Tottenham acting head coach Ryan Mason is refusing to look beyond Saturday’s visit of Brentford despite uncertainty over his own future.

Spurs remain without a permanent manager and doubts remain over where Mason will be around next season after spending the last 18 months as first-team coach at the club.

Mason, 31, has made clear of his desire to take the top job at Tottenham and signalled his intention that he is ready to be a manager, but that looks unlikely to be with the Premier League outfit after they produced another stuttering display in defeat at Aston Villa last weekend.

It means the former Spurs midfielder could move on in the summer with Feyenoord boss Arne Slot the new bookmakers’ favourite to replace Antonio Conte, but the current acting head coach is fully focused on the club’s last home match of the season against Brentford.

Mason insisted: “I’m really not thinking about next season. If my attention goes to six or seven weeks’ time, I’d be very stupid to take my eye off the ball now.

“I’m aware of the situation now. I know me and my team are doing the best we can, we’re doing good. Whatever happens in the summer or next season, there is definitely decisions to be made but at this moment in time we don’t know what they’ll be.

“I believe in the way I work, me and my team. I have more belief now than I’ve ever had in my life that what we’re doing, for this football club, the environment, the feeling we’re trying to create here.

“I believe in it so much. That’s probably where it (my positivity) is coming from.”

There is less optimism among the Spurs fanbase, who saw Julian Nagelsmann ruled out of the managerial running last week.

That development saw the away support at Aston Villa last Saturday chant for chairman Daniel Levy to leave the club during the opening minute of a 2-1 loss.

A poor result against Brentford could result in more chants against Levy this Saturday and Mason is eager to give the supporters plenty to shout about.

“I mean it is important they see and feel a team that is trying to transfer energy to them,” Mason admitted.

“That is probably one of the most important messages we’ve been trying to give to the players this week. We want energy, we want to feel that energy inside the stadium because our fans have been fantastic this season.

“They’ve stuck with us and have been with us the whole time. Yeah, we want to give them something to feel good about.”

Mason was more forthcoming about Clement Lenglet’s future; the Frenchman is on loan from Barcelona.

He added: “Right now it’s not on my mind but I would say about Clem is that he is the type of character we want around the training ground, he is professional, he does it right.

“He’s vocal and the more people we can keep hold of and get in the more beneficial it is.”

Lucas Moura will leave Tottenham at the end of the season.

The Brazilian forward has struggled for fitness and form this campaign with no goals in his 17 appearances.

Moura missed a large chunk of the first half of the campaign with a tendon injury and since his return after the World Cup has been involved in several difficult moments for Spurs, being sent off in a 1-1 draw at Everton before his error resulted in Liverpool scoring a stoppage-time winner last month.

Arguably his best moment in a Spurs shirt was when he netted a hat-trick in 2019 at Ajax that sent Tottenham through to a first Champions League final in the most dramatic fashion.

Spurs have now confirmed this term will be Moura’s last and he will get the chance to bid farewell to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium faithful in Saturday’s home match with Brentford.

“Wherever I am, my heart will always be here. You are my club,” Moura said on Tottenham’s official Twitter feed.

“It has been the greatest honour to defend this badge. Every flick, every tackle, every leap, every goal.

“From the highest of highs to the lowest lows, from the beginning to the end, you sung my name. This has been my dream.

“This will always be my home. Some nights we will never forget, writing history together. I will always love you no matter where I go. We will meet again.”

Moura has scored 38 goals in 219 appearances since he moved to Tottenham in the winter transfer window of 2018.

“We would like to thank Lucas for his tremendous service to our club and wish him the very best for the future,” an official club statement read.

“We shall provide a further update on our wider released and retained player list following the conclusion of the 2022/23 campaign.”

Xabi Alonso has confirmed he will still be in charge of Bayer Leverkusen next season.

The former Liverpool midfielder had been linked to the vacant head coach role at Tottenham during the past month.

Alonso has impressed in his first senior managerial position after he guided Leverkusen out of relegation trouble in the Bundesliga and into the Europa League semi-finals since his appointment in October.

With Julian Nagelsmann no longer a contender for the role at Spurs and Burnley boss Vincent Kompany signing a new deal earlier this month, Alonso remained one of the bookkeepers’ favourites to replace Antonio Conte.

But speaking at a press conference ahead of Thursday’s Europa League last-four second leg with Roma, Alonso said: “I’m happy here with the team and the club.

“I’m not worried about my future.”

Asked by a Bild reporter if that meant he would still be in charge of Leverkusen next season, Alonso replied: “That’s correct.”

Harry Kane would not want to risk tarnishing his Tottenham legacy by leaving the club in the summer, according to former Spurs striker Dimitar Berbatov.

After another turbulent campaign at Tottenham which will end without silverware, England captain Kane has been strongly linked with a big-money move to Manchester United.

Berbatov helped Spurs lift the League Cup in February 2008, which remains the club’s last trophy, before making the switch from White Hart Lane to Old Trafford just over six months later.

Kane is set to enter the final year of his Spurs contract during the summer, but recently spoke of his determination to restore a strong culture at the club, which is now on a third manager of the season.

Berbatov, who went on to win the Premier League twice with United, can empathise with Kane’s dilemma, but believes the 29-year-old’s heart remains very much at Tottenham where he is now the record goalscorer.

“I can understand and can relate to his situation. I feel for him, but at the same time I think he is going to stay at Spurs,” Berbatov told the PA news agency.

“His legacy now is so great that he cannot force himself to tarnish it – when you say Spurs, it is Harry Kane and when you say Harry Kane, it is Spurs.

“They are connected forever because he is the leading goalscorer of the team, of the country (England national team) and probably is going to break Alan Shearer’s record for most goals in the Premier League as well.

“So it is down to him to know what is important for him – (for) his legacy with Spurs, which is unbelievable now.

“(As for) personal records, it is important also to win something before he is finished playing football. It is up to him to decide.”

Former Bulgaria striker Berbatov, speaking on behalf of Enterprise Rent-A-Car, added: “At one point, Spurs are probably going to win something and produce more consistency.

“Every season they have that intent, that this is going to be the defining season, but so far, it didn’t work.

“At one point, I am sure it is going to work, but when is that going to be? I don’t know.”

Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy has also come in for criticism in the wake of a campaign which saw the departures of head coach Antonio Conte and then Cristian Stellini, with Ryan Mason eventually stepping in until the end of the season.

Berbatov believes there has to be a sense of collective responsibility from the training ground to the board room.

“Again they are not at the place that they wanted to be in the start of the season. It is nothing new and everybody connected with Spurs knows it,” said Berbatov, who scored 46 goals over a two-year spell with Tottenham.

“Every season Spurs start with a big expectation based on everything they have in their disposal – a great stadium, the great facility to train, great players as well.

“But while the season is progressing, even if they start strong, then they are declining and that inconsistency kicks in and they start to suffer from it.”

Berbatov added: “It is a shared responsibility – probably 40 per cent the manager, 40 per cent the players and 20 per cent goes to the owners, the people running the club, because it has been a long time since winning a trophy like when I was there.

“At one point Spurs reached the Champions League final and they had a great run with (Mauricio) Pochettino.

“But most of the time that disappointment is there because (after) starting on a strong foot, then slowly and surely they continue to drop down (the table) and don’t achieve what they have wanted to achieve at the end of the season.”

While Tottenham may be well out of the running for a top-four finish, they could yet still qualify for Europe again via one of the other UEFA competitions.

Berbatov, 42, hopes another of his old clubs Bayer Leverkusen can go on to reach this season’s Europa League final – if they can get past Roma, now managed by former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho.

“They have another leg, another obstacle in the case of (Jose) Mourinho and his (Roma) team, but I think they can manage to do it,” said Berbatov. “With me being at the final to watch in person, I would like to see them there.”

:: Dimitar Berbatov featured in Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s 2022/23 UEFA Europa League campaign content, Mission Masterclass. You can view episode two in full on UEFA’s official YouTube channel

Unai Emery says Aston Villa are determined to grasp the possible “last opportunity” of European football next season.

Villa have slipped to eighth in the Premier League after back-to-back away defeats to Manchester United and Wolves, eight points behind fifth-placed Liverpool with three games remaining.

But overtaking sixth-placed Tottenham remains very much a target, and that would happen as early as Saturday if Villa could beat them at home by three goals.

Boss Emery said: “We’re three points behind Tottenham, everybody wants to enjoy this moment and play this match with the supporters.

“The last two matches against Manchester and Wolves we lost, but it’s not changed our good moments we are taking at home with our supporters.

“We deserve this opportunity because the last five matches we won at home and those 15 points have helped us be here.

“We have to be positive, to be happy and very focused because it could be the last opportunity.

“Or maybe it could be a very good opportunity to keep playing key matches, where me as a coach and the players can improve and build and take challenges in the new direction.

“We are playing for one place in Europe and playing against teams like Tottenham, Liverpool and Brighton.

“They are different teams but they’re amongst the biggest teams in the Premier League this year.”

Emery took charge at the start of November with Villa in free fall.

They had won only two of their first 11 league games under Steven Gerrard before his sacking.

Emery brought in defender Alex Moreno and striker Jhon Duran during the January transfer window, but the Spaniard has largely been working with players who served under Gerrard and he is likely to strengthen the squad this summer.

“The club is working to try to build and create a great way for the progression and the next years,” said Emery.

“Of course, we are trying to use my experiences as well to build with the players we have now and the work we’re doing here.

“The club will work thinking about the next year, but we have to be focused 100 per cent on the next match because the football is now.”

Villa have rattled off five home wins – against Crystal Palace, Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle and Fulham – since losing to Arsenal on February 18.

Emery said: “We were very successful away and were competitive. We started to have some doubts at home before the last five matches we won.

“And now it’s exactly different. At home we’re feeling very strong and competitive and we’re winning difficult matches and playing very well.

“Away in the last three matches we haven’t been playing like we have been doing. That is one issue I’m working on and analysing with the players.

“Overall we are making very good progress individually and collectively as a team.”

Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has told Tottenham that qualifying for the Champions League is far tougher than it was before.

Villa host Spurs on Saturday with the two sides still in the hunt for European football next season, but with hopes of claiming a top-four Premier League place all but over for both.

Tottenham – Champions League finalists in 2019 who reached the round of 16 this season – are sixth, six points behind fourth-placed Manchester United having played a game more.

Eighth-placed Villa’s late bid to break into the top four was ended by successive 1-0 away defeats to United and Wolves over the last fortnight.

“Their expectation in the beginning was to be in the top four,” ex-Arsenal boss Emery said of his former North London neighbours.

“It’s now more difficult than it was five to 10 years ago. There are now seven teams trying to be in the top four.

“Maybe Aston Villa now as well. It’s more difficult.”

Tottenham’s search for a first trophy since League Cup success in 2008 has seen them turn to Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte since Mauricio Pochettino’s departure in November 2019.

Neither Mourinho nor Conte, both perennial winners, could sprinkle their stardust on Spurs and caretaker boss Ryan Mason now has the task of trying to secure European football next season.

Mason’s three matches in charge so far have produced a win, a draw and a defeat, with the latest game being a 1-0 home victory over Crystal Palace.

Emery said: “Tottenham have had some problems in the last month but they have very good players.

“The last match they played against Palace they kept good balance tactically and they have very powerful players in the transition, being strong defensively.

“They have very good players who can make different tactical decisions.

“The last matches against them at home here, (Villa) have struggled and it’s now a challenge to get a good performance at home.

“We have to believe in our players, in our tactical way we are progressing. That is the match on Saturday.

“To play a great match, spirit and playing and trying to get at them. They have a three-goal difference with us but our mind is to be very competitive and to get better.”

Villa quartet Boubacar Kamara, Leon Bailey, Matty Cash and Philippe Coutinho are all available.

“It’s the first time in the last month we have everybody ready to be in the squad for Saturday,” Emery said.

“Only Jed Steer is out but Cash, Kamara, Bailey, Coutinho – in the last match they were in the squad but not ready 100 per cent to play.

“Some players are still not ready to play 90 minutes, but they’re ready to be in the squad and ready to play.”

Harry Kane has insisted Tottenham should view the Europa Conference League as a chance to end the club’s trophy drought if they are involved in the competition next season.

Spurs remain in the hunt for European football after Saturday’s 1-0 win over Crystal Palace where Kane’s first-half header helped move them up to sixth in the Premier League.

Brighton, in seventh, are still favourites for Europa League qualification given they have three games in hand and are only two points off Tottenham.

A top-seven finish and therefore at least a Europa Conference League spot could be guaranteed for Spurs with victory at eighth-placed Aston Villa on Saturday but some fans have recently debated whether Europe’s third-tier tournament would be an inconvenience.

The England captain disagrees and despite uncertainty over his future, Tottenham have no intention of selling the forward this summer, which means he could play in the Europa Conference League next season.

“We’ve got three games left, a big game against Villa next week away,” Kane said.

“Obviously Brighton have a few games in hand on us. If we can come away from this season with European football, that’s a small prize at the end of a tough season.

“We’ll be fighting for that and fighting in the three games to try to pick up three wins.

“Ultimately I like to play football games no matter what competition it is. That’s what you deserve from where you finish in the season.

“You can’t disrespect any competition that you play in. It’s one of those, if you end up in the Conference League and win it, it’s worth it. If you don’t, then people probably look at it as an inconvenience.

“But when you’ve been at a club where we haven’t won a trophy for 15 years, if we do end up in it, it could be an opportunity to try and put that to bed.”

Kane’s 209th Premier League goal settled a drab contest with Palace after Tottenham kept their first top-flight clean sheet since February 26.

Ryan Mason, in only his third match since replacing Cristian Stellini as acting head coach, tweaked the 3-4-3 tactics regularly used under Antonio Conte with Spurs playing with a back four out of possession.

Former Tottenham midfielder Mason immediately put his name forward as a candidate to permanently replace Conte last month but Kane preferred to stay out of the managerial talk.

“We’re all behind him. We know the club is in a situation where I spoke about getting some of the values back. I feel like Ryan brings all those attributes,” Kane added.

“He’s been here through the academy, he knows what it’s like as a fan, he knows what it’s like to play here. With that attitude and that desire, he brings a great enthusiasm to the coaching role here.

“Ultimately it will be down to the chairman (Daniel Levy) and the club what they decide, but for these three games, we’re fully behind him to try to improve and to try to win and see what happens.

“If I end up speaking with the chairman towards the end of the season, then I’m sure he’ll fill me in on what he’s thinking.

“But ultimately we’ve got three more games, we don’t want to look too far ahead and get too carried away.

“The club will make the best decision for everyone, for the players, the fans, for the club in general, so we’ll just have to wait and see what that is.”

Meanwhile, Spurs midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has acknowledged the club must do everything to keep Kane, who enters the final year of his contract this summer.

Hojbjerg said: “Harry is one of those players who will be in the (record) books, in the history for a very long time.

“It is important also for Harry to understand he has a big responsibility and also I think the club has a responsibility to make sure the scenario for him is the best possible.”

Tottenham have launched an investigation after it was alleged Son Heung-min was racially abused by a spectator during Saturday’s match with Crystal Palace.

Footage has circulated on social media of a man in the away end at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium allegedly making a racist gesture towards Son.

The alleged incident occurred in the 89th minute of Spurs’ 1-0 win when South Korea captain Son was replaced by substitute Arnaut Danjuma but had to walk around the outside of the pitch and past the Palace travelling support.

“We are aware of an allegation of racial abuse towards Heung-Min Son during yesterday’s match,” a Tottenham statement read.

“Discrimination of any kind is abhorrent and has no place in society, our game and at our club.

“We are working with Met Police and Crystal Palace to investigate and identify the individual involved.

“We will do everything in our powers to ensure that if found guilty, the individual will receive the strongest possible action – as was the case earlier this season when Son suffered similar racial abuse at Chelsea.”

The PA news agency has contacted Crystal Palace for comment.

Tottenham supporters’ group Spurs REACH, which stands for Race, Ethnicity and Cultural Heritage, wrote on Twitter: “Why oh, who, oh why, do adults in this day and age think that this is an acceptable way to behave towards another human being?

“We sincerely hope that Crystal Palace Football Club identify and ban this individual for life!”

Son was also racially abused during a match between Chelsea and Tottenham at Stamford Bridge in August.

Chelsea banned a season-ticket holder indefinitely after footage emerged on social media of a fan in the home end making a racist gesture towards the Spurs attacker in the 2-2 draw.

The Crown Prosecution Service in March issued the Chelsea supporter with an order banning him from attending live football matches for three years.

Ryan Mason paid tribute to the collective after Tottenham claimed a first clean sheet in the Premier League since February.

Harry Kane’s first-half header, his 28th goal of the season, earned Spurs a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday that kept them in the hunt for a top-six finish.

Kane moved ahead of Wayne Rooney into second on the all-time Premier League goal-scorer list with his 209th top-flight strike but it was the other end of the pitch where Tottenham’s improvement was noticeable.

After conceding six at Newcastle and four at Liverpool during the last two weekends, Mason used his full week on the training pitch to tweak the 3-4-3 system used for the best part of 18 months since Antonio Conte took over.

Spurs went with a back four out of possession and it worked to good effect after Palace were limited to minimal chances with the hosts able to register a first league clean sheet since February 26 versus Chelsea.

“When you keep a clean sheet, it’s a collective. It’s everyone and everyone fought for the clean sheet,” Mason said.

“The players on the pitch but also the ones who didn’t because in the training week we’ve all worked hard together and they’re the results you want.

“We understand the importance of the win and the clean sheet as well is a great response from the players because maybe mentally when you concede so many goals in a short space of time, it can have an impact but the players have worked hard.

“The whole squad has worked hard on the training pitch. We’ve had a bit of time together to try and influence things and they responded. I thought it was a cagey game but overall we deserved the three points.”

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Spurs have spent the whole of this season using a 3-4-3 system but Cristian Stellini, who stepped up from assistant to replace Conte, went with a back four at Newcastle last month.

It ended up having disastrous consequences with Tottenham 5-0 down inside 21 minutes and Stellini ultimately losing his job as acting head coach as a result.

Mason hinted upon taking charge it would be hard for him to make changes for the Manchester United and Liverpool fixtures, but after a week on the training ground reverted to a back four, which he used in his previous caretaker spell in 2021.

He added: “We added a sixth man into the press and tried to be a bit more aggressive.

“I have to compliment the players because when you’ve been working in a certain way for so long, to make that change at this stage of the season it’s very positive for me.”

Roy Hodgson, who watched Crystal Palace lose for only a second time since his return, acknowledged the respect Spurs had given the visitors with their formation.

“I saw us on the ball for large periods of the game and I saw us attempting to get into the right areas,” he said.

“We didn’t have the success we had last week (against West Ham) or the weeks before, but that’s a credit to Tottenham deciding to defend as they did against us.

“It’s never easy to find that bit of space when there are a lot of players in and around the box.”

Roy Hodgson labelled Harry Kane as one of the best players in world football and expects his goal-threat to pose a hard challenge for Crystal Palace during their visit to Tottenham on Saturday.

The Spurs and England striker has scored 25 times this Premier League campaign, with four games remaining to try and better his record tally of 30 goals from the 2017/18 season.

Former Three Lions boss Hodgson, who handed Kane his senior international debut in 2015, lauded Tottenham’s talisman, whose form has been a shining light for the north London club despite their struggles throughout a turbulent campaign.

The Palace managed said: “Kane is one of the very best players in world football and is an outstanding goalscorer.

“The need for you to defend well as a group becomes even harder, because one thing we aren’t going to do or be capable of doing is to say we are going to nullify Harry Kane because ‘X’ is going to mark him and that’s the end of the story. We know that won’t be able to work.

“We’re going to do it by good corporate defending. We’ll have to try and restrict as much as we can any good service to him.

“We’ll have to be very much aware when he’s in and around the penalty area, where we’ve got to get close to him and try and stop the space he has to create the room he needs to get the shots away. When he gets shots away they go in the goal, it’s what we’ve seen for the last goodness knows how long.

“I have an awful amount of respect for Harry Kane. He made his debut with England while I was the manager, and over the years I’ve watched him go from strength to strength and get better and better and cause havoc with almost all the defences he meets.”

Palace have witnessed an upturn in form under Hodgson since his return in March, having picked up four wins in six – a run the manager attributes to the defensive performances of his team.

Last month’s consecutive clean sheets against Southampton and Everton were the first time the Eagles had done so since April 2022 under former manager Patrick Vieira.

“Much of our work is on defending,” said Hodgson.

“If you wanted to say to me what’s most impressed you about (Michael) Olise, (Eberechi) Eze, (Jordan) Ayew, (Wilfried) Zaha and (Jeffrey) Schlupp, it’s been there defending work, how well they’ve defended from the front, how well they’ve screened things off and made it difficult for teams in midfield to play.

“Marc Guehi and (Joachim) Andersen are very good players. They’re good defenders and good on the ball, which is very useful because it helps you start attacks, switch play and develop the composure you need to build attacks up.

“They’re both very useful to the club and would be to any club because they’re good players.”

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson remains wary of the threat posed by Harry Kane and his Tottenham team-mates, despite their London rivals’ recent struggles.

Spurs, under interim boss Ryan Mason, host Palace on Saturday looking to end a four-match winless run which has included three defeats.

Hodgson in contrast has won four of his six games since returning to Palace, including a thrilling 4-3 win over West Ham last time out.

Tottenham were on the wrong end of the same scoreline against Liverpool in their last game, conceding a stoppage-time winner moments after equalising, but Hodgson, who gave Kane his England debut in 2015, is not reading too much into their poor form.

“I think the danger for all teams that go to (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium) is that you’re up against a good team with very good players,” he said. “I think Harry Kane is very close to world class, if not in my opinion fully deserving of it.

“There’s a lot of players in their team as well who have got incredible ability. They’re still vying for a Champions League place, we know how difficult a game it will be.

“Crystal Palace when I was at the club didn’t go to Tottenham and win matches, so if we do that it will probably be a first for me I should think.”

Palace’s win over West Ham saw his team hit the 40-point mark and Hodgson wants his players to maintain their drive and ambition.

“I’m hoping more from my point of view to finish the season well,” he said. “I think it’s been a very good six games and 13 points is an excellent reward from six games, but I’d like that to be a good reward now after 10 games and that would be dependent on how much drive and ambition players have.

“I can’t guarantee the players will maintain their desire, but they’ll be given every opportunity

“We need to keep winning and to win you need the lot. You need the desire, the attitude, focus, preparation, quality of attacking play, quality of defending play. You need to be switched on at all times over the course of the game, you need to defend set-plays well, you need to use your own set-plays very well and then you need that little bit of luck.”

Hodgson was full of praise for his side’s attacking players.

The four goals against the Hammers meant Palace have now scored 13 times in his six games at the helm.

“The attacking talent we have in that front six is good without a shadow of a doubt,” he said.

“We’re talking about playing at the highest level (in the Premier League). I am full of praise and admiration for them and I can only hope that they will go on for even more success as the seasons go by.”

Harry Kane may struggle to resist the temptation to leave Tottenham in search of major honours at the end of the season, believes former Spurs striker Frederic Kanoute.

While Kane has hit 25 Premier League goals during another fine individual campaign, his quest to win a first major trophy never looked likely to end during a frustrating season for Spurs.

Tottenham sit nine points adrift of the top four after Sunday's dramatic 4-3 defeat at Liverpool, and chairman Daniel Levy has already sacked two head coaches in the form of Antonio Conte and his interim replacement Cristian Stellini.

With Kane about to enter the final 12 months of his contract, reports have suggested he could be targeted by Manchester United in the upcoming transfer window, while Paris Saint-Germain are also said to hold an interest in the 29-year-old.

Kane wanted to leave Tottenham for Manchester City in 2021, and Kanoute believes the England captain could be enticed by the prospect of an exit this time around.

Speaking to Stats Perform at LaLiga x Bloomsbury Football League event, Kanoute said: "I can't speak on his behalf but, obviously, the fans would be really, really disappointed if he leaves the club because he's been fantastic.

"At the same time, I think they understand as well that it could be a good opportunity, a huge opportunity for him to win trophies.

"I think he will be a little bit conflicted in the next choice he is going to have to make."

Tottenham are yet to name Conte's permanent successor, with Ryan Mason taking the reins as acting head coach following Stellini's exit.

With the likes of Julian Nagelsmann, Xabi Alonso and Vincent Kompany linked with the role, Kanoute has urged Spurs to look to the future with their next appointment.

"I wish all the best for Mason and I hope he's going to do a great job, but we all think it's going to be temporary," he said.

"Obviously the next appointment is going to be super important as I think it should be a long-term appointment, but as we know nowadays in football, there's not much patience. 

"I just hope the new coach will start with a few wins that will bring some positive momentum for the club.

"It's obvious that they're missing silverware and that's all the Tottenham fans are hoping that Tottenham can finally win a trophy, but I think there's a kind of unsettlement in the team. 

"If you want a trophy, you have to build it up, to have a certain stability with the coach, with the philosophy of what kind of football you want to deliver to the fans.

"I think they're still to reach that stability, so they can finally thrive in their football."

Sevilla great Freddie Kanoute fancies his former side's chances for Europa League glory as they aim to atone for their "very bad" start to the season.

Kanoute remains Sevilla's highest-scoring non-Spanish player in history after netting 136 goals in 290 matches, lifting two UEFA Cups, a UEFA Super Cup and two Copa del Rey trophies during his time there.

The former striker has watched on as his old club struggled this term, dismissing coaches Julen Lopetegui – who is now at Wolves – in October and Jorge Sampaoli in March.

Sevilla have finally settled under the stewardship of Jose Luis Mendilibar, the LaLiga side reaching the Europa League semi-finals where they will face Juventus in a two-legged affair across this month.

Mendilibar's team also sit 11th in the Spanish top flight and Kanoute remains relieved to see an upturn in form for Sevilla, who overcame Manchester United in the Europa League quarter-final last month.

Kanoute, speaking to Stats Perform at LaLiga x Bloomsbury Football League event, said: "There are no other words, very bad at the beginning, they were struggling a lot, a couple of changes of coaches, which always unsettles the team.

"In the last few weeks, they've been improving, winning some important games and, at least they're not in the relegation battle anymore.

"I think they are ending the season quite well and it also reflects what they're doing in the Europa League, so hopefully they're going to have a great end of the season."

Kanoute played in the Premier League for West Ham and then Tottenham before his move in 2005 to Sevilla's Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

The former Mali international scored 43 goals in 144 Premier League appearances but Kanoute believes there is little difference between two of Europe's top divisions now.

"My record says that I've scored more goals in LaLiga, it's not necessarily harder in the Premier League," he added. "I think it depends on your style. It depends on the kind of football you're playing.

"It depends on your understanding of the game, but I would say there are fewer and fewer differences between the style because football now is so global and you have so much influence from foreign coaches even here in the Premier League.

"I would say personally, where I enjoyed my football the most was in La Liga because that's where I could win some silverware, but apart from that, it depends on each individual."

Sevilla great Freddie Kanoute fancies his former side's chances for Europa League glory to atone for their "very bad" start to the season.

Kanoute remains Sevilla's highest-scoring non-Spanish player in history after netting 136 goals in 290 matches, lifting two UEFA Cups, a UEFA Super Cup and two Copa del Rey trophies during his time there.

The former striker has watched on as his old club struggled this term, dismissing coaches Julen Lopetegui – who is now at Wolves – in October and Jorge Sampaoli in March.

Sevilla have finally settled under the stewardship of Jose Luis Mendilibar, the LaLiga side reaching the Europa League semi-finals where they will face Juventus in a two-legged affair across this month.

Mendilibar's team also sit 11th in the Spanish top flight and Kanoute remains relieved to see an upturn in form for Sevilla, who overcame Manchester United in the Europa League quarter-final last month.

Kanoute, speaking to Stats Perform at LaLiga x Bloomsbury Football League event, said: "There are no other words, very bad at the beginning, they were struggling a lot, a couple of changes of coaches, which always unsettles the team.

"In the last few weeks, they've been improving, winning some important games and, at least they're not in the relegation battle anymore.

"I think they are ending the season quite well and it also reflects what they're doing in the Europa League, so hopefully they're going to have a great end of the season."

Kanoute played in the Premier League for West Ham and then Tottenham before his move in 2005 to Sevilla's Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.

The former Mali international scored 43 goals in 144 Premier League appearances but Kanoute believes there is little difference between two of Europe's top divisions now.

"My record says that I've scored more goals in LaLiga, it's not necessarily harder in the Premier League," he added. "I think it depends on your style. It depends on the kind of football you're playing.

"It depends on your understanding of the game, but I would say there are fewer and fewer differences between the style because football now is so global and you have so much influence from foreign coaches even here in the Premier League.

"I would say personally, where I enjoyed my football the most was in La Liga because that's where I could win some silverware, but apart from that, it depends on each individual."

Tottenham’s habit of starting games slowly left Harry Kane exasperated after Sunday’s 4-3 defeat at Anfield.

Liverpool raced into a 3-0 lead inside the first 15 minutes before Spurs fought back to 3-3, only to concede a stoppage-time winner.

“Dreadful start in the first 20 minutes, not the first time it’s happened this season, so we need to start understanding moments better, start understanding big games better,” Kane said.

Here, the PA news agency picks out some key stats behind Tottenham’s slow starts.

Wait and see

Only a third of Tottenham’s 63 Premier League goals this season have been scored in the first half, the lowest share of any team in the top flight.

If games ended after 45 minutes, Spurs would be ninth in the league, with 10 wins out of 34 and a goal difference of -9 (21 goals scored compared with 30 conceded).

In contrast, their record in the second period – 17 victories and a goal difference of +15 (42 goals for, 27 against) – is bettered by only Manchester City and Arsenal.

Tottenham were even more conservative in cup competitions under previous manager Antonio Conte.

Apart from netting three times in the opening 36 minutes at home to Eintracht Frankfurt, Spurs failed to score before half-time in 11 of their 12 matches in the Champions League, FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

Mountain to climb

Tottenham have consistently fallen behind in games, conceding the first goal in 18 of their 34 Premier League fixtures.

They have shipped 20 goals in the first 25 minutes of matches – the most in the division – nine of which have come in the last three games against top-four rivals Newcastle, Manchester United and Liverpool.

Having conceded five in the opening 21 minutes at St James’ Park in the second-worst start to a match in Premier League history (behind Watford who shipped five in 18 minutes against Manchester City in 2019), Spurs have since allowed early goals by United’s Jadon Sancho and Liverpool’s Curtis Jones, Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah.

Inviting pressure

Tottenham’s underlying numbers suggest that their cautious first-half approach could be a deliberate tactic.

In the Premier League, they have taken a total of 205 shots in the first period, while allowing 240 efforts on their own goal.

Aston Villa, Fulham and Brentford are the only other teams in the top half of the league to have been outshot before half-time.

Spurs look to turn the tables in the second 45 minutes, with 267 shots for compared with 235 against.

They are the only side in the league to have faced fewer shots in the second half – when teams are more likely to be chasing a goal – than the first.