The lack of quality in Tottenham Hotspur’s central midfield has been a problem since the beginning of the season when then-head coach Thomas Frank experimented with the unpopular partnership of Joao Palhinha and Rodrigo Bentancur. The pair provided a solid base in August’s UEFA Super Cup penalty shootout defeat to Paris Saint-Germain and the early-season win at Manchester City, but over time their inability to progress the ball was exposed.
The youthful trio of Pape Matar Sarr, Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall excelled in the opening day victory over Burnley but were bizarrely never given another chance. Frank and his replacement Igor Tudor tried lots of alternative combinations yet failed to identify the perfect blend.
Roberto De Zerbi trialled Conor Gallagher, Gray and Bergvall together in his first game against Sunderland and they had a limited impact. Following their 1-0 defeat at the Stadium of Light last weekend, former Liverpool defender turned television pundit Jamie Carragher did not hold back in his criticism.
“They have got quality players but a lot of the attacking ones are injured,” Carragher said on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football. “They have got a back four. Cristian Romero is out but you have Micky van de Ven in there, top defender, and the two full-backs who are decent as well. The one area I look at (is) in terms of central midfield.
“West Ham have a better central midfield than Tottenham, so do Nottingham Forest and so do Leeds. That is my one big worry. (De Zerbi) needs to fix the midfield. It has been a problem for three managers already.”
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane poured more fuel on the fire.
“Are (the midfielders) really good going forward? Are they a real goal threat? No, not really,” he said. “They are not technically great and good at getting on the half-turn. Are they amazing defensively? They are not great at that either.”
It sounds harsh but Keane and Carragher’s comments expose the brutal reality. Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison have not played a single minute this season due to injury and their team-mates have struggled to cope with their absence.
They now have six games left to save Spurs from relegation and redeem themselves.
None of Tottenham’s midfielders have started more than 19 league games this season. Bentancur played regularly under Frank until he suffered a hamstring injury in January but the rest have bounced in and out of the team.
It is a totally different scenario at Tottenham’s relegation rivals, all of whom have enjoyed far more settled midfields this season.
Elliot Anderson has started all 32 of Nottingham Forest’s league fixtures, while Morgan Gibbs-White has only been left out of the line-up once. Ibrahim Sangare has started 22 matches in total including the last 11 since he returned from representing Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations.
At West Ham, Mateus Fernandes has been regularly partnered by Tomas Soucek since Lucas Paqueta returned to Flamengo in January. Leeds, meanwhile, have rotated around Anton Stach depending upon the opposition’s strengths. Leeds, West Ham and Forest have a solid midfield core they can rely upon but Tottenham’s has been inconsistent and unstable as demonstrated by the graphic below.
The situation has not been helped by the managerial upheaval. The players have been given different responsibilities under Frank, Tudor and De Zerbi.
For example, Frank started Bergvall on the left of a 4-2-2-2 system in December’s defeat to Liverpool. A week later, the Swede operated as a No 10 in a 4-2-3-1 set-up which led to a 1-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
Spurs have a higher average share of possession (49.7 per cent) than their relegation rivals. The problem is that they never look comfortable on the ball and lack incisiveness.
Forest enjoy a lower share of the ball (47.4 per cent) but have a higher average passes per sequence, which suggests they are more composed and better at stitching moves together.
Forest lead the relegation candidates for line-breaking passes per 90 with 50.5, underlining their creativity and ability to split open opposition defences.
Spurs, meanwhile, have one of the worst records in the division (43.4).
While West Ham are bottom in the above chart, they have a clear identity under former Spurs boss Nuno Espirito Santo that relies less on controlled periods of possession. They are designed to soak up pressure before hitting opponents on the counter through the speed of wingers Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville. West Ham registered five fast breaks in last week’s 4-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers, and that is the joint-highest of any team in a Premier League game this season.
Of the four teams fighting to avoid going down with Burnley and Wolves, Spurs only have one player in the top 10 for chances created by midfielders. Stach leads the way (58) with Gibbs-White (48), Anderson (44) and Fernandes (32) further behind. Xavi Simons is next in line (30) despite only starting 17 games and missing three matches through suspension. No other central midfielder is in double figures for Spurs, which makes Tudor and De Zerbi’s decision to name Xavi on the bench for their last four games even more confusing.
Xavi has been a rare bright spark but is not completely blameless. One goal in 26 appearances is a poor return for the Dutchman, who scored 10 times for RB Leipzig in the German top flight last season. The 22-year-old needed time to adapt to the physicality of English football after joining Spurs in late August when the season had already started. Gibbs-White, who Spurs tried to sign from Forest before switching their attention to Eberechi Eze and then Xavi, has scored nine goals.
Gallagher has underperformed since he arrived from Atletico Madrid in January for £34.7million. The England international developed a reputation as a box-crashing midfielder during previous spells with Chelsea and Crystal Palace but his only goal contribution in 10 appearances is an assist for Dominic Solanke in February’s 2-2 draw with Manchester City. In his press conference before Sunderland, De Zerbi said of Gallagher: “I want to see again the same player I loved at Chelsea.”
“He was a leader in Chelsea, and now he has to adapt to a new club, to new teammates, to a new stadium, to a new everything,” the Italian added. Encouraging Gallagher to push further forward might be a solution to Spurs’ troubles in front of goals. They are the lowest-scoring side in the division in 2026, with just 13 goals in 14 matches.
Unlike his predecessors, De Zerbi needs to quickly identify the midfield combination that is going to give Spurs the best chance of winning their remaining matches. There is talent within the current crop, but they have been poorly assembled and do not complement each other. It is an area of the squad which requires urgent attention in the summer transfer window, however Tottenham’s season ends.