Les Ferdinand believes Tottenham have lost their identity

Former Tottenham player and coach Les Ferdinand believes the team has 'lost its identity' but has called on the board to stick with manager Mauricio Pochettino.

Pochettino has come in for criticism after Sunday's 2-1 home defeat to Stoke City - the fourth time in six matches they have lost at White Hart Lane this season.

No one knows what they do and how they are doing, what style they are playing and what they are doing at the moment.

Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ, Ferdinand, who scored 33 goals in 118 games for Spurs between 1997 and 2003, said: "You feel for Pochettino because it seems Tottenham for a long time are trying to change their identity and they have done that now.

Style

"They have done it at the expense of the football club, they have changed their identity behind the scenes and they have changed their identity on the football pitch as they haven't got one.

"No one knows what they do and how they are doing, what style they are playing and what they are doing at the moment.

"Pochettino has come in and inherited players that perhaps he wouldn't have chosen himself but they were there and he has had to work with them and hopefully he will ge given the time.

"There is unrest there at the moment because results are not going the way they want but he's come in and needs to change what he is doing and get his own players and once he has done that then you can judge him.

"It's difficult to judge him on the strength of what he has come in to." 

Under-achieved

Sky pundit and former Spurs manager Gerry Francis agrees with Ferdinand that the Londoners are struggling to find their identity under the Argentine.

He told the Morning View: "They have always been a team for me, and I managed there, that are a big club in many ways,

"They have probably under achieved for many years in terms of winning the championship. They have been a good cup team over many, many years, been in Europe quite a bit, including the Champions League.

I think they have lost their way more than their identity. I watched them against Stoke and it's a difficult one for Poch.

"They have always been a team that supporters wanted to see play attractive football, score goals and that has always been their identity going back to Bill Nicholson.

"I think they have lost their way more than their identity, I watched them against Stoke and it's a difficult one for Pocch.

“At Southampton he had a young, vibrant side who pressed very high with a good work rate, and that is how he seems to like to play.

“With the Tottenham players he has got that is very hard to do, and they don't seem to have an identity of how they are going to play."