Tottenham crisis a year in the making: Neil Humphreys
Lilywhites pay the price for not dealing with decline
The greatest trick the Champions League ever pulled was convincing the world that a Tottenham crisis didn't exist.
So the tournament made amends yesterday morning.
The glittering facade of the memorable run to the final against Liverpool was torn down to reveal a wounded animal, being ripped apart by 11 red beasts.
Bayern Munich did Mauricio Pochettino a favour he really didn't want. The German side showed Spurs who they really are, not who they think they are.
Bayern didn't kick-start a crisis at Tottenham. They consolidated one that has been a year in the making.
The incriminating stats were available, but they made for grim reading and did not fit our hope of someone - anyone - taking on Liverpool and Manchester City's duopoly.
So we backed Pochettino, despite mounting evidence against his team.
In 2019, Tottenham have performed like mid-table toilers.
In the calendar year, they've won 17 and lost 16 of their 39 games in all competitions. They scored 62 goals, but conceded 49 times - more than a goal a game. Their decline has been slow, but undeniable.
Tottenham's narrative is a fascinating example of never letting facts get in the way of a good story, the one about cash-strapped underdogs taking on the elite.
Their romantic run to the Champions League final maintained the illusion of progress, while delusions of grandeur appeared to infect the dressing room, convincing players that they deserved a lucrative move, despite patchy form.
Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen are two of the brand names supposedly holding the club to ransom, allowing their contracts to run down in the hope of securing a huge payday elsewhere.
But if their shambolic displays against Bayern are any yardstick, then they are negotiating from a position of weakness.
The centre-backs had all the mobility of plastic players on a fussball table.
PAST GLORIES
Vertonghen is 32. Alderweireld is just 30, but the Belgians are trading off past glories.
Danny Rose, the promising kid with the thunderous strike under Harry Redknapp, is now 29 and off the pace.
On the other flank, Serge Gnabry tortured Serge Aurier so many times he might have fallen foul of the United Nations' conventions.
One of the English Premier League's most dependable defences has morphed into one of the least reliable against decent opposition.
But the stadium delays and cost overruns, the lack of transfer activity and rebellious players eager to leave all pulled focus away from the most significant problem. Tottenham were regressing.
They weren't improving when their rivals were. So, by default, they went backwards.
Indeed, Bayern offered a damning template of how to move on from fading greats.
Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben both left the Bundesliga champions at the end of last season and yet Bayern's wing play against Spurs, via Gnabry and Kingsley Coman, was terrific.
The German side have already moved on, but Spurs are stuck in a rut, complaining about perceived injustices.
Just consider the contrasting performances of their main architects.
Philippe Coutinho could be forgiven for carrying a chip on his slender shoulder, having been effectively kicked out of Barcelona. But he moved to Munich to resuscitate a flagging career and was masterful against Spurs.
Tottenham's talisman, on the other hand, started on the bench, again. Christian Eriksen can't decide whether to stick or twist after his failed attempt to leave, again. Pochettino isn't sure how to handle his troubled maverick, again.
As Tottenham stumbled towards their worst home defeat in their 137-year history - take a moment to let that stat sink in - Pochettino's only response was to throw on a midfielder he no longer trusts (Eriksen) and instruct his side to push through the middle.
It was tactical suicide.
Gnabry devoured the extra width and killed off whatever was left of his opponents' dignity.
For too long now, Spurs have overwhelmed themselves with conflicting priorities.
The stadium, the finances, players' contracts and Pochettino's flirting with other clubs all operated under the assumption that the football would take care of itself.
It doesn't, not any more.
And Spurs' biggest mistake may still come if they dismiss the Champions League humiliation as a freak result.
The Bayern debacle wasn't a one-off. It was a reality check.
Lost inside a flashy stadium, Tottenham are all dressed up with nowhere to go.
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