Tottenham Is Not Too Big To Fail

Of all the members of the English Premier League's so-called "Big Six" clubs, Tottenham Hotspur's inclusion has always been the most generous. Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester United are clearly deserving of their spots as historical powerhouses that can weather runs of bad form, even across seasons. Chelsea and Manchester City have over the past couple decades acquired the money and success to overcome their humble histories (three combined first division titles pre-2000) and achieve class ascension. But what has Tottenham done to deserve equal billing? Since 2000, Tottenham has won two trophies: the 2008 League Cup, and last season's Europa League. Prior to 2009-10, the club hadn't finished in the league's top four spots since 1989-90. Even in this past decade and a half of relevance, Tottenham has never even come close to matching its ostensible peers' weight as measured in either silverware or sterling. Instead, Tottenham became a Big Six club more from steadiness than greatness. This made it more prone to slippage, and though it has taken quite some time, I think it's about time to remove Tottenham from that illustrious club of clubs. Last season's Europa League win did not mask how dire the Premier League campaign went for Spurs. The club's 17th-place finish in the league could tell that story by itself, even if Tottenham was never really in danger of relegation thanks to the ineptitude of the three newly promoted sides. But what might have looked like a blip last season has now turned into something far more concerning. After firing manager Ange Postecoglou at the end of the season, in came Thomas Frank, who'd worked miracles with Brentford. Almost immediately, the Frank hire was revealed to be a complete mismatch of club and coach, and a barrage of injuries made even mediocrity, to say nothing of miracles, nearly impossible. The losses piled up, and even though Frank could point to the club's 2-0 away win at Manchester City and its surprising run in the Champions League all the way to fourth place in the league phase, Tottenham regularly looked overwhelmed no matter who the opponent was.