Remember all those rave reviews about Tottenham Hotspur and the brilliance of the team's manager, Mauricio Pochettino? You should. They were being posted less than a month ago after Spurs destroyed Liverpool and Real Madrid at Wembley.
Look what has happened since.
The not-so-hot Spurs have lost their way. Last night's defeat at Leicester made it a win, a draw and three losses in the past five league matches.
The 1-1 draw with a manager-less West Brom on Nov. 25 was just the latest in a series of flat Wembley displays with points dropped against Burnley and Swansea and laboured wins over Crystal Palace and Bournemouth.
It is almost as if this talented group of players can't get fired up for the more routine assignments. Are they believing a little too much of their own hype?
Those fans wondering whether Tottenham could go one better than last season's runners-up spot now have their answer. Trailing leaders Manchester City by 13 points, their title challenge is over before the Christmas decorations go up. Pochettino more or less conceded that it was all over when he admitted: "The gap is massive. We will keep trying and see what happens."
What has gone wrong?
Losing key defender Toby Alderweireld to injury (he's set to be out until after Christmas) has been damaging. It showed in the North London derby when, worryingly for Spurs fans, the Gunners looked like they wanted it so much more. Harry Kane continues to score despite looking less than fully fit in one or two games.
But even more concerning is the form of Dele Alli, who has only fitfully shown his elegant class this season. In some lower-key matches, he has been almost invisible. After such a meteoric rise from third-tier football at MK Dons to national celebrity, Dele is allowed to hit a flat spot. But he has cut a distracted figure on occasions and both Tottenham and England will hope the dip in form does not last too long. Without his input, the Spurs' cocktail is less potent.
The sniping of left back Danny Rose can hardly be helping the mood on the camp. Already vociferous on the subject of wages at Tottenham, Rose went public again with his disgust at being left out of the Arsenal game.
Bearing in mind the England defender has only recently returned from long-term injury and is short of match sharpness, it was a reasonable call from Pochettino. He will not have been amused to see Rose rocking the boat again, and speculation grows that the player is agitating for a move away.
Victor Wanyama has been out since August, and his steel in the midfield shielding role is being missed in the tougher games.
The popular Pochettino, meanwhile, is faced with the reality that the progress of his Spurs "project" now depends on winning some silverware. Without it, Spurs will struggle to hold on to key players such as Kane and Alli.
It is clear that Tottenham will not be winning the Premier League trophy. That leaves the Champions League, in which Tottenham have advanced impressively but which is an extraordinarily hard competition to win or the FA Cup.
Pochettino is fond of sending his players text messages and emails with some nugget or tip to improve their game. He might be busier than usual tapping away on the keyboard now that his team have hit a patch of quicksand.
Source: espn.co.uk