After Boxing Day comes Groundhog Day for stumbling Spurs

There was a point a few weeks ago when for a dizzying moment it did genuinely appear there was a non-zero chance that Jose Mourinho’s Spurs might actually manage to relegation-scrap their way to accidentally winning the Premier League.

Fair to say that we should all be feeling a bit silly for even thinking that now Mourinho’s men are busy relegation-scrapping their way to mid-table by making precisely the same mistakes in precisely the same way in game after game after game.

It all starts, of course, with Jose himself. We’re not saying this is becoming a theme with his Spurs side, but we wrote the following about them after a 1-1 draw with Newcastle back in September – which is basically about four hundred years ago in 2020 time.

“And yet still we have to ask: why does Jose insist on still playing in this way, when he has a squad entirely unsuited to such tactics and a sport whose current laws and the interpretation thereof create the very high possibility of a points-shedding nonsense unfolding late in the day?

“Spurs could have put this game to bed in the first half, but in the second they allowed it to drift aimlessly to its concluding sucker-punch banter. It is a genuinely mad way to play football in 2020, especially when in charge of a squad that possesses many great attacking qualities but has Eric Dier as a starting centre-back.

“Even if mad penalties weren’t a thing – and it’s already clear at this early stage of the season that whatever you think of them there is no point just ignoring their existence – Spurs are entirely unsuited technically, emotionally and historically to sitting on and holding a 1-0 lead.

“The risk-reward calculations are all wrong. Spurs are a classic example of attack being the best form of defence; occupying the opposition with defensive work and minimising the actual defending Spurs are required to perform is definitely their best approach. Especially against opposition as limited as Newcastle.

“It doesn’t mean reckless abandon, but had Spurs tried just a touch harder for that second and third goal would they really have left themselves particularly vulnerable to disaster? And, more importantly, would that risk really be any greater than that created by maintaining only a one-goal lead and thus remaining permanently vulnerable?”

Quick edit to a couple of words, tweak a couple of details, and it applies just as well to the 1-1 draw at Wolves today, just as it did to the 1-1 draw at Palace a fortnight ago. It just doesn’t make any sense for Spurs to play like this in every game. It was prudent – and successful – against City. It made sense, even if it fell just short of succeeding, at Liverpool. It even worked well against Arsenal because of the sheer guileless readiness of the Gunners to blunder headlong into the trap. It doesn’t make sense against Palace or Newcastle or Wolves.

And Mourinho’s stubborn insistence on sticking with it is as perplexing as it is maddening. Yes, we know how he views football and how he likes his teams to play. But we also know he likes to win. He is, at heart, a pragmatist. “What is the most likely way for me and my team to extract the best possible chance of a win from this football match?” is the only question he cares about. Yet he continues to stick with a demonstrably incorrect answer for this squad in this season in this era.

The truly exasperating thing about today’s effort was that for 20 minutes after the goal, Spurs were actually fine. When the magnificent Tanguy Ndombele, having scored the opener on 57 seconds, was casually ignoring the laws of physics as he marauded menacingly through the midfield and Sergio Reguilon was popping up in strange and interesting places from his nominal station at left wing-back, Spurs carried threat and a purpose despite Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min conspiring to have rare off days at the same time.

But it didn’t last. Spurs were soon back to sitting back and hoping to emerge unscathed. The equaliser was, if not inevitable, then certainly entirely, obviously, infuriatingly, hilariously predictable. With no outlet, the ball just comes back quicker and quicker at a defence sitting deeper and deeper. Tottenham, with two of the very best attackers in world football at their disposal, didn’t manage a shot on target after the 21st minute.

Spurs have now scored eight times within the first 15 minutes of games this season – more than any other club. They have dropped nine points in the last 10 minutes of games – also more than any other club. Deja Mou.

Mourinho simply cannot keep playing this way. The style issue isn’t the main consideration, but nor is it totally irrelevant. Even when it’s successful, there’s no point pretending this is ever great to watch. To Dare is to Don’t for Mourinho’s Spurs. Even if he does deliver silverware, glory will have in it an echo of failure. But no, that’s not the biggest problem. The problem is that it’s not working. Not in these games. An approach that seeks to reduce every match to one or two key moments and the finest margins is understandable against superior or even equally-matched opposition. Against inferior teams, it is, by definition, counter-productive. A gameplan that minimises your disadvantage against better teams must also minimise your advantage against weaker ones. It’s a bold thought, but hear me out: different matches require a different approach.

Spurs’ next two games are at home to Fulham and Leeds; we’ll soon find out if Mourinho has learned his lesson.

Dave Tickner