Tottenham’s fading hopes of a Champions League place were finally extinguished on Tuesday night when they suffered a 2-0 defeat at home to Manchester City.
That marked a fifth defeat in their last six Premier League matches as a tiring and stretched squad limp towards the finish line.
While in isolation a defeat to a Manchester City side that have not lost in the league since December and stand on the precipice of a historic fourth consecutive Premier League title is much to panic about, Ange Postegoclou’s post-match reaction told another story.
"The foundations are really fragile," the Australian said. "The last 48 hours have shown me that.
"It's inside the club, outside the club. Outside, inside, everywhere. It's been an interesting exercise. It's just my observations, mate."
While the reference to those ‘outside the club’ was likely in relation to Spurs fans’ welcoming a City win that delivered a hammer blow to rival Arsenal’s title hopes and is something that will fade from memory once the news cycle moves on, it’s the ‘inside the club’ reference that jumped out.
Postecoglou has cut an increasingly frustrated figure during Spurs’ recent poor run and he will know that the team face an important transfer window.
A return to European football is likely, meaning that his squad will need to be replenished and restocked, but by saying he fears the ‘foundations are really fragile’, the former Celtic boss was sending a message to the Spurs board.
Tottenham’s financial model does not see them take huge swings in the transfer market and Postecoglou’s remarks were more than reminiscent of post-match rants that two of his more firey predecessors have made while in the job.
“It's like going to a fight with a gun without bullets,” Jose Mourinho said following a 2020 Champions League defeat to RB Leipzig, while Antonio Conte delivered an even more explosive rant last season following a draw with Southampton.
“Tottenham's story is this,” the Italian fumed. “Twenty years there is the owner and they never won something, but why? The fault is only for the club, or for every manager that stays here? I have seen the managers that Tottenham had on the bench. You risk to disrupt the figure of the manager and to protect the other situation in every moment.
"Until now I try to hide the situation but now no because I repeat I don't want to see what I have seen today because this is unacceptable and also unacceptable for the fans. They follow us, pay the ticket and to see the team another time to have this type of performance is unacceptable. We have to think a lot about this."
While Postecoglou’s ‘fragile’ comments were not delivered with the fury of Conte’s 1,000-word rant last year, the common theme of Tottenham bosses airing their frustrations with the club in public continues.
In the current climate, running a tight ship financially is not the worst charge to levy at a club, but it is the opportunity cost that is irritating Postecoglou.
Whether or not this is something that Daniel Levy and the Spurs board heed when the summer transfer window opens remains to be seen, but Tottenham have undoubtedly improved under Postecoglou this season and the club would do well to accommodate the Australian’s vision if this momentum is to continue.
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