Where has it gone wrong for Spurs and how can their problems be fixed?

Instead, what Spurs produced was a passive display en route to a 4-2 defeat, which actually looked to be a flattering scoreline for them in the end.

It marked their fourth straight loss in the Premier League under Ange Postecoglou - something no Spurs manager has experienced since 1994 when Ossie Ardiles was in charge.

It is a continuation of a rapid decline, which has come at an untimely point in the campaign where results become even more important.

But why have the wheels come off so badly for Spurs? Flashscore attempts to dissect what has caused their season to deflate.

Teams have wised up

Postecoglou caused heads to turn towards the beginning of the season and for good reason considering some of the football he had Tottenham playing.

It was expansive, intricate and entertaining - something that has been absent from the team's profile for quite a while.

The inversion of full-backs into midfield isn't a new concept in football, but it was something Spurs were doing well with Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie as teams couldn't figure out how to nullify them.

It's a high-risk, high-reward tactic and both have been evident at different points of the campaign - the former especially in recent weeks.

Teams have started to become more aware of Spurs' way of playing and have adjusted accordingly to make these bits of play difficult to achieve, which is partly why results have taken a turn.

Against Liverpool, the Reds focused on closing the space in the middle of the pitch to make it tough for Spurs to make inroads.

There were occasions where it did work for Postecoglou's side but for the most part, it was too congested and resulted in a mix of sideways and overly risky passes that caused a loss of possession.

A similar approach was taken by Newcastle, Arsenal and Chelsea, who were happy to let Spurs have the ball as long as they remained disciplined in the centre.

Spurs ended all four of those games with more possession, but most of the play was in front of their opponents in non-threatening areas.

Dangerous turnovers

While Tottenham have had command of the ball, it has also led them to become more susceptible to losing it in dangerous areas of the pitch - particularly in their third.

Postecoglou has maintained Spurs will continue to set up playing his way and that includes building from the back, which is clearly evident as they are third in the Premier League for short passes completed.

That is only behind Manchester City and Brighton, while it can also be coupled with them being rock-bottom for long passes completed.

Cristian Romero in particular is great at progressing the ball, but the risks of going short were laid threadbare when Liverpool's press created some issues.

One loss of possession from Emerson Royal after pressure from Mohamed Salah allowed Harvey Elliott to step in and deliver a ball for Cody Gakpo, who headed in for 3-0 to kill the game off.

This was just one example of about a dozen in the game which isn't a surprising statement considering they average 9.9 high turnovers per game - the second most in the league.

Midfield issues

The midfield has been another issue of late with Postecoglou chopping and changing the names throughout Tottenham's recent slump.

Suspension, injuries and Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr being affected by the Africa Cup of Nations have disturbed any flow, making it much harder to gather any consistency.

And Postecoglou's various combinations of late suggest he is unsure of his best deployment in the centre.

Bissouma was paired with Rodrigo Bentancur in the 4-0 thrashing at Newcastle, Bentancur with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg against Arsenal and Bissouma back in with Sarr.

Against Liverpool, it was a trio of Sarr, Bissouma and Bentancur and there were more struggles as they had issues in possession in terms of retaining and progressing.

And this is all before James Maddison is mentioned.

Maddison's impact at the start of the campaign was huge, to the point where it named him the Premier League Player of the Month for August before an injury derailed his momentum.

The 27-year-old hasn't returned to the levels he was displaying pre-injury and that is proven by him being dropped to the bench for the defeats at Chelsea and Liverpool.

A lot of Spurs' best performances have come when Maddison has been on song so it doesn't seem like a coincidence that there has been a parallel dip between the two.

Panic stations?

While a flat end to the season will be a disappointing one for Tottenham, there should be a glass-half-full approach to reviewing the campaign given the challenges Postecoglou has faced in his first year.

The injuries and unnecessary suspensions caused major disruption to his team selections and he also had to take the loss of Harry Kane on the chin right before the start of the season.

Of course, there will have been some lessons learned for Postecoglou in terms of his style of play, which has been exposed on the counter-attack and via set-pieces on numerous occasions this term.

And while Spurs will be looking to arrest their slide against Burnley on Saturday, there have been some foundations set this season as attention will partly turn to the new campaign.

The key period for Spurs and Postecoglou is the transfer window, with the Australian recently stating "change has to happen" regarding his current playing squad.

Some fresh incoming and outgoing names that fit the type of profile he is looking for will be the first step before he uses another pre-season to get his methods drilled further.

It's a style that requires each player to be on the same page and there have been signs of that at points this season, albeit on an inconsistent basis.

The challenge now is to make it a more sustained way of playing and only that can be achieved with a bit of patience.