Tottenham Have Forgotten How to Win Football Matches

Craven Cottage, Sunday – As the final whistle confirmed a 2-1 defeat to Fulham, the statistic that has stalked Tottenham Hotspur all winter hardened into a damning truth: Spurs no longer know how to win. Their last Premier League victory came on 28 December; 10 league fixtures have since passed, yielding four meagre points and dragging the club into the relegation mire.

Since Archie Gray’s stoppage-time header at Crystal Palace, Tottenham have collected fewer points than any top-flight side. Relegation, once unthinkable for the ninth-highest revenue generator in Europe, now looms as a plausible outcome. Unless the team doubles its recent points-per-game ratio in the remaining 10 matches, trips to Charlton Athletic, Portsmouth and Lincoln City await next season.

The board acted last month, sacking Thomas Frank and appointing Igor Tudor in the hope of a quick spark. Two weeks and two matches into the Croat’s tenure, the search for a catalyst continues. After the game Tudor dismissed tactical tinkering as the primary fix. “The last thing that is important is the system,” he said, arguing that deeper fissures—confidence, belief, basic execution—have hollowed out the squad.

Those fissures were visible from the opening minutes. Kenny Tete’s clipped cross found Harry Wilson unmarked; Alex Iwobi later exchanged passes with Wilson before curling in a second. Emile Smith Rowe should have added a third when Oscar Bobb shrugged off Joao Palhinha. Spurs’ defensive personnel—Micky van de Ven, Pedro Porro, Guglielmo Vicario, Palhinha—possess pedigree, yet none showed conviction when it mattered.

Going forward, Tottenham offered even less. Richarlison’s headed reply, fashioned from a well-worked move, stood as an isolated moment of competence. Otherwise, hopeful punts from distance and scrambled set-pieces passed for attacking threat. Passes went astray under no pressure; Vicario’s second-half free-kick sailed straight out for a Fulham goal-kick; Palhinha mistimed a challenge on the turf he himself was protecting.

The psychological weight is now crushing. Players appear startled by the ball, hoofing clearances because no teammate demands possession. One win, Tudor insists, could unlock the “forces inside” and trigger a chain reaction of positive results. The next opportunity arrives on Thursday at home to Crystal Palace, a fixture that once provided their most recent triumph but now feels Himalayan.

West Ham United and Nottingham Forest also failed to gain ground this weekend, offering a sliver of consolation. Yet if Spurs cannot locate a victory soon, the memory of winning will become a myth from a previous era, and the club with the gleaming stadium and global commercial clout will be preparing for life in the Championship.

Tottenham, simply, have forgotten how to win football matches. Until they remember, every week brings them closer to a plunge English football has not seen in generations.