Tottenham’s lack of creativity is causing major concern this season.
Igor Tudor is the man tasked with keeping Tottenham in teh Premier League, but after a 4-1 defeat against Arsenal, he couldnt have gotten off to a worse start.
With that said, the concerns that he is set to face in charge of the North Londoners are nothing new, and certainly not from his own doing.
However, there is one concern arguably bigger than the rest, and the only man capable of addressing it is currently out with an injury.
Tottenham’s creativity struggles laid bare by stat reveal
You don’t need stats to know that Tottenham have been dreadful in the final third this season, and the fact that they have scored 37 goals is not a true reflection of their play.
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Spurs have recorded just 28.17 non-penalty xG in the Premier League this season, which is a stat that only Sunderland, Wolves and Burnley are worse at.
It means that Tottenham are overperforming their xG by 8.83, which is the biggest overperformance in the top flight this season.
At 12.59 per cent, they actually have one of the highest conversion rates in the Premier League, but the issue lies with how many chances they are actually creating.
Added to that, only 18.8 xG has arrived from open play, and a lot of that is down to the absence of James Maddison.
The Englishman has always been the one who Spurs looked towards to carve out chances from open play, and his absence has been felt heavily this season.
Last season in the Premier League, Maddison created 41 chances with a combined xA + xG of 11.74, showcasing his importance.
How do Tottenham fix creativity issue?
Looking at the starting 11 from the Arsenal defeat, Xavi Simons was the only player in the XI capable of creating something, and when he was nullified, the threat was lost.
If Tudor is to fix this, he simply needs to find a way to get more of his attacking players in the team, even if that means changing formation.
Tudor has utilised a back five for the majority of his career, but if that remains that way, Tottenham are going to be faced with the same issues until the end of the campaign.
The likes of Mathys Tel and Richarlison have shown that they can have a positive impact in the final third, and having them in the starting 11 has to be the first step.