Spurs

Spurs boss Antonio Conte flies back to England on Sunday. There's a very decent argument that he might as well not bother.

Norwich, Everton and Middlesbrough are the three other teams to take care of Spurs at that stage. At least the fans would be watching football the way they like it played. They would probably still be a punchline. For the first hour they were demonstrably the better side, hit the woodwork twice and would have merited a one or two-goal lead. Then, in a reversal of the season’s early trend, that decent first hour was followed with an abysmal closing half-hour in which Wolves first established a foothold and then gradually seized control. It would be an achievement of course, but not one that merits this all-encompassing pursuit surely. Spurs fans know and understand this, but are increasingly coming round to the idea (some never needed to) that it’s nevertheless a goer. Whatever words to the contrary may be uttered, it is demonstrably the top-down policy of the club and has been under a series of managers – and yes, that’s a series that includes Mauricio Pochettino, whose return feels ever more certain yet would offer few guarantees beyond a lift of the mood that envelopes the club right now and an instant improvement if the style of play if not the outcome. Spurs lack the traditional power of Liverpool or Manchester United, the financial heft of Chelsea or Manchester City, or the timing of Arsenal. They will surely never again enjoy a run to the Champions League final like the 2019 absurdity. What Spurs have done in attempting to punch through and join bigger clubs at the top table is admirable in many ways. Because it’s this one that best sums up precisely where and how Spurs have lost their way.