It feels like Tottenham are permanently in a state of flux these days.

First there was the uncertainty over Wembley Stadium and their new home. Manager Mauricio Pochettino appears increasingly disenchanted with the lack of progress and consistent failures on the pitch. Then there are the futures of key players in Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen who, as things stand, will all be leaving the club for free at the end of the season.

After delaying and delaying by not making any new signings in the previous two transfer windows, Spurs are now facing a tricky period of transition where too much needs to be changed in a team that hasn't developed over the past few years as it should have. By gambling on the stability of those bedded in at the club, Tottenham have created instability.

On Tuesday night, the situation reached something approaching a nadir as a team blending youth and first-team experience but which offered no creativity at all fell to a chastening Carabao Cup penalty-shootout defeat to fourth-tier Colchester. While Pochettino's uninspiring team selection (three centre-backs and two holding midfielders against League Two opposition) and the below-par performances of senior players such as Dele Alli and Lucas Moura left the club feeling flat, already out of a competition that should have provided a potential route to some sought-after silverware, damage had already been done.