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'Just inexcusable' – Daniel Levy blamed for mistake that cost Tottenham Hotspur dear

Originally posted on To The Lane And Back
By Jainil Shah | Last updated Sep 8, 2025 9:41 AM ET

Daniel Levy called out for premature end to Mauricio Pochettino’s Tottenham Hotspur reign

Tottenham Hotspur have had Daniel Levy at the helm for quite a while. And the 63-year-old club chairman has been an integral figure for as long as most of the Lilywhites faithful can remember. He is quite responsible for transforming the North Londoners into the financial giants that they are off the pitch, and yet at times we saw Tottenham often left short when it mattered most on it.

Levy stepped down last week from his position after almost 25 years in charge of the club. His tenure had two major trophies but then countless near misses and one glaring regret, which would be the collapse of the Mauricio Pochettino era.

The Pochettino peak and how Daniel Levy ruined it

Between 2015 and 2019, we saw Tottenham grow at a rapid pace under the Argentine manager. We touched levels that the Lilywhites hadn’t seen for decades. His Tottenham had a runners-up season where they had 86 points in 2016/17, and they also reached a Champions League final in 2019. And at that time Tottenham were playing some of the best football in Europe.

But just as it was looking like Tottenham would cement themselves among the elites in European football, Daniel Levy decided to pull that handbrake.

We saw Pochettino going two full transfer windows without a single signing. And that failure to strengthen at that point left what was a brilliant roster to stagnate as we saw rivals continue to strengthen.

Wenham lashes into Levy for Pochettino failure

And speaking in a recent interview with Tottenham News, John Wenham, owner of the reputed Spurs podcast Lilywhite Rose, didn’t hold back. He said:

“This wasn’t a couple of Carabao Cups; this was competing for the real biggest honours that the likes of Real Madrid and Liverpool win, and Pochettino took us that close.

“And that team, when you look at it in hindsight, was as good as some of those teams, and unfortunately, he went two transfer windows without signing anybody, which is just inexcusable not to build on our position of strength, to really push on.”

This saw the North Londoners crash out of the Champions League in humiliating fashion, and Pochettino was sacked within 18 months. What should have been the start of an era at Hotspur Way instead came to a halt because of Levy’s failure.

Author Opinion

If we look back to his time at Tottenham, Pochettino didn’t just build a team; he built a belief among the supporters at White Hart Lane. He had one of the best cores that Spurs have ever had in Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen. And then the duo of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld gave Tottenham that needed defensive steel.

At their peak, Tottenham went toe-to-toe with Manchester City and Liverpool, and fans dared to believe…

This article first appeared on To The Lane And Back and was syndicated with permission.

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