Imagine you had access to a time machine. And that you decided that the best use of this machine was to travel back three and a half weeks to update your past self on Tottenham Hotspur’s season. And that you emerged blinking into the evening of Saturday, April 18, when Spurs had just drawn 2-2 at home with Brighton and Hove Albion, stung by a 95th-minute equaliser, and West Ham were in 17th place, one point ahead of Spurs with one game in hand.
Now imagine that you broke the news to your past self that on May 12, with two games left each, Spurs were out of the relegation zone, two points ahead of West Ham and with a much better goal difference. Your past self would surely give your future self a big, grateful hug.
Spurs are not just alive, but also have a clear, meaningful lead in the table. Their situation has drastically improved over those three and a half weeks, and they are still favourites to stay up.
And yet despite all of that, there is no avoiding the fact that this single point earned by Spurs felt more like a defeat than a win. It certainly felt like a significant missed opportunity for Tottenham. This was a clear chance to win their third straight league game and increase their margin over West Ham to four points. Do that, and West Ham would have needed to win at Newcastle just to stay alive. It would have felt as if Spurs had one solid foot in next season’s Premier League. All they would have to do was pull themselves up over the ledge.
Even more painful is the fact that with less than 20 minutes left at a tense Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Monday night, they were on their way. They were 1-0 up. They had created more than enough chances to kill the game. All they needed was a second goal. Three golden points were within the clutch of their fingers. But it was Leeds who scored the game’s second goal.
There are plenty of ways of analysing what happened on Monday. But, ultimately, this game told us a very clear story about why Tottenham are where they are. And why it is difficult for Spurs fans, even despite their team’s recent upturn, to feel confident about the last two games.
There have been plenty of problems at Tottenham this season. They started with the wrong manager, dallied over sacking him, only to eventually replace him in February with another bad fit. There has been a clear lack of conviction, belief and confidence in how they have played. Momentum has been nonexistent, with no league win between December 28 and April 25. For much of that time, the players looked as if they had a mental block, something that was stopping them from being themselves on the pitch.
None of this was true on Monday. Spurs have a world-class manager. The players are fully bought into his approach. They run as hard as they can to realise his ideas on the pitch. They have just won their last two away games. Confidence is higher than it has been all season.
But a top manager, commitment and confidence can only get you so far. Monday was a reminder of what the true limiting factor is for Tottenham right now, the biggest single obstacle between them and survival. And that is the quality and depth of their attacking options.
Everyone knows the back story by now. Spurs started the season with a patchy squad. Dejan Kulusevski has not played for a year. Mohammed Kudus has suffered two quad injuries. Xavi Simons and Wilson Odobert are both out with ACLs. Dominic Solanke is also injured.
That leaves Spurs with just three fit forwards: Richarlison, Mathys Tel and Randal Kolo Muani. Those three had to start at Villa Park, when Spurs won 2-1, and they started again on Monday. Short of playing a midfielder out wide, De Zerbi has no other options.
Tottenham worked hard on Monday and dominated long spells. But they needed a proper lead to defend, given that they were always going to tire in the second half, with no firepower on the bench. And the players were not able to deliver it.
Early on, Pedro Porro played Richarlison through, but he took a heavy touch, allowing Joe Rodon to recover. Richarlison could not get enough on another Porro cross from the right. Joao Palhinha drove into the box and stabbed over with his left foot. Rodrigo Bentancur met one of Spurs’ many corners but missed the target and Richarlison could not reach it at the far post. Time after time, the ball pinged around the box, but without the quality or luck required to turn it in.
Spurs did take the lead of course, Mathys Tel producing a brilliant clip into the far top corner, a reminder that he is very gifted, if raw. But Tottenham needed a second goal and the closest they came was Kolo Muani bursting down the right and crossing for Richarlison. It was not an easy finish, but Richarlison ballooned it over the bar.
Sure enough, Spurs’ wastefulness was punished. And as they searched for a winner, their only attacking options were Lucas Bergvall and James Maddison, two midfielders, one of whom has been out for a year. Even before Maddison’s penalty claim, he produced a clever little backheel to set through Conor Gallagher, who was unable to sort his feet out in the box.
There is no point in blaming Tel, Kolo Muani or Richarlison. All three of them worked hard. Kolo Muani produced one of his better performances, willing to get on the ball and run at defenders. But none of them are consistent elite players. Richarlison has 10 league goals this year, Tel four and Kolo Muani just one. And right now, they are all Tottenham have.
Now Tottenham still need at least one more win to stay up. They must somehow find a way of scoring goals, even without the raw materials that make that easy. They desperately need Solanke back for Chelsea next week. It is not a lack of trying that is the problem now. It is a lack of quality instead.