“IIt’s very embarrassing,” said Hugo Lloris candidly after Tottenham’s shambolic 6-1 defeat at Newcastle on Sunday afternoon. Embarrassing is a word many Spurs fans would have used, albeit with a string of expletives both before and after. The team found themselves 5-0 down after just 21 minutes as Newcastle ran riot in their bid to secure a top-four finish. It was the perfect response by Newcastle after their 3–0 defeat at Aston Villa the week before. For Spurs, it was a performance so bad that the players offered to reimburse traveling fans the cost of their tickets.
Spurs were also beaten last week, losing 3-2 to Bournemouth. Many fans thought that defeat – at home to a relegation-threatened side – would be the nadir in their season, but, Spurs being Spurs, they managed to drop even further. The spineless display at St James’ Park ultimately cost Cristian Stellini his job, with Ryan Mason the newest interim manager at the club. Spurs have had more managers in the last month (three) than they have won away league matches this year (two).
This season promised so much, but the run-in is proving to be particularly Spursy. The defeat on Sunday was the first time they had conceded six goals in a league match for a decade, dating back to a 6–0 defeat at Manchester City in 2013. Supporters are genuinely wondering when the team will win again, with games against Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa on the horizon. Villa were a point above the relegation zone when Unai Emery was appointed in November; now they are above Spurs in the table.
A top-four finish remains the aim but, with Spurs now six points behind both Newcastle (who have a game in hand) and Manchester United (who have two games in hand), supporters are resigned to another campaign outside of the Champions League. So where does the club go next?
In truth, Spurs have been sleepwalking into a mini-crisis since the days of Mauricio Pochettino. Many supporters have pined for his return, but the Argentinian looks set to cross the great divide and take over at Chelsea. Given Spurs’ penchant for hiring former Chelsea managers, though, it certainly won’t be long before Pochettino is back in N17 (he writes, tongue firmly in cheek).
It was Pochettino who first called out the need for greater investment. As the club focused on building a new stadium to rival the best in the world, Pochettino was overachieving with the tools at his disposal. “When you speak about Tottenham, everybody says you’ve gotten an awesome space however you want to position within the furnishings,” said Pochettino in 2019. He was right.
While his successors José Mourinho, Nuno Espírito Santo and Antonio Conte were (perhaps to the greatest extent) backed in the market, the club is still paying for not investing sufficiently under Pochettino after he guided them to a second-placed finish in the Premier League in 2017 and a Champions League final in 2019. They even made history in 2018, becoming the first Premier League club to go through a full summer transfer window without signing a single player. They had an opportunity to build on their success and stay ahead of the competition, but settled and are now paying the price for it.
Spurs now find themselves in the midst of a crisis. The team has won just one of its last five games; they are without a manager (again); and their sporting director Fabio Paratici has been forced to resign after he was banned from football for 30 months. This is a rudderless boat without direction. Chairman Daniel Levy needs to get the next appointment right to win over a frustrated fanbase and put Spurs back on the right track. It will not appease supporters completely, but it would be a step in the right direction.
Julian Nagelsmann and Luis Enrique are the standout candidates for the job, with the former Bayern Munich manager the more desirable option of the two for most fans. Levy has approached the German twice before, unsuccessfully, but will be hoping third time’s the charm. The chairman’s last three appointments have ended in failure, so he needs to make the right choice this time to help Spurs turn the corner. He also has to bring in the right people to work with the manager.
Paratici, instrumental in the club hiring Nuno and Conte, was believed to be in favor of approaching Enrique but, now that he is out of the picture, it is unclear who Spurs will appoint. Scott Munn joined as chief football officer earlier this month. The appointment of the former City Football Group executive should allow Levy to relinquish some control, though it remains to be seen how much influence Munn will have on transfers and managerial choices.
Having been reluctant to bring in a new manager until the end of the season, Spurs could do a lot worse than accelerate their search and, crucially, back him to overhaul the squad in the summer. The squad has become stale – four of the players who started in their 5-1 defeat to Newcastle seven years ago started in the 6-1 defeat at St James’ Park on Sunday.
The next few years will be testing for Tottenham. A substantial rebuild is necessary or they will be left behind, not only by the clubs above them in the table, but by Chelsea and Liverpool, who will undoubtedly come back stronger next season, and the better run clubs that are biting at their heels. As Spurs fall down the table, clubs such as Brentford, Brighton and Villa are climbing up it.
If Levy is not prepared to pull out all the stops to ensure the next manager is well equipped to carry out his job to the highest standard, then 6-1 thumpings will become a more regular occurrence.