It was looking rosy for Tottenham Hotspur when Richarlison scored against Leicester City in the Premier League last weekend. However, goals from Jamie Vardy and Bilal El Khannouss gave the Foxes an unexpected win in north London.
Following the match, Spurs fans turned on their manager, Ange Posecoglou and their chairman, Daniel Levy. Their side are now 15th in the Premier League and just eight points above the relegation zone. Surely, a club the size of Tottenham could not go down...
Premier League table
TEAM | RECORD (last five games) | POINTS |
|---|---|---|
Liverpool | W-D-D-W-W | 53 |
Arsenal | W-D-W-D-W | 47 |
Nottingham Forest | W-W-D-W-L | 44 |
Man City | W-W-D-W-W | 41 |
Newcastle | W-W-W-L-W | 41 |
Chelsea | L-D-D-W-L | 40 |
Bournemouth | D-W-D-W-W | 40 |
Aston Villa | D-W-W-D-D | 37 |
Brighton | D-D-W-W-L | 34 |
Fulham | D-D-L-W-L | 33 |
Brentford | L-W-D-L-W | 31 |
Man United | L-D-W-L-W | 29 |
Crystal Palace | W-D-W-W-L | 27 |
West Ham | L-L-W-L-D | 27 |
Tottenham | D-L-L-L-L | 24 |
Everton | L-L-L-W-W | 23 |
Leicester | L-L-L-L-W | 17 |
Wolves | D-L-L-L-L | 16 |
Ipswich | W-D-L-L-L | 16 |
Southampton | L-L-L-L-L | 6 |
Will Postecoglou be sacked?
Support for Postecoglou amongst Spurs fans is mixed. Some want him gone and think he should be doing much more with the roster he has. However, other fans find his soccer entertaining and have sympathy for the Australian, given the amount of injuries that Tottenham have.
There have not been many rumors as to who might replace Postecoglou in the Spurs dugout. Most supporter frustration is at Levy and not their manager. One banner at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium at the weekend read "24 years, 16 managers, 1 trophy. Time For Change." This is a clear message to the club chairman.
Changing managers has not improved Spurs' fortunes in recent years. Juande Ramos was their last boss to win a trophy when his side lifted the League Cup in 2008. Since then, they have had Harry Redknapp, Andre Villas-Boas, Tim Sherwood, Mauricio Pochettino, Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo, Antonio Conte and now Posecoglou. This is a real mix of different managers with a range of styles of play and shows that Levy does not have a real plan for Tottenham.
Hiring and firing managers will continue Spurs' recent history of underachieving. However, if results do not improve for Tottenham, then they will have to sack Postecoglou. It would be likely that Ryan Mason would begin his third spell as interim boss until the end of the campaign.
Injuries...
Tottenham's current injury list reads: Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, Destiny Udogie, Djed Spence, Pape Matar Sarr, James Maddison, Timo Werner, Brennan Johnson, Wilson Odobert, Dominic Solanke and Richarlison. Their roster has been decimated, so it is no wonder that Postecoglou's side is struggling.
Spurs need to bring in some players before the transfer window closes on February 3. However, the only notable rumor recently is that Werner might be leaving the club to go to the MLS with the New York Red Bulls.
Postecoglou's team are still in the Europa League, the FA Cup, and have a 1-0 aggregate lead over Liverpool going into the second leg of their EFL Cup tie. They need to recruit and have players return from injury if they are going to make it through their congested fixture calendar.
There will be three worse teams that Tottenham
Leicester's win over Spurs was unexpected as the Foxes were on the back of seven straight defeats in the Premier League. This victory could give them the momentum to possibly overtake Tottenham in the division. The same goes for Everton, who beat Tottenham and then went on to beat Brighton.
It is only a matter of time before Southampton are relegated. Wolverhampton Wanderers and Ipswich Town do not look like they will be able to scrape their way to Premier League survival. Therefore, Spurs should be safe from an unprecedented relegation.