Total Collapse

Once again, I am left wondering how I can find anything interesting to say about a result for the Men's team, because the game itself was far from interesting. The only thing that truly feels significant is the aftermath—primarily, the uncertainty around Antonio Conte's future with the club. From my perspective, it's an easy decision:  sack him now. But although I delayed writing this issue until today (and not the night of the CL exit when I was feeling even more fired up about the whole situation) just in case there was news, we did not get a club announcement yet as I had hoped. The limbo continues.

In this issue:  AC Milan recap | Existential crisis, manager edition pt. 2 | Weekend match previews

Tottenham 0 - 0 AC Milan

(0-1 on aggregate)

Two days removed, I remember precisely two moments from this match:

• Cristian Romero's second yellow red card
• Harry Kane's missed header

Otherwise, it was a very, very dull match of football. At least the Romero situation made me feel something, even if it was frustration. Maybe he just wanted to feel something too.

The lineup was what you would expect with the injuries we had. But regardless of who was missing, there was more than enough quality on the pitch to get a result if the tactics were right—as usual under Conte this season, they were not. We haven't scored a single goal in the last three matches in all competitions.

It's especially frustrating that we went out with such a negative game plan when AC Milan didn't have many ideas of their own. They were perfectly content to protect their 1-0 aggregate lead from their home leg. I doubt they will be able to get away with that strategy in the quarter-finals. But at least they have the opportunity to find out. After going through such a dramatic struggle to escape the group stage, we exited the knockout stage with a whimper.

Conte's decision to bring on Davinson Sánchez rather than an attacker with seven minutes to go in a literal score-or-go-home scenario was, frankly, unforgivable. I do not care that we were a man down and short on defenders. What's the point in defending when you're going to be knocked out of the competition unless you score a goal to force extra time? I can only conclude that Conte did not (forgive me) dare to do.

So it's another season without a trophy, and you can't say we really gave it our all in any of the cups. It's also fair to wonder why our "serial winner" manager had such a losing mentality when it came to challenging for cups this season.

Existential crisis, manager edition pt 2:  Conte Boogaloo

I'm not going to mince words. I'm really, truly angry at Conte right now. It would be one thing for him to put in that kind of feckless managerial performance and somehow still be in his job two days later if he had at least shown some humility in the ensuing press conferences, or shown any evidence of being chastened. But he hasn't. If anything, he is doubling down.

Here's a sampling of quotes from the immediate post-game presser and today's pre-Nottingham Forest presser to give you an idea of where Conte's headspace is at:

We don't have solid foundations to fight and win... I'm really sorry for the fans but we cannot invent the win. It's important to know this. Hope for a miracle to find a trophy at the training ground . We have to build step by step.

The club knows the situation very well. I speak with Paratici every day and I’ve a good relationship with Daniel Levy. The future is not important now.

I have a contract about to expire and let's see how the season ends. Maybe they can send me away even earlier.

So to summarize, Conte doesn't think the team he's been working with for fifteen months and had three transfer windows so far to bolster hasn't improved enough to compete against teams like checks notes Sheffield United and an out-of-form AC Milan. Right. Got it.

The comment about Richarlison was in regards to Richy's (perfectly valid) complaints, expressed to a Brazilian outlet, that he was training in the starting team only to be told on matchday that he wouldn't start, in a season where he has consistently struggled to get into the team despite Son Heung-min having a major downturn in form and there not being anyone else to rotate Kane with. I would be exasperated too! But Conte's response, instead of showing some empathy and reassuring that Richarlison would get his chances, was to dig out the Brazilian forward for not having a league goal yet. Notably, he did score twice in the CL and went on to have a strong World Cup campaign with his national team, so maybe, just maybe, that's more down to the lack of opportunity afforded by Conte and not an accurate indicator of Richarlison's value to Spurs.

And in response to questions about the uncertainty around his contract situation? Nah, don't worry about that. The future isn't important. That definitely sounds like someone determined to give his all in the final few months of the seasons.

If that final quote isn't Conte basically begging to be sacked, I don't know what it is. I wish the board would call his bluff.  

I have tried to be "patient" with Conte (as he's asked for in several other quotes going around), but at some point, you have to acknowledge that the downward trend is not reversing. It's bad enough that we haven't scored (or even looked much like scoring) in the last few games, but think also of how many times this season we've gone entire halves—or even entire games—without a shot on target. That's just unacceptable for a club like Tottenham with a tradition of playing attacking football. I have argued many times that Daniel Levy and the board have made wise decisions when it comes to ensuring the sustainability of the club from a business sense, but I cannot argue that they have gotten the last few managerial appointments right. These defensive-minded, systemically-rigid managers go completely against the club's footballing heritage. Enough is enough.

No more "serial winners," please. We need a manager who will get the most out of their squad—yes, with some key additions, but nowhere near the bank-breaking level of investment that José Mourinho and Conte demanded (and basically got, compared to Mauricio Pochettino, let's not forget). We need a manager who will be flexible with their tactics and actually respond to the game state in matches. And we need a manager who will utilize the full breadth of the squad, not leave new transfers out in the cold wondering why they even bothered joining Spurs.

The obvious solution is to sack Conte and bring Pochettino back. However, the fact that they did not do so on Thursday suggests that the club is content to let Conte ride out the remainder of his contract rather than incur a financial cost to expedite his departure. I genuinely think Levy and the board are underestimating the reputational cost and loss of goodwill from fans that will result from that delay, but that's their decision to make.

The other possibility is that they do not intend to bring Poch back to Spurs (despite it being the most popular option with the fanbase), and don't feel like they can get their preferred candidate in until the summer. If that is the case, I would much prefer to have Ryan Mason oversee the last twelve Premier League matches as a stop-gap measure. I won't say that Mason's previous caretaker stint was flawless, but the one thing you can always be sure of with him is that he actually cares about Spurs as a club. He is fully COYS. And he would at least play more progressive football, which would be infinitely more enjoyable to watch than the boredom Conte has been making us suffer under (his favorite word).

I won't get into the various names that have been floated as possible contenders to succeed Conte in this issue (maybe in a bonus issue), but no matter who it is, the change needs to come sooner rather than later.

It feels a bit pointless to break up the weekend match previews into two distinct sections because the truth is that both teams are in the same boat. They desperately need wins to get out of the losing streak funk. While the Men's losing streak feels a bit more hopeless because of what was further lost as a result, going from being in three competitions to just one in the space of a week, the Women's losing streak in WSL play has been so longstanding that it's beginning to feel like a curse.

Both teams have injury concerns heading into the weekend. Emerson Royal and Ivan Perišić are both doubts to play against Nottingham Forest, leaving the wingback options even more constrained. God, I miss Matt Doherty. Meanwhile, we will definitely be without Shelina Zadorsky again due to an illness. Beth England's injury status is still a mystery and the club will have to forgive me for not trusting the suggestion that she will be back for the Liverpool away game. I'll believe it when I see it. Her return would undoubtedly be a boost, though.

A new manager would have been the biggest boost for the Men's team, but we will have to hope that if they do indeed lose, it is the final straw on the camel's back that forces Conte's exit.      

That's all I've got for y'all in this midweek issue. Let's hope the turnaround starts soon for both our teams because the decline can't go on much longer. The Men's team risks losing the all-important top 4/CL qualification, and the Women's team could face relegation if results do not improve. No matter what happens, we will remain supporters.

COYS

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