Deconstructing Tottenham's mini-crisis: Mauricio Pochettino's most pressing concerns after three straight defeats

Tottenham have suffered a third-consecutive loss for the first time under Mauricio Pochettino after losing late to Inter Milan on Tuesday night.

Here we dissect the problems facing Spurs and where things could turn for the better.

Belief in the build-up

Given the modern managerial tendency towards damage limitation, Mauricio Pochettino's concession after the defeat to Liverpool last weekend that "we were a little bit scared to play out from the back" was impressive, if only for its honesty. "That translates after to the different lines," he continued, "to the midfield and the offensive line".

That, in semi-penetrable coachspeak, suggested that his players' current lack of confidence in their own ability was quite literally spreading through the side. Roared on by a San Siro crowd intent on embracing every minute of a return to Europe's top table after seven years in the transitional quagmire, Inter quickly set about squeezing the Spurs build-up, all the way to the increasingly unconvincing Michel Vorm.

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Davinson Sanchez, to his credit, kept a particularly cool head under that early pressure but - once the ball had been carefully threaded past the Inter press - the Tottenham midfield repeatedly undermined that tidy work by allowing the ball to come straight back.

Pochettino will have a precious few days to convince his back five - whoever they are next time - that passing out from the back remains their Plan A. Meanwhile, Saturday's opponents Brighton will have noted the ability of a distinctly average Inter side to ruffle Spurs' defensive feathers.

Harry Kane's trying times

Such is the manner in which he clanks around the pitch, even at the best of times, the task of identifying when Harry Kane is fatigued remains a tricky one: the word "effortless" is rarely found in the vicinity of his name.

Among the many perennial press-conference lines of questioning that appears to quietly infuriate Pochettino, the possibility that his captain may be in need of a rest is becoming the most eye-roll-inducing. It would be "crazy" to take Kane out of the firing line, he insisted after the defeat to Liverpool, and only the forthcoming EFL Cup tie against Watford stands out as an opportunity to do so.

Kane's ability to work his way through fallow periods is admirable, but there was something slightly desperate about the way he stumbled beyond Samir Handanovic in the first half at the San Siro, the angle narrowing to the point where the open goal was no more.

The prospect of downing tools might be anathema to such confirmed workaholics as Pochettino and Kane, but there is a lingering suspicion that there may be such a thing as too much football.

Lucas Moura should be persisted with

After their transferless summer, the nearest Spurs have got to new blood for 2018/19 is Lucas Moura having a pre-season under his belt to go with his brief Premier League baptism towards the end of last season. With Kane seemingly running on fumes and Son Heung-min's Asian Cup distractions, the Brazilian has been Spurs' brightest attacking spark this season.

But Moura was dropped to the bench for the Champions League opener, arriving only for a half-hour cameo that - for the most part - kept Tottenham on the front foot as they sought to protect their lead. Several darting surges on the counter delivered more dynamism than Spurs' entire front line had all evening, with one slalom down the left briefly evoking the spirit of Gareth Bale's live dissection of Maicon back in 2010.

Nothing lifts a slump better than that sort of endeavour. If Spurs are to avoid retreating into their shells, Moura's willingness to go for the jugular will be most welcome.

Pray that crisis-proof Christian Eriksen keeps his focus

Amid the perceived fatigue, plummeting confidence and team tinkering, Christian Eriksen remains an oasis of calm. His lofted pass to set Harry Kane free of the Inter defence - only for Kane to run out of turf - was sheer perfection in a game otherwise characterised by a lack of ideas and imagination.

Eriksen deserved to be the one who found the breakthrough, even if his goal was more than a little fortuitous. This string of defeats is highly unlikely to threaten his place: he will be back against Brighton, ice in his veins, looking for an unfussy way to pick the lock. That sort of quiet confidence is precisely what Pochettino will want.

Pochettino's prickly press conferences

“Sometimes you ask like you can only play 11. Another 14 are s---, are rubbish, I don’t know. It’s so easy. I am so disappointed. I respect you a lot. I respect the players. You disrespect the players. I don’t understand why. Being a player is so difficult. For me it’s easier on the touchline. I don’t run. It’s painful to hear you killing people who give their best.”

There was something eerily Mourinho-esque about Pochettino's post-match summit in the bowels of the San Siro.

The moment a manager starts to habitually expend his energy on the press, there tends to be only one outcome. Confected siege mentalities, as Mourinho himself is now discovering, do not guarantee a turnaround. With defeats, come questions: Pochettino is smart enough to supply the answers.