Tim Howard, former USMNT goalkeeper, doesn’t want Spurs to go down, but: “When it matters the most they are fragile”
Tottenham have gone through a mini revolution under Roberto De Zerbi, and with a win over Leeds United on Monday night they inch ever close to salvation.
Tottenham are preparing for one of their biggest matches of the season on Monday night. They have a chance to distance themselves from 18th placed West Ham who are currently in the drop zone, against Leeds tonight.
Spurs were “fragile” but not as much anymore
Former USMNT keeper Tim Howard spent most of his career playing in England. On his podcast “Unfliltered Soccer” with fellow USMNT legend Landon Donavan, the two former Premier League players discussed the possibility of a disastrous drop to the Championship for Spurs. The chat was a couple weeks ago, but Howard categorized the north London side as “fragile.”
“When you watch these guys on TV and you think your watching robots, you’re watching superheroes, you have to remember they are human. Because Spurs are fragile. They have better players than (Nottingham) Forest, they have better players than West Ham.”
This podcast was back in mid April when things were even more shaky for Spurs than they appear now. Tottenham were in the relegation zone and Nottingham Forest and West Ham looked as though they were favorites to stay floating above the drop zone.
The De Zerbi revolution
Since then Forest have secured themselves top flight soccer next year while West Ham have dropped below Tottenham into the 18th spot. Since the airing of Howard and Donovan’s podcast back in mid April, West Ham have picked up just four of a possible 12 points, while Spurs have picked up seven of 12 points.
Two consecutive losses from West Ham has seen Tottenham jump over their relegation rivals in the last week. If they were to get a win against Leeds on Monday night the Hammers would have an awfully tough time trying to come back from a four point deficit in the final two match days of the season.
New manager, Roberto De Zerbi deserves a big portion of the credit for turning things around in Tottenham. The former Marseille boss was the third manager appointed this season after the club cut ties with Ange Postecoglou after he won the Europa League last season. Neither Thomas Frank nor Igor Tudor were able to produce the kind of results the fans and the club were hoping for, but the Italian has come in and given a dose of hope to the players, the board, and the supporters.
Howard’s “fragile” description of this Tottenham side was completely warranted up until the time that podcast aired, but the Italian seems to have instilled a sense of pride, belief and togetherness that has eluded the club for quite sometime. Spurs will have two more matches after the Leeds game tonight. They play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and Everton at home to close out the season. Meanwhlie West Ham finish with Newcastle away and Leeds at home.
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