It was just a matter of days ago that Julian Nagelsmann was said to be prioritising the Tottenham job this summer after rejecting Chelsea. Yet after Spurs’ embarrassing first-half capitulation at Newcastle, he can be forgiven for having second thoughts about working with this group of shameless, irresponsible players that seemingly duck any form of accountability for their performances.
What happened this afternoon at St James’ Park was entirely unacceptable. Fans were already heading for the exit door after just eight minutes after three quick-fire Newcastle goals.
Hugo Lloris could not even be bothered to dive for Jacob Murphy’s stunning second while Eric Dier and Cristian Romero looked like two defenders who were already looking forward to hearing the sound of the full-time whistle.
Cristian Stellini could have taken any of his 11 Tottenham players off the field but instead he chose 20-year-old midfielder Pape Matar Sarr – a total cop-out that will shatter the youngster’s confidence.
The bottom line is that outside of Harry Kane, there is just no leadership within Tottenham’s ranks. It’s a total mystery how they’re still within a small shout of securing a top-four finish this close to the end of the season.
If anything, it displays just how poor the rest of the contenders have been this season outside of Arsenal and Manchester City.
While Nagelsmann is a progressive coach with a clear footballing identity and vision, he would need to work miracles if he was to somehow make Tottenham serious contenders again.
On the basis of this shambles, Kane will be longing for a transfer this summer. His second-half consolation epitomised just how much he has carried Spurs this season. They would be nowhere without him.
In fact, Tottenham are on a road to nowhere now and the club is still a tricky sell for any new manager who could be tempted to take over in north London this summer.
Nagelsmann is the kind of coach that likes a challenge and likes to build but at Tottenham he would be working from scratch.
Heung-min Son looks a shadow of his former self and besides Kane, there are genuinely no top-class players at Tottenham anymore with the exception of Rodrigo Bentancur, who has been sorely missed since suffering a serious knee injury.
When the going gets tough, Tottenham are never willing to dig in. They seem to just throw in the towel and that is a major problem for any boss prepared to take on such an enormous challenge.
The recruitment has been largely underwhelming and unless that changes quickly, Tottenham could now be poised for a period of mediocrity. It feels as though there is no manager that could truly fix the mentality issues woven into this squad’s DNA.
Mauricio Pochettino, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte – three of the world’s top tacticians – all tried and ultimately fell short. Where Tottenham go next is now anybody’s guess.
Daniel Levy will have his work cut out trying to entice a suitable replacement to pick up the pieces from this catastrophic mess and you can sympathise with supporters for the total lack of direction.
Purely on footballing terms, Newcastle have become everything Tottenham aspire to be but the two sides now look lightyears apart. The table will obviously say differently but the Magpies look to be building something special.
They have a coach who understands the club, has implemented an eye-catching style of play and there is a collective togetherness within Newcastle’s dressing room that is achieving excellent results.
Nagelsmann will want to give this job serious thought before accepting any potential offer that could arrive from Levy. He may yet feel he is too good for this latest Tottenham farce.
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