Something is rotten within N17… and Stellini’s style is already seeming synonymous with that of his predecessor.
With Antonio Conte gone, Spurs fans expected an imminent change to proceedings, a drastic change, even any change.
But after Everton’s hopeless draw, it is blatantly evident that the club don’t plan on altering anything before the end of the season.
Bringing on Lucas Moura and Davinson Sánchez, Christian Stellini may as well have had his compatriot in his ear – after all, the management was indistinguishable from the mess that has ensued time and time again this season.
Two shots on target, a third of the scrambling relegation side (Premier League), further illustrates the point.
Chelsea and Leicester have taken action in recent days, and will no doubt look to rebuild by shifting the deadwood and implementing new and fresh strategies. At Tottenham, what do we go and do?
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Make a grand total of three changes to the side that capitulated to the Saints two weeks ago, two of which was forced as a result of Richarlison and Ben Davies’ injuries.
With a striking lack of energy and quality on the bench, it was the perfect opportunity to see the underused Arnault Danjuma make a long-overdue Premier League appearance.
Instead, his underwhelming Tottenham career is withering away on the bench. It’s not to say that he would be the immediate remedy to our troubles, far from it, but he may as well have stayed at Goodison – the hijacking of the loan deal has proved futile at best.
His mere goal and severe lack of game time speaks volumes to the degree to which the club lacks ambition; opting instead to tentatively guard our precarious lead which inevitably we are unable to do.
When asked about the Dutchman post-match, Stellini asserted that ‘Danjuma is one player’ (Football London). One more player who seems to be disappearing from the face of the earth in blue and white. One player who will probably go on to enjoy a successful career full of trophies elsewhere.
Conte has left but for some reason, his coaching team haven’t followed. It’s a puzzling choice from the board more than anything else, and as someone who has for the most part backed Daniel Levy over the past year, I cannot understand the thought process behind this one.
It’s the epitome of sitting on the fence – either keep the Conte philosophy, and the man who is the architect of it or get rid of it all and move on once and for all.
It’s the ultimate sign of indecision to stick with someone who lives and breathes Antonio Conte, under the façade of ‘a new era’.
Anyone can see right through Stellini, and without intending to put him under the bus as for the most part he has managed solidly for us, it is untrue to say that he is any different from Conte. I’d be delighted to see him prove me wrong in the short time that remains of the season.
What was most frustrating today was the fact that we were gifted the chance to see the game out, and completely took that for granted. We invited the pressure, played sloppy passes out from the back, and only clicked back into first gear when the equaliser went in.
Once Stellini has the revelation that it is possible to attack the opposition even when you are a goal up, perhaps he will start to approach these situations differently.
Time and time again we have seen fragile leads slip away by just sitting back and waiting for something to happen, or worse falling asleep until the first goal has gone in. Southampton is the obvious example of the former, but the latter has really been the narrative of the whole season.
On the positive side of things, Stellini is assuring fans that he plans to take action. Things won’t change overnight, and he is keen to make sure that the players are on board with his vision.
‘You need players to respect the plan’, he said tonight, though it’s not entirely clear what the plan is (Charlie Eccleshare).
By all means, Stellini should be given the benefit of the doubt and allowed to take charge of the next few games, but if then nothing different is apparent about the style of play, Levy will have no choice but to bid a final farewell to the passive and dull way our previous three coaches have set up the team.
Times have been worse, but this Everton draw certainly feels like a loss and poses increasingly worrying questions about the very core of our club.
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