Much of the post-mortem of Tottenham's collapse against Chelsea last weekend has focussed on familiar themes: Ange Postecoglou is too stubborn, his side is too open and his players too inconsistent.
Postecoglou is not blameless for a run of one win in seven matches but, as Daniel Levy's 12th permanent Spurs manager begins to wobble precariously, we should be past the point of wondering about the root cause of the club’s problems on the pitch.
Spurs' vice-captain Cristian Romero, who leapt to Postecoglou's defence after the match, appeared to point the finger at the board.
"It’s always the same: first, the players, then the coaching staff changes, and it's always the same people responsible," Romero told Argentine TV, after calling for Spurs to match the spending of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Levy, the Spurs chairman, did not pick or coach Sunday's team nor did he give away two careless second-half penalties, but he remains the key figure in a hierarchy which has created the conditions for what is increasingly another frustrating campaign for the club.
Unlike many of his predecessors, Postecoglou has been nothing but positive about Spurs' transfer business since he joined, staunchly taking ownership of every decision (to his considerable credit).
Perhaps it has therefore taken longer to see the wood for the trees this time, but the harder you squint at Postecoglou's squad and the more it is pummelled by the schedule, the more ill-equipped it appears for the challenge at hand.
Levy and the club knew exactly what they were getting with Postecoglou but the 59-year-old is the latest Spurs manager to be left short of the resources to compete at the level supporters demand.
Postecoglou is a better fit for the club than Jose Mourinho or Antonio Conte, even if his uncompromising approach has fostered a familiar culture war among fans, but Spurs’ issue feels bigger than any head coach, so sacking Postecoglou without a change of policy would be pointless.
In 2018, when Mauricio Pochettino wanted a total refresh of his squad, Spurs were the first-ever Premier League club not to sign a single player in a summer.
Mourinho complained at getting Joe Rodon when he wanted a top centre-half. When Conte needed an elite wing-back, he was given “club signing” Djed Spence.
Last summer, aiming to build on a positive maiden season under Postecoglou, Spurs spent £65million on Dominic Solanke - an excellent player - along with three teenagers, all of whom are promising but not ready to move the dial for a manager with ambitions to win the biggest honours.
Two of the players they considered, Pedro Neto and Tosin Adarabioyo ended up at Chelsea, who have moved back ahead of their rivals.
A slew of injuries and the anomalous setbacks of Rodrigo Bentancur’s seven-match ban and Mikey Moore’s illness have exacerbated the situation, but Postecoglou’s squad is built around too many inexperienced or flaky players, and not enough proven quality.
Postecoglou has characteristically owned the summer business but the intense focus on youth was a strange pivot from the previous year, when Spurs bought a handful of players aged 22 to 26, who immediately improved the XI.
A generous interpretation is overzealous future-proofing, but Levy's Spurs have a history of not paying the fees needed to elevate the team. It has typically ended with no silverware and the manager's head.
Romero is not the first Spurs player to question the club's investment; Danny Rose's explosive interview on the eve of the 2017-18 season (“I'd love to see two or three [signings] – and not players you have to Google,”) was up there with Conte's parting rant (“They can change manager, a lot of managers, but the situation cannot change,”) for sheer abrasiveness.
When Rose was speaking, however, there was an important context to Spurs' transfer spend: the club was in the process of building a £1.2billion stadium.
What is Tottenham's justification today for not assembling a squad that is capable of challenging for top prizes?
Levy has said Spurs cannot expect to compete in the market with state-backed clubs such as City, which is perfectly true, but there has often been a sense that they could do more.
It comes back to the chairman’s inherent caution in the market. Again, take it from someone who should know, Tottenham's record appearance-maker in the Premier League, Hugo Lloris.
The Frenchman's recent autobiography includes an anecdote about Levy from 2019 which Lloris says left him wondering: "Does the club really want to win?"
Five years and four permanent managers later, that question still feels as relevant as ever.
