Friday 28 August 2015 11:20, UK
Tottenham's slow start highlights how they're slipping off the pace in the top-four race, says Jamie Redknapp...
Tottenham seem to be making the same mistakes year in, year out.
They were only six points off a top-four finish last season but rather than pushing on this summer it feels like they're going backwards.
First, there's the quality of the squad.
Apart from Harry Kane, who gets you on the edge of your seat when you watch them?
Not long ago, Spurs had so many different options to hurt the opposition. This season, we've seen that if you stop Kane from scoring you can stop Tottenham. Where are the match winners?
This isn't a new problem. For a long time there has been a conveyor belt of top talent going out of White Hart Lane, without the same quality signed as replacements.
Michael Carrick, Dimitar Berbatov, Luka Modric, Gareth Bale... the players Spurs have bought to take their places haven't been in the same league.
It must be so frustrating for Tottenham fans. With the money the club have spent, they should be doing better.
In 2012/13 Spurs were seriously challenging Arsenal for a place in the top four. They seem a long way off that right now.
Then there's Spurs' approach to the transfer window, which, for me, has been wrong.
In terms of outgoings, they haven't offloaded players such as Emmanuel Adebayor, who is clearly not going to be involved with the first team this season.
And while they did well to get Toby Alderweireld, Kieran Trippier and Kevin Wimmer in early, Spurs are still searching for a striker.
Rather than trying to be clever and do something just before the window shuts, they should have addressed this problem before the season started.
That would have allowed Mauricio Pochettino to get his squad organised and ready to attack the Premier League from the gun.
They have finally brought another forward in, with Heung-Min Son arriving from Bayer Leverkusen.
While he may seem a bit of an underwhelming purchase to some Tottenham fans, he gives Pochettino another option and hopefully he can provide an added spark and take some of the pressure off of Kane.
However, they've already dropped seven points, trail fourth-placed Manchester United by five points and it could be up to three weeks before late summer signings are properly embedded into the squad.
We're only three games into the season but Spurs are already playing catch-up.
We're only three games into the season but Spurs are already playing catch-up.
Tottenham's pre-season plans haven't helped Pochettino either.
Spurs played a total of three pre-season matches – and two of those were in midweek, just days before their season-opener at Manchester United. It was a ridiculous schedule.
The manager was trying to get his team organised for a trip to Old Trafford and instead he had to take them to Germany for a tournament.
The priority should be about helping the manager, giving him the best tools so he can get his team in the best shape.
Tottenham's approach hasn't been fair to Pochettino, the players or the fans.
They'll have to find their feet on Saturday night, when Everton arrive at White Hart Lane, though.
Roberto Martinez's side may have been beaten by Manchester City last weekend but their last away game saw them impressively see off Southampton 3-0 at St Mary's.
Everton are a very dangerous team on the road, with James McCarthy and Gareth Barry offering protection in midfield, while Ross Barkley and Romelu Lukaku combine in attack.
It should be a really good game – but Tottenham will be desperate to take all three points.
A return of two points from four games would be a very disappointing start for Spurs and leave them under pressure going into the international break.
I'm predicting a 2-2 draw – but would like to see so much more from Tottenham.
