Life comes at you quickly in the Premier League and weaknesses can never be masked for long.
Take Tottenham. They topped the table prior to the September internationals, the only team with a perfect record after three consecutive 1-0 wins to start the season.
Nobody was raving about off-the-chart entertainment under new manager Nuno Espirito Santo but at least the team looked effective. After all, one of those wins was against champions Man City.
But the last two weeks have seen any early season optimism at White Hart Lane completely vanish.