Where Did It All Go Wrong For Tottenham Hotspur?

WORDS BY ZAC ASSOUNI

In the summer of 2018, Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs would go on to make zero player acquisitions to bolster a talented squad, although this was the season that saw the club finish 4^th in the Premier League as well as make a Champions League Final where they would fall short of a miracle win, going down to Liverpool 2-0 in Madrid. Looking back now, it seems as though Spurs regret not backing Mauricio Pochettino as in 2019/20 season, Spurs made the bold decision to sack him. While the poor run of form that Spurs were on at the time warranted a change in manager, it’s safe to say the club didn’t really give Pochettino the tools to build on what was a very promising number of seasons.

Spurs would then try their hand at the legendary Jose Mourinho who was sacked just six days before a Carabao Cup final against Manchester City in the 2020/21 season where former clubman Ryan Mason would take charge in an interim role. The start of the 2021/22 season saw former Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo take charge after what by all accounts was far too long of a managerial search. Nuno would only last five months before, yet another managerial change was made, this time another ‘win now’ manager in Antonio Conte. Conte would last till March in the 2022/23 season until he too was sacked, this time after calling out the club hierarchy in a fiery post-match press conference and after another interim spell from Mason took Spurs to the beginning of the 2023/24 season where Ange Postecoglou became manager.

This was different from anything done in recent years, with Spurs going after not only someone who played a more expansive, attacking brand of football, but someone who was largely unproven on the big stage. Postecoglou’s start at Spurs was dreamlike, going unbeaten in the first 10 games of the Premier League season en route towards two manager of the month awards. Spurs would then host rivals Chelsea at home where multiple injuries to key first team players as well as two red cards ended the fairytale run and Spurs would end up finishing 5^th in the Premier League, securing Europa League football for the next season.

Unfortunately, the 2024/25 season was also marred by injuries as Postecoglou’s men continued to play bravely despite the lack of squad depth. By late in the season Spurs were astonishingly 17^th in the Premier League although many points clear of relegation which meant that Postecoglou would prioritse the Europa League and deliver in winning a trophy in his second season as he confidently said.

Spurs would go on to make the Europa League final and face Manchester United in Bilbao, the same country as their heartbreaking Champions League final loss six years prior. It was far from a pretty game of football to say the least as Spurs would go on to break their 18 year trophy drought, something the club had desperately needed. In that summer, Spurs would make the decision to part ways with Postecoglou due to wanting to compete on all fronts and would hire Brentford boss Thomas Frank who has done an excellent job in charge of the bees since their promotion to the Premier League in 2021.

Currently, Tottenham sits 16^th in the Premier League table only five points clear of the relegation zone following a disastrous 2025/26 season which meant the sacking of Frank after just eight months in charge. In comes former Juventus manager Igor Tudor on an interim basis who has been tasked with keeping a Spurs side who captured a drought breaking Europa League only nine months ago, out of relegation.

If Spurs want to indeed compete on all fronts, they’ll need to not only spend like it when it comes to transfers but will need to offer higher wages to lure big impact players to White Hart Lane.