Both sides heading for worst ever Premier League seasons – what’s gone wrong for Spurs & Man Utd?

Relegation six-pointer this Sunday?

At the start of the campaign, if you had said that two thirds into the Premier League season both Tottenham and Manchester United would be in 13th and 14th respectively, most football fans wouldn’t have believed you. But the reality is that both of those sides are currently closer to the relegation zone than they are to the top five (which would likely be enough to qualify for the Champions League next season). Both clubs are on course for their worst ever Premier League seasons.

Man United chose to sack Erik ten Hag and bring in Ruben Amorim, but have gained no new manager bounce. Instead plummeting further down the table. Tottenham, on the other hand, have stuck with Ange Postecoglou despite no improvement in consistency of results. It’s likely that the injury crisis his Spurs team have faced has brought the Aussie a little more time. After nothing more than mediocre starts, it’s been pretty much a downward spiral for both clubs as the season has progressed.

This Sunday the two heavyweight strugglers meet in North London, as Spurs take on Man United at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium. The pair can currently be very grateful for the three promoted sides being so poor, meaning they aren’t in the thick of a relegation battle. Whichever side loses on Sunday could perhaps even remain in that conversation. So how have the 2019 Champions League finalists and the 13-time Premier League winners found themselves in this position?

What’s gone wrong at Tottenham and Manchester United?

Tottenham’s worst ever Premier League points total was 44 points in the 1997/98 season under manager Christian Gross. Man United’s was 58 points in the 2020/21 campaign under Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Ralf Rangnick. As illustrated in the graphic below, If we take just the last 20 Premier League seasons, Spurs’ lowest total is in 2007/08 (46 points). If we then take the projected points totals that both teams would achieve this season based on the points-per-game rate they are currently on this term, then it makes for bleak reading. We’d be heading for 46 points for the Red Devils and 43 points for Tottenham – both sides could be set to make history for all the wrong reasons.

Let’s begin with Tottenham. It’s unusual that when a team with Spurs’ ambition are loitering in 14th position and out of both domestic cups, that there isn’t overwhelming pressure on the manager from the fanbase. Whilst some sections of the support are beginning to turn on Postecoglou, the majority of anger right now is aimed at chairman Daniel Levy and the club’s board. That’s who many feel are to blame for Tottenham’s demise. And it’s certainly true that many top level managers have come and failed at the club in recent years.

It’s now been 17 years since Tottenham last won a trophy – the 2008 League Cup. There is a sense from many that Spurs are run more as a business for profit, rather than an ambitious club hunting down success and silverware. They have a brand-new stadium that competes with the best arenas in the world, but the same certainly cannot be said for the team right now. When it comes to recruitment, there has been a shift in strategy to bring in younger players. Archie Gray (€41.25 million from Leeds), Wilson Odobert (€29.3m from Burnley), Antonín Kinský (€16.5m from Slavia Prague), Lucas Bergvall (€10m from Djurgården), Mathys Tel (loan from Bayern Munich), and Min-hyeok Yang (€4m from Gangwon FC) have all been signed this season. Each one of them is aged 21 or younger. But this Tottenham team needs players who are ready now.

It appears club captain Heung-Min Son’s powers are fading. Once one of the best player’s in the division, he is now failing to impact games more and more. The prolific Harry Kane is becoming a distant memory as the England skipper continues banging goals for Bayern Munich. For so long those two carried Spurs – they helped take them to the Champions League final and achieve a second place finish in the Premier League. It always felt that if Tottenham could have brought in a couple of top quality players to aid them, then that team could have won something. Now that side that were glorious bridesmaid’s under Mauricio Pochettino is gone, and a mid-table outfit has replaced them.

Now to Man United, and where to start? Since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013, the Red Devils have been on a steady demise, that has now culminated in the team being completely unrecognisable from the one the Scotsman led to the Premier League title in his final season in charge 12 years ago. Recruitment, infrastructure and decision-making has all been inadequate. When Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos came into the club 12 months ago, there was hope things might improve. Ineos completed a deal worth about $1.6 billion (€1.4b) for a stake in Man United in February 2024. If anything, things have got worse. However, considering the mess that had been created by the negligence from the previous ownership group, it was always going to take time to stop the rot and begin building up again.

Last week reports suggested members of he club’s hierarchy had unveiled a ‘Mission 21’ project to bring the Premier League title back to Manchester United in what would be their 21st English league triumph. On the pitch itself, there’s little to suggest that will be coming anytime soon. Amorim’s 3-4-3 system has been a huge talking point. He has stuck to his principles and played that formation in every fixture so far, but the squad doesn’t seem quite suited to it just yet. Man United continue leaking goals, whilst struggling to score at the other end. Since Amorim took charge, he has won just four out of 14 league games, conceding 1.69 goals per game, whilst only scoring 1.23 goals per game. Damning statistics but it’s still early days.

In that same timeframe since the Portuguese manager took charge at Old Trafford, it’s been even worse for their opponents this Sunday Tottenham. They have just three wins from 13, conceding 1.85 goals per game. However, at the other end they are still scoring 1.92 goals per game and remain one of the most entertaining watches in the Premier League for neutral supporters. For some Tottenham fans that watch at the moment is coming through their fingers, as they see the same old errors repeating themselves week-in week-out. There’s little doubt that these two sides have been the overwhelming under-performers this campaign. A loss for either side in North London this Sunday will ramp up the pressure further.