Tottenham Hotspur started the new 2020-21 Premier League season with a flat, insipid 1-0 home defeat to Everton on Sunday, with the visitors good value for their victory.
Spurs had chances through Matt Doherty and Dele Alli in the first half, but after conceding to Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s bullet header early in the second half, looked devoid of ideas or inspiration.
The defeat is certainly a setback and does not bode well for Tottenham this season.
There appeared to be the lack of a definitive plan, with little-to-no attacking pressure applied on the Everton defence.
One thing that was clearly evident was just how much Tottenham missed Giovani Lo Celso.
The 24-year-old Argentina international missed the Premier League clash with a hamstring complaint and in his absence there was a complete lack of creativity and guile in the Spurs ranks.
Under Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham were overly reliant on Christian Eriksen to pull the strings and play a killer pass to unlock an opposition defence.
It now appears that responsibility has been passed on to Lo Celso, with few others in the Spurs ranks looking to have the vision or footballing intelligence to break down a regimented Everton side.
Here’s hoping the Argentine is back available soon as Tottenham have work to do to correct a very disappointing season opener and games are coming thick and fast.