Lack of Courage Costs Pochettino and Tottenham Hotspur in Bournemouth Draw

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino literally laughed in response to a question in his pre-Bournemouth press conference about striker Vincent Janssen's lack of goals so far. It wasn't intended in a mean way, but rather with surprise people were scrutinising the 22-year-old summer signing so intensely.

"He is young, he is coming from Netherlands and always the players that come from outside need time," Pochettino replied, stressing the need for patience with the import. "The most important thing is he's always focusing on trying to improve, work hard, and that is the better way to arrive to score in the game."

Ignoring his own advice, or not sufficiently believing his words in the first place, Pochettino did not start Janssen in the 0-0 draw with Cherries. It was a strategic misjudgement and, after the aforementioned backing, a cowardly choice from which the subsequent Tottenham display followed suit.

In criticising a lack of courage from the north Londoners, there is a tangle of footballing principles that needs unwinding first.

On paper, the more straightforward Janssen would seem a safer choice up front. Heung-Min Son, who did start against Bournemouth, has a greater element of surprise in the choices he makes dribbling, passing and shooting from various angles.

Before the match, Pochettino cited the South Korean's display leading the line in their 2-0 win over Manchester City prior to the international break as a reason informing the choice (see above).

In that impressive victory, he kept the opponents' defence guessing, individually charging at them in their penalty area and tempting them out of position with deceptive or misleading looks to team-mates further back.

In many matches, flexibility in attempting to unlock a team is welcome. But here was a case where imagination and bravery in creative decisions needed a more fixed component to work around, someone to do the ugly jobs that would allow those minds to flourish.

The combative Janssen seemed an obvious choice here.

Bournemouth are looking more confident throughout their side this season, but at the back, they are still liable to be caught out.

Three of the four goals the Cherries conceded at Man City saw them ripped apart with ease. Against Watford, goals from Troy Deeney and Isaac Success came after some abject marking and twice cancelled out leads in a 2-2 draw.

Utilised from the start, the Janssen seen in the two preceding draws with West Bromwich Albion and Bayer Leverkusen could have soon unsettled and provoked the Bournemouth defence—albeit he would have had to bide his time, too, through the home side's early pressure.

The willingness to back into defenders—battering them while holding the ball up—as well as his awareness of pockets to attack and when to look for team-mates from those positions would have made the Cherries nervous in the close-quarter combinations Spurs' attack relishes.

Furthermore, having a proper focal point to look for when going long and crossing would have given them welcome breathers in that tiring first-half, as well as someone to take advantage of the inevitable pressure they would have applied (and did) as the game wore on—much like Harry Kane offered in the same fixture nearly a year ago, a 5-1 win in which he scored three times.

You have to wonder if Pochettino had his mind turned by questions such as the one mentioned earlier. Maybe the constant criticism about Janssen's lack of goals—just one so far for Spurs, in the EFL Cup win over Gillingham—had convinced him it was a major issue.

Perhaps not. His desire to bring Mousa Dembele back into the team and keep proven creators like Son, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela involved meant someone had to miss out.

It is hard to get away from the scoring drought being the main reason Pochettino overlooked or decided against the tactical benefits. He could have backed a player striving to prove himself and chose not to.

Of course, Janssen wants to be scoring as much as anyone. Kane will be available again soon enough, and without a burgeoning goal tally to point to, the Dutchman will not be a regular starter. But unlike in some earlier games when he snatched at chances, he did not have too many opportunities or any glaring misses against West Brom and Leverkusen.

He was particularly unlucky in the latter game, heading against the crossbar in the first half. The greater takeaway was a sharpness in his all-round work that suggests, had he been better supplied, he might have filled his boots—scoring on international duty with the Netherlands appeared to have boosted his confidence.

As it was, in a game seemingly made for Janssen, he was not allowed his chance to help until the hour mark had just passed.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

For the first 10 minutes after his introduction, he was given little but hopeful punts to chase after. Spurs began to connect with him a little more successfully, but when a decent attack looked like it might make use of his penalty-box presence, fellow replacement Moussa Sissoko crossed behind him. Danny Rose fired tamely toward the bottom corner, and Janssen went back to fighting for scraps.

His remaining contributions included conceding a foul closing down out left and a couple of passes that did not come off.

You had to sympathise. He had so little to work with in a period when Spurs had exhausted their early second-half momentum.

For all the difference selecting Janssen from the off might have made, there was little Pochettino could do about his actual starters' tame efforts.

Right-back Kyle Walker suggested they were caught "off guard" by Bournemouth getting at Tottenham as aggressively as they did, per the club's official Twitter.

There were some early scares, for sure. Jan Vertonghen was alert to stop Jack Wilshere's through ball for Callum Wilson, and then Hugo Lloris deflected ex-Spur Charlie Daniels' shot against the crossbar.

Mostly, though, the defence dealt with the attempts to hassle them. When those further forward moved off the ball and passed with purpose, they looked capable of punishing hosts bewitched by relatively basic interchanges and increases of speed.

It is especially hard to get a handle on Spurs' attacking midfield a lot of the time, regardless of if they are deployed in the parameters of a 4-2-3-1 (brought back with Dembele on Saturday) or a 4-1-4-1.

They veer between shining collectively—see the wins over Stoke City and Man City—and having matches when only certain individuals perform. At Dean Court, Lamela had one of his better attacking days, while Dele Alli and Eriksen were quieter. Although brilliant and inspired at times, in games like this, those players seem under the impression they only have to turn up to see teams off.

Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

It often comes back to that lack of fortitude, a timidity to think outside the box in a team structure that encourages creative thinking. Spurs' players too often cling to guidelines of formation and specific instructions relating to things like pressing and use of possession when they should be using their heads to judge situations accordingly.

Some did not shy away against Bournemouth.

Victor Wanyama was again dominant in midfield, just about shutting Wilshere down. Vertonghen set the tone defensively, and full-backs Walker and Rose grew into the game.

Overall, though, it felt like an opportunity missed to take three points ahead of a big Premier League stretch incorporating games with Leicester City, Arsenal, West Ham United and Chelsea.

"If we want to be contenders, we need to win games like these," Pochettino reasonably said after, per BBC Sport. But with another comment, you can perhaps see where his team takes their cue from him.

"Maybe we need more depth in the squad to avoid a situation like the first 15 minutes," he said, hinting at excuses as he alluded to a possible post-Champions League malaise.

Neither exciting winger Georges-Kevin N'Koudou nor positive, young attacking-midfielder Josh Onomah were included in his matchday squad. Another academy midfielder, the intelligent and brave Harry Winks, was left on the bench.

Even without the likes of Kane and Toby Alderweireld, Tottenham still had more than enough to win this. That Pochettino and his team were not courageous enough to expand on tried-and-trusted methods to more substantially consider what might work against Bournemouth is on them only.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

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