Tottenham has defeated relegation but the hard work begins now
MAY 27 — I’ve been a Tottenham Hotspurs supporter since 2001 and every year when my friends and I discuss football my joke is, hey, as long as Spurs isn’t relegated this season I’ll be happy.
Little could I have imagined, especially back in the glory-power days of Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane, Gareth Bale, Harry Kane, etc. that my beloved football team would have to fight all the way to the final day of the season to see if they can stay in the English Premier League.
With a huge sigh of relief, I’m glad to say that it worked out well. Spurs beat Everton 1-0 at home, their first home win in 10 games, to seal 17th place and stay in the league. West Ham, Burnley and Wolves were relegated instead.
What a ride it’s been.
Some time in mid-March it became clear to many folks that the reigning Europa League champions could face the very prospect of being kicked out of English football’s top tier.
Spurs had already fired Thomas Frank who, whilst beginning the league strongly, had left Spurs languishing around 15th place with about 2.5 months to go before the season ends.
They replaced him with Igor Tudor in an attempt to bring a respectful end to the season.
However, a 0-3 defeat to Nottingham Forest sealed Tudor’s fate and the club’s leadership removed Tudor (after seven matches in charge) and brought on Roberto De Zerbi.
This last-ditch attempt was Tottenham’s last play. There’s no Door Number 3. The season was almost at a close and very few (if any) managers would be willing to take on such a responsibility to drag a famous club away from the brink.
De Zerbi didn’t start well. His first game was a 1-0 away defeat to Sunderland (despite Spurs being on the attack consistently), followed by a 2-2 draw with Brighton (where a last-minute mistake by Kevin Danso cost Spurs precious two points.
Things only took a promising turn in late April when De Zerbi managed back-to-back wins, both away, against Wolves (Spurs’ first league win of 2026!) and Champions League contenders Aston Villa.
By this time, also given West Ham’s poor form, Spurs had gradually moved out of the relegation zone (which they waded into for a while) but they weren’t safe yet.
A draw with Leeds and a defeat to Chelsea (again, despite playing well) left the relegation battle down to the wire.
The final win against Everton, thankfully, held off the unthinkable. And the Spurs can go marching on for another season.
Nevertheless, the real work must begin now. As De Zerbi said during his post-match interview, there are lots and lots of changes required.
Read between the lines, the manager said that about half the team isn’t showing enough commitment. This is drastic and absolutely must be addressed.
The Tottenham Board must repair a perennial mistake and spend good money on world-class players, players who can ensure the team doesn’t face a relegation battle next March.
Overall, the 25/26 season has been like a wilderness experience. It’s brought about pain and desolation which normally produces only two outcomes: hopelessness and despair or determination to better one self.
I know I speak for all Spurs fans that we hope the club has learnt well from the past year to take the latter route. Come On You Spurs.
* This is the personal opinion of the columnist.
المصدر: Malay Mail
