Tottenham Hotspur go into their second UEFA Champions League game of the season against CSKA Moscow, hoping to learn lesssons from their first, a 2-1 home defeat to AS Monaco.

Be more disciplined

If Spurs are to succeed in Europe, they will need to adapt to the situation they are in and be more clever in games, than perhaps they are in most of their domestic encounters. The most damning stat to come out of the opening game defeat to Monaco at Wembley for Spurs was the fact they comitted seven more fouls than their opponents.

This stat will suit any team playing away from home in Europe, as it plays right into their hands, which it did massively for Monaco against Spurs because they took an early 2-0 lead. A positive for Mauricio Pochettino regarding this was the fact his team only recieved one booking for the 11 fouls they committed, while their French opponents were yellow carded twice off four fouls.

Must be more clinical in front of goal

Another real disappointment for Spurs from their first game was how poor they were when they got within sight of the goal and in the final third of the pitch in general. The Monaco game came pre Harry Kane's injury so there was no excuse for Spurs not having everyone available, it ended up being a poor night for Kane and the other attacking players, with defender Toby Alderweireld grabbing the goal they did get.

The stats tell the story for Spurs, with only six of their 15 shots hitting the target and seven of the other nine being blocked by the Monaco defence, which the Ligue 1 leaders of course deserve credit for. Main creative midfielder, Christian Eriksen having a bad game didn't help as he struggled to get involved and it seems a theme that when he dosen't peform, Spurs don't win.

Play people in their actual positions

A big reason for Tottenham's nightmare first half was because the balance of the team wasn't right, with Delle Alli playing in a lot deeper role than he usually does. It showed in England's Euro 2016 campaign that Alli is not suited to playing in a more defensive role at the higher level.

Also, natural holding midfielders Moussa Dembele and Victor Wanyama were both available for selection. Pochettino went against his own methods really and was punished for it, although he did bring Dembele on at half-time, who in turn made a big difference to the team and Alli's performance, there was too much for Spurs to do after falling two goals down.

Can't afford to concede silly goals

Another extremely disappointing thing for Pochettino and the 80,000 plus crowd at Wembely to see was how Tottenham conceded the two goals and how preventable they were. The first goal came from Spurs shooting themsleves in the foot as Erik Lamela gave the ball away in the middle of the field and all of a sudden things just opened up for Monaco's Bernardo Silva who ran at a hesitant Jan Vertonghen before finishing well past Hugo Lloris.

Similarly the second goal was avoidable, as first of all nobody put pressure on the left wing cross from Djibril Sadibe and then between the pair of Vertoghen and Ben Davies neithier could clear the ball and it presented a simple finish for Thoma Lemar from point blank range, again leaving Lloris well exposed.

What this means for CSKA

The second group game at CSKA Moscow promises to be a very different game in all aspects for Spurs in comparison to the Monaco one, with concerns for the fans and a few injuries for Pochettino to deal with, but if they can build on the overall dominance of the first game and just sharpen up in certain areas then there's no reason why they won't return to London with their first three points on the board in this season's Champions League. 

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About the author
Jamie Joslyn
20 year old sports journalism at Sunderland University, huge Sunderland fan