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Welcome back to The Athletic’s relegation-battle update, where our data and tactics writers take a weekly look at the key trends behind the scrap for Premier League survival.

While Arsenal could pull away from Manchester City in the race for the title, the tussle at the bottom looks set to go down to the wire, and with Tottenham Hotspur’s position more precarious than ever after their home defeat by Crystal Palace, it has never felt so compelling.

How realistic is a Spurs relegation? Will West Ham United’s newfound momentum propel them out of trouble? Could Leeds United be sucked back into danger? Let The Athletic run through the data.

What has changed since last time?

Quite a lot, but the most attention-grabbing development is that Tottenham, having hovered on the periphery for weeks, have now joined the relegation party in earnest. They are the only side in the division still without a Premier League win in 2026, and the graphic below shows how that miserable form has left them treading drop-zone water. Last Thursday’s 3-1 loss to visitors Crystal Palace means they are now just a point above 18th-placed West Ham.

For the first time since matchweek one, Spurs no longer have that four-point cushion that allowed them to lose without slipping into the bottom three. Compounding matters, they picked up yet another suspension as Micky van de Ven was sent off for hauling back Ismaila Sarr, conceding the penalty that led to Palace’s equaliser.

The Dutch centre-back now misses Sunday’s daunting trip to Liverpool. At least his defensive partner Cristian Romero has completed a four-match suspension, although he is now a doubt after a nasty clash of heads with team-mate Joao Palhinha in their 5-2 Champions League defeat by Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, with worries that both could miss the game at Anfield with concussion.

“Everything is going against us,” said interim Tottenham head coach Igor Tudor after that loss in Spain. It may be about to get a lot worse.

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest’s excellent point at Manchester City was crucial in keeping them from dropping into the relegation zone. City were unsurprisingly dominant, but goals from Morgan Gibbs-White and Elliot Anderson showed the quality in the visitors’ squad. Without that draw, a resurgent West Ham would have leapfrogged Forest in the table after victory over Fulham — which leads us perfectly into…

Who is looking stronger?

Coupled with Tottenham’s slip-and-slide, a notable upturn in form for West Ham saw them reduce their chances of relegation by 23.5 per cent according to Opta’s renowned supercomputer.

Their 1-0 victory at Craven Cottage last time out felt like a statement win for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side, as Jarrod Bowen pounced on a breakdown in communication between goalkeeper Bernd Leno and centre-back Calvin Bassey, laying the ball off for Crysencio Summerville to score.

Though they were fortunate in how that goal came about, the signs are good for West Ham, who are looking more like a Nuno side with each passing week following his early-season appointment. Looking at 2026 alone, their points haul is good enough for ninth place across the Premier League, showing they are playing more like a mid-table side than relegation strugglers.

The Portuguese is famed for his defensively organised, counter-attacking sides; since the start of April last year, no team has completed fewer passes than West Ham, but only three (Arsenal, Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion) have conceded fewer expected goals (xG).

We can see that defensive improvement on the rolling xG ribbon chart below, where, for the first time in over two seasons, West Ham are creating more goalscoring opportunities (blue line) than they are conceding across their latest 10 games.

An encouraging display in the FA Cup to eliminate Brentford kept the good mood going on Monday, and although the visit of title-chasing Manchester City this weekend may feel a little daunting, they only have the Premier League to focus on — unlike Tottenham, who have at least the return leg against Atletico on the calendar — as they look to climb out of the bottom three for the first time since early December.

Another side on the up are Wolves, though their good run of recent form will probably be too little, too late.

With victory over Aston Villa and a dramatic late win against Liverpool, the Premier League’s bottom side have beaten two of the top six in consecutive games, while also taking a point against leaders Arsenal three weeks ago. Intriguingly, coach Rob Edwards can now look forward to the easiest upcoming schedule, per Opta’s power rankings, facing West Ham, Leeds and Tottenham — all in the bottom six — as well as out-of-form Sunderland between now and the start of May.

Wolves’ chances of survival remain slim: 0.02 per cent according to Opta’s algorithm. Win your next two as well lads, then we’ll talk.

Who has the tougher upcoming schedule?

West Ham may have the momentum, but Tottenham and Forest have — on paper at least — the more forgiving upcoming fixtures. Few give Spurs a hope on Sunday against Liverpool. Their 1-1 draw in May 2022 is the only time they have avoided defeat in their past eight league visits to Anfield. Beyond this seemingly hopeless trip to Merseyside though, their next four matches come against fellow bottom-half sides, including a huge crunch home date with Forest next Sunday.

Forest, for their part, have the easiest schedule based on the Opta Power Rankings of their next five opponents, starting with the visit of Fulham on Sunday. The west Londoners sit 10th and appear to be meandering towards another mid-table finish. Pereira’s side should possess the motivational edge, even if Fulham still have distant hopes of qualifying for European football.

Elsewhere, West Ham face a tough home game against title-challengers Manchester City on Saturday night, before a trip to fourth-place Aston Villa the weekend after. It is a tricky run, but West Ham’s strong form makes them a tough proposition for any of their Premier League opponents.

Things can swing so quickly in the league table at this time of year, so do not omit Leeds from the conversation. Daniel Farke’s side have been coasting slightly in recent weeks, with two draws and two defeats in four matches showing they are losing momentum at a crucial point. They go to Crystal Palace on Sunday, then have a home game against Brentford which looks that bit trickier today than it did a few weeks ago.

What does the supercomputer say?

Leeds’ three-point cushion to the relegation zone is the healthiest among the teams here, so it is little surprise that Opta’s projections are most bullish on their survival prospects, giving them a 92.2 per cent chance of staying up. Tottenham’s 18 per cent chance of relegation is the highest it has been all season, but the Opta computer is still more confident they will steer clear than it is about the four teams beneath them.

Forest are given a 25.8 per cent chance of going down, while West Ham’s figure stands at 48.8 per cent. The algorithm has essentially abandoned any hope of a late surge to survival by Burnley and/or Wolves, with both assigned less than a one per cent possibility of completing a great escape.

Tottenham Hotspur have extended the window for supporters to renew their season tickets for the 2026-27 campaign until June 7, due to the increasing threat of relegation to the Championship.

Last month, Tottenham announced they would freeze season ticket prices for next season following consultation with supporters’ groups. At the time, Spurs sat 16th, five points above West Ham United in 18th.

But having failed to win a league game in 2026, Spurs now sit just one point away from the relegation zone with nine games remaining of the Premier League season.

In an email to season ticket-holders, Tottenham said: “As previously communicated, General Admission Season Ticket Renewals for 2026/27 open today (Thursday 12 March).

“In line with our Ticketing Charter published in March 2024, we are committed to opening renewals by no later than 15 March each year.

“We recognise the seriousness of the current league position of our men’s team and, following discussions with our Fan Advisory Board and the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust, can confirm the renewal window for 2026/27 will now remain open for an extended period until Sunday 7 June to ensure fans have full clarity on next season before renewing.”

Renewals for the current 2025-26 season closed on May 27 last year, two days after the end of the previous campaign.

This year, supporters will have two weeks from Spurs’ final league game, the visit of Everton May 24, to decide if they want to renew their seat.

Despite eventually finishing 17th last season, Spurs’ Premier League status was all but secured by the time season ticket renewals were placed on sale last year, with a 17-point buffer between them and the relegation zone at the time.

In the published minutes detailing a meeting between Tottenham’s fan advisory board and club representatives, including chief executive Vinai Venkatesham, on March 12, the supporter representatives expressed “acknowledgement” that “there is significant concern among supporters regarding the Club’s current league position for the men’s team” and that they “indicated that fans are increasingly anxious about the possibility of the Club no longer competing in the Premier League”.

The minutes also detail that “questions were raised regarding the potential impact of relegation on ticket pricing and on communications to supporters during the renewal period”.

While season ticket prices were also frozen last year, Tottenham drew criticism from some fan groups for removing concessions for new senior season ticket holders (aged 65 and above). Restrictions placed on ticket sharing and changes to the ticket exchange system were also points of frustration for sections of the fanbase. The cheapest adult season ticket at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium costs £856, with the most expensive at £2,367.

After suffering a 5-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday night, Spurs are back in action in the Premier League on Sunday with a trip to face Liverpool at Anfield. They then face Atletico in the return leg of the last 16 tie on Wednesday, before hosting Nottingham Forest, who currently sit level on points with Spurs in 17th, on March 22.

Tottenham Hotspur have lost six games in a row for the first time in their 144-year history. They are only one point above the Premier League’s relegation zone while their chances of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals are hanging by a thread following Tuesday’s humiliating 5-2 defeat by Atletico Madrid.

The players look lost, bereft of confidence and powerless to stop everything from spiralling even further out of control. Expectations are low for Sunday’s game against Liverpool but a positive performance could help them to at least regain some momentum.

Spurs need their underperforming senior players to step up. Cristian Romero has been sent off multiple times and criticised the club on social media earlier this year. Micky van de Ven’s red card against Crystal Palace led to a chaotic seven-minute spell during which they conceded three times, and the Dutchman was then lucky not to be dismissed for the second game in a row for a reckless challenge on Atletico’s David Hancko. He cannot face Liverpool due to suspension, while Romero may also be unavailable after clashing heads with Joao Palhinha late in Tuesday evening’s defeat in Spain.

Guglielmo Vicario’s form in goal has been erratic, Pedro Porro looks agitated, while James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski have not played a single minute this season due to long-term knee injuries. There have also been problems off the field as The Athletic reported last month that timekeeping was an issue during Thomas Frank’s reign.

The strain of an historically bad season can be seen in this squad. Some members who are determined to arrest the team’s decline have expressed displeasure at the application of others, who they believe are not motivated to help their cause. The Athletic has even been told that one player has expressed to his team-mates that he is not too concerned by the possibility of relegation because he believes he can and will leave the club this summer.

Tottenham are drifting, and need to find leaders somewhere, or their season will end in the ignominy of a first relegation in 49 years.

Spurs have tried to sign a fair few high-profile players over the last 12 months, including Eberechi Eze, Antoine Semenyo and Morgan Gibbs-White, but missing out on Andy Robertson in the January transfer window has proven as costly as any other. Robertson would have been a natural alternative to left-back Destiny Udogie. More importantly, Robertson, who will captain Scotland at this summer’s World Cup, would have provided this squad with some much-needed leadership.

Roberton’s comments about his potential transfer offer an invaluable insight into his character. After he scored in Liverpool’s 3-1 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers in the fifth round of the FA Cup last week, the full-back told reporters that “my focus never came off trying to help the lads on the pitch and in training” and “I’ll be committed until I’m no longer needed.”

The defender, who turned 32 on Wednesday, has only started five league games and played a total of 633 minutes this season. He has lost his place in Arne Slot’s first-choice XI to summer signing Milos Kerkez but is determined to ensure they have a successful end to the campaign.

The body language of Tottenham’s players after they conceded four goals in 22 minutes against Atletico suggests they are in desperate need of support and would have benefited from Robertson’s attitude and know-how.

Steven Caulker spent time in Tottenham’s academy before breaking into the first team during the 2012-13 season. He made 29 appearances for Spurs in total before joining Cardiff City. Cardiff finished bottom of the Premier League in the 2013-14 campaign, before Caulker again suffered relegation from the top flight with Queens Park Rangers the following season. He highlights former Spurs captain Ledley King and Portugal international Jose Fonte as two leaders who could unite squads in difficult circumstances.

“Form is temporary but you can control the way you behave and carry yourself,” Caulker, who is now an assistant coach at Turkish top-flight side Konyaspor, tells The Athletic. “I played with Jose Fonte at Southampton and he was a top professional. He was the first one in (to the training ground) and the last one out. He put an arm around you when you weren’t playing but wasn’t afraid to have a word with you if standards dropped. That created an environment where others could blossom.

“Ledley led by example. Sometimes he couldn’t train because of his knee but he would be in the gym every single day. He had a calming and reassuring presence about him. It’s not about screaming and shouting. It’s about their everyday behaviour and how they treat everybody from the cleaner to the head coach. They earn respect and back it up on the pitch. When your captain is picking up red cards, it puts him in a difficult position where players question that side of his game.

“At Cardiff, we had good leaders but we switched managers midway through the year to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and we just weren’t good enough to play the way he wanted us to. At QPR, we had a good squad but lacked unity and that created a split dressing room which cost us on the pitch. You need to strip it back to basics, drop the ego and accept the position you are in.”

Danny Higginbotham made over 200 Premier League appearances during his career across spells with Manchester United, Derby County, Southampton, Sunderland and Stoke City. He was involved in multiple relegation battles and believes having the right mindset is key.

“Everybody is looking for guidance but these players haven’t been in this situation before,” the former centre-back says. “Leeds United knew their aim for this season was survival and that there might be times where they don’t win for a month. They have to change their mindset from a group of players who had aspirations to finish in the top six at the start of the season to just fighting and scrapping for their lives but what experience do they have to lean on?”

Interim head coach Igor Tudor has stuck with a back three in all four of his games in charge but has experimented with players in different positions. Palhinha has been moved from central midfield to defence, Conor Gallagher has operated out wide, Archie Gray has been shifted from right wing-back to left wing-back and Porro started as the right-sided centre-back against Palace.

Dan Abrahams is a sports psychologist who has worked with teams and individual athletes around the world. Abrahams believes it is “critical” that everybody understands their responsibilities but encouraging individuals instead of highlighting their mistakes can help them to perform better.

“Humans have doubts, worries and fears,” Abrahams says. “Everybody is a little bit different and that is what coaching is about. To get players on board, you need to sit down with as many of them as possible and quickly get to know them. Watching footage, highlighting strengths, pinpointing areas to improve and communicating how you are going to help them builds trust and it becomes apparent you are on their side.”

Tudor has criticised Spurs’ squad publicly on multiple occasions. After the defeat by Palace, he said: “I need to choose the right guys because the boat is going in the direction that I want to go and needs to go and who is in the boat can stay. Otherwise, they can bow down, or how do you say that, leave the boat.”

Caulker believes publicly calling out players can prompt a positive reaction but it is a risky approach. “I’ve been in dressing rooms where I have thought, ‘It’s about time people stopped protecting players who aren’t on board and don’t deserve it and I’m glad he called it out’,” Caulker says.

“If everyone is onside but they are just out of form and the manager says something like that, then you have completely lost the dressing room straight away. It is a big call (for Tudor) to make without any results so he has nothing to back that up with. When you make statements like that, it leaves you isolated and judging by the result (against Atletico) it hasn’t worked.”

Higginbotham agrees that the best approach is for managers and senior players to “keep calm”.

“You need to be a man manager,” Higginbotham says. “Players are exploding on the pitch because things are not going according to plan and they don’t know how to fix it. When people say this Tottenham squad doesn’t care, I understand that argument but I think these players have zero idea of what they are doing.

“This is a group of players which includes World Cup finalists. They are not used to being in a relegation scrap. People say it’s tough at the top but it is even worse at the bottom. You have to keep players’ confidence high if they haven’t won for five weeks.”

Spurs’ club-record signing Dominic Solanke revealed the players had a “big conversation” in the dressing room following the Palace defeat. Romero could be seen shouting at his team-mates after Julian Alvarez gave Atletico a 3-0 lead. Higginbotham recalls having “heated arguments” with his team-mates at Stoke to hold each other to account.

“The difference is it wasn’t blaming each other,” he says. “Everybody has to be together. It wasn’t finger-pointing and saying to someone, ‘You are not running or good enough.’ Spurs have some incredible individual players but they are not working as a team. Against Palace, when one head dropped, the rest of them did. That is the sign of a team that is ready to combust, which has fragile confidence. If that is a team ready for a relegation fight, you go over to your team-mate and say, ‘Keep your head up’.”

There has been a disconnect between the players and the fanbase for the majority of the season, which has not helped the situation. One of the biggest flashpoints came in November when Van de Ven and Djed Spence walked straight down the tunnel without acknowledging the supporters after a 1-0 defeat at home by rivals Chelsea.

A few weeks later, Vicario was booed by sections of the crowd after making a costly error in the build-up to Harry Wilson’s winner for Fulham. Porro and Van de Ven appeared to clash with the away fans following January’s defeat by Bournemouth. The fans are, understandably, venting their frustration at the prospect of Spurs being relegated for the first time since 1977.

Speaking to Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sport after Tuesday’s match, Van de Ven explained that he no longer looked at social media due to the strain of recent months. “I’m not on my phone anymore,” he said. “I’m completely done with it. Only family and stuff.”

He also described Tuesday’s match as “a doomsday scenario”.

“When a big club finds themselves in a position where they can be relegated, the situation becomes catastrophised,” Abrahams says. “There is so much noise in modern football. There’s no getting away from it for the players. That can make a big difference to the ability of good players to execute technically, tactically, physically. All these things can be impacted, which is why a great team can falter and fail.”

Igor Tudor used “fragile” and “weak” in his post-match press conference. Inept, embarrassing, or dreadful also work. You’d be hard-pressed to find a team in Europe that is performing further below expectations than Tottenham Hotspur right now, but against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night their floor somehow caved in again.

Tudor announced before the game that, in Tottenham’s desperate state, the Premier League would take precedence over the Champions League — the one competition where Spurs have not been totally calamitous this term. In publicly prioritising their Premier League status — which is growing ever more perilous by the week — Tudor allowed himself to experiment. It could be the last time the boardroom let him cook.

Goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky was handed his first start since October in place of Guglielmo Vicario, an underperforming squad leader. The 17 minutes he played before he was substituted are ones he won’t ever forget, confirming Vicario’s undisputed place in goal for the remainder of the season by default. Sandwiched either side of an equally calamitous slip by Micky van de Ven, allowing Antoine Griezmann in for Atletico’s second, mishit passes by Kinsky led to two easy goals for the hosts — putting them far out of sight before they had the opportunity to attempt to gain a foothold.

A fourth was added soon after, with Pape Matar Sarr misdirecting his header towards Vicario, drawing a good save from the Italian, before Robin Le Normand converted the rebound.

“I’ve been coaching 15 years, I’ve never done this thing,” Tudor said in his post-match press conference, referring to substituting his goalkeeper. “It was necessary to preserve the guy, preserve the team. Incredible situation. Nothing to comment. It was, before the game, the right choice to do in the moment like we are. Pressure on Vicario. Another competition. Toni is a very good goalkeeper. It was, for me, the right decision. After happened this, of course, it’s easy to say that it was not right decision. So I explained to Toni speaking after. He’s a right guy and good goalkeeper, unfortunately happened in this big game, these mistakes.”

According to former Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, speaking on CBS Sports, it was a “moment that everybody in football will always remember every time they see or hear his name”. On TNT Joe Hart slammed Tudor’s lack of humanity in failing even to acknowledge Kinsky, who will turn 23 on Friday, as he left the pitch. Paul Robinson described it as “selfish” on BBC Radio 5 Live, claiming that Tudor, the supposed specialist firefighter, was acting in “self-preservation”.

Aside from his employment, it’s hard to imagine Tudor wants to preserve anything from his dire 24-day, four-game spell as Tottenham head coach. And when asked whether he is the right man for that job, one he faces incessant questioning on his suitability for a role he has yet to show any promise in, he replied “no comment”. Words, he realises, count for precious little without substance.

Similar questions should be asked of those who hired him. Tudor has a reputation for improving faltering clubs on the continent, but it’s becoming increasingly apparent with every exasperated attempt to make sense of Tottenham’s “amazing” situation that he underestimated, or was undersold, the extent of the challenge.

And misplacing long-term planning over the club’s pressing short-term needs no longer stands up to scrutiny. For that, sporting director Johan Lange, chief executive Vinai Venkatesham and the controlling Lewis family, headed by Nick Beucher and Vivienne Lewis, bear responsibility.

Had they acted after Mohammed Kudus sustained a hamstring injury on January 4, perhaps Ademola Lookman, who started for Atletico and assisted their opening goal, might have been a Tottenham player. Had they identified the immediate, pressing need for a midfield playmaker, perhaps Spurs would have been more successful in keeping the ball.

This inaction, not just in January but over several windows and key junctures, is more to blame for the collapse at the Metropolitano than the hapless Tudor’s choice to give Kinsky a go.

Yet it’s the Croatian who seems most likely to be heading for the exit door in the immediate future. With Tottenham sitting 16th in the Premier League, just one point above the relegation zone, the decision to stick or twist has rarely, if ever, had greater consequences. Tudor appears out of ideas at a time when Tottenham need them most, but, given the circumstances, the list of possible alternatives is significantly shorter than the long line of injured players they will have to make do without.

One of their unavailable players is Van de Ven, whose red card in the 3-1 defeat to Crystal Palace rules him out of the trip to Anfield to face Liverpool on Sunday. He might be joined on the sidelines by Joao Palhinha and Cristian Romero, who both finished the game off the pitch after colliding heads in injury time.

Losing Romero, who played his first game since earning a four-match ban for a second red card due to a late tackle on Manchester United midfielder Casemiro, for any more than the trip to Liverpool would be a hammer blow, with a true relegation six-pointer coming up against Nottingham Forest the following weekend.

Because if Tudor has got anything right as Tottenham coach, it’s that the Champions League didn’t matter before the 5-2 defeat on Tuesday, and definitely doesn’t matter now.

Tottenham have lost six games in a row for the first time in their history, and can hardly afford to lose many more — but they’d surely trade another sound beating next Wednesday for four points in their next two Premier League matches in a heartbeat.

There are many things this match will be remembered for. The goals, the errors, the disbelief that Tottenham Hotspur could be 4-0 down within 22 minutes. But mainly, it will be for the sight of goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky walking down the tunnel, a comforting hand over his shoulder, after he was brutally substituted in the 17th minute after two calamitous slips.

Kinsky’s Champions League debut went horribly wrong, leaving Tottenham not only needing to overcome a 5-2 deficit in the second leg against Atletico Madrid but also likely facing an inquisition over head coach Igor Tudor’s call to haul off his 22-year-old goalkeeper.

At fault for the first and third goals, Kinsky looked devastated. A slip allowed the home team to work the ball to Marcos Llorente, who lasered a first-time shot into the bottom-left corner in the sixth minute. After a Micky van de Ven slip had led to Antoine Griezmann’s goal and Atletico’s second, Kinsky botched clearing a back pass a minute later to give Julian Alvarez the easiest of chances.

Worse was to come as Robin Le Normand scored from a rebound after substitute goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario had initially made a great save. But Atletico are yet to keep a clean sheet in this Champions League campaign and with Pedro Porro’s 26th-minute goal, there was hope. But then came the second half and a sublime Atletico goal.

An unmarked Richarlison forced a save from Jan Oblak but Atletico’s lightning-quick counter-attack, which included a sumptuous Griezmann back heel, culminated in Alvarez putting the hosts 5-1 ahead. Dominic Solanke reduced the deficit but Atletico will take a handsome lead into the second leg as Tudor became the first Spurs head coach to lose their opening four games.

Elias Burke, Jay Harris and Dermot Corrigan analyse an incredible match at the Estadio Metropolitano.

Should Kinsky have been substituted?

With Vicario failing to convince Tudor that he should be Tottenham’s undisputed No 1, Kinsky’s first start since October had been rumoured for several weeks. And with Tudor suggesting the Champions League offers the opportunity for experimentation in his pre-match press conference, Kinsky was given the chance to prove he could step up.

But having been at fault for two of Atletico’s opening three goals, he was on his way down the tunnel after a calamitous 16 minutes that he won’t forget easily.

Distribution has been touted as one of Kinsky’s biggest strengths. In his run as starting goalkeeper in Vicario’s absence last season, his ability to play short, medium and long passes was clear. But after mis-kicking an attempted chipped ball over the Atletico press, leading to Llorente’s opening goal, it would have been advisable to take the Vicario approach — eliminate risk and send the ball long — at least until he had the opportunity to rebuild confidence in his passing.

But after another howler in possession, allowing Alvarez to tap what has to be the easiest goal he will ever score, Tudor had enough, replacing him with the Italian without offering any sympathy or support as he left the pitch.

It was a decision received with jeers by the Atletico faithful — but don’t think they were expressing solidarity with the Spurs goalkeeper. Every time Vicario touched the ball, Atletico fans whistled loudly, hoping he would make a similar mistake.

Half of the Spurs bench followed Kinsky down the tunnel, presumably offering words of comfort. For better or worse, the shirt now unquestionably belongs to Vicario, and Tudor’s biggest experiment yet proved a miserable failure.

Elias Burke

How did Spurs concede four goals so quickly?

Spurs imploded for the second time in six days. They conceded three goals in 13 minutes during last week’s defeat against Crystal Palace but went a step further in the Spanish capital and found themselves 4-0 down after 22 minutes.

Their collapse was triggered by Kinsky’s initial slip. He received a pass inside his own box from Cristian Romero but slipped as he struck the ball with his right foot and it bounced off his left, straight to Ademola Lookman. The ball ended up with Llorente, who drilled a shot into the bottom corner

This squad does not know how to respond to setbacks and the situation spiralled from there. Somehow, even though they lined up with a back five, holes were popping up throughout their defence.

Atletico’s second goal encapsulated everything wrong with this side. A simple long ball forward caused chaos as Djed Spence mistimed his header and then slipped before Pape Matar Sarr was weak in his duel with Llorente. Van de Ven slipped and Griezmann rolled the ball past Kinsky.

Kinsky’s second mistake presented Alvarez with one of the easiest goals he will ever score. Kinsky received a back pass from Van de Ven under no pressure but his left-footed pass towards Kevin Danso bounced off his right foot straight to the unmarked Alvarez, who had an open goal to aim for.

The goalkeeper, who turns 23 on Friday, was substituted afterwards, adding to the drama. It felt like interim head coach Tudor had just completely broken Kinsky by handing him his Champions League debut and then dragging him off so quickly.

The brutal sequence was completed in the 22nd minute when Vicario made a good save from a free kick but Le Normand pounced on the rebound. It was the end of the goals but the damage could have been much worse. Van de Ven escaped punishment for a rash challenge on David Hancko and Llorente fired wide from a great position inside the box.

Jay Harris

Is the tie over?

Atletico were aware of Tottenham’s struggles in the Premier League but their coach, Diego Simeone, said before the game that he did not see his own side as favourites in the tie, pointing to Spurs’ fourth-place finish in the league phase.

But things very quickly went in Atletico’s favour as they took advantage of Spurs’ complete defensive collapse. At 4-0 up, most observers — and the players on the pitch — must have thought the tie was over. But Simeone’s temper flared when poor collective defending allowed right-back Porro to pull one back for Tottenham within four minutes.

After half-time, Atletico ‘keeper Oblak was sharp to parry Richarlison’s header, and seconds later, Griezmann’s sublime touch sent Alvarez haring away behind the Tottenham defence. The former Manchester City striker calmly carried the ball clear and finished for 5-1.

That appeared to be that, but then Oblak passed the ball straight to Porro, leading to Solanke’s goal.

Simeone and his players should need no reminding that Atletico were 4-0 up by half-time against Barcelona in their recent Copa del Rey semi-final first leg, only to end up hanging on for a 4-3 aggregate victory after conceding three times in the return at the Camp Nou.

Given all Tottenham’s problems, Simeone’s side should still progress from next week’s second leg. But he will still be making sure between now and then that nobody thinks the tie is over yet.

Dermot Corrigan

What will Spurs do now?

Tudor, who replaced Thomas Frank on an interim basis, was supposed to stabilise the team and make them defensively solid.

But Spurs have lost all four games with him in charge — a club first. The decision-makers need to accept he was the wrong choice and sack him before it is too late.

Tudor has persisted with a variation of a 3-4-3 system in every match. Archie Gray has bounced from right wing-back to left wing-back to central midfield. Xavi Simons and Conor Gallagher have been left on the bench.

He has handled the squad poorly and it is no surprise the players are making erratic decisions on the pitch. The 47-year-old’s decision to haul off Kinsky, without even acknowledging him, was brutal.

The pressure and scrutiny also need to be cranked up on sporting director Johan Lange and chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham. Tudor is the wrong fit but much of the blame should land on the people who hired him.

What did Tudor say?

We will bring you this after he has spoken at the post-match press conference.

What next for Spurs?

Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky was substituted after just 17 minutes of their Champions League last-16 first leg against Atletico Madrid after his mistakes led to two goals for the home side.

Kinsky was a surprise pick in the starting XI ahead of Spurs’ usual No 1 Guglielmo Vicario, making his first appearance since October.

The 22-year-old was hauled off by Spurs interim head coach Igor Tudor before the 20 minute mark, however, with Spurs already trailing 3-0 and the goalkeeper at fault for Atletico’s first and third goals.

Only three goalkeepers have been substituted earlier in Champions League history, the most recent of which being Peter Gulacsi for RB Leipzig in 2022.

For U.S. viewers:

After just six minutes, Kinsky slipped while taking a goal kick, gifting the home side possession on the edge of the box, and Marcos Llorente finished from Julian Alvarez’s pass to open the scoring.

Kinsky’s second mistake came as he mis-kicked a simple back pass, allowing Alvarez to effectively walk the ball into the empty net.

Tudor immediately called for the benched Vicario, and Kinsky was applauded off the pitch by the majority of the Wanda Metropolitano. The goalkeeper headed straight down the tunnel with no acknowledgement from his coach.

Within minutes, Vicario had conceded Spurs’ fourth, with Robin Le Normand nodding over the line after the Italian had made a sharp save.

Pedro Porro pulled one back for Spurs a few minutes later to make it 4-1 and give the visitors a degree of hope.

How did the football world react?

“It broke my heart,” former Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart said to TNT. “He’s had a bad 14 minutes, there’s no getting away from it.

“Even the stadium is feeling sorry for him. Tudor doesn’t even acknowledge his goalie. If that’s man management, then I’m flabbergasted. He’s acting like that isn’t the 14th minute. That doesn’t happen at any level. Not even Sunday League.”

Steve McManaman echoed Hart’s reaction on the same coverage: “That’s man management at its very worst. He’s managed not to even acknowledge him … that is cold as cold can be.”

“I blame the manager,” Jamie Carragher said on Paramount. “He put him there. He’s as much at fault as anyone.”

“No one who hasn’t been a goalkeeper can understand how difficult it is to play in this position,” Fiorentina and former Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea said on social media. “Keep your head up and you will go again.”

A disastrous collapse

Analysis by Tottenham Hotspur correspondent Elias Burke

The Atletico faithful were in full voice well before kick-off, but by the time Julian Alvarez put their team three ahead inside 15 minutes, thanks to calamitous mistakes from Antonin Kinsky and Micky van de Ven, the Metropolitano reached fever pitch.

Understandably, the travelling Tottenham support stood motionless in the top tier above the Spurs goal, in complete disbelief in how Spurs had collapsed so disastrously, all entirely of their own doing.

Then, when Igor Tudor substituted Kinsky — who was making his first start since the 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup — the Atletico crowd whistled the decision. And if anyone may have thought it was in solidarity with the Czech goalkeeper, Atletico then loudly whistled Guglielmo Vicario every time he touched the ball, hoping he’d make a similar mistake.

Can a football club really be cursed?

It is a question many long-suffering fans of certain teams have asked themselves. And while Atletico Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur, who meet in the Champions League round of 16, have both won multiple trophies over their history, they have also experienced their fair share of bad fortune.

In Atletico’s case, it led to them being known as ‘el pupas’ — the jinxed one. Diego Simeone’s team have been knocked out of the Champions League by city rivals Real Madrid five times from the 2014 final onwards, giving that ‘jinx’ fresh meaning.

For Tottenham, the word ‘Spursy’ has come to symbolise their recent struggles. The north London club won the Europa League last season — their first title in 17 years — but are now one point outside the Premier League relegation zone in 16th. The threat of a first top-flight demotion since 1977 is very real.

Do Atletico have the worst luck? Have Spurs been struck by the most misfortune? Should both fanbases just look at Sheffield Wednesday and get over themselves? La Liga writer Dermot Corrigan and Spurs fan Dan Kilpatrick argue their case…

Where does the idea of the club being ‘cursed’ come from?

Corrigan: The idea of Atletico being jinxed in this competition goes back to their 1974 European Cup final against Bayern Munich, when they were leading 1-0 in extra time thanks to a goal from club legend Luis Aragones.

In the 120th minute, Bayern defender Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck sent a 35-yard speculative shot past an apparently distracted Atleti goalkeeper Miguel Reina to force a replay (penalty shootouts had yet to be introduced). Four days later, Bayern won the replay 4-0.

Thus began the ‘pupas’ curse, a millstone Atletico seemingly cannot shake — particularly against their richer, record 15-time Champions League/European Cup-winning neighbours.

In the 2014 final, Atletico were seconds away from winning the trophy until Sergio Ramos headed home a 93rd-minute equaliser for Real Madrid, who ran out easy 4-1 winners in extra time.

Two years later, at the same stage of the competition, Antoine Griezmann missed from the spot in normal time and former Real academy product turned Atleti right-back Juanfran missed the decisive penalty as Simeone’s team lost the shootout 5-3.

The jinx appeared to return last season in the round of 16, a tie that went to penalties in the second leg at Atletico’s Metropolitano stadium. Atleti forward Julian Alvarez saw his spot kick disallowed after the officials spotted an — arguably negligible — double touch. Former Real player Marcos Llorente also missed his kick and Atleti lost the shootout 4-3.

After an official club complaint to UEFA over the Alvarez decision, the game’s lawmakers, IFAB, changed the rules so that if a taker accidentally makes contact with the ball with both feet and the kick is successful, it must now be retaken instead of counting as a miss. You can imagine how that went down with Atletico fans.

Kilpatrick: From years of Tottenham snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

A whole new term has entered the modern footballing lexicon — ‘Spursy’ — to mean their uncanny ability to shoot themselves in the foot or underachieve. There is also a particularly strong fatalism within the fanbase, born of an overwhelming feeling that the world is against them.

Consider, for example, ‘Lasagnagate’ in 2006 — when supposed food poisoning, which turned out to be norovirus, spoiled their Champions League hopes on the final day of the 2005-06 season — or when Spurs finished fourth in 2011-12 but still missed out on Europe’s top competition because London rivals Chelsea won the competition. Or when UEFA changed the handball law after Moussa Sissoko had been penalised in the 2019 Champions League final defeat to Liverpool at Atletico’s Metropolitano stadium. The list goes on.

Is there anything that shows they aren’t ‘cursed’?

Corrigan: During Diego Simeone’s 15 years as coach, Atletico have won every other trophy they have played for apart from the Champions League — La Liga (twice, in 2014 and 2021), the Europa League (twice, in 2012 and 2018), the Copa del Rey, the Supercopa de Espana, and the UEFA Super Cup.

They are also through to this season’s Copa del Rey final after eliminating Barcelona in a rollercoaster semi-final in which they were 4-0 up by half-time in the first leg at the Metropolitano, but still ended up hanging on in the final stages of a 3-0 second-leg loss at the Camp Nou.

Atletico will be happy not to be facing Real Madrid in the decider, but instead Real Sociedad in Seville on April 18.

Kilpatrick: Even Spurs’ historic Europa League triumph last season is beginning to feel more like a curse than a blessing.

In desperately pursuing a European trophy, Spurs have seemingly forgotten how to win domestically, and could still suffer the ultimate ignominy of being relegated from the Premier League this term.

That said, success and failure are relative: Spurs are still one of the Premier League’s ever-presents, playing in a £1billion, state-of-the-art stadium, and there are countless clubs up and down the country who would gladly swap places with them.

What other similarities or differences are there between these sides?

Corrigan: Over the years, Atletico have had to deal with a lack of respect from their counterparts in the Madrid Derby. Many fans (and executives) at the Metropolitano also feel as if they suffer from local-media bias towards Real Madrid.

While the ‘derbi’ is always the biggest fixture for Atletico, many at Madrid have viewed Barcelona as their main rivals through recent decades — just as (maybe) Arsenal fans have often looked past Tottenham to worry more about the threat posed by Manchester United, Chelsea or Manchester City in the Premier League.

Kilpatrick: The most obvious similarity is their struggles to emerge from the shadow of a more successful city rival.

The Spurs-Arsenal rivalry is historically on more of an even footing than Real-Atleti, but Spurs have been far less successful than their neighbours in the modern era — and it hurts. There are plenty of differences, but the stability Atleti have fostered in sticking with Simeone stands in stark contrast to Spurs’ habit of lurching between managers, styles and approaches.

What are their chances of success in the Champions League looking like this season?

Corrigan: Atletico have been on a rollercoaster this season. They took just two points from their first three La Liga games, but then hammered Real Madrid 5-2 in September’s La Liga derbi.

Over the past month, their focus has narrowed to the cup competitions after back-to-back defeats to Real Betis and Rayo Vallecano (a 3-0 loss) ended any faint hopes of a title challenge.

Their Champions League campaign has also had its ups and downs, with a loss to Bodo/Glimt in the final league-phase game meaning they had to navigate a play-off against Club Brugge. Simeone’s team rode their luck at times in both games, but a superb second-leg hat-trick by striker Alexander Sorloth saw them through 7-4 on aggregate.

Atletico have shown, by hammering both Real Madrid and Barcelona in domestic competition this season, that they are capable of beating top opposition in one-off games, and the draw has been quite friendly to them. So maybe, just maybe, this is the year they finally put the ‘pupas’ moniker behind them.

Kilpatrick: Bleak. There is a compelling case that Spurs should effectively throw the Champions League, so perilous is their situation in the Premier League. They are still without a domestic win in 2026 and this season bears every possible hallmark of a shock relegation.

So, whose club is the most ‘cursed’?

Corrigan: From here in Spain, Atletico appear the most cursed — especially in the Champions League, where they have experienced some terrible fortune through cruel defeats to their much richer and more powerful neighbours.

You do not have to buy into any conspiracy theories — although some Atletico fans do — to believe that somebody, somewhere just does not want them to finally win that long-sought-after first European Cup.

Kilpatrick: Sorry, Dermot, but frankly, it is not even close.

Atleti may have fallen short on a number of occasions, but they can point to two La Liga titles in the past 12 years while competing against Real and Barcelona. They have also been consistently competitive in the Champions League over the same period. Spurs fans would kill to be ‘cursed’ in the same way!

Welcome to Row Z, The Athletic’s weekly column that shines a light on the bonkers side of the game.

From clubs to managers, players to organisations, every week we’ll bring you the absurdities, the greed, the contradictions, the preposterousness and the oddities of the sport we all love…

Tottenham: redefining what a modern club can be

Tottenham Hotspur, a version of reality: the ninth-richest club in the world with revenues of £581million ($778m), the third-highest attendances in the Premier League (60,900 average), millions of pounds made per home match (matchday revenue exceeds £100m per season) as well as hosting money-spinning NFL matches, boxing, rugby and concerts featuring the likes of Beyonce, Bad Bunny and K-pop stars.

Tottenham Hotspur, an extension of that version of reality: on Friday, the club’s chief revenue officer Ryan Norys will tell an audience at the exclusive Austin Marriott Downtown hotel in Texas about how the club are “building a cultural powerhouse”, how they have “redefined what a modern football club can be” and how they emerged “as a globally recognised brand built on sport, culture, and partnerships”.

Norys will share Spurs’ “innovative partnership strategy and global stadium vision” during the event, titled ‘Beyond the Pitch’ (what is beyond the pitch? Empty seats, of course). A Spurs player will then appear on stage as a hologram. Reasons unknown.

Tottenham Hotspur, actual reality: 16th in the Premier League table, one point above the relegation zone and mocked by League One leaders Lincoln City…

All in it together at Forest (so long as you’ve got a spare £70)

Also perhaps living in an alternative reality are Nottingham Forest, who have a big Europa League tie this Thursday against Danish side Midtjylland, with a place in the quarter-finals on offer for the winners.

For a club like Forest, with its rich history in European competitions, you’d expect the City Ground to be absolutely bouncing for that one. Should be good!

Hang on, though: as of Monday, thousands upon thousands of tickets remained unsold, with many Forest fans baulking at the prices; up to £70 in the Brian Clough Stand, £60 in many other areas and the ‘cheap seats’ behind the goals are £55.

Forest didn’t sell out for their last European home match against Fenerbahce, with an attendance of 26,883, when tickets were £50-£70.

What to do to rectify this situation and shift a few more tickets? Wheel out a club legend to speak over an emotive montage of course!

Stuart Pearce gave the rabble-rousing cry on social media: “The City Ground. Under the lights. Nothing like it. The Garibaldi unite on Trentside for another special night. Stronger as one, we’re in this together.” Yep, we’re all in this together… as long as you’ve got a spare £70.

All 27 quote-tweets and the vast majority of replies mentioned the exorbitant price of tickets. Incidentally, Midtjylland are charging €21 (£18.41, $24.35) for away tickets for Forest next week, so if you get a decent Ryanair flight, it’s probably cheaper to fly to Denmark to watch that one.

The aptly-named Sarcastic Forest said it best on X: “The City Ground, under the lights. Save on fuel and don’t see your relatives, forget your kids’ birthday presents, don’t worry about your mortgage, reduce your family’s food bill and tell your kids to go a bit hungry, spend 55 quid on #nffc. There’s nothing like it.”

Broking news at Chelsea

If ever a sentence summed up modern football, it might be this one from a recent Chelsea press release: “Chelsea Football Club and TMGM, the club’s Official Regional Online Forex and CFD Trading Partner in Asia-Pacific, today announce an enhancement to our multi-year partnership which sees the Australian-based broker unveiled on the back of the team’s shirts.”

Safety first for Arsenal

In other partnership-based news, Arsenal have joined forces with a new ‘Official Community Security Partner’ (their capital letters, not ours).

Arsenal told supporters they can expect new initiatives, educational content and opportunities to engage with ADT’s latest smart home security innovations.

It seems ADT is also being lined up to help with the football team’s bid to end a six-year wait for a major trophy.

The club’s chief commercial officer Juliet Slot said: “They are a brand that share our deep connection with community, with their support and investment helping to drive our ambition to win major trophies.”

We like it…. everyone at the club is in this together and if Manchester City steal the title away from Arsenal, maybe it won’t just be Mikel Arteta and the players who are to blame.

Evann’s future? It’s anyone’s Guess

Evann Guessand, one of the worst signings the Premier League has seen this season, is also one of the best signings the Premier League has seen this season.

Risible at Aston Villa, the Ivory Coast forward has been great for Crystal Palace on loan, with two goals and one assist in his seven appearances to date.

Given he scored two in 21 (with no assists) for Villa, Palace probably weren’t expecting their reported obligatory clause to buy Guessand to come into force, with Sky Sports reporting this week that if Guessand contributes eight goal involvements, they’ll have to buy him for £28m.

The notion of assists contributing to an obligatory transfer raises a few questions. One, come on, the data nerds at The Athletic will tell you an assist is not a definitive barometer as to how good a player is. Surely key chances created or xA (expected assists) would better reflect Guessand’s performances?

Also, it raises the possibility of Guessand being on seven goal involvements on the last day of the season, squaring a tap-in for Jorgen Strand Larsen and the striker having the decision to score for Guessand, or miss if he doesn’t like him.

Still, as any Wolves fan who watched Strand Larsen earlier this season will tell you, he’d probably miss anyway.

Six play-off teams: what will they think of next?

To the Championship now and what do you do if you have one of European football’s most exciting, thrilling, must-watch end-of-season climaxes year after year, with five games culminating in the world’s richest match at Wembley?

You tinker with the format of course! For decades, the third-plays-sixth and fourth-plays-fifth format has produced some of the most iconic matches in modern English football history.

The EFL is changing that from next season, inviting teams who finish as low as eighth to the party. The sides in fifth and sixth will host the teams in seventh and eighth in one-off matches, which definitely won’t lead to dull low blocks and smash-and-grab wins from the away side.

It throws up the possibility of a team in eighth place putting together a run of results to reach the Premier League. On average over the past five seasons, the team finishing eighth has lost 16 games per season (a third of their total matches) and finished 18 points behind the team in third, or as high as 24 points behind, as Millwall (66 points, 16 defeats) did last year.

It all feels a bit unnecessary. Next it’ll be the top 10 in the play-offs, then the top 12, then eventually they’ll come up with a brainwave of all 24 teams playing each other twice, with the top few teams earning promotion. Decent idea, to be fair, someone should try it.

Andy Robertson says his commitment to Liverpool never wavered after Tottenham Hotspur made an approach to sign him in the January window.

The Scotland captain, who is out of contract at the end of the season, admits talks took place over a possible move to north London, but he opted to stay at Anfield.

“There was obviously interest there — there was discussions had with both sets of clubs,” he said. “But the decision was that I wanted to stay. I was never not committed. I’ve been committed to Liverpool for the last eight and a half or nine years now and I’ll be committed until I’m no longer needed.

“That’s always been my mindset. This club has given me everything and I’ve given this club everything.

“It’s been a fantastic relationship so hopefully that continues and obviously January happened, but it is now gone. Now we move forward.

“My focus never came off trying to help the lads on the pitch and in training.”

The 31-year-old left-back has seen his game time reduced since the signing of Milos Kerkez from Bournemouth last summer.

However, the vice-captain’s performance in Friday’s 3-1 FA Cup win over Wolverhampton Wanderers when he scored the opener and then created the second goal for Mohamed Salah underlined how much he still has to offer.

Asked about his future beyond this season, Robertson said: “I’ve always said that will stay between me and the club. I don’t think it will get played out in public. It is not one of them.

“I have got an amazing relationship with Richard (Hughes), Mike Gordon and Michael Edwards. These people brought me to the football club. They have helped make me who I am.

“I think out of respect to them, and they have respected me, then the conversations will be in-house. When a decision is made, and we’re getting to the point where I only have three months left on my contract, it will be announced to you guys.”

If Robertson’s ninth season at Liverpool proves to be his last he’s determined to help Arne Slot’s side secure more success.

He added: “My thought process is I want to win trophies at Liverpool.

“It’s not gone the way that we wanted in the league — that is clear.

“If we have more performances like we did at Wolves (in the FA Cup) then we have a chance. If we play like Tuesday (in the Premier League loss to Wolves) then we have no chance. So we need to try and find that consistency.

“Hopefully at the end of the season we can all have a smile on our faces and that is obviously what we are working towards.”

Tottenham Hotspur’s hierarchy entered the January window with a decision to make.

Should they strengthen a depleted side in the glaringly obvious key areas of weakness in defensive midfield and wide attack, and have a chance at salvaging a season that appeared to be slipping away by the week? Or should they trust that relegation was so absurd a nightmare that prioritising long-term planning over an increasing need for a quick fix would better prepare the club for success in the future?

As it transpired, the club’s hierarchy naively gambled their chips on the long-term plan. Evidenced by their atrocious league form in 2026 — with Thursday evening’s 3-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace one of the most deflating in the club’s recent history — that miscalculation could lead to a first relegation since 1977, a collapse with far greater consequences to the club’s long-term standing and finances than any transitional impact signing.

Having just completed a deal worth £35million ($46.8m) for Conor Gallagher, club chief executive officer Vinai Venkatesham addressed the fans in the programme for the home match against West Ham United. Tottenham were winless in four, but signing an England international, signalling an intent to improve the squad, brought a refreshed optimism, even if sections of the fanbase questioned his fit within a squad already well-stocked with similar profiles.

In his statement, Venkatesham said he and the hierarchy “believe in our current squad, but must add more quality, experience and leadership to compete consistently at the highest level”. He added that the club was open to additions in January “where the right opportunities exist,” and were prioritising “signings that genuinely move us forward”.

But as key players relentlessly picked up injuries, leaving then-head coach Thomas Frank with the bare bones of the squad he inherited last summer, Venkatesham, sporting director Johan Lange, and the Lewis family were blind to the grave consequences of inaction. On top of project players, such as 19-year-old Souza, their only other January signing, there became a desperate need for first-team reinforcements at some point over that month.

If it wasn’t evident before, the 2-1 home defeat to West Ham indicated that Tottenham were not in a false position and had the potential to continue sliding unless something changed.

That change eventually happened in the technical area, with Igor Tudor replacing Frank, but the coach with a reputation for breathing new life into faltering clubs on the continent is having no such impact in north London. After the 4-1 loss to Arsenal, the first of three successive league defeats on his watch, Tudor acknowledged that this was the most difficult job he’d ever taken, and let loose on the players’ effort and quality in an explosive post-match press conference as they were beaten 2-1 away to Fulham the following week.

While Tudor must take some responsibility for failing to make his 3-4-3 formation work, the players available to him are an awkward fit. But those who hired a coach with a documented track history of using a certain system, without identifying that they do not have the players to fulfil it effectively, deserve the greater share of accountability.

Truthfully, however, the odds were stacked against whoever succeeded Frank — regardless of style, system or character. While Brennan Johnson may not have fit the club’s long-term vision, the decision to let him depart without a replacement — amid an injury crisis — is proving negligent. Due to injuries already accounted for in Dejan Kulusevski and Mohammed Kudus, as well as an anterior cruciate ligament injury to Wilson Odobert sustained in February, Gallagher and Randal Kolo Muani have been pushed to the right wing, where they have been ineffective.

Souza started his first game for Tottenham on Thursday, but was replaced after Micky van de Ven’s red card, having picked up a yellow card inside seven minutes. While he could prove an important player in the future, he is not up to speed yet with the Premier League’s pace and physicality — nor should he be expected to be.

With Tottenham just one point above safety, their reasons for inactivity in the January window are inadequate. In an interview with The Athletic and other reporters, Lange reiterated the difficulty of doing business in the January market, suggesting there were “very few players who could make a difference for us now or in the future” as well as asserting that it “doesn’t make sense” to “bring in players that cannot help us now or we don’t believe have potential for the future”.

In an ideal world, Antoine Semenyo would have been that player, but who would have advised him to ignore the advances of title-challengers for a side slipping towards relegation? But what about Rayan, the Brazilian winger Bournemouth signed from Vasco da Gama, who has scored two goals in his first six games in the Premier League? Or Crysencio Summerville, who has registered nine goal involvements in 10 matches? He, along with January signings Pablo, Taty Castellanos, and Axel Disasi, has re-energised West Ham’s season, proving that smart work in the notoriously tricky window can turn a season on its head.

Or even Harry Wilson, the scorer of Fulham’s opener last week, who looks set to run his contract down in west London. With hindsight, Tottenham would take any of those in an instant.

While January additions may have proven ineffective, Tottenham’s recruitment team’s inaction in addressing glaring issues could result in the most improbable Premier League story since Leicester City’s title win in 2016. Should Spurs narrowly avoid the drop, perhaps Lange, Venkatesham, and the Lewis family will reflect on the decision with gritted teeth, appreciating the headroom it gives them for the summer window.

If they don’t, it will cost the club hundreds of millions and set them back years.