Four Premier League matches is hardly enough to properly gauge the prospects of a team over a season but nevertheless judgements have already been made regarding Tottenham Hotspur.
Mauricio Pochettino's team have won one, lost one and drawn two of their four matches so far, amassing five points, a haul that places them ninth.
Spurs are already seven points behind leaders Liverpool. In their recent matches against Manchester City and Arsenal, Tottenham may not have been defeated but they were outshot considerably by a margin of 16-51 over the course of the two contests.
Their start to the season so far hasn't been great. However, there have been underlying reasons for the struggles, particularly in relation to player availability.
Spurs had a busy transfer window by securing Tanguy Ndombele and Giovani Lo Celso, while crucially retaining the services of Christian Eriksen.
After 388 minutes of Premier League football, though, Ndombele has played only 190 minutes, Lo Celso just 63, and Eriksen, 252.
In addition, Spurs are yet to play a single minute with the trio on the pitch at the same time.
That could be what Pochettino's team are waiting on, and a tweak that could restore Tottenham to the level expected of a side that finished as Champions League runners-up in 2019 and have usually been the closest contenders to City and Liverpool of late.
Daniel Levy did address the overriding problem with the squad with his summer spending. That problem is essentially a lack of control and the lack of a midfield.
Pochettino's game derives from his team controlling the pitch but since Moussa Dembele's departure, and a refusal to sign new players for a whole season last year, Spurs found it difficult to live up to the principles of their manager.
At his best, Dembele was a dominant force in the centre of the park. He contributed greatly to bringing the ball forward and into the feet of Christian Eriksen, who was regularly positioned dangerously in the final third awaiting opportunities to create chances as the team's playmaker.
Without Dembele, Pochettino had to adjust in order to cope. The likes of Eriksen, Dele Alli and Harry Kane all found themselves coming deeper to help out an inadequate midfield.
In Ndombele, Lo Celso and Eriksen, Spurs now have the required qualities to regain the control that has been lost.
Tottenham fans have already seen glimpses of what their new club-record signing can do in midfield. He is a talent can essentially cover every base in the centre of the park and Ndombele should prove to be an excellent replacement to Dembele.
In turn, this should benefit Eriksen significantly as he will no longer be required to come deeper into midfield, where his creative output tends to suffer.
At his best, the Dane is free to drift in and around the final third with a view to making shots and clear-cut chances for his teammates, including Kane who may now be able to focus solely on attacking the box.
It's no coincidence that the scoring rate of the England striker has suffered while Eriksen has been needed further back in deeper areas.
Expected Goals (xG) offers an insight into the likelihood of a shot being scored by considering the difficulty of the chance and its location among other factors, and it can help to provide an accurate summary of whether a team deserved fewer or more goals based on their shots.
xG can be captured on a timeline to showcase when a team's shots were taken to display periods of dominance, with the match versus Villa pictured below.
Eriksen was introduced on the 64th minute for Harry Winks, and evidently, based on the shots taken by Spurs, he impacted the offensive output of his team drastically.
Spurs were hovering around 0.97 xG when he was brought on, and they ended the match with an xG of 2.57.
The story was the same when Eriksen was introduced after 62 minutes versus Newcastle, as shown below.
With transfer windows having shut across Europe, the prospect of Tottenham losing their playmaker has faded. Rather than enterting the fray after an hour, Eriksen may now be trusted to influence proceedngs from the opening minute, supplied by Ndombele.
It remains to be seen what role Pochettino has in mind for Lo Celso, who will have to contend with the likes of Dele Alli, Lucas Moura and Son Heung-min for minutes but he too is a player intent on being positive in possession to allow the likes of Eriksen and Kane to focus on what they do best.
There have been reasons for concern regarding the start Spurs have made to the season. However, anyone who is already counting out the north London club from having another successful campaign are likely to end up looking foolish come May.
