When Tottenham beat Liverpool 2-1 in that contentious game in late September they moved above the Reds in the table, and then a month later there was a stage when they pulled five points clear at the top after a win at Crystal Palace.

Fast forward to early May though and Spurs are down in fifth following Sunday’s 4-2 defeat at Anfield. They are 23 points off the top, seven away from fourth and requiring something of a miracle to secure Champions League football in what has often looked to be a hugely promising first season for Ange Postecoglou.

The Liverpool loss was also a fourth successive defeat for Spurs in which they have conceded 13 goals. So what’s gone wrong? And can Big Ange put it right? That’s what we’ve asked our Mirror Football team.

John Cross

We need to keep a bit of context on Tottenham. On the eve of the season, they sold Harry Kane and in doing so lost one of their best ever players, a goal machine and a club legend.

Few, myself included, gave them much hope of a top four finish this season. Yet Ange Postecoglou came in and raised expectation levels again to almost tease Tottenham fans to such an extent that missing out on the Champions League will be a disappointment.

So, Big Ange deserves credit. But what is unforgivable is Tottenham’s end-of-season collapse. Performances have been dire, defending atrocious and it raises question marks about the manager.

This is the quote which I just can’t get over. Postecoglou actually said this. “This is not the first time I’ve been questioned about set-pieces in my coaching career, but I’m just not interested in it. Never have been.” He said it last Wednesday – and Tottenham conceded a set piece on Thursday.

That, to me, is unforgivable. He was talking about set pieces and set piece coaches. They have conceded 15 goals from set pieces (including six from corners). Why not give yourself a better chance? That arrogance makes me question whether Big Ange can succeed at the highest level.

Ben Husband

We now live in a world where a manager who picks up 60 points from their first 35 games is being questioned.

That’s right. 60 points. More than Mikel Arteta managed across North London, more than Jurgen Klopp managed in Liverpool. Had this season been turned around, Postecoglou would probably be in contention for manager of the season…he still should be.

If Spurs’ players have stopped playing for him, they should really get better at it because launching valiant – if not successful comebacks – paints a very different picture.

Postecoglou’s biggest issue wasn’t a lost dressing room, but more the dressing room he found when he arrived at the club. After miserable spells under Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte, he had to completely change the culture, but some of the personnel remain.

He has already made it clear that not everybody will stick around for the journey, but this is still a journey going in the right direction. Postecoglou will now have a summer where he continues to evolve his squad and based on his first season, that can only be a positive thing.

Nathan Ridley

Are things really that bad at Tottenham? Forgive me for sounding like a Big Ange acolyte but this feels like par for the course given the fact Spurs were well ahead of schedule at the start of the season and were therefore bound to drop off.

Firstly – and it might sound overly simplified – almost every other team has gotten stronger throughout the campaign and in turn opponents have been able to get a grip on Postecoglou’s tactics. Fatigue is another obvious factor, as it’s clear his high-octane style of play has taken its toll on some members of the squad.

Speaking of tiredness, we should have some sympathy with the likes of Heung-min Son, Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr, all of whom broke off from the Premier League mid-season to represent their countries as the Asia Cup and Africa Cup of Nations respectively. Their impacts have certainly waned in recent weeks and it should be no surprise given the extra physical and mental workload.

Another thing: Harry Kane. Let’s not forget where we were all predicting Tottenham to finish this term after losing arguably the best striker in world football, who was also their vice-captain behind Hugo Lloris, another important personality who’s now left the club.

This just feels like some teething problems for Postecoglou, who doesn’t need to spend big in the summer to find players who suit his style of play. Remember, Mauricio Pochettino finished fifth in his first season and the same kind of criticism had been thrown at him after inheriting a disjointed squad. Look how that turned out.

Mike Walters

Remember, remember the sixth of November – the night when Tottenham’s season went skew-whiff. Spurs were top of the league and playing decent football until the wheels came off in that chaotic 4-1 home defeat by Chelsea on Mauricio Pochettino’s poisoned homecoming.

Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie’s red cards, damaging long-term injuries to Micky van de Ven and James Maddison, VAR running amok and Big Ange’s refusal to abandon his kamikaze defensive high line made for unforgettable entertainment. But from that moment, the season turned Spursy – nice football, nice principles, but nothing to show for it.

Postecoglou has done well to juggle his resources up front after losing Harry Kane last August, but a 20-goal centre forward would make a big difference next season. And the back four still looks vulnerable – Van de Ven has been an excellent signing, but there is too much chaos around him – and a reliable midfield anchor, in the Declan Rice or Moises Caicedo mould, would help to protect it.

Conor Mummery

While Tottenham are, admittedly, on their worst run of results for 20 years, there are still signs things are going in the right direction.  Ange Postecoglou is playing his football, unwaveringly, with a squad largely built for Antonio Conte. Hammering in the foundations in the short term is vital to the project working out long term, even if that means losing four on the bounce, two at the hands of your biggest rivals.  Defeats away at Newcastle, Chelsea and Liverpool and a home loss to Arsenal aren’t, in isolation, particularly shocking. If the results came spread across a season, few would be surprised, but the fact Spurs have lost four in a row means questions are being asked and the manager is under the spotlight.

Providing Tottenham at least beat Burnley and Sheffield United, they’ll better last season’s performance by six points and three places in the Premier League table. That, after losing the greatest goalscorer in the club’s history who bailed them out time and time again as Spurs trudged to an eighth place finish.  It isn’t just about points tallies, Spurs have been a far, far better watch this season and the atmosphere in some of the home games is the best it’s been since the move to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2019.  Daniel Levy has chopped and changed since sacking Mauricio Pochettino almost five years ago, to no avail. There have been enough positive signs this season to stick with the manager and back him with players made for attacking, front-foot and brave football.

Andy Dunn

With Sheffield United and Burnley among their final three opponents, Spurs are likely to finish at least half a dozen points better off than they were at the end of last season. So, Ange Postecoglou – particularly in his first Premier League season – has done a fundamentally decent job and has entertained Tottenham fans and neutrals in the process.

But his style of play will have to evolve, simple as that. Remember when Pep Guardiola said how much he disliked tackling? Well, Manchester City have since become the best tackling side – with a mastery of the professional foul – in the Premier League.

Every season, Pep has added practicality to his team’s panache. Why do you think he bought Mateo Kovacic? And that is what Postecoglou needs to do. He has made a good start to life at Spurs and the four defeats on the trot should not disguise that.

But it is clear he needs to become more adaptable and address his team’s vulnerability to set-pieces and counter-attacks … and buy the personnel who can help him do that.

Simon Bird

Rivals have worked Spurs out. As confidence, cohesion and physicality has dropped off they have become easy fodder for speedy attackers. The main problem is Spurs persistence with a very high defensive line, which can be breached by quick, counter attacking teams… and most Premier League sides have that in their locker.

The last four games have been disastrous. I watched Spurs collapse at Newcastle to a 4-0 defeat, with defenders falling over and overloads at the back, leaving the defence short-handed.

There was acres of space to run at once a Spurs attack had broken down, and a quick couple of forward passes played. The first job is to shore it up. Spurs have leaked 13 goals in the last four games, all lost. They’ve won just two of the last eight.

There’s been a huge love-in around Ange Postecoglou in his first season, with his bluff cheeky humorous press conferences, and now his bloody-minded positivity. This is his first big test. How does he face adversity and a mini crisis? The way Spurs continue to concede suggests a tactical blind-spot.

Neil McLeman

Tottenham fans cannot complain about watching boring, predictable football this season. And after the summer sale of Harry Kane, Spurs fans would have rushed to seize a fifth placed finish and European football this season quicker than a Micky Van de Ven sprint.

But results since the New Year – and conceding 13 in their last four defeats – show the playing squad needs an overhaul to fit the ‘Ange Ball’ style. Yet there are also nagging question marks about the Aussie’s tactics – and his prickly attitude in interviews.

James Maddison has not been the same player since his ankle injury and now risks missing out on England’s Euro 2024 squad. But Richarlison has been under deployed as a centre-forward to allow Son Heung-min to play wide.

Tottenham have not scored enough goals to compensate for their sloppy defending or naivety in trying to play from the back. Postecoglou’s snarky dismissal of his side’s frailty at set-pieces and any questioning of his approach shows the former Celtic boss is not good under pressure. Spurs really need the same patience Arsenal showed with Mikel Arteta who was appointed in December 2019 if they believe he is the long-term solution.

But this season it would be just really Spursy to take a point off Manchester City next week – Pep Guardiola’s team have never won in the Premier League at the new Tottenham Stadium – to win the title for the Gunners.

Mark Jones

Post-1992 law dictates that there has to be one crisis club in the Premier League at all times, but it does feel like we’re reaching a little bit to tar Spurs with that brush. Things really aren’t that bad.

Okay it’s been an abject few weeks that haven’t been helped by Ange Postecoglou getting a bit huffy in his interviews as his questioners have tried to poke the bear, but he always had that coming. The universal love-in from the wider football world was never going to last, and he could have just asked Sunday’s opposing manager about that.

He will need to get a handle on things going into next season in order for his good work in this one not to go to waste, but all signs point to him being a good enough and principled enough manager to be able to do that. Of course his setup has flaws that he needs to work on, but he’s true to himself and that’s important.

If Spurs are ever going to get to where they often threaten to go then they are going to have to do it together. The good and bad of this season is all part of the journey, and a few poor weeks with shattered players, plus squad options who aren’t good enough, shouldn’t change that.