Yahoo Sport 
Five talking points from Tottenham's 4-1 loss at Man City
Tottenham were thrashed 4-1 at Manchester City, falling behind in the 14th minute and then conceding three times in the final 20 minutes, with Raheem Sterling scoring twice before Christian Eriksen netted a late consolation goal. Here are five talking points from the Etihad Stadium.
Danny Rose keeps his place
Mauricio Pochettino has been rotating his full-backs for the last month and a half, with the Ben Davies/Kieran Trippier and Danny Rose/Serge Aurier pairings starting alternate matches ever since the home win against Real Madrid on November 1.
That had been the policy for 10 successive matches – but Spurs’ manager mixed things up this evening, picking Rose for the second match in a row after Wednesday’s victory 2-0 over Brighton.
AS IT HAPPENED: Manchester City v Tottenham
READ MORE: Silva-less City continue to set the gold standard
It looked the right call. Davies could easily have been a weak link, with his lack of pace being exposed by City.
It made sense for Pochettino to pick the quicker left-back against the speedy Raheem Sterling. And, in doing so, he set up a potential duel between Rose against Kyle Walker, who had formed a deadly double act at White Hart Lane before the latter’s £50million move to City in the summer.
In fact, though, Rose did not see that much of Walker. He was far too busy against Sterling as City poured forward time and again – and Sterling ended up scoring twice, albeit with the second goal coming after Rose had been substituted late on.
Spurs concede the crucial opener from another corner
The nightmare scenario for Tottenham was that they might fall behind early on, forcing them to take even more risks and leave more space at the back for City to attack.
That is precisely what happened – from a set piece of all things.
The warning signs had been there in previous matches, with the Lilywhites conceding from corners in two of their three previous matches against Watford and Stoke.
Today that weakness gifted City a 14th-minute lead, with Ilkay Gundogan being left all alone to head home from Kevin de Bruyne’s delivery.
It was a desperately careless and lazy way to give such a dangerous team their breakthrough.
Spurs’ defence falls apart as the goals rain in
While Pochettino stuck with Rose for the second game in a row, he brought Trippier back into the side in place of Aurier.
In hindsight, the Tottenham boss may well wish he had gone with the Ivorian again, because Trippier endured a horror show, being repeatedly beaten by Leroy Sane.
It remains a mystery why Pochettino allowed the torture to continue, and Sane ultimately set up City’s third goal after latching onto a through ball played inside Trippier.
Spurs’ right-back was not the only defender who will want to avoid the highlights though.
Eric Dier could perhaps have got across quicker when Kevin de Bruyne raced through the right channel and made it 2-0 – and Dier was then entirely at fault for City’s fourth goal, failing to cut out a routine through ball to Sterling.
Jan Vertonghen also conceded a penalty for a clumsy sliding tackle on De Bruyne, .
Pochettino still refuses to adjust his approach away against top-six rivals
It was hardly a surprise that Spurs sought to play their usual game at the Etihad – Pochettino had rejected any talk of sitting back during his pre-match press conference.
Tottenham consequently sought to press their hosts and play on the front foot, but quickly found themselves second-best in both departments during the first half. They were fortunate to only find themselves 1-0 down at the break.
Pochettino has overseen great progress with Spurs while encouraging an attractive brand of football, but the feeling remains that he should consider being more pragmatic and defensive in matches such as these.
All too often Tottenham are arriving at the Premier League’s toughest grounds and playing into their hosts’ hands, rather than using their counter-attacking capabilities.
Pochettino has overseen 18 games away against the top-six sides and has still only won one of them, while now losing 11. Such a record will continue to undermine the quest for a top-four spot and, eventually, the title.
5. Spurs drop to seventh
On Wednesday night Tottenham beat Brighton and other results went their way, with Arsenal and Liverpool both dropping points, which allowed the Lilywhites to jump three places up the table to fourth.
Today their fortunes were reversed and they returned from whence they came.
Their defeat at the Etihad followed victories for Chelsea and Arsenal, and a draw for Burnley, which leaves Spurs down in seventh, below Liverpool on goal difference due to the margin of today’s defeat.
Spurs’ league position need not cause too much alarm – they will only be two or three points outside the Champions League spots at the end of the weekend.
But third-placed Chelsea are now seven points ahead again and Tottenham do not really want to find themselves playing for only the final, fourth spot.
Follow me on Twitter @BenPearceSpurs and visit my Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BenPearceSpurs/
