To say that it has been a bad week for Tottenham Hotspur would be vastly understating things.
In fact, things have been rotten for Spurs for a lot longer, but it seems to be reaching a boiling point.
That’s what happens when you lose 7-2 at home midweek in Champions League, then go on the road and lose to a team in the relegation zone 3-0.
Just how bad are these two losses? Well, Bayern Munich’s demolition of Spurs was the first time in history that a continental team scored seven goals on English soil in European competition. To make matters worse, the man who scored four of those goals, Serge Gnabry, is a former Arsenal player and no doubt enjoyed rubbing salt in the wound of his ex-North London rival.
Then, on Saturday morning, things only got worse. Brighton’s win wasn’t a lucky one – the Gulls outshot Spurs 17-8 and had six on target compared to three. Possession was fairly close, too, 52%-48% for the visitors. Against an opponent of equal footing, you could expect something like this. But these two teams should by no means be on the same level.
Heading into the game, Brighton has scored just five goals this season, with three coming against Watford on the opening weekend. This Brighton side scored the fourth-fewest goals in the league last season with 35 and still managed to pot three against Spurs. Even worse, the Seagulls had just one win at home in all of 2019 – and that came against Huddersfield Town!
This is an ongoing disaster for Tottenham: In the calendar year of 2019, Spurs have now lost as many games as they have won with 17 in all competitions – that’s more losses than any English top-flight side.
Since Feb. 26, Spurs have 19 points in Premier League competition, which is third-worst out of any non-relegated team.
Manager Mauricio Pochettino no longer seems like the genius that he once was. The players aren’t playing up to the standards that have been set for them and looked lackadaisical. Many are reportedly questioning the manager’s tactics and there is seemingly even more discontent in the locker room.
All that the club’s ultimately unsuccessful run to the Champions League final did was hide the very real problems. Maybe we should’ve thought more about the manager’s quotes about leaving the club if it had won the final against Liverpool.
Sports books have Pochettino as the third-most likely manager to leave his post right now and, if things don’t change – and quickly – the Argentine might not make it to Christmas, where he wants to or not, which is up for debate.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Who else but the man who conquered Man City?
Adama Traore’s brace propelled Wolves to stunning upset at the Etihad and were his first two goals of the season.
The Spanish winger is one of the fastest players in the league and used that burst to his advantage on the counter-attack for both of his tallies.
We don’t think this performance will launch him to stardom – Traore now has just three career EPL goals – but his pace will help Wolves unlock teams on the counter and could push them towards a return to last year’s form.
ABOUT CITY…
It’s hard not to buy into the narrative that the title race is over after Manchester City suffered another shock upset while Liverpool scored a stunning injury-time to keep its 100% record intact.
But here’s the reality: There are still 30 games to be played.
The gap between the two clubs is now at eight point, which seems like a daunting task. But, rest assured, Liverpool will eventually drop points – even if it feels like it won’t.
And City will recover from this loss and go on a winning streak of its own.
Remember that the season is long and that Liverpool only lost one game last season, but still fell short of the title. There’s still a lot of football left to be played.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Things aren’t about to get easier for the Spurs’ back line – captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris is out until 2020 after dislocating his elbow … Tammy Abraham now has eight goals this season for Chelsea. Marcus Rashford’s career-best for goals in a season is 10 … Frank Lampard’s Blues have now scored at least three goals in three straight away matches. It’s the first time that Chelsea has managed that feat since 2009 … The Christian Pulisic signing is looking like a gigantic waste of money for the Blues. The American winger has played just 90 minutes in the team’s past six matches and that was all against Grimsby in a Carabao Cup tie. Pulisic didn’t even make the matchday squad against Lille last week. Think that Chelsea would like a refund on the $91 million they spent on him? … LeicesterCity was certainly up for the challenge against Liverpool. One of the hottest teams of 2019, the Foxes were fairly even with the Premier League leaders and it all came down to an injury-time penalty. Brendan Rodgers’ boys should feel good about this game, if not a little cheated by dropping the point so late … Manchester United is going to be without Paul Pogba for a bit longer. Reports are the star midfielder needs more rest and treatment on his lingering foot injury … Everton is in the relegation zone after losing it’s fourth straight game. Bet you didn’t see that coming.
THE LAST WORD
Another week, another disaster from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United.
While it wasn’t on par with Spurs’ awful week, United did next to nothing on the pitch. Two games, zero goals. It started with a midweek 0-0 draw against AZ Alkmaar, which sits third in Eredivisie, in a game in which United didn’t even register a shot on target. It continued with a 1-0 loss to Newcastle, a club which is in the midst of its own turmoil.
We mentioned that Pochettino has the third-best odds to be the next manager fired, well, Solskjaer is second on that list. And if the rumour mill is any indication, Pochettino would be a prime target for the United job if there was a move made at Old Trafford.
It seems that every week we’re seeing new stats about how this once-great club is experiencing it’s worst start in years.
How it can turn things around remains to be seen, but something certainly has to change.