Many Tottenham fans believe Kieran Trippier is one of Tottenham’s biggest problems. The reality is he exemplifies Mauricio Pochettino’s biggest challenge.

Tottenham’s recent struggles have Spurs fans desperately looking for scapegoats. Kieran Trippier is one of the players receiving the most abuse. Trippier isn’t actually the club’s biggest problem, but he does perfectly illustrate the hurdle ahead for Mauricio Pochettino and company.

To put it bluntly, Trippier is a slightly above average Premier League starter. When he’s given time and space out on the flank he can ping world-class balls into the box. That skill is really valuable for Tottenham against opponents who concede the lion’s share of possession.

On the other hand, Trippier’s lack of athleticism poses a real problem for Spurs against quality opposition. Saturday’s North London Derby was a prime example. Arsenal clearly targeted Trippier on multiple occasions and he looked really poor going up against Alex Iwobi. The English right back is a player with one great skill and several big weaknesses.

When you add it all up he becomes a good player, but he falls well short of great. That’s the stern challenge facing Tottenham at the moment. Pochettino needs to find a way to transform his squad from good to great.

It’s incredibly hard to do that without being backed in the transfer market. Internal improvement has been a huge boost to Tottenham in recent years, but there aren’t a ton of world-class talents rising up from the Academy every season to add to Pochettino’s choices. Young players like Harry Winks add to the squad’s depth, but no one can really say he’s an improvement over what Mousa Dembele gave Tottenham in his prime. Instead, the transition from Dembele to Winks has been a net negative for Spurs. That slight decline matters when you’re trying to become a Premier League title contender. Winks may ultimately rise to the level of a world-class midfielder, but he’s not there yet.

In the coming years, Spurs will have to make difficult choices on which positions they’re going to spend big to upgrade. Players like Trippier will need to be replaced. Finding a player who blow him out of the water isn’t easy or cheap, but it’s what Spurs need to do if they want to really compete for silverware.

The lesson here is that Tottenham’s standard will need to take another step up if they want to really kick on. Buying good players isn’t going to be good enough. Spurs must aspire and spend for greatness. Time will tell whether or not Daniel Levy is willing to back the club to that degree.