"That's been true for probably 40 years, since they lurched into financial crisis amid boardroom shenanigans in the 1980s, becoming the first soccer club to list on the stock exchange and embarking on a disastrous programme of diversification (the highlight perhaps being becoming Hummel's distributor in the UK, a role they performed so badly that Southampton took a page of their own programme to blame Spurs for the fact that their shirts were not being delivered)."
"Right now, Spurs would probably settle for even a little bit of a fix, a slow hint of progress, a flicker of hope, anything to break them out of the current grim spiral. They have won just one of their last seven league games. When they beat Everton on 26 October, they were third, five points behind the leaders. Sunday's defeat leaves them 11th, 14 points behind Arsenal."
"It's not just the results; it's the manner of them. Only twice in their last 11 games have Spurs registered an xG of 1 or above. This season they've had four games when they've registered an xG of 0.3 or below: against Arsenal, Chelsea, Brentford and then at Nottingham Forest."
"A generous interpretation of Sunday's defeat would be to say that the first goal was a shambolic defensive mix-up, the sort of thing that can happen when you try to play out from the back, particularly when players are low on confidence, that the second goal was possibly a brilliant strike or possibly a mis-hit cross, and that the third was an extraordinary drive from 22 yards. Goals like that will not fly in every week."
Tottenham Hotspur have endured decades of instability, dating back to a 1980s financial crisis, stock market listing and ill-fated diversification including a failed role as Hummel's UK distributor. The team currently sits 11th after a 3-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest, having won once in seven league matches and falling 14 points behind Arsenal. The club's 22 points after 16 games is its lowest since 2008. Performance metrics show poor attacking output, with only two of the last 11 games registering an xG of 1 or above and four games this season with xG at 0.3 or below. Defensive errors and low confidence are key issues.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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