Mauricio Pochettino laments Tottenham impotence in absence of Harry Kane

Bournemouth 0 Tottenham 0: He said Spurs need to handle the international break better

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After Tottenham Hotspur had ended Manchester City's unbeaten run on October 2 with a display of power and purpose, manager Mauricio Pochettino expressed the hope that the international break that began the next day would not disrupt the rhythm his team had established.

On the face of it, three successive draws since then suggest that his hope has been dashed, but the stats tell a slightly different story. True, in their Champions League game away to Bayer Leverkusen last Tuesday, the point was won by a superb performance from goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, but in their Premier League games away to West Bromwich Albion and now Bournemouth, the problem has been turning dominance into goals.

At The Hawthorns, Spurs came up against a goalkeeper in almost unbeatable form, but at the Vitality Stadium they had almost two-thirds of the possession yet managed only four efforts on target – still three more than they allowed Bournemouth. The obvious solution will be the return of Harry Kane from his ankle injury, but although Kane is back in training, Pochettino was unable to suggests a definite date after Saturday's stalemate and in any case he agreed that title contenders cannot afford one-man attacks.

“Yes, not only Harry, the pressure [to score] is for the whole team,” he said. “It’s true that we show a lot of positive things but the area we need to improve is to be more clinical and try to score more.”

Fatigue may also be a factor in his side's sudden lack of cutting edge. Tottenham laboured early on at the Vitality Stadium before establishing a superiority in the final hour that was somewhat overlooked by some TV pundits dazzled by Bournemouth's scurrying energy. Eddie Howe's men were resting while Tottenham were playing in Germany, but Pochettino felt that it might have been more significant that fewer Cherries than Spurs had been involved in international fixtures during that early-October break.

“After the international break we suffer a lot of problems with our players that were involved in the internationals,” Pochettino said. “But that is the skill of [handling] international duty and we need to accept that and try to manage the situation in a better way.

“We play against teams like West Bromwich and Bournemouth that are very intense, physical, aggressive teams and when you play Champions League, the physical and mental impact is always massive and when you repeat or play every three days it’s always difficult. For that you need the depth of squad and all players really ready to play, but we are happy. That process is normal. When you cannot win it’s important not to lose and keep going.”

And as well as tiredness, injuries beyond the absence of Kane have been more of a factor than in last season's title near-miss. But he insisted that overwork was not a factor. “It’s a little bit unlucky,” he said. “Look at the injuries. Danny Rose was injured with the national team and then Toby [Alderweireld] had a knock on the leg, Son Heung-Min with the national team. It is a little bit frustrating and disappointing but sometimes it happens. But there’s no doubt about the preparation of the team. It’s true that the Champions League demands more energy than the Europa League, but no injury was related to the Champions League or playing too much on no rest and recovery.”

And if it is any consolation, Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe believes they will be in the title hunt to the end. “They’re still unbeaten and have still not conceded in open play, which speaks volumes for the work they do on the training pitch. I think they’re contenders, I really do. It was a high-quality game today and they’re right up there with the teams we’ve played this season.”