Tottenham ranked 14th in the Premier League standings on Christmas Day. They closed the 2024-2025 season at 17th place and in the 2020s only once appeared in the top 4. However, Spurs are still often ranked in the top 6 "big teams" of the Premier League alongside Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
It's time for the teams in north London to look straight at the harsh reality. They are losing their position in the elite group of English football. Spurs are no longer a force strong enough to compete regularly, but are facing the risk of being stuck in the middle group of the rankings, even possibly sliding lower.
The current Spurs squad is creating a sense of lifelessness and increasingly revealing a tendency to make things difficult for themselves. The move from Brentford is probably too big for coach Thomas Frank, and he has not yet received significant support from fans.
Many people even called for his dismissal. Once considered a savior at Brentford, Frank came to Tottenham in a completely different context, with greater pressure, higher expectations and a smaller margin of error. He has been "swallowed" by that pressure many times, typically criticizing fans for the atmosphere in the stands in some home games this year. Frank accepted a difficult task, but the team performance was still unconvincing.
Tottenham's rise from 17th place last season to 13th place now is not enough to dispel doubts about the true quality of the squad. This is a team that is considered incomparable to versions under Mourinho, Nuno or Conte.
Spurs are sliding into the "middle zone", and in an increasingly balanced Premier League environment, the question is how long they will need to escape that trajectory. Even if last season Tottenham only escaped danger thanks to 3 newly promoted teams playing too poorly, then in the next few years, they may have to face the risk of relegation seriously.
Despite owning the Champions League "brand" and just winning the Europa League a few months ago, Tottenham is still seen as a team trying to maintain the image of an elite club. Without a clear change in professional capacity and operation, that "excellent shell" will become increasingly difficult to maintain.
Tottenham is preparing to enter a particularly fierce series of matches in the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League until the end of January. When they are ranked 14th, Spurs almost have no room for errors. They need a clear breakthrough period to improve their position and regain confidence.
If in the next few weeks, the team does not show convincing progress in terms of both points and playing style, arguments to continue placing faith in Frank will become increasingly fragile. This is actually a decisive test, aimed at determining whether he has enough bravery and ability to bring Tottenham back to the race or not.
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