Team Focus: Downfalls of the Premier League's Top 4 Hopefuls

After a series of wasted chances from his side, Mauricio Pochettino attempted to portray the entire situation as an opportunity in itself.

He said it was time for Tottenham’s players to “learn” from the 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United, after the team had let a 1-0 lead slip.

“You always need to learn and this is a good mentality,” the Argentine said. “We need to assess why it happened.”

Roberto Martinez tried a similar tactic after Everton’s frustrating 1-1 draw with Norwich City, stressing that sometimes “the team has to suffer” in order to ultimately get better.

Jurgen Klopp didn’t quite say those words, but did try to reshape the entire mood surrounding Liverpool’s 2-2 draw with West Brom in a similar way. He so conspicuously got the players to gesture to the fans. That has generated a lot of debate but implicit in it is the acknowledgement that Liverpool are on a long learning curve of their own.

The big question for each of these three teams is when such lessons will properly sink in. Otherwise, they might really learn what a wasted opportunity feels like - the big chance to get back into the Champions League.

These three clubs, after all, have been the only other sides to finish in the top five in the last five years - and the only other sides to actually finish in the top four since the Premier League got the extra Champions League place.

They should be better primed than anyone to take advantage of a more open season than ever. This should be the chance for one or even two of them to claim a top-four place again.

As it is, they’ve so far failed to seize it. The feeling is that all three should be higher because all three should have done better in some big moments.

Sunday at White Hart Lane was a case in point. Spurs would have finally dislodged Manchester United from the Champions League places had they beaten Newcastle, and all seemed so set up for that, as they were in the lead and in dominant form.

Then, it all fell apart, at the worst possible time. Newcastle’s late comeback meant Spurs have now dropped 11 points from winning positions - with perhaps the most pained coming in the 1-1 draw at neighbours Arsenal. That was another big game they should really have won, along with the 0-0 against flagging Chelsea, and - good as they’ve been this season - it’s still true they haven’t claimed that big signature win to properly propel their campaign.

As a consequence of all that, they have something in common with Everton: they’ve both drawn the most number of games this season, with eight. Martinez’s side have been just as frustrating as Tottenham. Imagine what their season - and their hopes for it - could have looked like if they had won the last three games rather than drawn them, as they should have.

It’s hard to pin-point exactly why this is an issue for Spurs, given that they themselves hit so many late goals last season, but it does seem they could do with more firepower to fully kill games; a striker to complement Harry Kane. The overuse of the English forward is almost symbolic of a taxing season and the demands of the Europa League, even if Pochettino refused to use “a lack of energy” as an excuse on Sunday.

With Everton, the issues are more obvious. They’ve been profligate, as Martinez has lamented, but opposition teams also know where exactly to hurt them. Everton have conceded the third most goals from set-pieces, with seven.

Liverpool have a similarly identifiable problem. Although this is far from Klopp’s ideal side, and he will no doubt reshape it, one area that he really needs to look at is in goal. Simon Mignolet has made eight errors that have directly led to goals in the last three years - with no other Premier League making more in that time.

One of them came against West Brom, and meant this was just another week in which Liverpool wavered so wildly. Klopp has only been there a short time but there have already been a wealth of occasions in which they’ve gone from looking like the real deal to suddenly seeming the unfinished product they very much are.

It’s just the scale of it that has been confusing, but then this has been a hugely confusing season. One of these sides has to finally show a bit of certainty to fully exploit that.

Which of these teams, if any, do you think have a realistic chance of a top 4 finish? Let us know in the comments below