The mood at Tottenham has turned toxic – and that’s bad news for Postecoglou

Tottenham 1-2 Leicester (Richarlison 33′ | Vardy 46′, El Khannous 50′)

TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR STADIUM — Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham have become the team that every struggling side wants to play.

Crystal Palace failed to win their first eight games until they played Spurs; Ipswich were 10 without a victory; Everton had gone six winless matches; Leicester were on a seven-game losing streak.

With each loss, it is becoming harder to see how Postecoglou survives long enough to see if his prophecy of winning a trophy in his second season comes true.

Each of the last seven managers dismissed by Daniel Levy had Spurs in a higher position when they departed than the 15th place they are now.

Not since October 2008 has a manager left with Spurs lower in the league table when Juande Ramos had them 20th. Ramos incidentally was the last man to put silverware in the cabinet.

Is Levy banking on Postecoglou making good on his trophy promise? That much should become clear over the coming days.

Historically, heads have rolled when the pressure has ramped up on Levy and rarely has the atmosphere in N17, in stadiums old or new, been as toxic as it was on Sunday.

Before kick-off and after full-time a huge yellow banner with the words “24 years, 16 managers, 1 trophy – Time For Change” was unfurled at the front of the south stand.

It took just 75 seconds for the first “We want Levy out” chants to emerge and it became a familiar refrain throughout the afternoon. Later on, fans chanted “Daniel Levy, get out of our club”.

Ire directed in Postecoglou’s direction has tended to come in away matches rather than at home. Significantly, loud boos rang followed the Australian’s substitution of goalscorer Richarlison just three minutes after Leicester went in front.

“He was feeling his groin, mate,” Postecoglou said after. “He should have come off at half-time but he wanted to give it another 10 minutes. I could see he wasn’t running well so that’s why I took him off.”

One of the main tasks that Spurs gave the architects who built their new stadium was ensuring that the noise was contained within. On days like today, you wonder whether they regret that choice given how loud the dissent was at full-time.

It didn’t take long for apprehension to seep into the stadium, as Spurs made a sluggish start.

James Maddison, a goalscorer and provider against Hoffenheim in midweek, was the latest injury-enforced absentee for the visit of his former club and some players are clearly out on their feet.

None more so than Pedro Porro who twice shot for goal from impossible angles out of sheer tiredness. The right-back has already played 31 games this season, at a rate of one every five days.

Porro was also the architect of Tottenham’s best moment of the day, whipping a superb cross into the six-yard-box for Richarlison to attack and score at the back post.

Leicester’s stand-in keeper Jakub Stolarcyzk had brilliantly denied Son Heung-min twice from distance with finger-tip stops before the breakthrough was made.

Given the run Leicester have been on, Spurs should have sensed blood. Instead, they found themselves trailing five minutes after the restart.

There was a sense of inevitability about Jamie Vardy’s equaliser. The 38-year-old loves playing and scoring against Spurs – only against Arsenal and Watford has he scored more against an opponent.

He celebrated the same way as in August, pointing to the Premier League badge on his sleeve referencing Leicester’s one title win to Spurs’ none. Minutes later, Bilal El Khannous prompted more Leicester joy and compounded further Spurs misery with a fine finish from the edge of the box.

For all of their pressure after going behind, Spurs didn’t create nearly enough to save themselves, though they were not helped by Leicester’s infuriating time-wasting.

“We have still got some fantastic opportunities this year to make an impact in the second half of this year and I’m sure that will happen,” Postecoglou said.

The manager remains convinced that he can lead Spurs to glory, but is Levy?

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