Tottenham Hotspur were condemned to another miserable Premier League defeat against David Moyes' Everton, with Ange Postecoglou watching in horror as his side lost 3-2 and were dismantled across the opening half hour.
Iliman Ndiaye wreaked havoc with a feathered dribble into the danger area, making a beeline toward goal and rifling a strike past new Spurs 'keeper Antonin Kinsky.
But the hard truth is that Tottenham weren't even undone by blips and lapses, instead culpable of long stretches of abject football. Postecoglou will feel bitterly aggrieved after a season laden with injuries, but the performance put in at Goodison Park was inexcusable.
Aside from a spirited late effort (in vain), it was pretty grim viewing, with inquiries sure to be held in the wake of a damaging defeat that has left Tottenham in 15th place. Radu Dragusin, once again, was at the epicentre of the drama.
Radu Dragusin struggles again
Defensively, Tottenham were shambolic. Dragusin has been dealt a tough hand at times this season, thrown into the deep end, but it's hard to look past the 22-year-old's lack of authority and resistance.
Football.london's Alasdair Gold could only hand Dragusin a 3/10 match rating, criticising his role in Ndiaye's goal for 2-0 where he was turned inside out and left in the Toffees forward's dust. The Romanian was hesitant and uninspiring. Tottenham desperately need Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven to return from respective injuries.
Play was halted before half-time as Dragusin was treated for a cut after Dominic Calvert-Lewin accidentally elbowed him. He eventually returned to the field but did not make it back out, replaced by Richarlison.
Having made four errors across his 15 Premier League appearances this season, Dragusin is clearly struggling to succeed in this Spurs system - or lack thereof. However, he's not the only one, with the supposedly high-class Pedro Porro looking bleakly out of sorts over the past few months.
Why Ange must drop Pedro Porro
Porro is one of Tottenham's most talented players but he's certainly suffered from patchy form this season, with his performance at Goodison Park emblematic of Tottenham's wider problems.
The threadbare nature of the Lilywhite squad has left the Spain international shouldering a heavy burden indeed, and while he looked flimsy and unconvincing against the likes of Ndiaye and Calvert-Lewin, it's clear that the 25-year-old needs a rest.
Porro avoided a lowly 3/10 match rating, but he still had to settle for something not to be desired, with Gold branding the rounded right-back with a 4/10 score and writing: 'Spurs just look so vulnerable down his side. He's played more minutes than anyone and it shows.'
With Romero and Van de Ven both slated for comebacks in the next two weeks, you could argue that Gray is worthy of taking Porro's place at right-back, especially when considering that he's played more football than any other Spurs player in 2024/25 (2,467 minutes).
It was a shoddy day at the office yet again, having been exposed even against lowly Tamworth a week ago. This time it wasn't great either, failing to accomplish a dribble, losing four of his six duels and ceding possession a whopping 19 times.
Frankly, Tottenham might just have to endure over the next few weeks and hope that things will come together when players begin to trickle back in from the infirmary. One thing's for certain though: something needs to change, and dropping Porro for the younger and more robust Gray could be the tactical tweak to send Spurs back toward something promising.