What next for spineless Spurs following Newcastle drubbing?
So it turns out the defeat by Bournemouth was not the nadir after all.
Eight days on from that 3-2 home loss to Gary O'Neil's relegation candidates, Tottenham Hotspur plumbed new depths. A 6-1 demolition by top-four rivals Newcastle United goes down as one of their worst results in Premier League history. That stunning shellacking at St James’ Park has left Spurs’ Champions League chances hanging by a thread and poses fresh questions of the direction of the club under Daniel Levy’s chairmanship.
It seems a long time ago now, but Tottenham were widely tipped as potential Premier League title contenders at the start of this season. Only Manchester City and Liverpool were given a better chance of topping the table.
There was some logic behind the generally positive view of Spurs. They had surged into the top four under Antonio Conte in 2021/22 and headed into this campaign with momentum behind them. Their summer business looked sound, as six new players arrived for a total outlay of £150m - a larger expenditure than all but West Ham United, Manchester United and Chelsea.
Yet from the very start of the season, something was not right. Spurs won seven and drew two of their first 10 matches to sit third in the middle of October. They were within touching distance of Arsenal and Manchester City above them.
Yet Tottenham rarely played well in that period. Their results were better than their performances. Conte’s side seemed incapable of producing a coherent, consistent display across 90 minutes.
A 2-0 defeat by Manchester United, whom Tottenham will face in the reverse fixture on Thursday, kick-started a run of form that saw Spurs gradually slide down the standings. Since that loss at Old Trafford, the north Londoners have not won more than two Premier League games in succession.
Even so, they were still in the mix for Champions League qualification - until this weekend. Tottenham are still only six points adrift of fourth place, but they have played two more matches than Manchester United above them, and one more than third-placed Newcastle. The way things are going, Tottenham might miss out on European football altogether.
Sunday’s shambolic showing in the northeast was staggering in its ineptitude. Tottenham were 3-0 down inside nine minutes and trailed 5-0 before the midway point of the first half. It was the second-fastest time in Premier League history that a team has scored five goals without reply.
Cristian Stellini must take some blame for the performance. He switched to a 4-3-3 formation, a change most fans were happy to see. But it did not look like Spurs had worked on the new shape at all. Their defensive structure was abysmal. Time and time again Newcastle cut through them with ease. Stellini recognised his error and restored the back three in the 23rd minute, but by then the damage had been done. Stellini could now pay for such a spineless display with his job.
The players are at least equally culpable, though. They were guilty of numerous basic errors, particularly in that extraordinary opening quarter. It can be cliché to question a team’s fight and desire when things are going badly, but in this case such questions are merited.
Unless their final six games bring about a marked improvement, Tottenham do not deserve to finish in the top four. They rank only eighth for both expected goals and expected goals against.
An average of 13.9 shots per match is only the seventh-best in the Premier League, while the concession of 13.9 attempts per game is the division’s sixth-worst record - inferior even to relegation candidates Leeds United and Southampton.
Things could get worse before they get better. Tottenham have a tough run-in, starting with Thursday’s clash with Manchester United. Spurs supporters are bracing themselves for Chelsea’s installation of Mauricio Pochettino as their next permanent head coach. Meanwhile there is little faith in Levy to get their own appointment right.
Tottenham’s long-serving chairman needs a project manager à la the Pochettino of 2014, or Mikel Arteta at Arsenal. His decision to sack the Argentine in 2019 having not backed him sufficiently in the transfer market looks worse and worse with each passing year.
Tottenham were wobbling when Levy pulled the trigger, but they went backwards under Pochettino’s successor, Jose Mourinho. Nuno Espirito Santo’s tenure was doomed from the start, while Conte’s ‘win now’ mentality never looked like a good fit for a team that needed to be built up incrementally.
Anti-Levy chants will be heard again at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday, as the 61-year-old’s future hands in the balance. Getting another managerial appointment wrong could be fatal.
