FOR most of the 2025-26 season, Spurs were shambolic and looked like a demotivated team lacking the vigour to avoid relegation. Remarkably, a late change in management, not the first of the campaign, gave them just enough to steer clear of the drop. Did they deserve to? The jury is still out.
Spurs fans got what they had wanted for some time with the departure of chairman Daniel Levy in September. One of his last decisions was to hire Thomas Frank, the Brentford coach, in the summer. Frank, a likeable and laid-back Dane, clearly found the task of making Tottenham a credible force too difficult. In his defence, the job had become something of a poison challis and while Frank’s record at the Brentford project was impressive, the good ship Spurs had been listing for some time.
As ever, Spurs had money to buy fresh talent and on paper, it looked like a reasonable summer with Xavi Simons joining from Leipzig for £ 52 million, Mohammed Kudus making the short trip from West Ham to north London for £ 55 million and Mathys Tel, a £ 30 million signing, arriving from Bayern Munich. Spurs started the season solidly with just one defeat in seven, but then the wheels spun off. They were in mid-table at the turn of the year, but then a calamitous run of 14 games without a win pushed them down to the relegation zone. Frank went in February and the relatively unknown Igor Tudor was appointed as interim manager. It was a flawed appointment that only ran until the end of March.
The next contestant was Roberto De Zerbi of Brighton and Marseille fame. Both sides of the deal jumped at the chance and it seemed to be a wise choice. De Zerbi’s Spurs started with a defeat at Sunderland but two draws and three wins were just enough to save them, the final success a 1-0 home victory against Everton. Very clearly, the root of Spurs’ problems was their very poor home form – in 38 Premier matches over two seasons, they won just nine times.
Their performance in the Champions League, the reward for winning the Europa League in 2024-25, was bizarrely unlike their Premier displays with just one defeat in eight in the league phase, but they were well beaten by Atlético Madrid in the round of 16. There will be no European football at the club’s excellent stadium in 2026-27, which may allow deeper concentration on an improved league placing.
De Zerbi has to get it right in the new season as the club’s owners will not tolerate another dire league campaign. New players have arrived in the form of Sandro Tonali, a £ 100 million capture from Newcastle, Mateus Fernandes of West Ham (£ 85 million) and Brighton’s Jan Paul van Hecke (£ 52 million). Liverpool’s Andy Robertson has also signed on a free transfer. There will be no excuses if Tottenham’s slump continues, they have a top class manager and they have spent money to strengthen their squad. But where will the goals come from?
Photo: Omri Yamin, via Unsplash.