Try telling Tottenham fans the first of January is traditionally a date that elicits warm feelings of hope, positivity and optimism.
This was as bad as it’s been all season — and probably as it’s been under Antonio Conte. Losing at home to Aston Villa isn’t an apocalyptic result in isolation but the manner of it was so predictable that patience in the stands ran out.
Those feelings of frustration, and in some cases fury, have been simmering under the surface for some time.
That they haven’t reached boiling point (save for some boos against Newcastle in late October) is because Spurs have consistently, to their credit, shown character in fairly small passages of play to engineer a series of unlikely comebacks.
They also, before this, hadn’t lost to a team outside the top six, but seeing struggling Villa (not that they’ll be struggling again in 2022-23, based on this evidence) comfortably brush them aside with a coherent game plan was a step too far.
On the whole, performances haven’t been good, but those comebacks have kept Tottenham in a good league position, earning an average of almost two points a game up to the World Cup break, with Conte’s side also through to the last 16 of the Champions League next month.
Although their pre-World Cup results during October and November were mixed — as they tackled a demanding schedule of 13 matches in 43 days and no free midweek for six weeks, while dealing with grief after the death of their fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone — it was reasonable to suggest Spurs were doing pretty well. And certainly that they were well placed to push on post-Qatar 2022 having laid a good foundation.
With one point won and four goals conceded against Brentford and Villa since the restart, though, they are in danger of dropping down the table rather than climbing it. And clearly, with brief but very noticeable anti-Daniel Levy chants, there are much bigger issues at play here.
Both chairman Levy (for the first time since, yes, Villa at home in May 2021) and Conte earned the ire of supporters, the latter for his substitutions. The much-maligned Emerson Royal was booed on (not by many, but again it was pretty audible) and there were sarcastic cheers for the 88th-minute introduction of Djed Spence, a player they have been desperate to see more of since he signed in the summer.
While Conte can rightly point to a lack of squad depth in certain areas (the most attacking option he had to choose from on the bench here was Ryan Sessegnon, a wing-back who has six goal involvements in 50 Tottenham appearances, while injuries also meant he felt forced to start Bryan Gil in a front three for the first time this season) the XI he put out was capable of so much better.
His New Year’s Day starting line-up cost the club a combined £160million in transfer fees, which isn’t spectacular in today’s money, but it only lacked three injured players (Richarlison, and the sorely-missed pair of Rodrigo Bentancur and Dejan Kulusevski). Instead, the team looked uninspiring and predictable.
Conte’s tactical plan has served him well during his managerial career but at the moment his inflexibility is damaging Spurs.
Nevertheless, he said afterwards that he was pleased with the performance — one which generated six shots, two on target, and saw them fail to force a meaningful save out of stand-in (and error-prone) goalkeeper Robin Olsen.
Spurs 0-2 Aston Villa: Unai Emery's never lost in the Premier League against Spurs:
Dec 2018 with Arsenal (W 4-2) Mar 2019 with Arsenal (D 1-1) Sep 2019 with Arsenal (D 2-2) Jan 2023 with A.Villa (W 2-0) 🆕 pic.twitter.com/cuImpvWmx3
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) January 1, 2023
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“It was good,” Conte said. “From the start until the end, I’ve seen the right commitment, intensity, desire to get three points. Football is a bit strange. In the first half, we dominated the game but didn’t get a chance to score.
“The goal (Emiliano Buendia put Villa ahead early in the second half) changed the situation and the feeling and confidence of the players. They didn’t feel they deserved to be 1-0 down after a big effort in the first half.”
While no doubt protecting his players — and indeed himself — to call this a good performance is folly.
Spurs conceded first for a 10th game in a row in all competitions, they consistently made mistakes, they failed to break down Villa’s block or create a good number of chances, they didn’t dominate the game, they didn’t deserve to win.
A lack of quality can be blamed, as can the way they’re being coached. Conte, unsurprisingly, went for the former.
His post-match press conference was a mix of frustration but also realism at what Tottenham fans can expect from their team right now.
“I continue to repeat that last season we made a miracle (in finishing fourth),” Conte said. “It happened why? Because we played only one competition and with 12 to 13 players that didn’t have injuries in the last 15 games.
“I knew what the situation was, and I was clear with the club. To become title contenders… I remember in the summer, people spoke about Tottenham being title contenders. It was a bit crazy to read this. To become that, to become a team ready to fight to win something, you need to have a solid foundation, 13 to 15 strong, quality players and then young players to develop.
“Every season, you can add two players at £50million, £60million, (or) £70million — important quality to improve the level of your team. But this is a process, guys. You need time, patience. I understand the fans are disappointed but if you want the truth, I’ll tell you the truth.”
Tragically, he failed to add “You can’t handle the truth” at the end of that sentence, but his point was made.
Conte also added that creating expectations above reality was not positive. And he called for his team to fight before they quickly slip down the table.
Spurs’ players have made a combined five errors leading to opposition goals this season — two more than any other team in the division. Hugo Lloris has been responsible for three of those five. It adds to a sense of Tottenham bringing this all on themselves.
They have an opportunity in January to try to pull a Bentancur/Kulusevski type rabbit out of the hat like last year, but even if they manage to do it, there are longer-term issues around investment, around players, around management, around contracts, around philosophies, before this club can move forward in the way its supporters so crave.