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The international break did not do Spurs any favors. Most of the roster, including integral pieces, seemed to be heavy footed and lost. Ryan Mason literally did not look well. Nacer Chadli's most aggressive moments were when he was dogging the referee for 'missed' over-the-back calls. Christian Eriksen appeared to have brought his poor Denmark National team play home with him. Kyle Walker looked horrible defensively, and that was before he was inexplicably put back on the pitch to start the second half. He was hobbling like he'd taken a bullet, but was a better option than what ultimately had to happen: Davies in at center-back, ChiricheÈ™ to the right? I'm not so sure of that. The most apparent takeaway from the match with Burnley, however, is that we should have expected complacency.
I woke up early Sunday morning, I live in the Massachusetts, salivating for the chance to watch Tottenham. It got me through the week knowing it would be televised in the states courtesy of NBC Sports. I dragged myself out of bed for the 8:30 kickoff and plopped myself in front of the television. About three minutes in, after Danny Ings' interception and rush to the net, I cursed myself for waking up for it. Luckily, or unluckily, however you choose to look at it, Ings drilled it right at Vorm, so I stayed awake despite the match's best efforts to put me to sleep.
As the match progressed, it became more clear the Spurs are lacking the heart to finish the season strong. It looks like they just want to finish the season, whether it be on a high or low note doesn't at all matter. I don't exactly blame them, they have played a ton of matches, had incredible moments and had some dreadful ones, and been put through the exhausting gauntlet that is the Pochettino Regimen.
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With all the work put in, it's no wonder that Pochettino's squads tend to slow down towards the end of the season. Last year, Pochettino's Southampton squad became noticeably sluggish towards the latter stages. In fact, over their last 6 matches of the 2013-14 season, Southampton managed only 5 goals. It's a scary statistic when you consider Spurs have finish strong just to be close to the top four in the table, regardless of the season.
In 2012, Spurs got 10 points over the final 4 games of the season. What makes 2012 more impressive is that Spurs had a 9 game swoon during which they earned only 6 points. Sure, they had Gareth Bale and Luka Modrić then, but they also had resiliency. I saw so much of that attitude in Tottenham's current squad. All the last minute goals, the passion to crawl back into games, Harry Kane yelling "Never f*cking give up!", sent chills down my spine. These incredible moments seem to be from a different team than the one we saw yesterday. Where were the mad rushes to score? Where was determination? Where was Harry Kane getting into team mate's faces? You were Sunday's captain for a reason, Harry! If Sunday is any indication, the intensity, the spirit, the desire, for which we loved this team, is on hold until next year. Complacency is what will be seeing from here on out.
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