Friday
Part of me was a little disappointed when Spurs got a late equaliser against Liverpool. Not because the point wasn’t very welcome, but because it offered a reprieve to the interim manager, Igor Tudor, who had previously lost his first four games in charge of the club. Tudor’s management style had been suspect to say the least. Quick to rubbish the team, he had said there were three things wrong with Spurs. No defence, no midfield and no attack. He also observed that the players needed to toughen up and show some character. Tudor wasn’t necessarily wrong in his judgment, but trash-talking the team in public didn’t seem like the way to get the best out of a side that was clearly in freefall. It appeared we had reached rock bottom when we went 4-0 down inside 22 minutes against Atlético Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League and the manager ignored the young goalkeeper whom he had substituted.
So sacking Tudor for leaving the club in an even worse state than he had found it seemed like the best hope of avoiding relegation. Now, I don’t know what to think. In the second leg against Madrid on Wednesday, Spurs were a team transformed. They played with a passion and self-respect I hadn’t seen all season and on occasion threatened to overturn the three-goal deficit as they ran out 3-2 winners. And none of us have a clue if this was down to the manager or despite him. Whether this was a performance the players found for themselves or if they had finally bought in to the manager’s mindset. At the end of the game, Tudor walked straight down the tunnel without congratulating the players. Make of that what you will. So no one knows which Spurs will turn up on Sunday for the vital game against relegation rivals, Nottingham Forest. If it’s the one from Wednesday, then they should win easily. But the possibility also remains that Spurs are so fragile they can only turn it on when they believe the game is out of reach and there is nothing to play for. Spurs seem to exist to torture me.
www.theguardian.com
