Days of Future Passed

Like most sports, football is cyclical, and we as viewers are often struck by an overwhelming feeling of déjà vu. After another weekend of fixtures across the Premier League, Tottenham travels to Fulham in the solitary game on Monday, a matchup of subtle magnitude that can't help but feel familiar. The last time a game against Fulham felt this important was in the 2012-2013 season. Spurs, sitting third in the table, hosted Fulham at White Hart Lane, hoping to bounce back from a recent defeat to Liverpool and take another step to securing Champions League football. Chances between the two sides were few and far between, though Spurs would ultimately be haunted by a familiar face. Former Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov scored the lone goal of the match as Fulham ran out 1-0 winners. Tottenham would not only go on to miss out on the top four, but were beaten to fourth by their dreaded rivals Arsenal, losing out by one point.

Unfortunately for Spurs fans, the parallels of that fateful 2012-2013 season don't end just with results to Fulham. Spurs would also face rumors of their talisman leaving North London, only to see rumors become reality as Gareth Bale joined Real Madrid the following September for a then world-record fee of £85.3 million. Tottenham is barely halfway through the current campaign and already the rumor mill has begun speculating on Kane's next club with United being highly touted. Just as Sheringham before him, the allure of Old Trafford and a chance to win silverware will likely prove too much. The club has fought off potential suitors before, but this time it truly feels inevitable that Kane's time at Spurs will come to an end. He has given all for the club and is still to deliver his final parting gifts, breaking Jimmy Greaves' record to become Tottenham's all-time leader scorer, and joining Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer as only the third ever player to reach 200 goals in the Premier League. Barring any injuries, Spurs fans are almost certain to witness these historic achievements in the second half of the season, but seeing Harry Kane leave Tottenham without a single trophy is a sad reality that speaks volumes about the current climate at the club.

The game against Fulham feels bigger than it should be. Despite recent results, Spurs sit in fifth with nearly half the season to play for, whilst also being alive in both the FA cup and Champions League. Yet the inescapable feeling of doom and gloom is percolating through the white half of North London. Results continue to be consistently inconsistent as the club continues to look for an identity. For all the talk that Spurs set up to be defensively solid and difficult to break down, they are anything but. Spurs have conceded 31 goals so far this season, at the time of writing, only Leeds (33), Nottingham Forest (35), Leicester City (35) and Southampton (35) have surrendered more goals. When you consider that all four of these clubs are currently battling to maintain their Premier League status, the numbers give cause for concern. First-half performances have been equally concerning as players lack poise and play timidly, looking more focused on not making mistakes than taking any kind of initiative. This approach has seen Tottenham concede first in 12 out of their 20 matches, often forcing them to come alive in the second half and attempt to snatch some kind of result from the match. Despite breaking the trend and going up 2-0 in their recent match away to Man City, Spurs came out flat in the second half as City smashed four past them to claim all three points. Looking at both the players and the manager, it is becoming abundantly clear, something is wrong at Tottenham.

So, what is the cause of this turmoil? The World Cup in Qatar was always going to present certain obstacles, given its presence in the middle of the club football season. Tottenham players had the fourth-most minutes played throughout the tournament, perhaps contributing to a mental and physical fatigue that is evident for long spells in nearly every match. Yet, well before the World Cup, the signs were there for all to see. Defensive fragility and a lack of playing with confidence in matches are the one constant; the World Cup can only shoulder so much of the blame. Conte was hired at Tottenham given his reputation as a winner, and early signs in his tenure pointed to his mentality permeating throughout the club. Achieving a top-four finish last season was no small feat, but Conte always looks for more; he is not one for complacency. Securing Champions League football will have only been the first of many steps in his plan to transform the club. He is notoriously stubborn and has shown in the past that if his demands are not met, he is more than willing to leave. Concerns over the longevity of his appointment have been a constant theme during his tenure in North London. Interviews over the past several weeks have seen Antonio Conte seem to distance himself from the club, as he claimed “it will take another miracle at Spurs” to repeat finishing in the top four. He has followed this up with several other moments of deflection that seem aimed at preserving his own reputation rather than addressing the harsh realities of the situation at hand. All this has been going on against the backdrop of contract talks and a game of cat and mouse with Tottenham Chairman Daniel Levy. Conte has asked for talks to be put on hold for now, wishing to revisit them near the end of the season, after seeing whether the club has backed him in the January transfer window and if qualifying for the Champions League is accomplished. From the club's perspective, this is far from ideal, as any financial backing is likely only coming with the signing of a contract extension. In a year where both Liverpool and Chelsea look to be in transition, Spurs have failed to capitalize and risk everything if they fail to act. With both parties stubborn and unlikely to yield any ground on the matter, it begs the question, where do Tottenham go from here?

That decision will once again fall to club chairman Daniel Levy. His decisions off the pitch have transformed the club, as Tottenham continues to grow its reach globally each year. He delivered the new stadium, one of the best in the world, while also building elite training and academy facilities. Impressively, all this has been done in a rather organic and pragmatic approach, and credit really should be given. However, much of Tottenham's growth off the pitch has come at the expense of what happens on the pitch. Under the ownership of ENIC, which began in 2001, Tottenham have seen 15 managers come into the club. In comparison to other clubs they are competing with for a spot in the Champions League, this is a glaringly high number. During this same time period, Liverpool have seen six managers come through, Arsenal three, Manchester City eight, and Manchester United eight. Even Chelsea, known for chopping and changing managers at the drop of a hat, have had 17, only two more than Spurs over this period. Some might argue that Arsenal and Manchester United saw long periods of one figurehead at the club with Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson staying 22 years and 27 years respectively. This, however, points to a bigger issue at Spurs under Levy and ENIC, which is the clear lack of vision for on-field activities.

Tottenham Hotspur is a football club, after all, football being the emphasis, or at least, supposedly. Other clubs operate under a cohesive and unified model, one in which new managers and players alike are recruited to, but Spurs seem to be throwing darts at the board and seeing where they hit. Perhaps, their greatest hire in the Premier League era was Mauricio Pochettino, a man that endeared himself to the fans and oversaw arguably the most sustained and successful period at Spurs in the modern era. While at Spurs, Pochettino showed his coaching prowess as multiple players already at the club grew into their potential and started consistently performing at a high level. Kyle Walker, Danny Rose, Mousa Dembele, Heung-Min Son, and Harry Kane were all beneficiaries of his coaching and tutelage. He was also a beloved figure amongst the fans, creating a feel-good factor at the club based on understanding and togetherness. Times were good, and the future looked bright for Tottenham. Tactically, the squad was built balancing attractive and attacking football with defensive stability, as Spurs were involved in two separate title races. Pochettino also took Tottenham to the Champions League Final in 2019 with a meager squad riddled with injuries, the highlight being their semi-final away leg and a miraculous Moura second-half hat-trick. Tottenham would lose the final 2-0 to league rivals Liverpool, but regardless of the defeat, progress was being made with Pochettino at the helm. Despite this, he had called for a squad overhaul, recognizing that many of the current players had reached their competitive peak. Some signings were made, but not all of them targets of Pochettino. This, coupled with a horrible start to the 2019-2020 season, saw Mauricio Pochettino sacked a mere six months after taking the club to the Champions League final, essentially turning water into wine.

What followed was a completely different approach, as Levy elected to hire several “win-now” managers, starting with Jose Mourinho. Some saw the appointment as ambitious, indicating a serious desire at the club to win silverware, while others cautioned Spurs on Jose and his volatility. Results initially were solid, and would see Spurs rise from 14th when Mourinho took over, to 6th by the end of the season. Mourinho and Tottenham would carry this momentum into the following season with a strong start, placing them near the top of the table mid-season, but results began to dwindle. Overtime, things grew toxic as Mourinho's proved to be tactically too rigid, using a defense-first approach that left little to no room for error. Despite taking Tottenham to the League Cup Final, Mourinho was sacked six days before and replaced in the interim by Ryan Mason. What followed in the summer was a series of disastrous and fruitless attempts to hire roughly seven different managers, before settling on Nuno Espirito Santo. He would last only four months. Next up was the current manager Antonio Conte, who like Jose Mourinho before him, was seen as a coup that Spurs could bring him to the club. Conte would have an immediate impact on not only results but also the mentality of the squad as many cited him as a catalyst for change. Spurs would roll on to secure fourth place and a place in the season's Champions League, a competition they are still actively in. However, despite positive results to start the current campaign, performances were poor, causing many to question the sustainability of Conte's approach. Those questions have now been answered as results have dried up, and the clouds have once again gathered around Tottenham.

As previously mentioned, the club and Conte are at a stalemate with talks over a contract extension. Both want commitment from the other and neither seems willing to budge. This has been a constant theme under the ownership of ENIC as they have made it abundantly clear they are not looking to splash the cash despite growing Spurs into the 9th biggest club revenue wise in the world. Conte and a large section of the fans feel he has become yet another manager who has not properly been backed, questioning his appointment if this was always going to be the situation. He is a manager who demands the best, whether from his players or the board; Tottenham knew who they were getting into bed with. Yet, when looking at the numbers, Spurs have spent £170m since May. Given his short time so far at the club, it is hardly fair to say he has not been supported in building something, though certain areas of the squad continue to be issues that go unresolved. Except for Romero, center-backs have not been upgraded since the days of Pochettino, a true irony given Conte has historically always played with three at the back. Levy is known to drive a hard bargain, and though this can often greatly benefit the club, it equally causes moments of frustration as transfer targets are continually missed out on. Right wing-back also continues to be an area that needs improvement. Despite buying Djed Spence, who was an integral part of Nottingham Forest's promotion last season, Conte continues to play Royal and Doherty over him, whilst also asking for a replacement. It speaks to the lack of alignment between club and manager, one wants tried and tested while the other wants to adhere to a strict policy of buying players with potential.

In a year where Antonio Conte has lost three close friends in quick succession while also being separated from his wife and daughter, who remain in Italy, the relationship looks like it is coming to its to its natural end. Was this ever going to work out or was this a doomed match from the beginning? One thing is for certain, Tottenham will likely be an all together different team going into next season. Club stalwarts like Hugo Lloris and Lucas Moura will leave the club this summer as their contracts wind down, reinforcements will be needed. With Son grossly out of form and the aforementioned Harry Kane likely to depart, any manager that comes in for Conte will have a full rebuild on their hands. For now, all Spurs fans can do is wait and hope that another pivotal loss to Fulham isn’t on the cards.