Opinion: Was Dinamo Zagreb our worst performance in recent history?

The worst thing about that performance is that, although I am absolutely shocked, I’m not too surprised.

In my lifetime, this will go down as one of the most pathetic performances I have seen us produce. It is utterly inexcusable and every single player that pulled on that shirt, Mourinho and the club’s hierarchy need to be held accountable.

All 17 players, with maybe the exception of Lo Celso who has not played a match in three months, has no excuse to be putting in a performance of that quality.

From the first minute, we were dreadful; sloppy in possession, fragile at the back, weak in the tackle and above all we showed absolutely no passion and fight.

After such a horrendous performance against our bitter rivals, which for many Spurs fans is one of the biggest games of the season, every supporter expected us to bounce back and to see the players give 110% to somewhat redeem themselves.

However, what we received was not only far from 110%, it was in fact the complete opposite to what I expected from a team who had let every single fan in the fanbase down only 96 hours prior.

The unavoidable question that needs to be asked now is; does Mourinho need to go? Not once since his appointment have I ever uttered or written the words ‘José Out’, however, we fans cannot accept this any longer.

Too many times this season we have seen performances that fall well below the expected standard. Whether you think the players are to blame or not, Mourinho has a team littered full of quality talent that has the capabilities to see off a team like Dinamo Zagreb with no problems at all.

The way in which we set up was, as usual, so negative and put us on the back foot from the first whistle.

We needed a single goal to wrap this tie up, just one goal. We have players such as Harry Kane, Dele, Lamela then Bale, Lo Celso and Ndombele but still couldn’t manage to get one goal against the weakest side left in the whole competition.

The age-old saying has never been truer, ‘attack is the best form of defence’. We constantly deploy teams that set up to sit deep or we put out a team that looks as though we will go for the win from kick-off with a plethora of attacking talent. Then we still manage to play 75% of the game without the ball, camped out in our on half.

I cannot see a way back for the Special One anymore with us slowly slipping away in the top four race and our Europa League dreams shattered – our last chance to make anything of this season is the Carabao Cup final.

With Manchester City currently playing the way they are, it is hard to see us lifting any form of silverware come the end of the season.

The appointment of Mourinho by Levy was a bid to win silverware that has long eluded the club. Managers cannot be solely based on silverware, however, it is not just the lack of trophies, it is also the way we approach almost all of our matches.

If we were graced with free-flowing attacking football but results did not go our way we would at least have the silver lining of enjoyable football.

At this moment in time, we are watching some truly atrocious matches which are accompanied by horrific results both in the league and beyond.

I cannot see Levy allowing this for too much longer. I will note though that the money that Levy would have to part to get rid of the Special One may mean we see Mourinho on the touchline longer than we may want.

It has been hard to put my emotions into words but I think that is the reality of what we are facing at the moment; football that is leaving many of us absolutely speechless.

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