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Not for the first time this season, watching Spurs go from disappointing underperformance to damaging results at their magnificent stadium that has become a favorite for visiting teams up and down Lydden, one was left with one thought: What is Spurs’ true position this season?
We are not attractive here. We really want to know. What are they trying to achieve? What do fans want them to achieve? A successful season for what looks like an often elusive but currently quite uncertain and restless club?
We ask, because the answers to these questions have been easy for a long time now. For years it was ‘qualifying for the Champions League’. And then as trophy-related filth became more and more used, the answer became ‘winning trophies’.
But now… we’re not sure. And we don’t think fans are sure. And we don’t think the club believes that. And we don’t think it’s entirely coincidental that Spurs’ most apathetic and neutral performances have come at home, where this collective uncertainty is immediately apparent.
There is a clear disconnect. A description of the purpose that appeared to them Toppled the league table last season In pursuit of silverware’s long-awaited end to unity.
The Spurs have entered every one of their home games this season. They beat Burnley quite comfortably on the opening day, but were still largely poor between Richarlison’s early goal and a surprise second. And they have now been dreadfully bad in the league for three straight home games, with their only point coming against bottom-of-the-table Wolves.
Bournemouth completely blew them away, and now an Aston Villa side are within five minutes without a Premier League win this season, and yet they emerged flawless and deserved winners while very clearly having little to do in 90 minutes, to take those three points back to Birmingham with them.
Both Villa’s goals were within quality. Yet both were aided immensely by Spurs who didn’t really look troubled. Morgan Rodgers was given every incentive and acres of space to shoot in the first half, with three defenders watching and Guglielmo Vicario positioning himself so poorly that the England man’s goal was almost half a goal.
The eventual winner contained three moments of brilliance from Villa players. Matty Cash’s raking pass, Lucas Digne’s quick control, and Amy Bondia’s cutting run and precise finish. All three elements were incredibly difficult, high-tariff pieces of elite skill. But the trio made it look too easy with a complete absence of interference or involvement from Spurs. There was no pressure on any of it at any stage.
And then there is no response from Spurs in their nominal pursuit of an equalizer.
It also feels like there is no consistency to the general style of play. The Spurs’ best periods—indeed, their only non-sh*t periods of the entire game—came at the start of both halves. There is agreeableness and enterprise and effort in these early exchanges, but then gradually control is lost, interest is lost, and their opponents step in.
Spurs escaped in exactly the same style in a 1-0 Champions League win over Villarreal last month. Today they did not.
Too often, the attacking gameplan revolves entirely around getting Mohamed Kidds the ball and hoping he does crazy things. Don’t get us wrong; It’s a very sound option for him to engage in a wide attacking strategy, as this is a man who is definitely capable of frenzy over and over again. But it shouldn’t and shouldn’t be all of it.
Wilson Odobert, Mathis Talley And Zawi Simmons are all struggling. Any or all of them could be good eventually, because the talent is there, but right now they all seem to be basically the same player trying to do the same thing and not good enough or confident enough to do it.
There is no focal point of attack, with neither Richarlison nor Randall Kolomani to treat as a second-half substitute here.
It has been a long wait for Kolomani to make his Premier League debut, and his most memorable moment was an aerial shot inside the penalty area.
Beyond some individual kudos, Spurs’ only other viable way to score appeared to be via a Kevin Danso long throw, which wasn’t even in the original game plan with the Austrian a late replacement for Christian Romero in the starting line-up.
Thomas Frank’s reaction to falling behind in a game Tottenham had plenty of opportunity to take complete control of in the first half was to throw seemingly random footballers onto the pitch in hope. Lefty Brennan Johnson clearly felt the ball, and we all know what everyone thinks about him now.
Spurs’ miserable home form predates Frank by a significant amount—it’s now, just three wins from 18 Premier League home games since Ange Postecoglou’s side crushed today’s opponents 4-1 nearly 4 years ago—and none of the wider woes are particularly his fault.
But his presence as a new manager is another factor in the lack of clarity about what Spurs are or even what they are trying to be right now.
Son Heung-min’s departure in the summer was correct and timely given his diminishing returns at this level, but it also severed the last real links between the team and the supporters.
With Beta Gone, the POCT teams last great connection is gone, and with it the last real hero for fans with the kind of deep, special relationship that can develop over time.
Beta wasn’t ‘one of them’, but he was perhaps at his own expense in terms of clear career success – completely and utterly coy. He was and is a Spurs man, even more so than Harry Kane. It was clear what it meant to Betta when he lifted the Europa League trophy, and it’s just as clear that it meant more to him than any of the other Spurs players.
Kudos is becoming a fan favorite, while others may yet achieve that status, but there is a real danger that Kudos becomes a David Genola of sorts. A hero not because he’s great (although he is) but because he offers a glimmer of light in a sea of mundane shoddy.
Spurs’ season won’t be anywhere near as bad as the worst bits of 24/25, but it doesn’t look like it’s anywhere near as good as the best bits either. There are no echoes of glory at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, nor is there a clear path to their discovery. Or even what they should be.
