Tottenham vs. Manchester City: 7 Things We Learned from the Demolition

In a matchup that many (or maybe just me?) expected to be close, Tottenham got absolutely lit up by a Manchester City side that looks practically unstoppable right now.

Manchester City won their third game on the bounce, and scored three or more goals for the third consecutive game, while Tottenham lost their second game in a row, losing by three or more goals for the second consecutive game.

With the transfer market coming to a close, Harry Redknapp now faces the tremendous task of trying to convince his team that they actually have the tools to compete with the rest of the "Big Five" in the Premier League (Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal). 

Manchester City's Roberto Mancini has little to complain about following his stars' magnificent performances.   He simply needs to keep his players motivated and respectful of the opposition.

With that in mind, we look at some of the lessons learned by both sides in today's clash.

Peter Crouch Is NOT a Champions League-Caliber Striker

I do not know how many times I've said this now on Bleacher Report, but I'll say it again: Peter Crouch should not be playing for a team trying to make the Champions League. 

Heck, even teams with ambitions to make the Europa League should not buy Crouch.

Crouch is, and for most of his career has been, a one-trick pony. He has never been a prolific goalscorer in the English Premier League, and usually relies on his dominance over weaker, shorter defenders in cup games to inflate his goalscoring tally.

For Tottenham, Crouch has scored 24 goals in two years, with 12 coming in cup competitions.

Why he continues to start for Tottenham, and why he has not been shipped off to Stoke City yet, I cannot understand.

He's a 30-year-old beanpole with an awful EPL scoring record who cannot compete with the bigger defenders of the English Premier League.  Any cash amount above €5 million should be happily accepted.

With Emmanuel Adebayor now with Tottenham, Redknapp would honestly have to be a complete idiot to still have Peter Crouch in his plans.

He's a very ineffective substitute, having failed to score in any of his 15 substitute appearances last season.  Jermaine Defoe and Roman Pavyluchenko, while not among the best strikers of the Premier League, are miles better than Crouch.

Redknapp, for the sake of my sanity and the sanity of Tottenham fans all over the world, get over your Peter Crouch obsession and sell the guy.

Edin Dzeko IS a Champions League-Caliber Striker

It is quite ironic that, opposite to Peter Crouch, was the player whom Redknapp and Tottenham fans all over the world have always wanted Crouch to be: Edin Dzeko.

Before I start praising Dzeko, let me just say that I am aware that his debut season with Manchester City was sub-par.

There is no denying, however, than on the basis of his form at Wolfsburg, and in his early Premier League displays with Manchester City, that he is one of the most talented center forwards in the world today.

Some might feel the desire to say that for at least three of his four goals today, Dzeko was served the ball up on a platter.  Samir Nasri and Yaya Toure provided him with the easiest of chances to finish. 

But that wouldn't be fair for multiple reasons.

For one, Dzeko definitely had to work to finish both of Nasri's crosses. His second goal required Dzeko to exquisitely redirect the ball across the goal while being marked (if you can call Younes Kaboul's defense marking) by a Tottenham center-back.

Nasri's first cross required that Dzeko got himself in the right position and move in between the Tottenham's center-backs, which he did excellently.

Secondly, Crouch is a perfect example of a striker who could not finish the chances presented to Dzeko.

Sure, Crouch probably would've been able to tap in Toure's cross, but has he ever shown the ingenuity to beat out a Premier League defender playing for a top Premier League club while simultaneously redirecting a cross back across goal into the net, freezing the keeper in the process?

Didn't think so. And the argument that he doesn't have service doesn't stand. Crouch plays with one of the world's best crossers of the ball, Gareth Bale.

And then of course, the fourth goal was a work of art. On a day where Arsenal was thrashed by eight excellent goals from Manchester United, it doesn't stand out as much as it should.

But it was a beauty and a further indication that Dzeko has so much more to his game than we saw in his first six months at Manchester City.

Samir Nasri: Maybe He Wasn't Joking About the Ballon D'Or

Okay, calm down, calm down.  I know it's too early to start mentioning Samir Nasri as a candidate for the prize after just one good game for Manchester City.

But the ex-Arsenal playmaker definitely looked inspired and on form in his Manchester City debut.

After struggling for seasons at Arsenal to find a center forward to get on the end of his crosses, it must've felt great for Nasri to see Dzeko excellently convert two of them in his first game.

Aside from his three assists (he also picked up an assist for his through ball to Sergio Aguero, who skinned Michael Dawson before converting for City's fourth goal), Samir Nasri also looked very comfortable in possession and linked up very well with David Silva who also had a very good game.

It's no coincidence that Arsenal was humiliated in their first Premier League fixture with Nasri. The Gunners will truly struggle to replace him with another classy intelligent ball-handler.

Younes Kaboul: Simply Not Good Enough to Hang with the Best

Younes Kaboul is another player in the Tottenham squad who suffers from what I like to call "Peter Crouch syndrome."

There is no doubt that Kaboul has improved significantly since his first spell at Tottenham. He makes many fewer mistakes and has fewer defensive lapses.  He is even better at heading the ball into the net off corners than he was in his first Tottenham spell.

But like Crouch and a couple others in the Tottenham squad, Kaboul isn't good enough to hang with the very best.

His positioning and lack of fight on defense allowed Dzeko to easily convert Nasri's cross for Manchester City's first goal.  His inability to get up with Dzeko and fight for the ball allowed the Bosnian to take the life out of Tottenham with Manchester City's second goal.

It is a bit unfortunate that Redknapp really does not have the resources to bring in a better alternative to Kaboul, who is already technically the team's fourth choice center-back. 

In the future this game should serve as a reminder that, like Crouch, Kaboul is best saved for lower level Premier League opposition, while higher level EPL teams should be left to Dawson, Gallas or King.

The Niko Kranjcar, Luka Modric Combination Does Not Work

As much as I'm a fan of Niko Kranjcar, and am very happy to see him finally getting playing time under Redknapp, playing Kranjcar alongside Luka Modric is simply a recipe for disaster.

This may just be my opinion, but I thought Tottenham seemed completely overrun in midfield, and I personally put that down largely to the lack of a holding midfielder.

Modric and Kranjcar are both creative, attacking midfielders and Tottenham was sorely missing the presence of a destroyer or defensive midfielder in front of Tottenham's already-weakened defensive line.

In the future, it is essential that Redknapp play a player like Sandro Ranieri alongside Modric or Kranjcar to ensure that the team does not get torn up on the counter-attack. He also needs players who can break up play when the team is under pressure. 

Once again, Redknapp does not seem to have many choice here, as Sandro is currently injured and the team's only real other defensive midfielder, Wilson Palacios, is in the process of completing his move to Stoke City.

The team has Tom Huddlestone, Jermain Jenas and of course continues to be linked with Scott Parker, but none of those guys are real defensive midfielders.

Though Lassana Diarra's transfer seems up in the air right now, he would definitely be what Tottenham need alongide Modric or Kranjcar. 

Now Would Be a Good Time for Tottenham to Ditch the 4-5-1

A couple of days ago, I considered writing an article about Rafael van der Vaart, which I intended to title "The Van der Vaart Problem." Due to time constraints and getting busy, I decided not to, but the problem clearly has not gone away.

What is the van der Vaart problem you ask?  While van der Vaart continues to appear to be our best player, week in, week out, his position in front of the strikers isolates them, making them much less effective and stifling the fluidity of our offense.

For the umpteenth time this problem was clearly evident against Manchester City.  Van der Vaart put in a good performance and received the plaudits as our best player.  He took two nice shots, one almost going into the goal off a free kick.

Meanwhile, Crouch wandered like a little boy lost in the park upfront and struggled to have any impact on the game.

Crouch fans will remember that he excelled at Portsmouth due to the presence of Jermaine Defoe as a striker partner right alongside him. As much as people would like to consider van der Vaart a striker partner to Peter Crouch or whatever striker we play up front, he simply is not a striker or a forward.

Just like Manchester City has forced Silva and Nasri to adjust their positions and playing as wider attacking midfielders, now might be the time for Tottenham to do the same.

It's difficult to change the team's formation due to the desire to include Luka Modric, Aaron Lennon, Bale, and van der Vaart all in the starting lineup.  But if results do not pick up, as they haven't since the end of last season, it may be time to switch formations.

One possible idea is to run a 4-2-2-2, similar to what Manchester City played against Tottenham.  Bale and van der Vaart occupy the two attacking midfield spots while Adebayor and Defoe (or Pavyluchenko) occupy the two forward spots.

Luka Modric would play as a deep-lying playmaker alongside a defensive or holding midfielder.

Maybe Roberto Mancini Spends Wisely After All

Ha, you almost believed me didn't you?  No sorry, my opinion on Manchester City's spending has not changed.

They waste a huge amount of money, haven't brought through a single player from the academy under Roberto Mancini or Mark Hughes and have world class caliber players like Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli and Adam Johnson regularly sitting on the bench for entire games.

That isn't to mention the long list of decent players who've been deemed surplus to requirements by Mancini because he "did not buy them." 

Some of these players have the reputation of being troublemakers, like Craig Bellamy and Emmanuel Adebayor (whose wages will still be partially paid by Manchester City while he is on loan). 

Others like Wayne Bridge, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Roque Santa Cruz and Nedum Onouha haven't done anything wrong and deserve to be treated fairly based on their performances, not by whom they were brought.

I do not think they would make the Manchester City lineup even then, but in that case they should've been expediently sold to clubs where they can play, rather than simply allowed to lounge around and earn huge salaries for doing practically nothing.

Still, digressing from my tirade against Manchester City's spending, it seems that once again Mancini has things under complete control at Manchester City.

Many have expected that Manchester City would face difficulties getting all the egos in the squad to gel, but Mancini has excelled in doing so and must be applauded for this.

Unless Balotelli or Tevez do something crazy in the coming days before the close of the transfer window, Manchester City should continue to cruise at the top of the table under Mancini's guidance.

On their current form, I'd venture to say that they will finish no lower than second this season.

Thoughts?

What do you guys think? Do you agree or disagree with the lessons learned from the game today? Why or why not?

Also, I'd love to hear about other lessons you guys thought were gained from the Manchester City - Tottenham game today, either for Tottenham or for Manchester City.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments section below.