Another season and another trophyless one for Tottenham. Spurs’ hopes of ending their silverware drought were ruined by Middlesbrough on Tuesday night.
Antonio Conte’s side suffered a shock 1-0 defeat by the Championship outfit after extra-time to knock them out of the domestic cup competition.
Spurs were beaten in the Carabao Cup semi-finals by Chelsea and were thrown out of the Europa Conference League by UEFA after forfeiting their final group game against Rennes last year.
Spurs’ hopes of ending their silverware drought were ruined by Middlesbrough on Tuesday
In the Premier League they’ve got a huge battle to finish in the Champions League places as they’re currently five points behind fourth-placed Manchester United. Although they do have two games in hand on their rivals.
Drawn against Championship opposition Spurs’ dreams of reaching the latter stages of the FA Cup increased but Conte’s side underperformed against a hardworking and determined Boro team.
Chris Wilder’s men proved they were no pushovers when they dumped United out of the competition in the previous round and Spurs were unable to assert themselves in the north east.
The issues are mounting up for Tottenham manager Antonio Conte with no trophy this season
Conte named a first-choice starting XI but they sat back, had less possession and ultimately paid the price.
It’s a case of two steps forward, one step back at the north London club. Their sensational 3-2 victory over Manchester City was followed by a dismal 1-0 defeat at Burnley and this week’s FA Cup exit came off the back of an emphatic 4-0 win over Leeds.
Conte threatened to quit Spurs following the Burnley loss but admitted he was ‘committed’ to the club days later.
The FA Cup defeat won’t have put Conte’s mind at rest and the former Chelsea boss looked nonplussed as he watched his side crash out.
Here, Sportsmail looks at the issues at Spurs with the pressure intensifying…
Honeymoon period is over
After sparking a massive improvement in the month of December, Conte has now lost eight out of 23 matches as the initial managerial bounce has worn off.
Conte questioning his future only last week was a sign that he realises just how much of a job he has on his hands to get Spurs challenging for top honours again.
The defeat at Burnley was Spurs’ fourth in five top-flight games – the first time the Italian manager had suffered such a poor run.
The honeymoon period is now over with Conte losing eight out of 23 matches since taking over
It appears that the former Inter Milan boss is still working out how to get the best out of the players he has at his disposal.
Conte is intent on playing with three central defenders and wing backs but it seems players are still adapting to his style of play.
Former Spurs midfielder Danny Murphy was surprised Conte opted to play with five at the back from the start at the Riverside Stadium.
The Premier League side looked more threatening following a switch to four in defence in the final 10 minutes of normal time.
Will Conte consider a change in system for the visit of Everton next week? The way things are heading mixing it up could have the desired effect.
Issues breaking teams down
Tottenham are a club that like to be associated with attacking football, but Conte’s system is defensive.
His philosophy is in the Jose Mourinho mould, who came under heavy criticism for his tactics while Spurs boss.
Tottenham fans’ patience must be wearing thin after the men brought in to take the club forward following the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino have done anything other than that.
Harry Winks (L) and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (R) have lined up in midfield in the last two games
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Spurs are currently struggling to break teams down who play a low, deep block against them as proved at Turf Moor and on Tuesday night.
They smashed four past attacking side Leeds and three against the firepower of Manchester City but are lacking midfield guile against more defensively-minded opponents.
With wing backs in use Spurs should be able to create multiple overloads but there appears to be little creativity behind the frontline of Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.
Over-reliance on Kane and Son
The limited ideas moves things nicely onto Tottenham’s dependence on Kane and Son.
Of course every team has their standout performers and would miss certain stars if they were absent but Spurs’ reliance on the quality duo seems to be only increasing.
Neither were at their best against Middlesbrough and it was hard to know where a goal would come from instead.
After being below-par for the first half of the season Kane’s form has improved under Conte and his display against City was pure class.
Tottenham’s reliance on Son Heung-min (L) and Harry Kane (R) seems to be only increasing
More and more he finds himself dropping deeper to get on the ball – another example that midfield creativity is in short supply – and his passing ability is second to none.
His pass that led to Dejan Kulusevski’s early opener against City was superb and he more than matched it with a pinpoint ball over the top for Son to score at Elland Road.
Kane has scored 18 goals and supplied four assists in 37 games this season while Son has notched 11 goals and provided seven assists in 32 matches.
Kulusevski, who made the switch to north London on loan in January, has started well and adds another dimension to Spurs’ attack but naturally needs time to fully adapt.
New signings finding their feet
Conte brought in two players from Juventus in the winter transfer window with Kulusevski, netting twice and laying on one assist in seven matches.
The winger signed on an 18-month loan with the option to make the move permanent for £30milllion this summer, while Rodrigo Bentancur also came through the door from Italy.
The 24-year-old midfielder put pen to paper on a four-year contract but he’s, understandably, still adjusting to the demands of Premier League football. He played half an hour in the 3-2 defeat by Southampton and the full 90 in the 2-0 loss at home to Wolves.
January signing Rodrigo Bentancur is still adjusting to the demands of Premier League football
He did play the whole of the victory against City but was sidelined by an ankle injury last week.
Former Spurs boss Tim Sherwood pinned the blame on new signings Kulusevski and Bentancur for the shock Southampton defeat last month.
Conte endured a frustrating transfer window as he failed to get Adama Traore and Luis Diaz with Barcelona and Liverpool pipping Spurs to their signatures respectively.
While summer arrival Bryan Gil was sent out on loan to Valencia after admitting this week he was not up to the level needed for the English top flight and £25.7m signing Emerson Royal, who joined from Barcelona last summer, still has question marks attached to him.
Emerson Royal, who joined from Barcelona last year, still has question marks attached to him
Spurs fans blasted the defender for his disastrous substitute appearance and poor defending for Boro’s winner after he replaced Matt Doherty in the 81st minute.
Tottenham’s fresh faces this campaign have largely had little impact and Conte will be desperate to bring in the players he wants come the end of the season.
Supporters and the Italian know only too well that qualifying for the Champions League has a huge say on who can be lured to the project.
‘Typical Tottenham’
Spurs are often ridiculed by rival supporters for their failure to deliver and regularly falling short when it’s crunch time.
It is a label that the north London club have tried to shake off and Pochettino took a huge step in doing that by guiding them to the 2019 Champions League final.
However Spurs’ inability to get past lower league opposition on Tuesday night, less than a week after suffering defeat by relegation-threatened Burnley suggests they’re still spineless.
Ex-Newcastle and England forward Alan Shearer branded Spurs’ defeat by Boro as ‘typical’
Former Newcastle and England forward Alan Shearer branded Spurs’ defeat by Boro as ‘typical’.
‘This was no fluke,’ Shearer told the BBC. ‘Spurs were so flaky, typical Tottenham.
‘They were the better team from start to finish. They were first to every tackle, they created chances, and had more energy.
‘Certainly in extra-time, they made the better substitutions and Chris Wilder can be extremely proud of what his team has achieved tonight.
‘What a night for Middlesbrough and their fans, he (Wilder) was up for it, the players were up for it, it’s a shame the Tottenham players weren’t up for it. Typical Tottenham, Middlesbrough thoroughly deserved to be in the quarter-finals.’
Tottenham bringing in Conte was a major coup and he was viewed as the man who could finally turn the club’s fortunes around.
At the moment Spurs’ inconsistency is tarnishing his reputation and the side is ‘typically’ not any closer to silverware.