Tottenham assistant manager Cristian Stellini held up his hands and apologised to supporters after they crashed out of the FA Cup.
Spurs haven’t won a trophy since 2008 and the wait now looks almost certain to reach 15 years following the 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United. Stellini’s 100 per cent record standing in for Antonio Conte also ended in the most painful fashion as Iliman Ndiaye’s second-half strike saw the Championship side reach the quarter finals.
But while the Blades could celebrate reaching the last eight for the third time in four years, the travelling fans were left with that sinking feeling. For every step forward Spurs seem to take, there is an acknowledgement that two steps back are around the corner.
Victory over Manchester City was followed by a thrashing at Leicester City, while last Sunday’s win over Chelsea proved little more than another false dawn. And make no mistake, a wide open FA Cup provided Tottenham the perfect chance to win a major honour.
And Stellini admitted that something wasn’t right with his players as he fronted up in the minutes after the defeat in South Yorkshire: "If you don't win a game like this its because something was not perfect and today our energy was not enough to put the opponent in a great difficulty,” he said.
"We had opportunities to score, but now we have to analyse the goal we conceded. In the moment if you concede a goal you need time to recover. There was more energy from the changes, but we have to improve a lot. I can only apologise to the fans for our performance and they deserve much more than this."
Stellini was also forced to address criticism over his team selection, which saw the likes of Harry Kane and Dejan Kulusevski start from the bench. “I think the team we picked today was fine. The energy was the problem. If it's not the same as the opponent you are going to struggle,” the Italian added.
"I'm disappointed for that. Our players fit in well. We used different players but these players have to show.”
A penny for Kane’s thoughts as well. For all the individual honours he continues to amass at his beloved club, what he would give to finally end his trophy drought. He had the chance to take the game to extra time, but saw his late effort go wide.
Asked if he regretted not starting the England skipper, Stellinin said: “No it's not a regret. We also have to look at the medium period and we have many games.
"Harry Kane played a lot, one time with fever and another with a problem. It's not about Harry. We played with Lucas, Richarlison and Sonny. I think that should be good enough.
“He was ill one week ago - a throat problem - and he didn't train for some days. For that reason we decided also to keep Harry on the bench.”
As the Spurs fans prepared for the long trip back to the capital, they could have been forgiven for casting one glance at the ongoing cup draw as the ball that would have been theirs was given a home tie against Blackburn Rovers. “A big missed opportunity”, Stellini emphasised.
