The Long Goodbye

All right, I put this off as long as I could hoping that there would be concrete news to report, but as of this writing, Antonio Conte still has his job—somehow. I know. I don't get it either.

(The above photo is not related to Conte, it's just a photo from a training session for the Women's team. But I thought it evoked the overall moody vibe at Tottenham lately.)

In this issue:  Southampton Recap | Existential crisis, manager edition:  Endgame | Previewing the Women's NLD, home edition

Before we even get into That Press Conference, let's quickly look back at the draw with Southampton that precipitated the drama.

Southampton 3 - 3 Tottenham

I don't think I have to tell y'all what the main problem is here. We let Southampton, a team who had previously averaged less than one goal per game, score three goals. Not ideal!

Their third goal was, of course, rather dubious in nature, which I'll get to later, but it doesn't change the fact that we were twice in a winning position during this game and still dropped two points. That doesn't happen to a team in control of the game state. Once again, our tendency to become passive after going ahead has come back to bite us.

It's worth noting that both teams suffered two injuries in the first half that necessitated substitutions. Southampton lost both of their starting center-backs (Jan Bednarek even had to be taken to the hospital to be treated for broken ribs), while Tottenham lost Richarlison and Ben Davies (both of whom had been key performers in the previous win against Nottingham Forest). To make matters worse for Spurs, Dejan Kulusevski (who had replaced Richarlison in the 5th minute) picked up a knock in the second half and had to be subbed off himself near the end of the match.

Each team had to find ways to adjust after early setbacks, and initially, it looked like Spurs had done the better job. We scored just as first-half stoppage time began, Pedro Porro's first goal for Spurs. He'd found himself in lots of space many times during the first half and sent a couple of shots well over the bar, but on that occasion, he was able to keep his shot down just enough to rocket into the top netting. Even better was Son Heung-min's defense-splitting pass for the assist—his 50th in the Premier League.

Unfortunately, Southampton equalized for the first time straight after halftime through Che Adams. A through ball to Theo Walcott went straight between Ivan Perišić and Clément Lenglet, neither of whom could chase Walcott down, and Cristian Romero was too casual in marking Adams as he arrived in the box for the squared ball.

We got back into the lead in the 65th minute courtesy of a Kulusevski cross to Harry Kane header. Kane is now tied for most headed goals in a PL season with nine, and you would fancy him to break the record outright in the last ten games.  

Not long after, Perišić scored his first goal for Spurs to give us a two-goal lead in the 74th minute. Son's initial corner kick came back to him via Pierre-Emile  Højbjerg, and he laid it off to Kulusevski to send a cross into the box. Romero couldn't get an angle on his header to send the ball into the goal, but he was able to send it out to Perišić near the edge of the 18-yard box. He hit it on the volley and cleverly shot it down into the ground to chip it over Southampton's keeper, Gavin Bazunu. Although Perišić is our second-highest assist leader in the PL this season, we've been waiting for him to finally get his first goal. I question Conte's continued usage of Perišić at wingback when he's revealed his defensive vulnerabilities at that position time and time again, and I also think it's no surprise that his first goal came off a recycled set piece, not open play. If we do indeed end up with a new (or interim) manager for the last ten games, I hope Perišić can get some minutes at winger instead, even if just as rotation for Son or Kulusevski.

We were soon reduced to a one-goal lead again. Walcott was left in far too much space in the middle of the box to pull off a shorter-range version of Perišić's volleyed goal. It's too bad since Fraser Forster had made an impressive save just prior.

And then there was the controversial penalty decision just before second-half stoppage time. Well, apparently it wasn't controversial in VAR's eyes, because they allowed the (wrong, egregious) on-field decision to stand. I do think Pape Sarr (who had just subbed in three minutes earlier) could have been a little savvier in the way he attempted to clear the ball, but there was no way he was aware of Ainsley Maitland-Niles (former Gooner, it must be said) coming up behind him. Maitland-Niles knew exactly what he was doing jumping into Sarr's path. Even the commentators were incredulous that the penalty stood. James Ward-Prowse converted the PK against his former teammate, Fraser. Lenglet had a big chance to score from a header at the death, but the match ended in a draw.

The early injury subs were definitely a big blow, Davies from a defensive standpoint and Richarlison from a fluidity-in-attack standpoint. But I think Conte's final substitution window is where the game was lost (or rather, drawn). He chose to bring on two players who are more defense-minded to see out the one-goal lead rather than give a player like Arnaut Danjuma or even (and I can't believe I'm saying this) Lucas Moura a chance to try and grab another goal with the benefit of some fresh legs. Instead of trusting in the attack against the 4th worst defense in the league, the tactical instruction was to bunker in. And as usually happens when we opt to become more passive, we invited pressure and conceded. Sure, the penalty call was nonsense, but we'd already put ourselves in the position to get screwed over.

So that was awful. You know what was even worse? Conte's post-match press conference.

Cowardly Conte

I'm really beginning to hate this man, which is quite extraordinary considering how sympathetic I felt to him just a few weeks ago. At that point, I was already fed up with his tactics and convinced he wasn't the right manager for Spurs from a purely sporting perspective, but I was willing to cut him some slack in light of the difficult personal circumstances he'd been dealt this season (the death of several close friends and then his gall bladder removal surgery). Now, after watching his bridge-burning press conference in which he threw the players under the bus and insulted the club all in one go, I am convinced that he isn't the right manager for Spurs from a temperament perspective either.  

As friend-of-the-newsletter Scott often reminded me this season, none of that press conference was out of character for Conte. He does this at every club near the end of his tenure (or should I say reign of terror?). Indeed, he runs through so many of the same tropes and signature lines that he's even got a bingo card. He ran through many of the hits on Saturday (though it definitely wasn't boring, I'll give him that):

I know y'all have probably read the full transcript or watched the full presser already by this point, so I won't dig into every little quote. But these were the main takeaways for me:

• Conte called the players selfish and implied that their poor mentality is the biggest reason Spurs haven't achieved anything this season.
• At the same time, he never once took responsibility for the part his own tactics and in-game management decisions have had in affecting results.
• He insulted the club at a general level, but more specifically the ownership and board, with his reference to "20 years" without success; obviously, no player in the squad has been involved with the first team for anywhere close to that length of time, so it can only be interpreted as a judgment on Daniel Levy's stint as chairman and ENIC's legacy as owners.

Firstly, I disagree that the players have been selfish and/or unmotivated. These men are professionals who have worked incredibly hard to live their dream of playing football at the elite level. When I've watched them during recent poor performances, I've never had the sense that it was for lack of trying. Rather, it looked like there was a lack of ideas on the pitch in a tactical sense, and that comes down to Conte's management. It's also frustrating to see so many players underutilized (or in some cases, overutilized) this season and many have not even been played in their best positions consistently. I'm not surprised that the relationship between Conte and the squad has been breaking down since he's made no secret of only favoring about half of them. That kind of treatment is naturally going to have an effect. You only have to look at Richarlison's recent venting session with the press to understand how frustrated many of the players have become—and rightly so, if you ask me.

A lot of fans have been treating this as a binary situation where you either have to "support Conte for telling the truth" (which, I reject that premise to begin with—he's saving face by deflecting blame onto anyone but himself, not doing us a favor by pointing out things we basically already knew regarding the ownership' and board's mistakes) or else you're a "Levy lover." I don't think it has to be so black & white. It's possible to acknowledge that the club has made plenty of errors in both the transfer market and in its managerial appointments, particularly post-Pochettino era, but that doesn't make any of Conte's behavior in the last week and a half even remotely acceptable. He's brought embarrassment upon the club in an attempt to restore his reputation ahead of leaving—whether in the summer when his contract is up, or sometime this week if the club can ever get it together and act already. This is a great time for Levy to demonstrate some backbone and call Conte's bluff. Sack the man!

I also disagree with the fairly common opinion I've seen amongst the fanbase that suggests sacking Conte would just be restarting the cycle all over again and is therefore pointless—better to stick with him, they say. Perhaps I'm just too willing to give the board the benefit of the doubt, but I can't imagine they'll have gone through this whole negative press saga without being forced to do some real self-reflection. Even if Conte's comments were motivated by self-preservation, the fact that so many fans have agreed with him will be an indicator to the board that business as usual is getting old and won't be tolerated by the fanbase. I'm also sure that they will be aware of just how important it is to get the next managerial appointment right.

So in other words, I don't think the options are only to a) keep Conte and hope things will somehow be different or b) repeat the same old mistakes over again with a new manager. I would like to think (however naive that may be) that if, say, Mauricio Pochettion returned to the club, the board would do a better job of supporting him this time around with smarter transfers (or just transfers, period) and bigger investment, while also ensuring that Poch's influence is tempered by working with a sporting director (preferably not Fabio Paratici if I had a say in it, but time will tell if he leaves too). The cycle doesn't have to continue, and we don't have to be that cynical as a fanbase. Let's try to have a little faith that the board has learned some valuable lessons from this whole debacle.

I've been open about the fact that I would personally like to see Poch return because I think he deserves a second chance with proper backing this time around, but I am also open to other candidates—just not Thomas Tuchel or Luis Enrique. I also have major reservations about Oliver Glasner, who has been floated as an option in recent days, but mostly due to concerns about longevity and his ability to keep his tactics fresh for an extended run. I would also welcome another Ryan Mason interim stint if the club would prefer to bring in a permanent manager in the summer instead. He's more than capable of steadying the ship as he proved last time around. And most importantly, he genuinely cares about the club and its success. Above all, I just want it to be someone who is proud to manage Tottenham and will make us proud of the football being played on the pitch.

I'm genuinely surprised that Conte hasn't already been let go, but I'm sure it's down to some logistical/financial reason. The rumor mill suggests that it will happen by tomorrow, so we'll see. Either way, the Men's team is on international break now so there's technically no rush.

The Women's team does play this weekend though, and it's a significant game:  the North London Derby. In last season's home fixture, we managed to take our first point off Arsenal. It's unlikely that that feat will be repeated, but there is some reason for hope.

Arsenal are coming off a shorter rest since they just played in the Champions League, a hotly contested away fixture at Bayern Munich. I of course was delighted to see Bayern claim the 1-0 win to take into the second leg, but Jonas Eidevall was griping like the sore loser he is about everything from VAR to goal-line technology. He clearly thought his team needed some help to get a result, and we can only hope that lack of confidence will diffuse down into their squad and leave them unsettled for the NLD.

Unfortunately, I don't feel quite as confident in Spurs' ability to pull off the kind of last-ditch defense that Bayern did. We all know that has been a weak point for the team this season. Even as the attack has improved over the course of the campaign the defense has remained error-prone and fragile. Interim manager Vicky Jepson seemed reluctant to tinker with personnel, but I really would like to see Asmita Ale reintroduced.

I am also eager to find out when Kit Graham will be ready to start a game. We don't want to rush it, of course, since she already had setbacks in her ACL recovery. But it's undeniable that having her available for a full shift would be a huge boon to the team.

Will Rosella Ayane continue her hot streak of form? I sure hope so. I also would like to see Celin Bizet start on the opposite wing; while Nikola Karczewska is a talented forward, I think she is better suited to a central role than playing out wide.

The only other swap I would make is replacing Angharad James in the midfield with Eveliina Summanen. At this point, it's clear that a lot of our defensive issues begin in the midfield, whether it's losing possession or failing to progress the ball, and I think Summanen does a better job of avoiding both, at least on current form.

Winning the Leicester game was so important because it gave us some breathing room in the table to afford dropping points in this upcoming fixture. In other words, don't panic if we lose to this top-4 side. The lowest we can drop is 10th, and the next match is a still-challenging but much more feasible game against Everton.

Fingers crossed that this fixture draws a good crowd at Brisbane Road for Women's Football Weekend. If you're watching stateside, it's a rare Paramount+ stream for us!

I'm not going to cover the Men's international break happenings as closely as I did the last Women's break, simply because it's a lot easier to find info on the Men's games from other sources.

But I'll end this issue by congratulating Fraser Forster on his call-up to the England squad to replace the injured Nick Pope. Forster's form has sharply improved now that he's had a consistent run of games for Spurs, and many of the goals we've conceded have been more fairly attributed to the defense than his own errors (though not all). Who knows if he'll end up getting any game time with England, but it's still nice for him to be called up. I'm sure he's happy to get away from all the drama at Hotspur Way this week!

Enjoy a weekend without the stress that is Tottenham Hotspur Men's team.

COYS

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