Why Spurs really could be RELEGATED: The big problem the club can’t seem to solve, the issues lingering from Thomas Frank’s reign and the star who is an accident waiting to happen, writes IAN LADYMAN

Things have changed at Tottenham Hotspur but it would appear they have also stayed exactly the same. New manager, same players and same bad habits. And that’s the problem.

This was officially the most one-side game of the Premier League weekend. That may surprise some people given Chelsea were at home to Burnley and Manchester City were also playing in front of their own supporters.

But this was the weekend’s ‘shooting fish in a barrel’ game by quite a distance and – given that Tottenham were at home in a North London derby – that is utterly damning.

When these teams met at the Emirates last November, the scoreline was the same. So, it transpires, was everything else. Back then, Arsenal had 57 per cent of the possession. Here, that figure was even higher at 61 per cent.

In November the shot tallies stood at 17-3 to Arsenal. This time it was 20-6. In terms of touches in the opposition penalty area, Arsenal won that one 27-4 at their own ground and by an astonishing 46-7 on this occasion.

So what we can deduce us that the gap between these teams remains enormous.

Spurs were thrashed at home by Arsenal in the most one-sided game of the weekend

Arsenal – despite recent hiccups – continue to move forwards while their great rivals are stuck in reverse. New coach Igor Tudor was asked to replace Thomas Frank in a bid to improve this team. The truth is that there was absolutely no sign of it here. As Jamie Reknapp said on Sky afterwards: ‘These teams looked as though they were playing in different divisions and by next season they may well be.’

SPURS REALLY CAN GO DOWN

Some of us have been in denial about this fact for some time. But no longer. 

Spurs are a team without a league win this calendar year while those beneath them are showing signs of life. West Ham have finally started to thrive on the back of the coaching of Nuno Espirito Santo while Nottingham Forest were unfortunate to lose to Liverpool on Sunday and already look to have found some kind of forward momentum under new coach Vitor Pereira. 

This is what Spurs need to find under Tudor but the problem ahead of next week’s visit to Fulham and the home game with Crystal Palace that follows is that they remain beset by injuries. 

With reserve goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky now reporting an injury, Tottenham are without a whole 1-11 of players and the weight of that is in danger of dragging them down in to the Championship. Given that last season’s Spurs coach Ange Postecoglou suffered similarly from absentees, it’s worth asking the question as to why Tottenham regularly seem to have these problems.

DO THEY HAVE THE STOMACH FOR THE FIGHT?

Worryingly for Tottenham fans, all the problems that afflicted Frank’s tenure were on display against Arsenal.

Spurs were erratic and error prone across the back, goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario continues to represent an accident waiting to happen, and in possession they carried absolutely no threat at all.

Guglielmo Vicario continues to struggle and is an accident waiting to happen for Spurs

The goal that Spurs scored was really well taken by Randal Kolo Muani and was his first in the Premier League. It should do him some good. But the fact the chance was presented to him by Arsenal’s Declan Rice, of all people, speaks volumes for how the game went.

Tottenham also look a very tired team and that is a worry with a quarter of the season left, especially given they have Champions League games to factor in.

Midfielder Joao Palhinha — an emergency central defender here — was blowing hard as Eberechi Eze flew by him in the second half, while Archie Gray had nothing left as he meekly lost his duel with Viktor Gyokeres for the fourth goal. As harsh as it sounds on young Gray — overworked and constantly being asked to play in different positions — that was a ‘men against boys’ moment and the handful of Spurs fans left in the stadium will have watched it from behind their hands.

Tudor threw some substitutes on in the second half, but Richarlison did what he often does and went looking for confrontations designed to show how much he cares, but that ultimately achieve nothing.

THE BASICS MUST BE BETTER

There are excuses everywhere for Tudor and his players, but at the same time there are some things that simply must be improved upon.

Tottenham started this game terribly and we have to ask why that is? If a team cannot come hard out of the blocks for a derby at home playing for a new coach then when exactly do we think that will happen? And if it isn’t happening, then why not?

Conor Gallagher looked a little bemused as though he was still struggling to readjust

They could have been two goals down by the time the game was paused for five minutes to deal with a problem with the referee’s radio. Already there had been potentially damaging mistakes by goalkeeper Vicario and forward Xavi Simons.

The pause in play gave the home team an opportunity to effectively start the game again, but there was absolutely no reset and when Eze put Arsenal ahead from 10 yards there were 10 Tottenham players within 10 yards of the ball. Eze was slightly fortunate that the ball fell for him, but ultimately he was unchallenged when he volleyed it home. Tudor (right) touched on this candidly when he said: ‘These are good players with bad habits. They need to change. There has to be a mental switch.

‘They need sharpness and courage to be in the game from the first moment. Otherwise we have a problem.’ Quite.

GALLAGHER COULD BE CRUCIAL

One of the flaws in Tottenham’s modern recruitment strategy has been their failure to buy enough oven-ready Premier League players. Too many have been bought for the future but the problem is the here and now. 

Conor Gallagher’s January arrival from Atletico Madrid was supposed to help with all that but so far his impact has been limited. During this game, the former Chelsea and England player looked a little bemused as though he was still struggling to readjust to the hectic nature of a Premier League game. This was the 26-year-old’s sixth start and he must find his real self quickly.