Familiar failings are proving costly for Tottenham and Mauricio Pochettino | Jacob Steinberg

The absence of a genuine wide man and of last season’s dynamic wing-backs is already having an effect on Spurs

Moussa Sissoko is an easy scapegoat. He has been a target for scorn since his unforgettably woeful performance in Tottenham’s defeat by Bayer Leverkusen at Wembley last November, on a night when it looked as though he needed someone to explain the entire concept of football to him. It was the comically miscued shot that slithered embarrassingly wide that best explained why eyebrows were raised when Spurs paid Newcastle United for a midfielder whose energetic running often masks technical shortcomings.

However, it was not Sissoko’s fault that Mauricio Pochettino’s side lost against Chelsea at Wembley on Sunday. If fingers must be pointed, direct them at two of Pochettino’s favourites, Hugo Lloris and Victor Wanyama, whose errors played a big part in Marcos Alonso’s winner. The margins were fine.