Time's Almost Up For Ange Postecoglou as Tottenham Lose Again

Photo via The Evening Standard

Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur suffered another defeat on Tuesday night, losing 2-1 to Nottingham Forest at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. 

Tottenham fans would’ve hoped that a Thursday night win in Frankfurt, which booked the side a place in the Europe League semi finals, would build some momentum for the struggling team, but that was far from the case. 

It was a match that went entirely to script for Nottingham Forest, who capitalized on just 30% possession and four total shots. Nottingham Forest were 2-0 up after only 16 minutes, with both goals coming from set pieces. Tottenham didn’t mark their men, failed to clear the ball and block crosses, and left too much space at the back for Forest (a team notorious for counter-attacking) to break. These basic defensive errors are nothing new.

Tottenham’s improved second-half play, which Postecoglou highlighted in his post match press conference, wasn’t enough for the home side to earn anything on the night. 

Tottenham have now lost four of their last five league games, with the lone win coming against bottom of the table Southampton. Injuries were the excuse for much of the season, but the managerial team needs to be held accountable for the defensive errors that leave them stranded towards the bottom of the table. 

With Wolves in fine form, there is a legitimate chance Tottenham finish the season in 17th place, just one spot above the relegation zone. If it wasn’t for their Europa League campaign, Postecoglou would surely be out of a job by now.

It appears that Daniel Levy and Tottenham Hotspur are giving Postecoglou the chance to win the Europa League despite their Premier League form, and with a semi-final against Norwegian side Bodø/Glimt, it’s very likely that Spurs will make the final on the 21st of May, a few days before their final Premier League match of the season.

With their easy semi final match-up, Tottenham are the bookmakers favorite to win the Europa League. But should they make the final as expected, they’ll come up against either Manchester United or Athletic Bilbao. Both would serve as stiff competition, and arguably Spurs won’t be favorites against either side, Bilbao pose the greater challenge, currently sitting fourth in La Liga.

It’s a very real possibility that come the end of May, Tottenham will be trophyless and coming off their worst ever Premier League season. Is Ange entirely to blame, likely not, but if that situation does become reality Tottenham will be once again spending their summer looking for a new manager, and wondering why they didn’t make the change months earlier.