Tottenham Hotspur’s supporters serenaded their Europa League winners but, with the memory of that midweek win in Bilbao still fresh, their Premier League campaign petered out in all-too-familiar frustration.
Sunday’s final game of the campaign ended up as a humiliation for the home team.
Ange Postecoglou’s side threw away an early lead against Brighton & Hove Albion, who began the afternoon aspiring to qualify for Europe next season themselves, and were ultimately overwhelmed as the visitors ran riot. The 4-1 defeat condemned Spurs to finishing 17th, above only the three relegated sides, their lowest finish in a top-flight season since they last went down from the top flight in 1977.
Mats Wieffer’s foul on the lively Mathys Tel on the quarter-hour mark had seen Spurs awarded a penalty, which was converted confidently by Dominic Solanke. Tel, fed by Pedro Porro, might have added a second only to be denied by an excellent save from Bart Verbruggen.
Yet, while Brighton had only threatened sporadically before the break, they were revived by their half-time changes.
Two set-piece goals completely transformed the game, with Tottenham unable to cope with Adam Webster’s aerial prowess at corners. First, the centre-half nodded down Brajan Gruda’s delivery for Jack Hinshelwood to convert smartly from close range. Then, moments after Carlos Baleba had struck the post, Hinshelwood summoned a cheeky back heel in the confusion of the six-yard box to convert beyond Guglielmo Vicario.
Matt O’Riley’s late penalty sealed the win and there was still time for Diego Gomez to rip a stunning fourth into the top corner from distance.
Jay Harris and Elias Burke dissect the key talking points from a harrowing last game of Tottenham’s season.
So what now for Postecoglou?
Despite Brennan Johnson’s winning goal and Micky van de Ven’s acrobatic goal-line clearance as Manchester United were beaten in Bilbao, Ange Postecoglou had been the star attraction at Friday’s trophy parade through this part of north London.
His address, in front of at least 150,000 fans packed into the streets surrounding the stadium, ended with a hint that he had been given assurances about his future. While his “third season” comment provoked the biggest roar of the evening, Postecoglou clarified in his pre-match press conference the following day that he hadn’t actually held any talks with Tottenham’s hierarchy regarding his status for 2025-26.
Suggesting whether he stays or goes is a straightforward decision would be a disservice to chairman Daniel Levy, who has endured Tottenham’s worst season in Premier League history in the hope Postecoglou’s second-year trophy declaration would bear fruit — and it did. Success in the Europa League, and the ticket to the Champions League that comes with it, ensures that 2024-25 will be written into their history books for reasons of triumph rather than failure.
Still, a club of Tottenham’s size and level of playing talent cannot lose 22 league games out of a campaign’s 38, irrespective of the injuries and Europe taking priority in recent months. This defeat, their 10th in 19 home top-flight matches this season, ended up a thrashing.
Yet if Levy takes stock of the options available to replace Postecoglou, the Australian’s case to take the club forward is strengthened. Thomas Frank and Marco Silva have enjoyed excellent seasons at Brentford and Fulham respectively and either might raise Spurs’ floor next season, but perhaps the ceiling is higher with Postecoglou.
Immediately parting ways with the coach who brought silverware to Spurs after a 17-year wait has to be a decision you’re sure about.
It’s clear the players are behind him. Judging by the atmosphere at that parade on Friday, the supporters are too. Though the picture of thousands heading for the exits after O’Riley put Brighton 3-1 up on 88 minutes here suggests they’re not unanimous in their backing.
Elias Burke
How did Solanke do in his first season at Spurs?
Tottenham broke their transfer record to sign Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth last summer for £65million ($87.9m at the current exchange rate). He was supposed to be the elite centre-forward who could fill the void left by Harry Kane when he moved to Bayern Munich a year earlier.
An ankle injury sustained on debut disrupted his early season, then a knee injury in January ruled him out for nearly two months, but Solanke still managed nine goals in 27 league games, including his penalty today. It is fair to say that he is not a prolific striker like his predecessor, but he offers the team so much more than just goals.
The 27-year-old is integral to the way Postecoglou wants his team to press. Solanke leads from the front and tirelessly chases after long balls from his team-mates. He is selfless, which means that other people tend to benefit from his hard work. Johnson is the perfect example of this: Solanke’s runs towards the near post will often drag opposition centre-backs out of position and leave the Welsh winger free to receive a cutback.
Solanke might not have scored many this season but he delivered under pressure. He got the winner in the Europa League quarter-final tie against Eintracht Frankfurt and scored in both legs of the semi-final victory over Bodo/Glimt. He had a great chance to score in the final too, but was clearly exhausted when he received Destiny Udogie’s pass in the second half.
The three-time England international has looked isolated by Spurs’ system at times and will need more help next season, but he should be this club’s first-choice striker for the next few years. His has been a promising — if not necessarily spectacular — start.
Jay Harris
Should Tottenham make Tel’s move permanent?
The situation Tel entered on arrival in the winter transfer window would have been a challenge for a seasoned international, never mind a teenager being asked to adapt to a new league and country.
Tottenham were sliding down the table then and Tel, who had earned most of his minutes on the left wing at parent club Bayern Munich, was called upon to deputise for a sidelined Solanke at centre-forward. He found the adjustment difficult.
Since Solanke’s return from injury, Tel has largely moved back to the left, and his performances there have been more encouraging.
He scored in back-to-back league games against Southampton and Wolves in April, and followed those up with arguably his best performance in a Spurs shirt in the 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest. Against Brighton on Sunday, he offered a bright spark in attack and had a good opportunity denied by an excellent save. He perhaps should have had an assist in the second half, cutting a cross back to Johnson, who fired wide when in a position he has scored from several times this season.
Spurs can exercise a €55million (£46.2m; $62.5m) option to make Tel’s stay permanent this summer, but, despite his recent upturn in form, whether he’s done enough to justify that price tag is up for debate.
But there’s no denying his talent. If Levy can negotiate that price down, it’s a deal that makes sense for a side needing reinforcements across the squad with a Champions League campaign ahead.
Elias Burke
Can Europe mask the Premier League form?
In Sunday’s first half, it felt as if Spurs would beat Brighton because they were fired up by the incredible atmosphere inside the stadium. Wiefer was struggling to contain Tel, Rodrigo Bentancur kept making interceptions and Van de Ven found it easy to deal with the threat of Simon Adingra.
Everything changed when Fabian Hurzeler brought Kaoru Mitoma and Gomez off the bench at half-time. Mitoma instantly started driving directly at Pedro Porro and won a corner. Gruda’s out-swinging delivery bounced off Solanke and Hinshelwood rifled the ball into the roof of the net.
Spurs never recovered their momentum from that moment.
Baleba smacked the post with a shot from another corner. Gomez pinched the ball off Kevin Danso in Tottenham’s half and launched a dangerous counter. Yankuba Minteh moved to the right wing and darted in so many different directions that Udogie would have been left with a headache.
As it was, Hinshelwood scored Brighton’s crucial second from another corner which Spurs defended poorly.
Yves Bissouma conceding a penalty for a late tackle on Gomez summed up the entire second-half performance. Djed Spence and Udogie lost the ball on the halfway line and slowly trudged back without much effort.
Gomez’s fourth in added time just rubbed salt into the wounds.
For all the happiness that lifting the Europa League trophy brought to the fanbase, this was a reminder that a lot of work needs to be done before this team becomes competitive again towards the top of the domestic table. Again, this was their 22nd defeat of the Premier League season, their 10th at home, and they finished above only the three relegated clubs.
Hurzeler’s tactical substitutions changed the game and counterpart Postecoglou was too slow to react. If the Australian stays and leads the team next season, he needs to learn from his mistakes over the past nine months to ensure his side heads in the right direction.
Jay Harris
What did Postecoglou say?
Asked about the game by BBC Radio Five Live, Postecoglou said: “A pretty disappointing result. We obviously got pretty fatigued in the second half and couldn’t really sort of go on with the job. First half was okay. I thought we controlled them pretty well, scored a goal, probably should have had a second. But (we) fatigued in the second half. Unfortunately the game got away from us.”
On the campaign: “How do I assess the season? Outstanding. We won a trophy, which we hadn’t done for 17 years, and we’re in the Champions League. Ask anyone at this football club at the start of the year whether they’d take that, I’m pretty sure there wouldn’t be a person in the house who wouldn’t.
“It’s been an unbelievable season. I said during the week that I couldn’t be prouder of the group that we’ve achieved what we have. It’s a real good platform to kick on now.”
(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)