Tottenham set for record-breaking season after latest defeat

Tottenham’s season fell to a new low with their 4-2 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Sunday, and the club look set for a record-breaking campaign.

Spurs were 2-0 down at half-time before Mathys Tel got them back into the contest just before the hour mark, but any hope was quickly extinguished with Jorgen Strand Larsen restoring the two-goal cushion.

Richarlison found the net late on but Ange Postecoglou’s men conceded again through substitute Matheus Cunha in a display that has become emblematic of Postecoglou’s Spurs.

Tottenham have now lost a staggering 17 Premier League games this term; their record in a 38-game season in 19 in 2003/04, followed by 18 in 1996/97, and there’s every chance Spurs surpass those tallies.

The club’s lowest finish in a 20-team Premier League is 14th and, currently sitting 15th, they may yet record their lowest finish for more than 30 years.

Many inside and outside of the club gave the Australian the benefit of the doubt with so many key men injured, as Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Ben Davies, Wilson Odobert, Mikey Moore, Rodrigo Bentancur and Richarlison were all unavailable at the same time, with Timo Werner, Brennan Johnson, Destiny Udogie, Dominic Solanke and James Maddison all subsequently spending time on the sidelines.

But Postecoglou has the majority of his side back now, and this is the worst Spurs have looked under his stewardship, with the former Celtic boss becoming increasingly spiky with the media and indeed his own fans.

The travelling Spurs supporters at Stamford Bridge chanted ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ at their manager after the decision to replace Lucas Bergvall with Pape Sarr, with Postecoglou responding by cupping his ear at the fans when Sarr scored minutes later, only for the goal to be disallowed.

While Postecoglou’s Tottenham have never looked defensively organised, it was the trade-off for a free-flowing, attacking side, as we saw for the first 10 games in the dugout, taking Spurs to the top of the Premier League.

But they’re no longer looking like a potent attacking outfit and they’re getting leakier defensively. While individual errors can be blamed for the four goals they shipped, strong defensive units don’t make those mistakes and it now appears Tottenham will be looking for a new manager in the summer.

Tottenham still have the Europa League to save their season, but it may be the new manager search begins even sooner than the summer should Spurs fail to get past Eintracht Frankfurt in midweek with the club seemingly in free-fall.

Liam Williams

• Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
• Premier League
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