Opinion: Why you should not be surprised that Tottenham are playing so bad

Being a Spurs fan certainly has its fair share of ups and downs – although it seems as though the “downs” are pretty regular at the moment, particularly over the last seven weeks or so. 

We’re all feeling pretty flat at the moment, with performances and results hugely underwhelming and uninspiring.

But should we really be surprised?

What gives us the right to feel as though we’re better than this? Think back to last season, when it all started to go so wrong, and Poch oversaw a hugely impressive downward spiral: from the Champions League final to 14th place in the Premier League in less than 6 months. So in came Mourinho, the “serial winner” to try and turn the tide… Hasn’t really happened has it? 

But seriously – should we be surprised? I don’t think so.

Tottenham vs Chelsea… let’s just break it down to the players that played for Spurs over the 90, either starting or as a sub.

Lloris

Aurier, Toby, Dier, Davies

Sissoko, Hojbjerg

Bergwijn, Ndombele, Son

Vinicius

Lamela, Lucas

Or, in other words…

Ageing

Incompetent, Slow, Calamitous, Average

Lumbering, Try-hard

One-dimensional, Ndombele, Son

Used-to-be-a-CB-and-you-can-see-why

Rollover, Runs-into-players-with-head-down

None of these players, bar Son and Ndombele, would get into any of the top teams in the Premier League. They all have better players in every position; heck, I’d even rather Craig Dawson over Dier at the moment!!!

Rewind to last week and Lloris gifts Liverpool their opener (yes Lloris, not Dier – you’re our captain, lead and grab that f***ing ball) and their second. Rewind a month ago and Bergwijn can’t hit a barn door to get us a win against the reigning English champions. Against Leicester, Palace, Fulham, Wolves, Brighton… I can’t remember a single performance from a single player where I thought: “OK, you did the best you could tonight; you put a shift in and did your job well.”

Sure, you can put Kane and Reguilon back in and that (usually) improves things… but who else? Dele is a shadow of the player he was, the jury’s still out on Lo Celso and Bale… who knows what’s gone on there, but there’s something obviously wrong with either his attitude, fitness or mentality.

The players obviously should perform better than they have been, but even if they were playing at the peaks of their powers we’d be looking at fourth or fifth place as a premium. They are simply not good enough – nor have they been for nearly three seasons. 

So don’t be surprised. The rebuild was always going to be painful – and maybe this is what Poch meant. But don’t act as though we deserve to be up and around the top of the table. We don’t.