Dropping points

Sitting in 5th, drawing games against teams in the bottom half of the table. If you didn’t know any better, you’d swear this was a circa 2011 Harry Redknapp Tottenham side.

Watching Moussa Sissoko bumble his way around the North London club’s midfield on Sunday, it might be closer to 2001.

If Mauricio Pochettino doesn’t guide us into the Champions League places this season, his shortcomings might be boiled down into two categories.

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Firstly, a failure to pull out really big performances against the division’s elite. The rout of Liverpool at Wembley has been outweighed by defeats to both Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Arsenal. In a mini league against the other founding members of the Top 6, Spurs are rock bottom

What might disappoint Pochettino more, though, is the needless throwing away of points against unfashionable, supposedly weaker opposition.

The Argentine coach will look to the games against Burnley, West Brom, Watford, Swansea, West Ham and now Southampton and feel he should’ve done better.

In the most competitive race for Champions League spots ever, Spurs are drawing their way out of contention.

Malcom in the middle

Last week, I’d pretty much resigned myself to losing out on Bordeaux’s Brazilian winger, Malcom. A player I’d seen at least four short YouTube clips of, but could definitely confirm was the answer to all our problems.

Indeed, it looked for all the world like Arsenal were going to get the run on us, having been aware that some room in their squad (and on their wage bill) was about to be freed up.

But with our city rival’s hard chase of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, it seems as if little old Tottenham have emerged as favourites to land the hottest prospect in Ligue 1.

If we do manage to tangle the 20-year-old in our transfer web, Spurs fans might have to curtail their excitement for a few months yet. Newly appointed Bordeaux manager, Gus Poyet, has claimed that before joining, concrete assurances were made about the future of his star player:

‘He will not be leaving’, the former Tottenham coach insisted. Not this month, anyway.

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The French club are embroiled in a particularly nasty relegation fight at present. They sit just four points clear of danger. As such, Bordeaux president Stéphane Martin has taken a firm stance. His prized asset won’t be allowed to leave in January.

So, any deal Spurs can strike now, will certainly involve Malcom being loaned back to Bordeaux until the summer.

If it’s good enough for Dele Alli…