TOTTENHAM’S CRISIS IS EVIDENT ON THE FIELD

TOTTENHAM made a promising start to the season, winning their opening three games and Nuno Espirito Santo garnering the manager of the month award for August.

Things have since gone back to reality for the Lilywhites. They have lost their last three league games and something that we all knew has been confirmed again that the club is in crisis.

The past two years have been an absolute nightmare for the faithful of the North London club. It went from losing the Champions League final to sacking Mauricio Pochettino and Jose Mourinho with the latest concern being Harry Kane’s form.

To make matters worse, Kane, a boyhood product of the club, is believed to have pushed to leave during the off-season. The Englishman’s form has been uncharacteristically below par so far this season as he has yet to score a goal in the league.

Spurs naturally wanted to keep their best player and most marketable unit. Chairman Daniel Levy may have viewed the decision to keep Kane as good but it could prove to be unwise in the long run.

Now 28, Kane’s transfer value is only going to go down from here on. If he has a bad season, it will plummet and could cause tension and affect morale within the dressing room.

Spurs have since lost their “solid top-four status” and they are not a club that the world’s top managers will rush to join. Nuno was evidently not the club’s first-choice appointment and was a compromise given that Antonio Conte and Pablo Fonseca were strongly tipped to succeed Mourinho.

Nuno has vast experience managing in the Premier League but he lacks trophies. The only thing he has won as a manager was the Championship title with Wolves, something which is not considered a major trophy.

Even though Spurs won their opening three games of the season, they did not dominate in those games and did not win in the manner of a “Champions League worthy” side. They lacked cohesion in the final third and creativity.

The club’s woes off the field appear to also be taking a toll on the confidence and work rate of players. Statistics released by Sky Sports recently indicated that Spurs have covered 99.9km in the league so far, the worst of any club.

From here things can go two ways for Spurs. A run of wins can put them back on the right track and restore some faith among fans. A run of defeats will further deepen the crisis at the club and heap the pressure on Nuno.

Levy is not a character known to be patient with managers so don’t be surprised to find Spurs being linked with a new boss in the near future should Nuno fail to get positive results.

The biggest challenge that Nuno faces is to restore the confidence of a side that has struggled to play as a cohesive unit for two and a half years.