Out of two Cup competitions and staring into the depths of the abyss… who is to blame? Levy or Ange Postecoglou?

 

Out of two Cup competitions and staring into the depths of the abyss… who is to blame? Levy or Ange Postecoglou?

On the bright side, we are still in the Europa League, and hopefully, we’ll start getting our long list of injured players back.

Mel said to me after the Liverpool humiliation… “All you need to write in your blog was just one-word “shit”. And we were… We got a high from our first league victory this year over Brentford. We could continue that upward path by getting a victory over Liverpool at Anfield and then go on to Villa Park and destroy Villa in front of their own supporters… how deluded.

We were so poor against Liverpool that I am surprised that we only conceded four. We arrived on Merseyside with what was, we hoped, a fine opportunity to end our 17-year trophy deficiency and send the “Spursy” tag into the dungeons of hell. With wins over Brentford and Elfsborg following a run of only three wins in 10 games… yes, the writing was on the wall! But we hoped as only mugs hope!

We had everything to play for… but we looked edgy as soon as we came out of the traps. We expected a full-throttle, all-out attacking style that has become so synonymous with Ange Postecoglou, but nothing of the sort.

It seemed obvious from the get-go that we were there to defend a one-goal lead, which was a very stupid tactic. For most of the match, we sat deep in our own half, having to defend sways of Liverpool attacks with just 36% possession of the ball and failing to register a single shot on target in the 90 minutes; this was the first time this has ever happened under Ange.

We looked and were very lacklustre in what was a poor showing for a semi-final. Again, the booing seemed louder, and the songs were more vigorous as the fans sang “Levy out.”

Near where I was standing/ sitting, fans turned against fans… one was a supporter of Ange, another thought he was a doughnut and wanted him out, while others vehemently attacked Levy and the board. It was so intense that the Liverpool Stewards were forced to intervene.

 Even though protests have been directed at the club's owner, Daniel Levy, in recent weeks, he did try to bring in reinforcements in the January transfer window, which were too inadequate and too little to help Ange out of a tight spot. To rub salt in the wound, he could find himself with more injury problems after Richarlison went to the ground clutching his calf. Richarlison has injury after injury, so it was not a great surprise that he cried off; it seems it is part of his MO. Nevertheless, it intensified a severe injury crisis at our club, which was already missing 10 first-team players.

It was a very cold night to and from the ground (a three-hour drive each way). We parked at the Everton ground and walked to Liverpool, which took approximately 10 or 15 minutes.

As for the Villa game… it was a two-hour journey, taking us past a car that was on fire… the most exciting part of the day.

As I said, we vastly underperformed in the second leg of our Carabao Cup semi-final with Liverpool, so this time around – silly us! – we thought lessons would have been learnt, and a more attacking style would be on show. Alas, nothing changed… again, we were poor. A howler from Kinsky allowed Ramsey to score the first goal.

It was a matter of time before Dick Emery's side scored again as they cut through our defence like a very hot knife cutting through runny butter.

There were a few poor shots on target by us… before they scored again. We had to wait until injury time before we could get on the score sheet. By then, it was all over, and most of our fans had left the sinking ship.

Our goal came from our new signing Tel (William Tell to the fans).

Cries throughout the game of "We Want Levy Out” drowned out everything else… even being heard by TV viewers as they watched our spectacular and humiliating ejection from the FA Cup's early rounds.

Who is to blame?

First, we must ask: Why do we have so many injuries? Is this due to Ange’s style of football, something going wrong in training, or just cluelessness?

Sacking another manager under Levy’s witching-twitching eye won’t solve the deeper problem… Over 24 years, he has gone through 16 managers and has nothing to show for it but one lowly trophy.

The team has been underfunded while money has been poured into making a fine state-of-the-art stadium with world-class boxing, quality restaurants (with excellent food), and the biggest acts in the world being put on show… along with go-carting, sky jumps, etc. Levy and the board have gotten richer (Levy is the highest paid in the Premier League). At the same time, the team has deteriorated around him, but he still won’t put money in at the same level as Liverpool, City, United, and Arsenic. He wants the money in his pocket rather than turn a laughing “Spursy” team into something more important.

As Pochettino said, Levy had built this beautiful mansion but decided to furnish it with cheap second-hand goods.

When Ange was picked, and all the managers under him were picked, they were either rejects or deep down on the list of possibilities, while other big clubs go for the best of the best.

Sacking Ange isn’t the answer... what the club needs is regime change, or nothing will change other than more money flowing into the club to enrich the likes of Daniel Levy.

Yes, Ange will probably get the sack (unless he wins the Europa League), and then another mug will take his place, fall foul of Levy’s purse-string tightness and be sacked as the ever-decreasing circles of Levy’s man management stronghold gets tighter.

Up the Spurs!

 

Glenn