Tottenham Hotspur Must Not Lose Faith Despite Loss vs. Man City

Tottenham suffered yet another mauling at the hands of one of the Premier League's elite on Saturday. 

"

City nowhere near as convincing as the score line suggests. Ridiculous game. #mcfc #thfc

— Michael Bridge (@MichaelBridge_) October 18, 2014"

The 4-1 defeat, coupled with a red card and three penalties conceded paint the picture of a truly astonishing match. One would infer an inept performance and a major setback for Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham adventure. 

Through the haze one can glimpse the truth: It wasn't all that bad.

While some aspects of Spurs' performance are cause for alarm, the defeat was not a complete failure of the players or the manager. Etienne Capoue and Younes Kaboul were well below their best at the Etihad but Spurs could still have come away with a draw. Despite the hectic nature of the defeat, there was evidence of progress.

Tottenham's attack looked better than it has against serious opposition at any point this season, and the same performance against a lower-calibre team would likely have earned an exciting win. 

Ryan Mason probably should have given Spurs the lead early in the match, and Christian Eriksen also had opportunities that he might have taken. 

It was surprising to see Pochettino hand Federico Fazio his Premier League debut at the expense of Jan Vertonghen. It can now be clearly judged a mistake but even before kickoff, it looked a gamble. Vertonghen and Younes Kaboul have proven a solid partnership this season and Fazio is a very different type of player.

"

#thfc Big game for Fazio to make PL debut & to play with Kaboul for the first time. Just when it seemed Spurs had settled CB partnership...

— Ben Pearce (@BenPearceSpurs) October 18, 2014"

Vertonghen prefers the ball on the ground and brings it out of defence. Fazio is a warrior, far too similar to Kaboul. With Sergio Aguero selected as City's lone forward, Fazio and Kaboul's apparent strength became a weakness. Neither is quick or intelligent enough to deal with a player like Aguero. Four goals later, that is only too apparent.

"

Vertonghen was the best player on the field last time out v Southampton - on the bench and Kaboul/Fazio v Aguero? Please explain!

— Tim Vickery (@Tim_Vickery) October 18, 2014"

In the absence of Vertonghen this season, Kaboul has produced some diabolical displays. Against Sunderland, West Ham and particularly West Brom, Kaboul gave some of the worst performances of his Tottenham career. As bad as he ever was in his first stint at White Hart Lane, Kaboul was poor in the air and on the ground. Admittedly, he was also disappointing against Liverpool when partnered with Vertonghen, but against Arsenal and Southampton, he looked much more assured with the Belgian by his side. 

Michael Regan/Getty Images

With Vertonghen back on the bench against City, Kaboul was dreadful and repeatedly exposed. He was caught flat-footed for Sergio Aguero's first goal and dived in inexplicably to concede the second penalty; Kaboul had a nightmare against the irrepressible Argentinian. 

Tottenham's captain spoke about learning from last season's embarrassments before the match, but he has clearly failed to learn much of anything.  

Etienne Capoue has been a key performer when Spurs have done well this season.

With Spurs attempting to incorporate elements of Pochettino's pressing game, Capoue is a vital cog. He is such an important part of Spurs' play without the ball and is supposed to provide the springboard for counter-attacks. 

Against Arsenal he was at his rugged best; winning the ball and playing the ball forward quickly.

Against City he struggled. He never deals well with being pressed. He tends to panic and lose possession when there is not an obvious avenue. This is partly his teammates' fault, but it is a weakness that City exploited. 

With Kaboul and Capoue both producing poor performances, Spurs were always going to struggle.

Last season Spurs collapsed against the big sides. While they played well enough against Manchester United and Arsenal, they were remarkably naive against Manchester City, Liverpool (twice each) and Chelsea (once). 

After Federico Fazio's sending-off, Spurs would have been expected to collapse once again. They certainly would have last season. 

Instead, there was a resilience and solidity that was a pleasant surprise. Spurs only conceded once more and threatened to reduce the scoreline through Andros Townsend and Moussa Dembele.

Christian Eriksen gave his most impressive performance of the season at the Etihad. Scoring once and constantly threatening, the Dane was able to push into space opened up by Roberto Soldado's intelligent movement. 

Soldado too was quietly impressive. His penalty miss will, fairly, take the headlines, but he linked nicely and ran hard to tug at City's defence and give Eriksen and Erik Lamela the space to attack. Has Soldado converted his penalty, his display might have been judged as a potential turning point in his Spurs career. 

City were overwhelmed at some points by the aggressive and intelligent selective press. It continues to emerge as an effective way of playing without the ball. 

Michael Regan/Getty Images

Tottenham remain a work in progress, but the key word is progress. Where last season there was an absence of identity and a complete lack of ideas against the big clubs, Mauricio Pochettino has his players moving in the same direction. 

Spurs will not face a better team than Man City, at least until December 3 when they travel to Stamford Bridge. This was a performance with positives and indicative of forward momentum. It is frustrating that Spurs are not yet ready to compete with the very best sides but that is the fault of the previous regimes.

"

Pochettino nearly did it against Arsenal & he had us playing with a lot of belief in the first half against City. That's pretty good going.

— Chris Miller (@WindyCOYS) October 18, 2014"

It will take time to undo the lunacy of the 6-0 at the Etihad, the 5-0 at home to Liverpool and the 4-0 away at Chelsea last season, but Pochettino is the man to do it.