As Tottenham sank to a bruising defeat against Manchester City yesterday afternoon, one thought occurred to me - they badly miss Gareth Bale. Spurs and their manager Andre Villas-Boas were praised over the summer for heavily re-investing the proceeds of Bale's transfer to Real Madrid on the likes of Roberto Soldado, Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela - but have either of them truly impressed since joining? Soldado hit the ground running with two league goals in his first two appearances for the club but since then has suffered from a drought that has seen the Spain star find the back of the net just two more times in the topflight. Eriksen, who arrived from Ajax to rave reviews over the summer, has also been virtually anonymous, having failed to score a single goal so far and currently out with an ankle sprain. Then there's Lamela. At £30 million, the Argentine is Tottenham's costliest player in history, but has since flattered to deceive with Sunday's defeat against City marking only his first full appearance since his record move from AS Roma. Spurs lack the "X Factor" Bale brought to the side and his 'replacements' appear to be little more than overly-expensive pretenders. Perhaps Villas-Boas can take heed from his counterpart Arsene Wenger in January and bring in an actual, marquee signing, as the Gunners did by splurging on Mesut Ozil. Someone with a bit of flair, I.e Real Madrid's Angel Di Maria, would go down well at White Hart Lane.