Tottenham can't afford to sleepwalk their way to another wasted season
By Sean Walsh
FROM TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM - After limp and lifeless losses to Leicester City and AC Milan, Tottenham badly needed to show signs of a pulse at home to London rivals West Ham on Sunday.
Antonio Conte, who has now decided to recover from gallbladder surgery at home in Italy after returning to the Spurs fold ahead of schedule, has been the subject of social media ire for a couple of months. The head coach looks unlikely to sign a new contract beyond this season, understandably leading to questions in online communities.
That exasperation finally rolled into the stands this week, with those who made the trip to San Siro on Tuesday voicing their concerns over Conte's position.
Assistant coach Cristian Stellini led from the sidelines against West Ham, just as he did a fortnight ago in a 1-0 win over Manchester City.
After a rather dull first half (as is usually the case with Tottenham), the hosts sprung into life after the break. Emerson Royal - markedly improved since the arrival of positional rival Pedro Porro - opened the scoring before Son Heung-min came off the bench to ice the game.
With Newcastle falling to Liverpool on Saturday, Spurs have now re-entered the Premier League's top four, a look which has looked odd since the World Cup break.
Tottenham have been hugely disappointing this season. After such a strong end to the 2021/22 campaign, they were meant to be the north London side who bridged the gap to the title contenders. At the very least, they entered 2022/23 as a consensus pick to finish in the top four again.
They have stumbled from pillar to both posts, from one injury to another, 'under-performers with room' to 'overhyped'.
And yet they still have everything in place to have a successful end to this season. They are still quite clearly in the fight for fourth place with individual quality above that of their positional rivals. The FA Cup looks more winnable than in recent years, the Champions League a far more open competition than ever in the modern era.
Last year, Spurs performed above expectations to save their season and make it a memorable one for the right reasons. This time, they don't even need to do that - a few 7/10 performances in key moments should be enough to do the trick.
At times, this season has resembled that of 2020/21 behind closed doors - the nadir of Jose Mourinho. Miserable performances were papered over by the brilliance of Harry Kane, tangible success still possible even despite on-pitch woes, wins quickly forgotten and missteps outweighing them.
The current problem lies with Conte and the cloud over his future. At this point, it would be quite a surprise to see him in N17 beyond May. Displays have been dull for a while, direction often lacking and the results not enough to justify keeping a results-based manager.
There are extremely understandable excuses for this sudden decline. Conte has lost several people close to him in the last few months, including revered Spurs fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone. His wife and daughter live away from him back in Turin. The schedule has been condensed and testing for everyone.
Spurs don't necessarily need to part ways with Conte before the end of his contract, but instead just find a solution in which everyone is reading from the same hymn sheet. His quick (and probably ill-advised) return after surgery proves his steadfast dedication to his 'work', a term and notion repeated in every press conference. Conte, at his core, wants to be a successful manager and there's still every chance of that with Tottenham this season.
There's reasons for Spurs to be positive heading into another crunch London derby next Sunday, this time with freefalling Chelsea. It would be beneficial for those feelings to last more than seven days this time, though.