Tottenham's 3-2 defeat by Bournemouth on Wednesday added to the air of frustration surrounding Thomas Frank's team.
The result left Tottenham languishing in 14th position in the Premier League table with just seven wins from 21 league matches.
The latest loss came against a Bournemouth side on a club-record run of 11 top-flight games without a win. But with the scores level heading into stoppage time, Antoine Semenyo netted a late winner for the hosts.
While losing games late on is bound to attract criticism, Spurs' labouring attack appears to be causing the most angst.
Frank's approach can be seen as unnecessarily risk-averse and, while Tottenham's manager may point to the ongoing absence of key threats like James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke, the data supports the suspicion that Spurs simply are not clicking in attack.
Tottenham have played by far the fewest through balls of any Premier League side this season, while they rank in the competition's bottom five sides for shots, expected goals and touches in the opposition box.
Spurs may yet replenish their squad in the January transfer window, but one win in the past six matches in all competitions represents a bleak winter for them so far.