Critical thinking improves Spurs



Let's touch on another element of success and an element I look at players performance through, critical thinking.

I have discussed a positive attitude, environment and thinking, all essential elements of a successful club, but that doesn't mean you overlook faults or pretend they don't exist, far from it. Identifying them is key to improvement.

If you don't identify an element that can be improved, how can you improve it? When I talk about mental improvement, you can't leave that in the hands of people who haven't identified it, the players. People don't adopt something and analyse themselves through those eyes until it's accepted, then it's Spurs playing catch-up time again.

When I watch a player and Lamela is a prime example, I look at what he does and what he doesn't do. I look at what he does on the ball and off the ball, my recent article on his off the ball running giving cause for optimism is a case in point.

Lamela - a case for optimism

I'm critical of him, not because I don't rate him, but because with the talent he has he should be world class and he isn't. He should be one of the games superstars, he has the talent, but talent isn't enough. I have been critical of his goal threat, he hasn't had one, but the signs on Thursday were encouraging, he kept getting in scoring positions, that is the first step to scoring. OK so he missed three before he scored, room for improvement, but he was there for the fourth. How many other games since he joined Spurs can you say he has put himself in superb scoring positions four times in one game?

Mauricio Pochettino has to evaluate in the same way and make selections based on those evaluations. Tom Carroll is beginning to look like another Tom Huddlestone and looking at his game critically will identify future problems. His passing is an issue.

For many he is an excellent passer of the ball and he is in the sense that he has the ability to pick a pass in different areas of the field. One aspect, however, is a problem, it puts the team under pressure and can lead to goals conceded, it should have done on Thursday, that being the pace he puts on the ball at times.

I harp back to Ryan Mason and why he is a first choice, not the only reason but he speed he puts on the ball separates him from the more languid Mousa Dembele passing style for instance. Several time Carroll took most of our side out of the game with a weak pass, not the decision to pass or who he was passing to, just the pace he put on the ball and the time it took to get to its destination. Jan Vertonghem is another culprit at times when playing to left-back.

It is almost a case of I have done my bit I have passed to someone else, if they lose it because they didn't have enough time that's down to them. Root cause guys, look for the root cause of the problem and address that or it will keep cropping up even if you work at eradicating it. The guy receiving the ball under pressure, if the ball could have been played to him quicker, is not the guy really at fault, the original passer of the ball is.

You watch a game and you'll see for yourself, if X passes the ball to Y there he is not going to have any passing options, sure enough you will see the ball played. So who is at fault the guy who can't decide what to do with it because he has no options and gives possession away or the guy who put him in that position in the first place?

For me the first guy is at fault more than the second, plenty of factors to take into account that could change that, communication being one, but if you watch a game through critical evaluation eyes, you see errors before the error is even made and you'll see areas of an individuals game they could improve upon. That isn't a negative because you are analysing and evaluating something to improve it through critical thinking.

That is useless if you can't devise a strategy to work on a problem and improve that aspect of performance or eradicate the problem altogether. Simply shouting change this or change that isn't going to improve anything. You don't say to a player you need to work on this skill, you tell them how to work on it, why it needs work, the improvement that will come with that improvement, then he'll buy into the change, then he'll be motivated to improve and improve he will.

That happens on and off the field and the improvements the club have been making are clear for all to see. We seem to have a coherent strategy we are going to stick to for the next 5 years, a goal of where we want to be and a path mapped out of how to get there. Along the way, there will still need to be critical thinking, but crucially all of it designed to progress us along that path, not keep pulling us in different directions or tearing up the path altogether.

Right now it's a pleasant path, with grass edges and flower borders each side, yet some choose to see a back street full of bins and rubbish. If that's your thing enjoy your path, I prefer the fresh air of the countryside, the birds singing and an enjoyable stroll down the pleasant path Tottenham are taking.