Yes, the title of this article does indeed sound like the latest best-seller novel that you might see in WHSmiths or Waterstones, but instead of being an interesting novel to read, it is in fact a nightmare that has haunted us Tottenham fans for years. This article will look at Tottenham’s away form since the start of the 2020/2021 Premier League season, giving the sample size of 4 and a bit seasons.
Starting off this sample is a 5-2 win against Southampton in the opening away day of the 20/21 campaign. This was the game where Harry Kane assisted Heung-Min Son 4 times before scoring the 5th himself. We did find ourselves 1-0 down but were able to come back on this occasion. We continued a good run of away form under Jose Mourinho with a few Europa League qualifier wins, as well as demolishing Manchester United 6-1 in one of the best matches in Spurs recent history, and beating Burnley 1-0. The game after Burnley was Royal Antwerp away where a second string team got embarrassed 1-0 by the Belgian side. Tottenham could then only manage draws away at LASK, Crystal Palace and Wolves, and lost away at Brighton in the league and Everton in the cup shortly after. Spurs then lost away at London rivals West Ham and Fulham, before the most embarrassing game under Jose Mourinho happened. Spurs were 2-0 up after the first leg against Dinamo Zagreb, but crumbled and lost 3-0 away, conceding a hat-trick to Mislav Orsic, in what should have been a routine victory. We then lost away at Leeds under interim head coach Ryan Mason after Jose Mourinho was dismissed from his post. Even back in the 20/21 season there was not the required consistency away from home and this contributes to why Tottenham remain trophyless for so long. And this 20/21 squad included Joe Hart, Toby Alderweireld, Ryan Sessegnon, Danny Rose, Harry Winks, Moussa Sissoko, Dele Alli, Erik Lamela, Lucas Moura and Gareth Bale, amongst plenty of different players who are no longer with us in our current 24/25 campaign.
Out went Jose (and Ryan Mason’s interim spell) and in came Nuno Espirito Santo. Out went Juan Foyth, Toby Alderweireld, Moussa Sissoko, Dele Alli, Erik Lamela and Joe Hart. In came Bryan Gil, Emerson Royal, Cristian Romero, Pierluigi Gollini and the returning Pape Matar Sarr from his Metz loan. Nuno got off to a good start with an away win at Wolves, but he, like Jose, persisted with a second string side in Europe, and this resulted in a 1-0 loss away at Pacos de Ferriera. Crystal Palace destroyed us at Selhurst Park in a game that saw Japhet Tanganga see red. A draw away at Rennes looked like a positive result, and that summarises how bad we were under Nuno. We did get that 3-2 win away at Newcastle where Harry Kane lobbed in his first Premier League goal of the season after a string of poor performances where some Spurs fans labelled the English striker as “conference league man” for his stat-padding in that competition. Not even Kane’s supposed stat-padding could save us as we lost to Vitesse away from home. After that disastrous 3-0 “El Sackico” defeat; the game between Spurs and Manchester United where Nuno Espirito Santo and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer were both under pressure, Nuno was sacked and Antonio Conte brought in.
Conte’s first away game was a loss against Mura in the Conference League, which put us in grave danger of being knocked out – which eventually happened due to being unable to face Rennes at home because of coronavirus cases within the Tottenham camp. A little while after this, Spurs did go on a rampage winning most of their games including that famous Harry Kane performance at the Etihad, winning 3-2 in the closing stages. Tottenham did, however, embarrass themselves 3 days later away at Burnley losing 1-0 and also lost 1-0 at Middlesborough in the cup. Again highlighting how a different crop of players have bottled a winable game away from home. The cup examples could continue with Sheffield United, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace all hosting Spurs in the cup and advancing to the next stages. There is a real mentality issue away from home which costs us in cup competitions and from getting sustainable league points.
Conte’s second season brought that Sheffield United cup defeat – the all too familiar cup game away at a lower side where we think we are too good for it and lose. And it was the Southampton 3-3 draw which finished Antonio Conte’s reign as Spurs crumbled from a 3-1 winning position. Many of Conte’s points stand true to this day.
Ange Postecoglou has had a rollercoaster away from home too with losses to Wolves, Brighton, Fulham and Chelsea and draws against Everton, West Ham. And the recent loss to Crystal Palace in the 24/25 season highlighted all of the past vulnerabilities in 1 match.