/news\/souness-tottenham-spursy-west-ham\/","title":{"rendered":"Tottenham’s lack of squad depth has come back to bite Pochettino, insists Souness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tottenham Hotspur are paying for their lack of strength in depth during the Premier League run-in, according to former Liverpool midfielder Graeme Souness.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spurs were beaten 1-0 by West Ham United on Saturday afternoon, their first defeat at their new stadium, when a win would have all but confirmed third place.<\/p>\n

What is Tottenham’s problem? Four key things to know…<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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  1. Tottenham have lost two of their last three Premier League games.<\/li>\n
  2. While a defeat to Manchester City may have been forgiven, Spurs’ 1-0 loss to West Ham saw their team questioned.<\/li>\n
  3. Tottenham’s late-season run includes two Champions League semi-final ties against Ajax.<\/li>\n
  4. And Souness believes Tottenham are struggling to cope with their poor squad depth.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    https:\/\/audioboom.com\/posts\/7241178-squawka-talker-awards-player-of-the-year-to-the-premier-league-s-biggest-flop<\/p>\n

    Michail Antonio scored the only goal of the afternoon in the second half, becoming the first opposition player to net at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the process.<\/p>\n

    The defeat came in Tottenham’s seventh of eight planned games for April, after their progress to the Champions League semi-finals, and though the club have been celebrating their achievements, Souness believes Tottenham are turning ‘Spursy’ once again.<\/p>\n

    “I think this is just the lack of numbers for Spurs coming back to bite them,” he told Sky Sports of Tottenham’s problems.<\/p>\n

    “We spoke about it before, they’ve done fabulously well to get to the semi-finals of the European Cup, but it’s come back to bite them.<\/p>\n

    \"\"

    READ MORE: Key winners and losers as Antonio opens up race for third<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

    “They couldn’t freshen it up, and I hate to say it, but it was a bit ‘Spursy’.<\/p>\n

    “When push comes to shove they knew how vital it was. I put it down to the quality outside the 13, 14 players isn’t there for them.”<\/p>\n

    With Harry Kane out injured and Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura starting, Tottenham had to rely on Fernando Llorente and Vincent Janssen as their attacking changes from the bench against West Ham – two players not currently in goalscoring form.<\/p>\n

    https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BCQRd9I37No<\/p>\n

    Subscribe to Squawka\u2019s Youtube channel here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Pochettino worried following first defeat at new home<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    The next two weeks are arguably the biggest Tottenham have experienced for some time, with the north London side playing for a potential Champions League final place.<\/p>\n

    Spurs welcome dark horses Ajax to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday before travelling to Amsterdam the following Wednesday.<\/p>\n

    And Mauricio Pochettino has admitted he is worried about how the West Ham defeat will affect his side.<\/p>\n

    \u201cI am disappointed because it\u2019s a setback,\u201d he told reporters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    \u201cWe wanted to win the three points to be in a good position and arrive in the Champions League game in a very good mood and good way.<\/p>\n

    \u201cThe feeling for everyone has changed quickly. After the win here against Brighton on Tuesday everyone had a very good feeling \u2013 that we are having a fantastic season and we are going to arrive in our best condition.<\/p>\n

    “But after our defeat today it\u2019s like we will arrive the complete opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n