Nuno Espirito Santo relies on the ancient remains of Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur

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Shortly before Nuno Espirito Santo returned for his post-match interview, the hosts of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium made sure all the fans who had gathered were sacked.

It is clear that the authorities at the club wanted to spare its manager the public criticism that would have come his way, or what would have been an inappropriate spectacle.

Little could have been more humiliating than what happened on the pitch against Manchester United.

It is impossible to escape from the atmosphere around the club.

It’s an angry frustration off the field, caused by the bleak stagnation in it.

Having previously demonstrated a case study of how you challenged the economic reality of football under Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham have since been exposed to how opportunities are missed; How was the land lost?

This does not actually apply to football, of course. An opportunity was barely created on the pitch, as Spurs had not scored a shot on target for the first time in eight years. The play, meanwhile, is so conservative that hardly any ground has been made.

It was very easy for Man United.

While Nuno’s approach requires a pure critique of football, this is really about something much bigger than that.

The choice of such a coach says a lot about the direction of the club. It wasn’t just going down. He was with little energy or investment, at least from a football intelligence perspective.

It is a stagnant club, the huge stadium size that has grown around it only makes the team look worse.

When you look at this team, something becomes clear.

Tottenham failed to score a shot on goal at home against Man United

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That’s still just a leftover from Pochettino’s squad. Six of the eleven who started here were the staples below him.

This remains the core of the team’s identity. The great irony in all of this is that Pochettino wanted to update at the time – even if there were fair questions about whether he himself wanted to move on – but he didn’t understand it. The argument was ultimately economic, as the hierarchy tried to make calculated decisions, but the real cost was much greater than that. It was the ultimate wrong economy. Spurs have lost their short spot as a Champions League team, to the point where they are far apart.

The decision in late 2019 comes down to whether replacing key players or replacing a manager is more expensive. They went for the cheapest option, and never recovered.

That squad was clearly outdated, but Daniel Levy then made it worse by selecting two coaches in Jose Mourinho and Nuno who both play strong football.

The description around the training ground now is that Nuno is “Mourinho without the resume or charisma”. The exercises and tactics are described as devoid of intensity. It’s just a drift club.

Within that, there are now suddenly fair debates about whether resisting selling Harry Kane might be one of the most myopic decisions in the modern game.

He no longer looks like a £100m player, let alone £150m or £200m. He no longer perceived danger in any way. The sight of him rolling down the right wing in the second half for a goalless and ineffective cross to anyone was pathetic.

But this is the biggest problem in such situations.

It just dilutes everyone’s display level. It is difficult for a person to play well, which limits his performance and self-confidence.

Son Heung-min responded during Tottenham’s 3-0 defeat to United

(Getty Images)

Kane sure would look like he switched to a more advanced system with a more proactive management, as there was a more specific role that suited his talents. All this is very open and ambiguous to a general attempt to be solid defensively.

It’s bad and it seems to be getting worse. That’s what Spurs were supposed to want, and even what Levy said in a statement.

This decision is now very puzzling.

It is also a weak initial endorsement of the new regime under the newly appointed Director-General, Fabio Paratici.

However, most at Spurs see the source of the problems as being beyond the Italian level. That’s why there were more calls for Levi to go instead of Nuno.

This is usually when hierarchies work.

The problem with Spurs is that most people in the game see Nuno as a temporary keeper anyway. For all the gossip about when it’s set, the feeling is that it’s basically there until a better option is presented.

This just did not happen. Had Nuno gone now, Spurs wouldn’t really know which way to go.

He might give him a stay of execution, as he effectively granted Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Some believe the situation is now so bad that Spurs will essentially assess the next move and move on at International Week in November.

That’s what happened in 2019. That’s when the problems really started.

Everything since then has been very old.

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