Tottenham Hotspur’s slow decline has led them into the Premier League’s bottom three. West Ham’s victory over Wolves pushed Spurs into the drop zone. Spurs were unable to escape, losing 1-0 at Sunderland in Roberto De Zerbi’s first game in charge.
This marks the first time Spurs have been in the relegation zone beyond the early weeks of a season since January 2009.
Could Spurs Really Be Relegated?
The question of whether Spurs could be relegated has shifted from hypothetical to a real possibility. The question is whether a club that won a major European trophy, played in the Champions League this season, and is the ninth-wealthiest football club in the world, according to Deloitte, could really be relegated to the Championship?
The next few weeks will reveal the answer.
Lack of Fight and Quality
Avoiding 18th place is a battle between four teams: Tottenham, Leeds, Forest and West Ham. They are separated by three points. While Leeds, Forest and West Ham have shown they are up for the battle, Tottenham’s form has been appalling for 18 months and has worsened since the turn of the year.
There’s absolutely no sign of encouragement in the way they are playing. It’s widely agreed that they have lacked fight, but they also lack resilience, composure, quality, dynamism and pretty much every quality you would want in a team.
One writer gives them a better chance under Roberto De Zerbi than under Igor Tudor, but thinks they’ll go down, and without a fight. It’s shocking, really.
Rearranging the Deckchairs on the Titanic?
The change in mood following Roberto De Zerbi’s arrival and the three-week break between matches made it easy to forget that Spurs are just… a really limited team. The latest defeat was a reminder that the players are totally bereft of confidence and quality. There are too many individuals who do not appear to care enough about the club’s plight.
De Zerbi was the latest manager to largely ignore Xavi Simons on Sunday, which left his side short of creativity. At this point, you wonder if tinkering with the XI is akin to rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic. There is a grim momentum about Spurs’ slide down the table and they bear all the hallmarks of a shock relegation.
As De Zerbi said at the Stadium of Light, Spurs may only need one result to change the mood and remind the players how to win. But with just six games remaining and points to make up on the te