A tired team get its true test
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Hello everybody and welcome once again to The View from the Lane, the multi-award winning Tottenham Hotspur podcast from The Athletic. I'm Danny Kelly and joining me today is Jay Harris from The Athletic, who witnessed it's fair to say another extraordinary game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Jay, welcome aboard. In the round, before I start pawing the ground, what did you make of yesterday's extraordinary events? Well, I feel like it's important to point out to the listeners that it's your birthday today. Thank you very much indeed. Another...

Another revolution of the sun. Thank you very much indeed. Ironically, the very orb I tried to avoid because of my very pale skin, but thank you very much. It's worth me pointing out as well that everything I say, and I'm sure you as well, over the next 45 minutes to an hour, we'll have to

Bear in mind the following three things that Liverpool are and were an extraordinarily good team, that Spurs do have debilitating injuries like clubs do get, but all in one part of the team, and that the Spurs fans, by and large, I thought, certainly listening on television, stuck with the team in a pretty remarkable way. All those three things are a given here. So let me go back to the general question. Tell us about your day, Jay.

I think it's fair to say going into this, expectations were that Liverpool would win. And because of the injury situation and the way that Spurs play, I had a feeling that Liverpool would score quite a few goals. I probably didn't expect six, but I had a feeling it would be a high scoring game. And Spurs being in high scoring games is not really a surprise at the moment. It's sort of become the norm. I think the match sort of hinges on Dominic Sobbeslai's goal. Because up until that point,

Liverpool scored twice and they both come from open play crosses. And the first delivery from Trent Alexander-Arnold is exceptional. And you could argue that with McAllister's effort, Spence and Gray are a little bit unlucky with the way the ball sort of bounces off the shoulder, etc. But 2-1 just before half time, that Madison goal from Kulishevsky pressing McAllister, you're thinking, OK, we can make a real go of this.

in the second half. That's our best move now, isn't it? The opposition people falling over just before we get the ball, isn't it? Well, I guess it's sort of the way Postakoglu has set up the team, right? So that Soboszlai goal just before half-time just really kills the mood. And it just means that at the start of the second half, Spurs pushed so many players forward trying to find a way

to get back into the game, that they just get absolutely picked apart on the counter. And I don't know, I felt a little bit confused afterwards because in my head I was thinking Tottenham pushed so many players forward that they just left themselves completely exposed. But then if they didn't push that many players forward, would Solanke and Kulishevsky have scored? But I'd still say it probably benefited Liverpool more.

that they took that approach up. And I tweeted this at the time. I felt really sorry for Archie Gray. And I think he's probably one of the few Tottenham players, and probably Jed Spencer as well, to be fair, who could have emerged from that game with credit in the bank and the reputation's not really damaged in any way. Because there were just times in the second half where it felt like

Gray and Spence, Gray in particular, just had to constantly run back towards their own goal with Salah, Gatpo, Diaz, Jota and then Nunez when they came off the bench. Just running at them and what are they to do? And that moment where Gray cuts out Gatpo's cross, stops Salah's life from scoring and then Salah gets a tap-in. I just felt so bad for him. He's an 18-year-old player.

playing at a position and doing a pretty good job against one of the best strike forces in the world. It just felt like he didn't really get the help from the midfield and the senior players that he needed. And of course, that is part of the wider argument, isn't it? That given the situation Spurs are with injuries, they could do something different. The manager chooses not to do something different. That is entirely his right. But as you said,

Against a team like Liverpool, and with the Spurs team that's available, the results might well be entirely predictable. I don't need to make stuff up to hopefully make this podcast interesting and fun.

When, as I said on the previous podcast after the Manchester United game, when we were three up and I told the poor woman who has to sit and watch these football matches with me, Alex, I said to her, Spurs will need four to win this. Before this game, she said, well, go on then, tell me, Nostradamus. I said, I think Spurs will need five to win this game. And as it turned out, they probably needed more. You know, it's obvious that

playing a high line against

the fastest front three. And if you count Sobber's extraordinary athleticism, the most physically demanding front four in English football today, I hear you about Archie Gray, but he could have been protected differently. We choose not to do so. The three goals, I absolutely agree with you about the third goal, but just very quickly, goal number one, fantastic pass by Alexander-Arnold, but

Once again, into that spot, I'm going to call it the Pedro Porro position where we can see so many goals from. I will say that, you know, he wasn't very well protected, that the runner was allowed into the space pretty easily. The third goal really, really was annoying because of the match situation.

Again, I risk the wrath of people saying you mustn't criticize the way Spurs play because that's in turn criticism of Ange-Poster Coglou, which in turn may not be enough criticism of Enoch and Daniel Levy because this is the way people, the way the arguments go now. The third goal I put down is completely unprofessional. I understand the way that the press worked.

Son goes central to press Gomez, which leaves enormous space for Trent Alexander-Arnold, which means that the fullback Spence feels he has to run half the length of the pitch to confront Trent Alexander-Arnold. Well, the important context with that is that Gravenberg actually plays quite a bad pass to Trent. He mishits it.

So they probably did press at the right time and it was angled to Alexander Arnold on his left foot. And, um,

If he's aiming for Soboslai, he probably was, to be fair. I'd be very, very impressed. It was very much a sort of span and hit it. I think there's an argument to be made about whether Spurs needed to press in that situation. But I think the way they conducted the press was right. It's just that Liverpool found a way, because they are the best team in the league, to go over it. Yeah, I'm not going to argue about that. I will say...

if you're going to conduct a press, if it relies on somebody running the entire length of the pitch to get to the pressing point. And he did actually force Trent Alexander-Arnold because, as you say, he has to shift the ball from a difficult position

I'm not sure that that's the best thing in the world. It also then, of course, what it does then, it means that Dragosin has got to win the header. He simply cannot lose that header. Otherwise, the quickest attack in English football is going to devour Spurs. And that's what happened. We've already talked about the back four, the right side doing better, doing worse than the left side. Is it worth just quickly touching upon Dragosin? Because...

I mentioned him in my match piece, which went up this morning, because I had a bit of a suspicion earlier on in this season that he is not particularly trusted. And I think the moment which really cemented that for me was when Postakoglu decided to sort of rush Van de Ven and Romero back for that Chelsea game. Because if you trusted Dragosin, your third choice centre-back,

then surely you only start one of Van de Ven or Romero. This is just me guessing, but I have a feeling Liverpool might have based their game plan around Dragos in because there were a lot of times, especially in the first half, Tottenham went long, longer than usual. And I was sat with my colleague, Liam Tharm, who's a bit of a data wizard at The Athletic, and I think he said...

Spurs usually hit about 6% of their passes in games long. And in the first half, it was around 10%. So a small increase, but to me, a noticeable increase. And a lot of the time, the ball was sort of being funneled towards Dragosin. And maybe he doesn't have the same composure on the ball as Romero, Van der Veen, even Archie Gray, to sort of wait and be patient until the right moment for that pass to appear.

And so he sort of just went over the top instead. Obviously, he's looking usually for Kulosevsky, wasn't it? Kulosevsky or Son. But obviously, you're then asking Kulosevsky, go and win a duel against Robertson or Son, Solanke. Go and win a duel against Van Dijk and Gomez. And what happens is Liverpool turn the ball over. They've got possession and they're back in control. And so in possession...

There are just so many question marks about whether Dragosin can do what's expected. There are games where Tottenham have their backs to the wall and they defend a little bit deeper. I think Man City in the Carabao Cup is a great example of that. Pretty certain Dragosin played that game and he looks very good. But when he's expected to be part of the build-up a little bit more, I just fear a little bit. And I think yesterday was sort of the prime example of why he's maybe not exactly perfectly suited to this style of play.

Sure, and good coaches, you know, I'd expect post-college to do exactly the same thing. Good coaches these days pick the person in the opposition back four that they want the ball channeled to. Now, it's not as easy as all that. The game is pretty chaotic, but yeah, you're right. I think in the slow moments of passing around at the back four, Liverpool were waiting for Dragosin to get it before they started their playoff

forward motion in the press towards him in the hope that he would pass less accurately, say, than Christian Romero tends to do. I get that entirely, yeah. We should make the point that Spurs' second and third goals, since we must try and find positives in all this, Spurs' second and third goals were pretty good, actually. Lovely finishes by both Kulosevsky and Dominic Solanke.

Both of them scoring for, in one case, the fifth game running, another two or three games running. Part of me, though, Jay, wishes that the goals hadn't been wasted in such a heavy defeat. I do remember quite strikingly thinking yesterday that Kulosevsky is just a wonderful player to have in this team because he looks so determined, even at 5-1 down.

to get anything from this game. And naturally, you're 5-1 down. There is going to be a part of you, even if you're a professional footballer with 300, 400, 500 games under your belt, who's going to think that this game is done? And with the way Kulosevsky tried to drive forward with the ball in the second half and sort of willed something to happen. I remember he had a shot which he dragged just past the post as well.

I thought if anybody is going to produce something, it's going to be him. And so I wasn't surprised when that happened. And again, with Solanke, you know, it will get forgotten about, but he actually turns and swivels Van Dijk very well for his goal. And it's a fantastic chip to set Kuliseski up. So if there are, I know I mentioned Gray earlier, but to be fair, if there are any other positives to take from the game, it would be the fact that in Kuliseski and Solanke, you've got two individuals who are quite relentless and still try to keep going, even when it looked like the chips were down.

Let me ask you, did you think fatigue played much of a part in this? I mean, I don't have the access. In the same way as I didn't have the access to the medical records of Romero and Van de Ven before they came back in that now fateful Chelsea game, I don't have the...

the red zone figures for the Spurs 11. We don't have much choice. I mean, I do sympathetic towards the manager and the team there. But Liverpool are playing a lot of games as well. I suppose you could argue they rotate particular front five a little bit more. It must have had a factor. I think it was after the Bournemouth game where I said, or maybe it was a Chelsea game, they've all merged into one. But I said things would get worse before they would get better. And I think...

In the league, we've sort of seen that. It was great to beat Manchester United in the Carabao Cup, but I sort of knew that the injuries were going to be two, three or four weeks away so that Spurs were going to have to rely on a core group of 14 or so players to get them through a very difficult period. Nine players, I think, started against Southampton, Manchester United and Liverpool a couple of weeks ago.

Posto Coghlu was asked about why Jed Spence was not playing that much and he said, you know, Jed could probably play one game, but could he play multiple games for us in a week? Probably not. Shock twist, Jed Spence has played three games in a row, so that's not an ideal situation, you know. Posto Coghlu said before the Man United game, if a doggy doesn't play against Man United, he'll play against Liverpool. He didn't play in either. So, clearly...

are being pushed to the absolute brink here. And I do feel for them a little bit in that regard because they

I think Postacoglu said on Friday that Mikey Moore and Ben Davies might be back in the next week or so, but Van de Ven and Romero probably beginning of January. Vacario, you're looking at February. So you're basically asking the same core group of players who've just played three games in eight days to, you know, I think they've got today off actually, and then we'll be in on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. You're saying, okay, now you've got to go

travel up to Nottingham Forest on Boxing Day and get a result against a team that's fourth in the league and playing really well. You've got to go and beat a Wolves team at home who've now got a new head coach and have probably got a nice little confidence boost. So it is a really, really difficult situation because these players are just being flogged. And yeah, they'll definitely be in the red zone. But what other choice do Spurs have? So the Southampton game, quickly, there were five teenagers on the bench and

Brandon Austin, who's never played a senior game for Spurs. Jed Spence and Archie Gray have five Premier League starts between them. They've all come in the last fortnight. They were both making their home debut in the Premier League yesterday. It is a mad situation to be in when you're looking at your bench and one of your most experienced options is 18-year-old Lucas Bergvall, who this time a year ago was playing in the Swedish top flight. It is mad.

Look, it doesn't do to look too far ahead in football because so much happens all the time, which is why people like yourself are kept in very, very, very busy employment. But just to reiterate that we don't have a winter break in England. Good. Spurs are still in the Carabao Cup. Good.

But in the next exactly one month, up to the 23rd of January, Spurs have got another eight games. Move forward one more week to the end of January when they play Elfsborg, they will have played 10 games between now, 10 more games between now and the end of January. As well as the debilitating reality of the injuries, they've also come at, I suspect this is the busiest period I can ever remember Spurs being in

Take away 1970s when the pitches were, you know, if you had a bad winter and suddenly you were confronted with four games in eight days, it has happened. But in the modern era, I can't remember a busier schedule. It's just come at a very, very difficult time. So I think until the first or second week of February, Spurs play a midweek game every week.

You're right. Because I remember looking and thinking, because I'm not going to the Nottingham Forest game on Boxing Day. So I thought, oh, I've got a week off, no football games. I thought, when's that going to happen again? And I was looking down the calendar thinking, oh my word, it's not until February. And what does that mean for the Harris? What will you do with a week off today? You've been very busy season. I'm cooking Christmas Day dinner for the first time. So...

I'm probably going to spend the next 48 hours stressing and worrying about that. Are you a handy cook? I've got better over the last couple of years, but this is the biggest test yet. Traditional? It will be. Turkey and all that? It will be chicken, but all the rest will be there. It will be a bit of jerk chicken, actually, because... Oh, you're going West Indian now? Yeah, a bit of jerk chicken and a bit of... I will have some chicken at C&I.

rosemary, thyme, honey glazed. You don't know, do you? No, no, no, I do know, I do know. 48 hours to go, you don't know. I'm laughing because if you told myself even two years ago that I'd be talking about this, I would have said no chance. I wasn't that bothered about cooking. So, yeah, very funny anyways. This episode is brought to you by Allstate. Some people just know they could save hundreds on car insurance by checking Allstate first. Like you know to check the date of the big game first.

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Welcome back to The View from the Lane. As I say, I'm crying internally about shipping six goals to any team, even one as I thought they were brilliant, Liverpool. I thought the first half was as good in its own different way from Manchester City, a recent vintage, as any team I've seen in England for a long time. Physical dominance, huge players, the littler players are all brilliant as well. And I think it's a good thing that Liverpool

And whereas Manchester City boil you, don't they? The best Manchester City teams, they just keep putting the temperature up and up and up on the edge of your penalty area until you boil and burst like flowery potatoes. Perhaps useful to you to know that, Jay, for 48 hours' time. Liverpool don't. They cut you to shreds. It's like playing against a combine harvester. They come at you with power and rotating blades and you're chopped up.

if you're not in your very best form. So, you know, my upset at losing by six goals at home, I could be very emotional about this, but I think I want to be fair because I don't want

It spurs the institution, the owner, the manager. I don't want them to be emotional about this. I want them to be logical about it because emotion can lead to very, very bad decisions. But I want us to zoom out from, let's call it for me, a horror show against Liverpool. And I want to...

Ask you, Jay, where you think, having watched them for the best part, almost exactly half a season now, Spurs stand. Because the stark facts, and facts don't always reveal the truth, are that at Christmas, when everyone takes a deep breath and says, right, that's how the season is going, Spurs are in the bottom half of the table. They've got a healthy goal difference, but they've shipped 13 in their last three home games. That's right, 13 goals.

Where do you think Spurs are, Jay? I've got some more stats for you, by the way. So since the start of December, Spurs ranked bottom in the Premier League for goals conceded, shots faced, shots on targets faced, expected goals against, and a joint bottom for big chances against with Southampton. Where do I think Spurs are at the moment? I think Spurs is strongest starting XI.

is capable of challenging for the top four and improving on last season's fifth-place finish. The problem is, how many times is that starting XI bid available this season? And when you start taking it apart and picking holes in it, are the backup players good enough to take Spurs to where they want to be? I'm not too sure. If you remember last season, Postacoglu sort of lamented the fact that they didn't have a European competition to play.

play games so to play more games so players could get more used to his system etc now they yeah and now they've probably got too many games and not enough players so I think it's fair to say that some of the the transfer window in the summer that's just gone probably deserves a little bit of re-analysis about whether the necessary work was needed to take this team to the next level and to improve it significantly injuries have just been such a

a massive factor. And is it bad luck? Is it something deeper? It's hard to say, but it just feels like at the moment this team is stuck in a really vicious cycle. And in November slash the beginning of December, I wasn't too concerned because the league table was still quite bunched. So a couple of positive results and Tottenham would have jumped back up the table again. Do you remember that infamous defeat to Ipswich? If they'd won that game, Tottenham would have been third.

But now a gap is starting to open up. I think Nottingham Forest are eight points ahead of Spurs. They obviously play them next. So depending on what happens that game, it could be cut down. It could increase. And so now it begins to feel like Champions League is slowly slipping out of Tottenham's grasp. And then if you're not going to qualify for the Champions League, do you then focus on Carabao Cup, FA Cup and potentially winning games?

Europa League. So it's a bit of a messy situation. It's not ideal, but then I do also understand that the circumstances seem to be working against Spurs at the moment. Okay, well, let me now then, and this is in the interest of fairness, because I take everything you say about the last six weeks because of the way that injuries have unfolded and Spurs results. I've done some research to open this out. And I think in terms of, you know,

Our football year is 38 games. It's the season, yes? So we played 17 games this season. With or without injuries, hopefully the bad luck evening out over and the good luck evening out over that time. And, you know, anyone can look at the league table. In 17 games, they've won seven and lost eight, a couple of draws. So to work it into a full football season, I have to go back to the 21 games at the end of last season.

It's extraordinary, the similarity. 1-16, drew five, lost 17. This season, they've lost one more game than they've won, very few draws. In the 21 games leading up to this season, to make it into a full season, they've lost one more game than they've won and drawn very few games. The difference, again, in total fairness, is that in that season,

End of last season, the goal difference was minus one. This time around, the goal difference is plus 14. So they're scoring a lot more goals, but the actual results are identical.

Coming out of 1.39, call it 1.4, for fairness, points per game. And I thought, and I'm sure this is not an original thought, if ever you saw the battle for a soul of a club made crystal clear, it's people protesting about the lack of football success.

while the club's amazing commercial department does yet another bizarre deal. Who would have thought that, maybe with the South Korean connection, who would have known that Spurs needed, that Squid Game needed an official football sponsor, but there they are. It's Tottenham Hotspur. Did you see or hear much of that protest? So I think there were a couple of hundred people before kickoff protesting,

But my expectation... Outside or inside the stadium, Jay? Outside the stadium, I should say. I think it was next to the club shop. I should clarify that I thought the main protest was going to take place before the game with black balloons being released. But admittedly, I didn't see anything. So whether it happened before kick-off and I missed it, or it was going to happen during the game and then the...

the game was just mad and it didn't happen. I'm not too sure. But yeah, I did see a few people with black balloons with Enoch out on them.

outside the stadium, but I didn't see much inside the stadium. You would characterize the anti-Enich, anti-Levy protests on the day as visible without being intrusive? Yes, that's probably a fair way to put it. Because again, I did hear a few of the Kulosevsky chants or the Levy-Kulosevsky chants started up again, but they were never...

They were never taken up by the entire stadium. It was normally one particular section that you could hear it from, but it never really spread around the entire ground. And admittedly, towards the end of the game, I did hear a few chants for Ange Postakoglu, which considering the scoreline was quite a vote of confidence. Which I wanted to discuss next because he grabbed onto those in the press conference. But just again...

You would have expected when a team concedes, particularly a team with notions, as we say here in Ireland, concedes six goals at home, you'd expect a storm, a cacophony of booing at the end. And yet the Spurs fans blessed them, every single one of them. Largely, it seemed to me, maybe with a bit of gallows humour when the team was coming back from five. The support in the stadium sounded terrific. I think obviously it was a bit flat at 5-1.

But when Kulosevsky and Solanke scored, there definitely was a bit of belief had been injected into the team. I think there were seven minutes of normal time left to play when Solanke scored. And then obviously the annoying thing is Diaz scored within what felt like 10 seconds of the restart. It might have been a little bit longer, but it felt immediately. But if Spurs had gone into those final five minutes and stoppage time 5-3 and had a couple of dangerous attacks...

Because does Allison make a really good save from Johnson at 5'3"?

Or 6-3? I'm struggling to get track of what happened. But it makes a really good save at one point. And I think if that had gone in, yeah, the stadium would have been a fun place to be in with that much pressure being put on Liverpool and the noise. So, yeah, the fans, fair play to them, stuck with the team throughout. OK, after the game, we have the press conferences. Antropos de Calgary did grip on to...

The fact that the crowd stuck with the team and indeed some of them were chanting his name at the end of a 6-3 defeat. He also got pretty shirty with one or two of the journalists. I think the BBC's journalist got the thick end of it this time. What did you make of the post-match comments? I don't think either of the journalists were trying to criticise him and his tactical approach. I think they were sort of asking...

Certainly in the press conferences I was sat in, the question was, we know you're going to stick to your style. Does coming up against a very, very good Liverpool side with not many players and you stick to your style and you score three goals, etc. Will that benefit you in the long term? Was how it was phrased. And he then decided to say, you know, I've been patient sitting up here answering the same questions for 18 months, etc, etc. People think I can flick a switch and

somehow, miraculously, we'll change our style and be a different team. I think it was probably just a little bit of frustration from the result boiling over. It's not the first time Postakoglu, after a game, has been a little bit irritable. He's not the only manager.

Let's like it. You know, he described the result as pretty painful. Like you said, it's a couple of days before Christmas. You've just lost 6-3. There was so much goodwill after, and I know the fans stuck with the team, but there was a lot of goodwill after beating Man United in the Carabao Cup and reaching the semifinals. A few days later, you're sort of given a quite a nasty reality check. So I understand it. Also understand from his perspective that

It probably is extremely boring that he gets asked about pragmatic tactics every week. I guess the reason he gets asked about pragmatic tactics every week is because it's hard for some people to see the long-term vision when

You can see 13 goals in three home games in a row. Postakoglu's been in situations like this throughout his managerial career. He's been criticised in Japan and in Australia, etc. And he's turned those teams around and won league titles with them. But I guess we're still waiting for that moment where everything sort of clicks into place, which is probably why those questions still persist. So I understand why.

journalists ask those questions, understand why he doesn't always like them. I wrote a piece this morning which was saying, and you sort of alluded to it a minute ago, Spurs are extremely entertaining for a neutral and after years of Nuno, Conte, Mourinho, I know that Tottenham fans were desperate for a little bit of fun, but when does it reach a point where it's just getting silly? And I think that's sort of the conundrum that we're in at the moment. So,

to sum up a long point, I understand why he got a little bit irritated, but I think he also has to understand that it's hard for some people at the moment to see the long-term vision and where this team is going to end up when they have such wildly inconsistent results and can concede at home so, so, so often. I think they've kept one clean sheet in their last 25 or 26 games at home. Gone behind in 14 of the last 18 home games. No,

They're not stats that lead to sustainable success, I would argue.

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Welcome back to The View from the Lane. We're motoring through towards Christmas and a special Christmas dinner. I will be getting a report back on what Jay Harris... It might be a triumph. It might be a triumph. If it's good, I'll take a photo of it. How many people are you cooking for? Three, me, my mum and my dad. How lovely. Absolutely lovely. Perfect combination. Beautiful. So, Jay, I guess my next question is, what happens next?

I think, firstly, a very difficult away game on Boxing Day against Nottingham Forest. I think there'll be people wondering if Tottenham's injury crisis is sort of solved in the January transfer market. But certainly the information I've been getting is that Tottenham aren't really expecting to do a lot in the transfer market. January is always a difficult window.

And the sort of impression I've been given is that there's not going to be a lot of movement. I know there's a few whispers of being linked with players like James Trafford, for example, but I think Vakari is due back in February. And I know Forster made those mistakes against Manchester United, but I think he's been pretty reliable otherwise, pretty solid.

considering what he's being asked to do. So I don't know if it makes complete sense to sign Trafford in January if Vaccaro is coming back in February. That might be something that's more for the summer or further down the line. With Van de Ven and Romero potentially back in first week of January, I think Richarlison as well, Spurs' options begin to look a little bit better. I think if there's any area that they might dip into in the market, it would be up front.

I wouldn't expect there to be activity in the transfer market. It might happen. So you're saying what happens next? What happens next is this same group of 14 players will go again against Nottingham Forest. They'll go again against Wolves. They'll go again against Newcastle United. And hopefully by the time of the first leg of the semi-final of the Carabao Cup against Liverpool and the FA Cup game against Tamworth, a few players are back.

Kudasevsky, Solanke, Dragosin, Gray, etc. can have a little bit of a breather. And then it's time to gear up for what's going to be a second half of the season where you need to play extremely well to shoot back up the table. Yep. So the same four team players, they go to Boxing Day Forest. I'll try to do that again. Yeah, the same four team players then going to Forest on Boxing Day and Wolves on Sunday. Yeah.

Those are both in their own ways, quite difficult games now, aren't they? The Forest game is a real landmine for Spurs because they have a manager who failed. Well, he wasn't given a chance to fail. He didn't even fail at Spurs in Nuno Espirito Santo. And of course, if Spurs were to lose that, Jay, human nature being what it is, people like, oh, I don't know, Daniel Levy will look at that and think, oh, God, what's going on here? Yeah.

And I'm going to say this because it's true. This is a statement of fact. The bookmakers, who usually know a thing or two, and you rarely see a bookmaker on a bicycle, they've usually got solid gold Rolls Royces for hoovering around in, haven't they? It is only Julian Lopetegui that's stopping Postacoglu now being favourite for the next manager to lose his job. I'm not sure I'm getting the vibes from the club that that's anywhere nearby. Is that what you're feeling as well, Jay? Yeah, definitely. Yeah.

At the end of the day, the league position is not great, but Spurs are in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup. They're well positioned to finish in the top eight of the Europa League and you've still got the FA Cup to come. My question to anybody who wants Postakoglu to go at this moment is,

What other manager in the world could you bring in who is miraculously going to solve your injury crisis? In this hypothetical world where Postacoglu leaves, the manager who replaces him will inherit the exact same issues. He might approach them in a different way. It's still going to be about Van de Ven, Romero, Vicario, Richarlison, etc. It's going to be extremely difficult for anybody to...

get positive results and gain any momentum with such a patchwork side. So I think for now, Postakoglu is fine. He'll keep rolling on and can hopefully sort of find a way to navigate the team through this tricky patch.

Not many managers at important clubs, and I still rate Spurs a very important club, certainly important to me, survive six goals at home. But we're in a very, very unusual situation. I say the Forest game is tricky and Wolves as well. Is there anything he can do? Benton Kerr has played two games in the last season.

He'll be available again. Is there anything that Ange Postacoglu can do to help the team with this? I mean, he won't change the way he's going to play, which I could, you know, come out a blueprint that might help an inexperienced back four, but we're not going to do that apparently. What else can he do to energize the team? I think for Nottingham Forest, you'd hope that a doggy can start again. I know Spence has done a particularly good job and maybe Spence is

shifts over to the right and Porra gets a rest and a doggy comes in at left back or Spence drops out of the team and a doggy starts. Bente Kuh comes back, like you said. But otherwise, what changes do you make? Because you need to win games and at the moment, the set-up with Kulosevski playing out wide on the right, Maddison, Saar and Basuma at Bente and Kuh in the middle...

probably the best bet. I'm not too sure if you want Johnson playing on the right wing against Nottingham Forest. I think you'd probably prefer to have Gilleseski and Maddison on the pitch at the same time and in midfield he certainly tends to pick either or. Wolves is not really a game where you might be able to start Johnson and Bergwil against Wolves.

I don't know if you do now that they've changed head coach and smashed Leicester City at the weekend. So it's difficult because you're looking at those games, and Southampton was a perfect example of that, where you can throw in some of the younger players and give some of the senior players a rest, but I just don't think they can do that in these next two games. The situation's too...

Not dire, but you just need points. Fragile, brittle. Fragile is a good way of putting it. You just need to win games. And in order to win games, you have to put your best players on the pitch. You can't... And despite their position in the league, the difference between away to Southampton and home to Wolves is that Wolves, properly organised, have the tools up front to hurt you. Matthias Kunja is a fantastic footballer and they have players around him. So whereas...

I think Southampton, it's like playing, you know, they're like plasticine. They're so malleable. They do whatever the opposition requires of them and they don't threaten to cut you at the other end of the pitch. They just haven't got the players to do that despite the young kid out on the wing with his tiny, tiny, Weetabix-sized shin pads. The...

The difference is Wolves, and we've seen this with Wolves and Spurs in recent years, they have got tools to hurt Spurs. I think home advantage means the Spurs will probably win. The Nottingham Forest game is a cause of worry because they're in fantastic form.

Listen, Jay, thank you for guiding me through that without pulling what very little remains of my hair out of my skull. Thank you for all your contributions. Thank you all for listening in the first half of this season. And it is just for me to remind you that the show has its own official home on Xstroke Twitter at VFTL podcast, or you can email us at VFTL at the athletic.com.

And for the best Spurs coverage anywhere, including hundreds of thousands of words from Jay and his colleagues, make sure you sign up to The Athletic. As I say, thank you all for listening. Thanks to Tom, our producer, for the work he puts in each, every three or four days as the podcast, just like the Spurs team, has to negotiate two episodes every week.

I don't want to be crying and shouting on here. I want to be positive. I want to be celebrating Spurs wins, and I hope we do more of that in the new year. Until then, of course, we'll be back after the game against Nottingham Forest. It just remains for me to wish you all a really, for those of you who celebrate, a really happy and healthy Christmas. And for those of you who don't, a really happy and healthy holiday. God bless you all. Come on you Spurs. The Athletic.

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