What went wrong at Tottenham, who is to blame, and how do we fix it? Match Report: Everton (League), Hoffenheim (Europa) & Leicester City (League); what a rollercoaster of games.
What went wrong at Tottenham, who is to blame, and how do we fix it? Match Report: Everton (League), Hoffenheim (Europa) & Leicester City (League); what a rollercoaster of games.
Yes, what a rollercoaster of a season.
Before the Leicester game, I said we would lose, and lose we did. It was predictable, in the stars, you could say. We’ve beaten City, Liverpool and United, but fell short against Leicester, Everton, Palace, Ipswich and other relegation battlers.
Everton 3 Spurs 2
Our trip to Everton was long. We got there at about 9.15, but had to wait until the car park opened (next to the ground) before parking, and then it was downhill.
We were shambolic for long periods as we were swarmed by a resurgent Everton, who saw our team’s chaotic nature. Before this game, Everton had won only three Premier League matches this season and had scored only 15 goals. Any bottom team facing us must be smiling with delight and hope.
We improved after the break and pulled a goal back through Dejan Kulusevski’s clever finish with 13 minutes left, with former Everton striker Richarlison increasing the nerves by bundling home in injury time. But Everton held out for a win.
After that game, we travelled to Hoffenheim, Germany, for our Europa match.
Hoffenheim 2 Spurs 3
We left for Germany on Wednesday, flew to Frankfurt airport, and then caught a train to Sinsheim/ Hoffenheim. The hotel was very close to the stadium. We could see it out of our bedroom window. Glenn Hoddle and Spurs writer Martin Cloake were also staying at our hotel.
Once settled into our rooms and unpacked, we then went to the hotel restaurant and had a good meal. I also had a good chat with Glenn Hoddle, who wasn’t that optimistic about the game.
The next day, we visited the famous Sinsheim Technology/Transport Museum, which featured planes like Concord, various cars, tanks, bikes… in fact, you name it, it was there. Apart from the museum, there was nothing in Hoffenheim. It was an industrial Town, and the only highlights were the football stadium and the transport museum.
In the evening, we made our way to the stadium, which was only a 10-minute walk from our hotel.
Once in the stadium, we purchased our alcoholic drinks and food, which we were allowed to take to our seats, unlike England.
We went through all the razzmatazz – which was very poor by European standards, and then it started. To be fair on Hoffenheim… they haven’t had a good season either. Many seats were empty.
Son scored twice, putting us in a strong position to qualify automatically for the knockout stage.
Son’s double and an early James Maddison strike secured a victory that moved us to fourth in the Europa League phase, though we finished the night sixth after the later kick-offs.
We looked focused from the outset and opened the scoring after just four minutes to settle, us, the travelling fans’ nerves. Pedro Porro played a great ball for Maddison, who controlled it before driving it into the roof of the net.
Brandon Austin, making just his second start in goal for us, needed to be alert to prevent Hoffenheim from pulling one back when he pushed away Tom Bischof’s strike, and he was. In the audience was his mum, who came to cheer him on… as we all did.
In the second half, Hoffenheim came out fighting. They did get two back, but that wasn’t enough to stop the away end from chanting “Levy out,” etc.
On our way out of the stadium, we walked shoulder to shoulder with Hoffenheim’s fans. They must have been amused as the Tottenham contingent sang and chatted, “Yido, Yido,” “Levy out, levy out, ” and even found time for the traditional Tottenham Chas ‘n’ Dave songs.
Once at the hotel, we found a table with Bergvall, Johnson and Austin’s parents and celebrated together. Even though Johnson didn’t play, it didn’t stop his parents from going to Hoffenheim. In the middle of the meal, Bergvall’s son phoned.
The acclaimed podcaster Chris Cowling was also at the game with us and came to our hotel to participate in the celebrations, even though it wasn’t his hotel. Glenn Hoddle was also in a buoyant mood. We had an excellent three days in Germany.
We flew back on Friday. We were so knackered that we went to bed at 8:30 pm and woke up the next day at 8 a.m. However, that didn’t stop me going to the gym.
We host Elfsborg in their final league phase game this Thursday. A win will secure a top-eight spot and send us into the knockout stage.
As I said, we’ve had a rollercoaster season with Spurs. After our defeat and victory in Germany, our next trip was against struggling Leicester City. Knowing Spurs, we couldn’t predict a positive result, so humiliation was back on the agenda.
When we face the bottom teams, we just know that we are going to get humiliated. Liverpool and Villa in the cups will probably see a positive result… but a struggling team… the clowns come home to roost.
Spurs 1 Leicester City 2
We suffered our fourth consecutive Premier League defeat as Leicester City completed a stunning comeback to climb out of the relegation zone at our expense.
Richarlison had opened the scoring for us just after the half-hour mark, heading in a brilliant cross from defender Pedro Porro. Vardy equalised a minute into the second half.
Leicester were ahead four minutes later when midfielder El Khannouss curled in an effort from 25 yards into the bottom corner.
We poured forward in panic in search of an equaliser, but we failed to find one. We have won just one of our past 11 matches in the Premier League, leaving us in 15th place—eight points from relegation.
Leicester’s win lifts them into 17th, one point above Wolves, who drop into the bottom three as a result.
I don’t point the finger at Ange, but Levy. He’s been there 24 years with 16 managers but only one trophy to show for it. Too much time was spent on the other aspects of the stadium while the team was left to sink into a quagmire of shit. Every part of the stadium has been valued highly, including American football, the acts/entertainment, etc., while the football side was ignored… now the team is paying the price… while the board get richer.
Most of the games this season have been with chants of “Levy” out… with added booing against Ange and the team. This is unacceptable. Our history shows a proud heritage of excellent managers and trophies… but decline under Levy and the board.
Now we are in a relegation scrap! Years of negligence in the transfer market have caught up with us—now we risk the unthinkable: relegation.
Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Leicester has left us dangerously sitting above the Premier League drop zone on the precipice of a crisis.
Over five years ago, we were 90 minutes away from being crowned European champions for the first time in our history. Even if we lost, we had the hope of a bright future to look forward to, having just moved into our new billion-pound stadium designed to close the gap on the elite.
Half a decade later, it’s now a very real possibility that we will soon be playing in the Championship.
Postecoglou is not totally blameless, but he is not the main reason we are in this predicament.
Mauricio Pochettino’s desperate plea to Levy for help to rebuild a playing squad he felt had hit a glass ceiling saw him get the sack for his troubles.
“When you talk about Tottenham, everyone says you have an amazing house but you need to put in the furniture,” said Pochettino, referencing the stadium move. “If you want a lovely house, maybe you need better furniture.”
Levy hired Jose Mourinho, whom he claimed to have been the second-best manager. But Mourinho didn’t work out. After roughly two months of searching for a successor, the job fell to Nuno Espirito Santo, who then was quickly sacked after a few months (now a success at Nottingham Forest).
Then came Antonio Conte, the only manager to lead Tottenham to a top-four finish since Pochettino left. To his credit, he figured out how to get the best out of Harry Kane and Son without compromising at the other end of the pitch. Conte finally lost his job after a 10-minute rant at a press conference on the players and the board.
In Pochettino’s five full seasons, we finished fifth, third, second, third, and fourth. Since then, we’ve been sixth, seventh, fourth, eighth, and fifth. We still haven’t won a trophy since 2008.
Sacking Ange isn’t the answer… the finger can only be pointed at one person… Twenty-four years, 16 managers, and one trophy—poor returns for such a club as Tottenham Hotspur. We deserve better…, and we want better…
Up the Spurs!
Glenn
The post What went wrong at Tottenham, who is to blame, and how do we fix it? Match Report: Everton (League), Hoffenheim (Europa) & Leicester City (League); what a rollercoaster of games. first appeared on SpursNetwork | Tottenham Hotspur News & Fansite.