Nearly Men Tottenham Hotspur Still Searching for Consistent Final-3rd Edge

Tottenham Hotspur's 0-0 draw with Liverpool on Saturday said plenty about the team's progress of late. The club that conceded 15 goals in four straight losses to the Reds is looking an increasingly formidable group.

This is a different Liverpool setup in so many ways to the one that crushed Tottenham at various points in the last two seasons—you might have heard about a certain German arriving recently on Merseyside. But stifling them as they did was no less of an achievement for Spurs, particularly for a defence whose more solid showings are chief among the improvements to have been made by the team this campaign.

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What Spurs need to cement the idea of progression is a few more wins on the board. After this fifth draw in nine Premier League games, head coach Mauricio Pochettino will be attempting to find the consistent final-third edge that will deliver them.

It was just about all that was lacking in an otherwise efficient and engaging display, one in which Spurs survived early jitters to successfully reduce the possibility of a first win for the much-hyped new Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

At least initially buoyed by the words of their new boss, the visitors dominated the opening 20 minutes. Spurs struggled to string more than a couple of passes together as Liverpool sought to crush any inkling of a creative thought that crossed their minds. Interminably nervy periods pegged back in and around their own box followed.

The match might firmly have swung Liverpool's way had Divock Origi's 10th-minute header gone in off the crossbar rather than end up cleared to safety. As it was, the balance swung back in Tottenham's favour for the better part of the next hour. Their opponents continued to cover plenty of ground, except now the running was with preventative rather than creative actions in mind.

The aforementioned and praised defence provided a solid backing to Spurs' emergence. Origi's runs were better tracked. The previously threatening attempts from Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana to exploit pockets of space were smoothly dealt with by centre-backs Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen.

It was Christian Eriksen and Mousa Dembele starting to assert themselves that most keenly shifted the momentum, though.

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Eriksen carried on where he left off against Swansea City prior to the international break with another lively performance. His deceptively beguiling dribbling and prompt passing saw him successfully venture between the Liverpool lines more frequently. It left them scrambling to recover and allowed the playmaker to bring the likes of Harry Kane and Danny Rose into proceedings.

Dembele, at his focused best, made sure Tottenham did not too badly miss the suspended, in-form Eric Dier in central midfield. Doing enough alongside Dele Alli protecting his defence, he did particularly well halting Liverpool's attempts to break forward

The Belgian still found ways to get forward too. During Spurs' strong mid-game period, his ball retention in tight spaces—via typically silky footwork and a team-best 91 per cent pass-completion rate, per Squawka—helped them sustain their pressure.

That they did not make the most of it was in part down to, as Vertonghen rued post-match (above), Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.

Kane was saved at close range. Kyle Walker from long. In between those distances was early substitute Clinton Njie, who having been teed up by Kane forced the goalkeeper's most impressive stop with a shot from the outside of his right boot.

Like with Origi's chance down the other end, on another day, one of those shots goes in and the game is a different story. Afterward, there was clear disappointment they had not forced the issue and topped off their good work when in the ascendancy. By the latter stages, they had ran out of ideas and steam, and Liverpool's defence were able to again subdue them.

"In football you need to be clinical," Pochettino said, per BBC Sport's Phil McNulty. "We weren't, but I am still very happy with the performance." Dembele was just as frustrated (below), likely especially so given his own standout showing.

Spurs closed down well collectively and, in possession, combined promisingly at times. The latter usually at Eriksen's instigation, and with Kane naturally a frequent target, the lone striker once again did everything right but score—his battle with Martin Skrtel one of the game's more entertaining subplots.

Njie was initially sloppy and off the pace after replacing Nacer Chadli in the 12th minute, but he settled and made several incisive runs in off the left (though the aforementioned chance saw him pop up in the right-hand channel). Erik Lamela was minimally influential but worked hard to have an input in a game that was predominantly played on the opposite flank in the first half. Alli and the full-backs, Rose and Walker, were typically energetic.

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Besides the obvious, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly what Spurs could have done and should do different in front of goal.

They do not feel like the hesitant and impotent attack that so passively played Manchester United and Leicester City in August. Against Liverpool, they felt more in line with the team that plugged away and defeated Sunderland and Crystal Palace, if not quite the one that dismantled Man City.

Arguably, the missing link in the last few games has been Son Heung-Min.

The injured South Korea international has immediately shown himself a capable alternative to Kane up front with three goals in his first five appearances. His turn of pace and close control makes him conducive to upping the team's tempo whether on the counter-attack or in closer confines.

Except for through Eriksen's passing, that was arguably what was most lacking against Liverpool: a directness and suddenness of movement really capable of punishing their mistakes and in moments when they were caught flat-footed.

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The flexibility Son's presence allows may also have kept the team's creative juices flowing later on too, keeping Liverpool guessing in the same way their interchanges troubled Palace and Man City in September. Lamela certainly would have benefited from being able to pop up centrally more often.

Son may be back for the trip to Bournemouth next time out, and for the reasons outlined, his return would provide a welcome boost to Tottenham.

Even if he is, Pochettino and his players must continue to seek the kind of improvements in the final third that will make them less reliable on individuals to make a difference—the kind that have seen the likes of Alli, Dembele and Rose step into positions further back with the team barely missing a beat.