Spurs had a challenging October. In the span of two games, they conceded ten goals, and their shaky start to the season has turned into a nightmare – but, who is responsible for this downward-spiralling turn of events?
For years, Spurs were a side full of enthusiasm, vigor, and hunger. They gave everything on the pitch and outran the opponents, while creating some household names from scratch as well. But this season, too often have they surrendered their leads and looked hopeless: against Arsenal, Olympiakos, Leicester, and their shock league cup exit against Colchester. In October, things got even worse as they conceded ten goals in the span of two games, against Bayern and Brighton. Individual errors and bad decision-making can explain these mishaps, but are they culminated from simply a bad day at the office, or a deeper-rooted issue?
Almost every player at Spurs is now underperforming. The whole team was dependent on the level of commitment they show on the pitch, but the collective responsibility is now often found missing at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Spurs haven’t won a single away league game since 20th January, and they have picked up the same number of points as Burnley and West Ham in 2019. Their tally of 22 points from 20 matches is simply relegation-esque. Some senior players like Eriksen, Alderweireld, and Rose also seem like they don’t really want to be there anymore. But, there is a more significant issue that lies hidden within this.
Most of the players from the current squad have been around since Pochettinos’s first or second year, and now it seems the players partly feel that they have hardly left anything in their tanks to give to their managers cause. Years of training has left a mark on them athletically, but mentally they seem fatigued because of the identical nature of their goals and training regimes year-by-year. Also, the Athletic claims that the players are not revolting against Pochettino, but they were driven so hard, they feel that they are out of steam!
Can the dip in form be blamed to chairman Levy? Levy was one of the pioneers behind Spurs’ recent success in securing long-term financial and infrastructural stability of their club – but at what cost has it been achieved? After years of low pay with high achieving results, players started to become enticed by other Premier League clubs, notably the Manchester Clubs. The players could be disappointed that even after finishing 2nd a few years ago and securing yearly top 4 finishes didn’t guarantee them a larger paycheck. Since last seasons Champions League final, Levy sensed this unrest and secured long-term, big-money contracts of Alli, Lamela, and Harry Kane.
Pochettino sensed it long ago and knew it would be hard to motivate the same set of players for five years without the proper pay and trophies. He said during 2018-19 that their team needs a significant overhaul like City and Liverpool. They indeed loosened their purse strings to make a series of signings in 2019-20, netting a 120 million pound expenditure, but this was too little and too late. He wanted to clear out a host of senior players but was forced to retain a significant portion of them. Only Trippier and Llorente left. Also, his future is up in the air, and speculations surrounding him refuses to leave, especially after his current disjointed season at Spurs.
A combination of staleness, years of arduous training, and the strict regime has made the once exciting Spurs team numb and out of gas. To begin with, they need an injection of new personnel: backroom staff and young first-team players. Until then, they need to be pragmatic and let their long-serving players decide whether they want to continue chasing “almosts” at Spurs.