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Tottenham Hotspur supporters are pretty immune to the misery that defeats can cause at this point but, even by their own standards, that was a bad one. On Tuesday night, Spurs were 4-0 down after just 22 minutes against Atlético Madrid in the Champions League, with goalkeeper Antonín Kinský hooked by Igor Tudor after just 17 minutes following two calamitous errors. In the end, the Lilywhites only lost 5-2 at the Metropolitano which, given the start, actually was not too bad.

This, astonishingly, was Tottenham's 45th defeat since the start of last season, if you include the UEFA Super Cup shootout defeat as a loss. This means Spurs fans have watched their team lose more frequently that pretty much anyone else in Europe during this period:

Teams with most defeats across Europe's top 12 leagues (24/25 & 25/26)

Note: Only clubs that have been in their top-flight in both 24/25 & 25/26 have been included.

Looking at all of Europe's major leagues, no team has lost more matches across all competitions since the start of last season than Tottenham's tally of 44. Their European adventures mean Spurs have played more than anyone else, but this is still a staggering statistic.

Of the other contenders, Hellas Verona, Heidenheim, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Winterthur, AVS Futebol and Panserraikos all appear destine for relegation, so could the same happen to Spurs?

Well, if West Ham manage to beat Manchester City on Saturday night, and then Nottingham Forest win against Fulham on Sunday, Spurs would kick off at Anfield in the relegation zone, at which point it really feels real, if it does not already.

The mauling in Madrid makes the second leg of that Champions League tie a mere formality, but remaining a Premier League club has to be the main priority. The entire Tottenham support is now against Tudor, and it's frankly baffling that he remains in situ, amid reports that Sean Dyche has turned down the possibility of taking the job.

Spurs will venture to Merseyside having lost six successive matches for the first time in the club's 143-year history, with little reason to suggest that this sequence is going to come to an end. A week later, Forest will visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, at which point they may be below Vítor Pereira's team. So, with the second leg against Atlético and nine Premier League fixtures still to play, that tally of defeats could still exponentially increase.

Tottenham Hotspur fans have been used to their club playing below its financial standard for years, and now the consequence of this is that Spurs are facing relegation. The club is in a state of crisis on the pitch, hovering just one point above the drop zone after another terrible loss, 3-1 to Crystal Palace, and their latest 5-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid is a sobering reminder of how far away they are from competing in the Champions League.

Well, Spurs could be set back even further this summer transfer window, rather than springing forward and making the sort of big moves that build on new additions like Mohammed Kudus and Xavi SImons.

According to a report from the Daily Telegraph's Matt Law, The Fan Advisory Board were recently told by the club that although Daniel Levy was deposed as CEO in August and his stringent wage structure was removed, the club's finances are apparently not as healthy as once thought. New leader Vinai Venkatesham totally threw Levy under the bus and said that he mismanaged the club with key mistakes that will now force Spurs to sell this summer transfer window to avoid financial penalties.

Maybe Daniel Levy wasn't so good with money?

It is a bomb from the blue for Tottenham Hotspur supporters, who thought, as anyone logically would, that Levy was such a stickler because he was simply cautious with money. The notion was that Levy put the financial over the sporting for the good of ENIC, and now to hear that he was suddenly actually wasteful is a bit suspect and highly concerning.

Tottenham have the biggest stadium in the Premier League, a raucous supporter base, and one of the top 10 highest revenues in world football, even after finishing 17th and not playing in the Champions League last season.

This news will feel, to many Spurs fans, like a preemptive excuse to not improve the team after what will usurp the 2024/25 season as the club's worst in history. It's really not even going to be close, and if Spurs are relegated, they will have financial issues and the need to sell players to keep to the Championship financial constraints.

But even if they stay up, it sounds like the bleeding could continue, and it all sounds like a familiar set of excuses and sudden twists pointing to the same familiar conclusion to Tottenham fans: that Tottenham will perpetually find excuses not to act like a big club. And such is their identity.

Tottenham Hotspur supporters were at least hopeful that replacing Thomas Frank with Igor Tudor would pay dividends for some of the younger players stuck in a rut or cast aside, and while no issues have been as obvious as the way Tudor snubbed Antonin Kinsky after his mistakes against Atletico Madrid, it is hard to see any young player getting into a better situation under the interim coach.

Take, for example, Mathys Tel. He, once again, was initially snubbed by Tudor but then shone off the bench as a rare bright spot for the Tottenham attack. So fans were hopeful that Tudor would ilsten and reward him, instead of stubbornly ignoring the young Frenchman like Frank, who even nearly drove him out via a loan transfer in January.

Well, while Tudor did give Tel the start against Atletico Madrid, no sooner did he sacrifice the 20 year old forward despite the fact that he was Spurs best player on the pitch. Tudor subbed Tel off as early as half time, so did the starting lineup appearance against Atletico Madrid then even count as a starting appearance?

The Conor Gallagher for Mathys Tel change was insanity

What made the decision even worse is that it made no sense from a footballing perspective. Spurs were losing and in need of goals, so Igor Tudor took out his best attacking player, by far, and replaced him with a box to box midfielder who has been horrendous with no creativity in Conor Gallagher. And Tottenham were predictably worse off for it, with Gallagher playing poorly yet again.

Before his substitution, Tel had two key passes and three dribbles completed in one half of football against the vaunted Atletico Madrid defense despite having no real help around him with Randal Kolo Muani delivering yet another disaster class and Richarlison also playing poorly. Those are sensational numbers in a big game, and yet Tel was punished for them.

Tottenham Hotspur blew more money than they needed to in order to sign Conor Gallagher from under the noses of Aston Villa, and, perhaps, the impetus for signing the English No. 8 came from a sudden, multi month injury to veteran center midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur.

Well, Bentancur is still out, and while he was no great shakes for Tottenham when he was healthy and had actually lost his starting job to Archie Gray early in the season, at least he was a competent backup. The same cannot be said for Gallagher.

Facing his former team in the Champions League Round of 16, Gallagher only proved why Atletico Madrid were so eager to get rid of him in not just the last winter transfer window when he did move to Spurs, but also in the preceding two transfer windows.

Conor Gallagher failed against Atletico Madrid

Gallagher was dreadful. He failed to progress the ball or show any creativity, which is a recurring theme for him. People talk about his effort, but effort counts for very little when that effort is not put to use. Even in terms of winning the ball or carrying it, Gallagher's overall impact on the game is minimal, and despite running quite a bit, the overall effect on the running is equivalent to him being a passenger in the game.

Tottenham had nothing to lose with a big deficit in the second half, yet even with that unburdening them, Gallagher still did not provide any sort of verve to drive the ball forward. He shows no risk of initiative with his passing, which is actually an even bigger step backwards from what he was doing previously in the Premier League for both Crystal Palace and even Chelsea.

Rodrigo Bentancur had a similar issue of not being creative or brave enough with his passing, but even he did create at least something for Spurs to sink their teeth into and was a better screening defender. Gallagher's running ends up leaving more gaps in the Tottenham midfield, so the movement is not necessarily beneficial.

All told, with each passing week Gallagher starts and struggles for Tottenham Hotspur, the fans are more wistful for Bentancur and want him back from his injury, even thouguh they used to be sick of him in the midfield. That speaks volumes to how unimpressed they are with Gallagher and how little confidence they have in him to improve, since he isn't exactly a high upside investment.

Tottenham Hotspur fans are bracing for the worst this summer transfer window, and even if Spurs do survive the relegation battle, there is a good chance a number of high profile players exit the club. But one notable name Tottenham fans are actually hoping leaves is starting goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario, who is being courted actively by big Serie A clubs.

The trio of Roma, Juventus, and Inter Milan have all shown an interest in Vicario. Formerly of Empoli in Serie A, Vicario began his career at Tottenham very brightly, but he has slowly become a problem over time. Even last season at the end of the year when Spurs conquered the Europa League, fans began to whisper about Vicario being a liability on the ball, on crosses, and in terms of making crucial errors that cost them games.

This season, Vicario has been exposed. He has made a number of dreadful mistakes, and as the season has gone on, even his shot stopping has become poor. No starting goalkeeper in the Premier League has a worse save percentage than Vicario. So just as Tottenham are interested in upgrading and cashing in on Vicario to a Serie A club, Vicario may be interested in moving back to a league that he likes better while saving his confidence; playing for Spurs right now is not exactly a joy for these players, though, of course, Vic and the others are not blameless in this for their attitudes.

Guglielmo Vicario gives Inter Milan the green light

Juventus and Luciano Spalletti have been courting Vicario aggressively as a replacement for the disappointing Michele Di Gregorio, even though he was even better than Vic when both were in Serie A. Meanwhile, their biggest rivals, Inter Milan, have been just as interested, tabbing Vicario as their ideal replacement for a declining Yann Sommer, though the declining Swiss keeper's save percentage is still significantly better than Vicario's this season.

Now, La Gazzetta dello Sport's Gregorio Spigno is reporting that Guglielmo Vicario himself has given Inter Milan the green light for a transfer out of Tottenham Hotspur, bringing him one step closer to fulfilling months of rumors linking him to the Nerazzurri and thus ending his tenure at the N17.

Inter are about to coast to a Serie A title, whereas Spurs are fighting relegation. For Vicario, Inter are obviously an upgrade. And now, with Spurs knowing where Vicario wants to go next, they can aggressively scout potential upgrades on him, like James Trafford, while negotaiting with Inter favorable terms on a transfer fee.

Tottenham Hotspur fans had been begging for young goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky to finally get some chances between the sticks, having become entirely fed up with veteran shot stopper Guglielmo Vicario, whose play had deteroriated to the literal worst save percentage among current Premier League starting keepers.

But the adage, careful what you wish for, comes to mind here. In their zeal to want Kinsky back, they did not realize that their new feckless and irresponsible interim manager Igor Tudor would simply throw him to the wolves. Rusty on game time and nervous heading into a road match in the Champions League Round of 16, Kinsky slipped and slid on one of the worst turfs we have ever seen at this level of the Champions League, en route to three early mistakes and a swift benching from the cold shouldered and tactless Tudor.

Nobody would blame Kinsky for wanting out of Spurs after his confidence had been systematically shattered by poor management, with Tudor's treatment of him simply being the last shoe to drop. The logical conclusion, in all honesty, would have been for Kinsky to simply leave and never come back.

Antonin Kinsky wants to leave on loan

Only half of that equation seems to be the case, though. According to a report from the Daily Telegraph's Matt Law, Antonin Kinksy is expected to ask for a loan transfer this summer so that he can leave Tottenham Hotspur for a year and rebuild himself as a top young keeper.

It is a best case scenario development for Tottenham. Kinsky needs to leave Spurs for at least a little bit, because too much damage has been done to him in this environment. Kinsky has not been supported, he does not get to play, and he does not have the grace to make mistakes even though his more experienced teammates have, quite frankly, been just as prone to errors. Look at how many blatant mistakes Guglielmo Vicario has gotten away with this season.

But at the end of the day, Tottenham do not have to lose Kinsky permanently in this scenario. Kinsky gets to branch off and flourish somewhere else, then return to potentially even become their next starter. Tottenham can foster a young talent instead of losing them or, worse yet, ruining them, as they have done so far. And big ups to Kinsky if he wants a loan rather than just to be done with Tottenham all together, which would have been perfectly understandable, too.

Tottenham Hotspur are heading closer and closer to relegation, and as people scramble to answer the question of why Spurs are so bad, the answer is truly multifactorial. Spurs have been dealt with a lot of injuries on top of a squad with obvious weaknesses in areas crucial to success in modern football, and they also have a squad of young players with an inflated sense of their own worth, leading to severe underperformance.

Fullback Djed Spence is not one of the biggest names at Tottenham, but, in many ways, he typifies the problems at Spurs. Spence is not a bad footballer by any means. He is a perfectly acceptable Premier League right back who is good enough to make appearances for the England national team, but he is someone who has snubbed managers and carries himself like he is world class, even with his social media posts.

The reality is that Spence is a below average starting player and more of a rotational piece, yet he starts frequently at left back, where he is atrocious. Spurs have had to give him a lot of starts this season due to injuries to Destiny Udogie, and they had such an issue with his poor play that they focused on left back more than any other need in the transfer window, signing his successor in Souza while showing significant interest in Andrew Robertson as an immediate starting option.

Juventus want to sign Djed Spence

Tottenham Hotspur clearly do not have high hopes for Spence long term, and they may have found the perfect way to get rid of him. According to a report from La Gazzetta dello Sport's ace reporter Giovanni Albanese, Juventus are interested in signing Djed Spence, who could cost 26 million pounds.

Now, that is a pretty hefty fee for Tottenham to fetch for a mediocre player who is not really in their squad building plans. Spence is not the most popular name among the players who could be moving out of the club this summer, but he is more likely to leave than others like Pedro Porro - and also a lot less valuable, which is why he is not as popular of a name.

For some reason, Juventus are starting to like Tottenham's players as signings, perhaps signaling a changing of the script in their transfer relationship. Whatever it may be, if Spurs can manage to offload Guglielmo Vicario and Spence for 30 million euros apiece his summer transfer window, that will go a long way to helping them sign better players.

Tottenham Hotspur are dangerously close to relegation, and their 3-1 loss to Crystal Palace over the Premier League weekend was a harsh reminder of how far they have fallen. Now coming off another blowout loss - to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League - Spurs must regroup to face Liverpool. Although they will be without Micky van de Ven after his brainless moment vs. Palace, they will get an even bigger center back in captain Cristian Romero back.

And Spurs fans had better both enjoy Romero and hope that the Europa League Player of the Tournament delivers up to his pedigree, because Tottenham's season and very survival in the English Premiership is counting on the World Cup hero being at his best.

Romero's days, regardless of how well he plays or whether or not Tottenham survive the drop, are likely numbered. He has been the one player unafraid to challenge strengthenthe horrible Tottenham board throughout the season, both when they fired Ange Postecoglou and later when they did absolutely nothing to strengthen the team during the winter transfer window.

Tottenham want to get rid of Cristian Romero

Per a new report from The Daily Telegraph's Matt Law, Cristian Romero's future at Tottenham Hotspur is in serious doubt. Even if Spurs are not relegated this season, they are planning a squad overahul that will see key players leave, and alongside goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario and right back Pedro Porro, Romero could see himself out. Of those three, Romero is the best player and the captain, yet, based on Law's piece, it appears he may be the most likely to leave. In fact, he even reports that Tottenham believe parting ways with Romero may be in the best interests of everyone.

Now, that everyone clearly does not include the Tottenham fans, though it would be silly for anyone to actually believe that the club would even care about the best interests of their beleagured fans. Clearly, putting Romero on the chopping block would be nothing more than the board exacting revenge on a powerful player in the squad and the literal captain, both punishing and swiftly banishing him for daring to challenge the status quo.

In many ways, you can see why Romero and Ange Postecoglou were so close and then also why the Tottenham front office were so keen on axing both. Romero and Postecoglou are talented, outspoken individuals who are not afraid to challenge the status quo, while the status quo is something the Spurs money machine thrives off of in order to keep people in line.

Antonin Kinsky drew all the negative headlines for Tottenham Hotspur with three early gaffes to start an eventual 5-2 blowout loss to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16, but he was far from the only putrid performer for Spurs in yet another big match.

French striker Randal Kolo Muani has been a problem for months now, and his situation at Tottenham was already untenable during the winter trasnfer window. Kolo Muani was actually wanting a transfer out, and Spurs fans could tell he was past the point of being mentally checked out of the team as a gun for hire loan transfer signing from PSG - the only club he played against, by the way, in which he actually bothered turning up his performances to 11.

No longer riding the reputation of that game, Kolo Muani is only starting for Spurs because of his great relationship with Igor Tudor. But the man who coached a brief revival out of the monumental PSG transfer flop during their time together in Turin last season has been unable to touch RKM in a positive way this season.

Randal Kolo Muani was horrible vs. Atletico Madrid

Kolo Muani started against Atletico Madrid and delivered another disasterclass. Micky van de Ven and Kinsky were slipping and sliding, costing the team goals, but from a pure effort perspective and in terms of what cannot be just chalked to bad luck, Kolo Muani was the worst player on the pitch.

He was so atrocious that even Tudor had seen enough, hooking the forward off early. Watching Richarlison and Dominic Solanke give their all to this team to score and assist goals really points out further just how dreadful Randal Kolo Muani has become for Spurs.

He is a decaying stench wafting a toxic cloud above the entire stadium at this point. Kolo Muani, once again, created nothing, nor was he scrapping to move the ball or draw fouls. He was lethargic, disinterested, woefully ineffective, and a complete waste of space for Tottenham.

It is ridiculous seeing Kolo Muani's name on the team sheet every single week, only for him to deliver repeated disaster class. This is not a rough patch, at this point. In fact, this is who he is. Kolo Muani is a player who will shine when he feels like it, which is once in a blue moon, and in nine out of every other ten games, he simply will not care, especially when things are not going well.

As Tottenham Hotspur supporters watched Thomas Frank repeatedly lose big matches and then come out with a big smile and act as if Spurs were playing well, they began to realize that things were much better under Ange Postecoglou, even if there were serious issues at the time. And now watching Igor Tudor fumble through even more defeats, the Spurs faithful are starting to come to the same realization about the former Juventus manager.

Although "former Juventus manager" has a nice sounding ring to it, realize that Tudor was only a marginally successful interim coach for the Bianconeri. He has never lasted more than a single season at any team he has coached, and his best league finish was in 2022/23 when he came third in Ligue 1 with Marseille, who were second in the league the season before his arrival.

Tudor came into the Spurs job with less respect and credibility than either Postecoglou or Frank did, but, well, that is why he was a desperation interim manager hire. Spurs supporters wanted to get behind Tudor and do their best to support him, but the notion that he would be an upgrade over Frank was always going to be a flawed one.

Igor Tudor is no upgrade on Thomas Frank

Now, there are actually some ways in which he has been better than Frank. At least he gave Antonin Kinsky a chance in the first place. But the way he did it - and the way he handled the obvious conclusion of the young goalkeeper struggling for confidence against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League knockouts - was appalling.

The reality is that Tudor is not the caliber of manager who should be managing a Premier League Big Six side with one of the top 10 highest revenues in the world. He might not even be the caliber of manager who should be in charge of Crystal Palace or Fulham, given he is significantly worse than either Marco Silva or Oliver Glasner - by the way, two coaches near the top of Spurs upcoming summer wish list.

Tudor isn't good. He, again, has no real track record of managerial success in world football, and his reputation as a savior actually makes no sense. He has no system or identity to how he plays, he is not known for enhancing young players, and it is quite apparent already that he cannot manage the personalities or the flames of a volatile situation at a big club. At least Frank was a standup guy who didn't humiliate young players on the pitch like what Tudor did to Kinsky.