Sport

Are Spurs too good to go down?

As Jamie Vardy stood in front of the Tottenham fans, mocking their lack of Premier League titles after equalising in Leicester’s comeback victory on Sunday, a horrible realisation must have befallen the home crowd.

Spurs are in a relegation battle. It is hard to believe, but absolutely true. History is littered with examples of clubs who believe they are “too good to go down” and that dismissive arrogance ultimately proved their downfall. Actually getting relegated would be one of the most shocking events ever seen in the top flight, given Spurs finished fifth last season and spent heavily in the summer – including £65m on a new striker in Dominic Solanke – with designs on reaching the Champions League again. As unlikely as it is to happen, 13 defeats already this season, sitting in 15th just eight points above the bottom three, tells a story; they’ve been floundering all season and the slide away from the European chase has gradually threatened to become something much more serious.

That victory for Leicester will not mend their issues, either. The Foxes came into the game on a seven-game losing streak and their own supporters, in the process of turning on manager Ruud van Nistelrooy, have effectively given up hope of survival themselves.

But Leicester’s plight should be a real warning to Spurs and their boss Ange Postecoglou, who appears to be next in line to be ousted from the dugout. Just three short years ago, it was they who were seen as the model Premier League club; having won the title in the most remarkable fashion in 2016, they went on to secure successive fifth-placed finishes in 2020 and 2021 as well as an FA Cup success. Finishing eighth in 2022 was still a positive despite the COVID pandemic hitting their ownership hard, but a year later they went down.

Mismanagement and a stop to the clever recruitment meant a rotten atmosphere set in at the King Power Stadium. Huge sales, including James Maddison to Spurs, followed, but enough of the side remained to play in the Championship. Returning to the top flight immediately under Enzo Maresca looked like they had put everything behind them, but the constant threat of Profit and Sustainability Rule breaches, and the loss of both Maresca and talisman Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to Chelsea, had made this campaign an uphill battle from the start.

The fact Southampton, who also ended a previously stable Premier League life with relegation two years ago before instant promotion, are cut adrift on just six points, suggests the gap between the top two divisions is only growing. Leicester, not long ago a team who could almost take their place in the Premier League for granted, are now struggling to keep up with its demands. That has happened after one relegation.

If Spurs don’t pick up their form, the worst possible scenario could become reality. If it does, there are no guarantees of a quick resolution, as there perhaps was a decade ago. The depth of quality in the Premier League is vast; Newcastle and Aston Villa have both previously qualified for the Champions League, and now Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest are in the running to do that this year. Clubs like Brentford, Fulham and Brighton, currently populating midtable, are clubs with smart approaches to coaching and recruitment, something Spurs don’t have. They are in danger of being left behind.

Postecoglou’s tactical approach and apparent disregard of defensive structure have accelerated the sense of crisis at Spurs, but ultimately a culture of mediocrity has set in. Daniel Levy has overseen a regression over recent years, failing to set a culture in place that allows top level coaches like Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte to thrive. Postecoglou is the latest to struggle under difficult circumstances.

It is unlikely Tottenham will be relegated this season, but if they think their quality will be enough to save them alone, they could be caught out. With just one point taken from home games against relegation candidates Leicester, Ipswich and Wolves, something will need to change for disaster to be averted.

But Levy needs to look at Leicester’s issues to see a club lose everything only to find themselves unable to reassert themselves. The sooner he realises what is at stake, the sooner Spurs can find their way again.