Tactically inept Tottenham have no distance left to run

"We will try to give everything to make you proud of this football club."

“I think as a father you have always to feed your kids. Doesn’t matter what they do. If you have to steal to feed your kids, you steal."

As a Tottenham fan, one of these quotes fills you with genuine pride, reminds you of a time when the sun seemed to shine that little bit brighter, where everything your club did was geared towards trying to realise a successful future.

The other is tinged with a little more embarrassment. Literally, it is absolutely correct - yes, you should feed your kids. But when placed in its correct context, it spells out the end of modern greatness for a manager who is more than deserving of his status as one of the most fantastic bosses in the history of football.

But just as players reach the end of their careers as their bodies begin to fail them, once great managers take more Ls as their tactics on the pitch and attitude off it become evidently outdated.

It's a sad state of affairs, but that's the scenario for Jose Mourinho. Appointed in November 2019 as Mauricio Pochettino's successor, the former Chelsea boss was given the task of turning Tottenham's nearly men into winners. While the wheels of a bloated and stale squad had fallen off dramatically under Pochettino, the landscape never looked as grim as it does right now.

In the most recent defeat to Manchester United on Sunday, we saw a painstaking lack of structure from Mourinho's side. They actually took the lead as the visitors had a goal chalked off before Son Heung-min tucked in the opener - a surprisingly lovely goal, too.

But United have a tendency for poor starts and all they needed was an added intensity boost. They used the perceived shortcomings of VAR as fuel for a much improved second half as Fred, Edinson Cavani and Mason Greenwood scored to secure a deserved victory.

Tactically, Spurs were messy.

It's been touched on before, but the home side's press was embarrassing. The traps weren't there for United to fall into - instead, they moved the ball into the areas that were left vacant when Tottenham's players moved towards the ball, going through the gears and areas of the pitch with alarming ease. They were even finding striker Cavani on the edge of the box with short passes with almost no opposition.

The quotes off the pitch have been embarrassing, but so has been the approach on it. Spurs became a force under Pochettino by pressing high up the pitch, so fans know the difference between a successful press that puts their side on the front foot and one that fails spectacularly and hands the opponents the initiative.

There wasn't even the desire to sh*thouse United in the slightest. The chance to bring a player on to attack Scott McTominay or Fred, who were both walking a tightrope after being booked early on, was ignored.

Instead, Giovani Lo Celso was brought off for Moussa Sissoko, Tottenham struggled to keep the ball in central midfield, United seized the initiative and the familiar storyline of Tottenham conceding and failing to get back into the game played out again.

Performances have been terrible at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the off-field situation is deteriorating rapidly. There have been rants over whether or not you should feed your kids if they're naughty, the future and happiness of Harry Kane - one of the club's all time greats - is more uncertain than ever, and Son Heung-min was evidently broken in his post match interview.

They've broken Sonny. He's almost crying. Nice one.

Most Spurs fans can handle their club being a bit rubbish. It's in the DNA. The 1990s was not a particularly fruitful time if you're looking for decent league finishes. But the club has touched the cusp of tangible success recently and let the opportunity to push on and progress slip through their fingers.

It's not simply being rubbish that has damaged the connection between the club and the fans. It's the sequence of events, choices and results that have led to a point where the Tottenham manager is talking about how parents should feed their kids in the wake of a defeat and where a generational homegrown talent is said to have grown tired of the team's regression and could ask to leave.

If you're a Britpop fan you'll know Damon Albarn once sang 'I won't kill myself trying to stay in your life'. That obviously wasn't about football. But with every bland and inept performance and sour post match press conference, the relationship between fan and club deteriorates.

Right now, Spurs supporters are more detached than ever. The excitement around matchday is simply not there.

The side are completely out of gas, but a complete rehaul isn't necessarily needed. There are unquestionably excellent players in Tottenham's squad, but a departure in both style and personnel is imperative to bring those who matter most back onside.

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