Tottenham Hotspur need a defensive midfielder, and they should try and get him this month.
On the chalkboard
They have been operating without a proper anchor man in recent weeks, with Eric Dier not selected to start in the Premier League since the end of December and the win over Wolves.
He has been on the bench against Norwich City at Carrow Road, Liverpool and Watford and was not even in the squad for the league clash with Southampton. He played just two minutes against Saints in the FA Cup.
It is telling that, in those games, Spurs have not won once; he did come on as a late substitute against Norwich at home, helping his side see out a 2-1 victory.
In the games that he has not started, the team has struggled to exert proper authority.
While they have had the better of possession against Watford, Saints, and Norwich, they struggled to know what to do with it. They had 16 shots to the Hornets’ 15, 14 to Liverpool’s 13, 11 to Southampton’s 12 and 15 to Norwich’s five.
Of course, one would expect Spurs to keep the ball against such opposition but there is little opportunity to cede the ball when a defensive midfielder is not playing.
If a proper destroyer was lurking behind the midfield, potentially in a 4-3-3 formation, Spurs would be able to allow the opposition to bring the ball forward, allow said destroyer to win the ball and kick-start a counter-attack.
As it is, they are practically forced to keep the ball, even though it is clear that they have struggled to use it effectively.
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Window of opportunity
The January transfer window is still open.
As such, the club have the opportunity to rectify this issue and potentially bring in a defensive midfielder before the month is out.
A move for a replacement for Dier – it has become apparent, given his playing time, that manager Jose Mourinho may not trust him – would add depth in a thin position and also solve a problem for the club.
Spurs have already secured a deal for PSV Eindhoven winger Steven Bergwijn, while David Ornstein has confirmed, per The Athletic, that Tottenham have a desire to sign a striker before the window closes, though that is unlikely to materialise unless they can secure a deal for Olivier Giroud.
A move for a defensive midfielder has to be a priority too, however.
It remains to be seen if there is time.
Meanwhile, Spurs have to sell one man this month!