Just as it proved premature to load too many excitable expectations on the group of players Tottenham purchased with their Gareth Bale windfall, perhaps those who have dismissed their longer-term prospects at White Hart Lane will also turn out to be hasty. When the summer comes, and Tottenham attempt to analyse this season of turbulence and try to figure out the best way to progress, some encouraging answers might be staring them in the face.

The unstable and haphazard backdrop to the season has not made for the calmest environment for new signings to acclimatise, but there are signs that some of Tottenham's players will emerge the stronger for it. In the absence of Emmanuel Adebayor, Christian Eriksen and Roberto Soldado, right, demonstrated how the seeds of a promising partnership have been sown.

They have not had too many opportunities in tandem (they started only once together in the previous 11 matches, in the Europa League against Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk). On this occasion their movement, and the way they sought each other out, was noticeably complementary.

Eriksen's initiative, in showing the hunger to hunt and pounce on a couple of predatory finishes, shows there is more to him than the luxury arts of an authentic playmaker. Actually he scored the kind of goals that might have been more naturally associated with Soldado's repertoire. The Spaniard did not finesse his performance with a goal but he was warmly applauded for his efforts, with some silky link play central to Tottenham's ability to rouse themselves from a terribly self-inflicted 2-0 deficit.

A dozy opening half-hour, with Sherwood upstairs trying to keep out of trouble and get a decent view from the directors' box, showed 2013-14 Tottenham at their worst. That recklessly high line almost encouraged Southampton to play with confident assurance and press mistakes out of the home defence. There had been a number of alarm bells in the opening 15 minutes, and it felt as if the sharp Southampton attackers and leisurely Tottenham defenders were playing in different time zones. Sherwood's team posed themselves the kind of problems that make it too easy for critics to put two and two together and make Louis van Gaal.

Cavalier defending, with Kyle Naughton the chief culprit, allowed Southampton to cruise into a two-goal lead delivered expertly by Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana. Southampton's attacking movement and energy was so impressive, and Eriksen deserves credit for applying himself with the same quality to kickstart the Tottenham comeback.

He gave a brilliantly straight answer to the post-match question as to how Tottenham recovered from their cumbersome two-goal deficit. "Score three goals," he said plainly, fixing the interviewer with a stating the bleeding obvious stare. Simple.

Increased effort was paramount, as demonstrated by the Soldado-Eriksen connection to force the equaliser early in the second half. The Dane also had a hand in the matchwinner with a cute lay-off to invite Gylfi Sigurdsson to wallop in a late decider.

In a developmental year, this has been a challenging first season in English football for Eriksen. A fabulous start, as he excelled on his debut, and scored on his second appearance, outlined his promise. With his creative instincts and classy touch, he looked like a player blessed with the kind of talent to build a team around. That may well turn out to be the case but as he has adjusted to the Premier League it has been a learning process. Having shone fitfully, in the last few weeks Eriksen has found a new stride in this team, which augers well for next season when he should feel more settled.

Soldado is perhaps the more curious case, and midway though the game Gary Lineker tweeted his belief that the Spaniard can cut the mustard. "In all seriousness I reckon Soldado could still come good. Often takes foreign players a while to adapt. And he CAN play." He has not been an obvious favourite of Sherwood's, and recently admitted on Spanish radio that he might have abandoned ship if this Spurs experience had come when he was younger, saying: "I would have probably returned home after a month."

The statistics are still unhelpful and every expensive goalscorer is judged by his strike rate. Clearly Soldado needs to up the ante in that department. But while this season might be one to file away as a test of character, the broader picture of his Tottenham career could look different this time next year.

Players such as Soldado and Eriksen (together with the forgotten man Erik Lamela) were bought to collectively fill the chasm left by Bale. That was too tall an order while they endeavoured to adjust to a new football culture. But their qualities may well come in increasingly useful for Tottenham.