On September 4, TA published an article discussing Tottenham one year after former chairman Daniel Levy's departure. The article suggested that while it remained difficult to draw firm conclusions about the management change, Tottenham had genuinely entered a "post-Levy era" with the club breaking with tradition over the summer by spending heavily on transfers to strengthen the squad. The team's performance will now be the key factor in determining whether this decision was justified.

The article's contents are as follows:

Last Friday marked exactly one year since Daniel Levy walked into a meeting room in London and was informed that his 24-year tenure as Tottenham chairman had ended.

It remains the most significant event in modern Tottenham history. The club's 24-year "Levy era" suddenly concluded, and nearly everything that has happened to Tottenham over the past year has been overshadowed by that September moment.

Or, to put it differently, perhaps "absence" is more accurate than "shadow." The void left by Levy's departure has been continuously filled by the Lewis family and the club's leadership. There is a vivid analogy within the club: last season was like an airplane that had to be rebuilt mid-flight without crashing.

Regardless of how it is understood, however, the decision to remove Levy marked the starting point for external scrutiny of Tottenham.

At that time, few could judge whether the decision was correct. When Levy was dismissed, the reasons cited by the club primarily concerned the team's performance both on and off the pitch. And if that logic is accepted, then whether the decision would prove successful clearly could not be answered immediately.

Perhaps the safest approach to Levy's dismissal is not to rush to conclusions, but to take a longer-term view.

Even amid the chaos of last season, it was difficult to pinpoint exactly who bore responsibility for the problems Tottenham faced.

Sometimes it even felt as though the entire club could have completely lost control.

The most emblematic moment came on April 25. Tottenham faced a major crisis: a loss would have left them four points behind West Ham United with only four league matches remaining.

Of course, everyone now knows the outcome.

João Palhinha scored the decisive goal in the closing minutes against Wolves, narrowing the gap between Tottenham and West Ham to two points, and Tottenham ultimately overtook them in the final stages of the season.

But the problem was that while the danger was very real, responsibility was hard to assign.

Some would argue that the new leadership after Levy's departure bears responsibility for moving too slowly in the winter transfer window, delaying necessary changes; for keeping Thomas Frank as manager too long before switching to Igor Tudor amid chaos.

However, another view holds that Levy was the one who originally appointed Frank, and Tottenham's squad at that point was no longer equipped to compete in the Premier League.

Some will praise the club's leadership for ultimately securing a top manager like Roberto De Zerbi and helping the team escape their predicament; others will criticize them for making this decision only at the end of March, which was too late.

This is not to re-argue the details of these issues, nor is it an attempt to reach a final conclusion by reviewing all the details.

These debates may never truly end in our lifetimes.

What really matters is that based solely on what happened last season, a simple judgment of "right" or "wrong" regarding Levy's departure cannot be made.

Perhaps truly clear answers will begin to emerge this summer.

Over the past three months, Tottenham has virtually completely reversed its longstanding transfer approach.

They have invested unprecedented transfer fees in club history, signing three players over the summer with transfer fees exceeding the club's previous record—João Félix, Sandro Tonali, and Archie Gray.

They have also broken their longstanding wage structure.

The club has not only been willing to pay new signings like Tonali significantly higher wages than previous standards but has also offered substantially increased new contracts to existing players such as Pedro Porro and Micky van de Ven.

Meanwhile, Tottenham's approach to selling players has also changed considerably.

They no longer stubbornly wait for what is called the "perfect offer" but have become more pragmatic in handling players who wish to leave.

Throughout last season, Tottenham fans waited to see whether the positive changes promised by the new leadership would actually materialize.

Now, no one can reasonably claim they are still waiting for action, waiting for change, or waiting for the club to actually invest money in the team.

At the start of this summer's transfer window, the Lewis family injected £100 million into the club, and it would not be surprising if additional investments follow.

These changes represent Tottenham's most complete break with the past.

Of course, transfer policy is only part of the club's behind-the-scenes changes over the past year.

Tottenham has also made numerous senior appointments, completely overhauled the team's performance and medical departments, and upgraded facilities at the training ground.

Nevertheless, this dramatic summer transfer window is only the first step.

Now this is truly a "post-Levy" Tottenham, which was not the case a year ago.

We are gradually moving away from an era in which all the team's struggles and failures could simply be attributed to the former chairman.

The "Levy ghost" that once haunted the club is gradually fading away.

This also means that the outside world will soon begin to truly evaluate Tottenham's current leadership and ownership based on their own decisions and results.

Over the past year, Vivian Lewis and Charles Lewis of the Lewis family have appeared in the Tottenham stands on numerous occasions.

However, in pure results terms, things have not been encouraging.

Since Tottenham began their "reset" last year, they have won only 8 of 37 Premier League matches, averaging just 0.94 points per game during that period.

Therefore, if the Lewis family's decisions ultimately prove correct—a successful overhaul—the only way to truly demonstrate this is for Tottenham to achieve better results this season.

Football's core logic is this: first you see who wins on the pitch, and then you reason about why based on the results.

Even with Tottenham's less-than-ideal start to the season, there remain ample reasons for optimism about the future.

They possess one of their strongest and deepest squads in many years, with proven talent at virtually every position.

They have a world-class head coach and a united dressing room behind him.

All the fundamental positive conditions are in place.

No one is asking Tottenham to work miracles.

What everyone truly expects to see is clear, visible progress.

If progress can be achieved this season, then theoretically they will be even stronger next season.

Over the past year, one of the most frequently mentioned words within Tottenham has been "empowerment"—putting the right people in key positions and providing them with full support.

De Zerbi has certainly received strong backing from the club, perhaps even more than he expected.

Next, he must continue to prove all of this through results.

Because now he is defending not only his own coaching reputation but also that of the leadership that supported him.

If De Zerbi can build an excellent team and lead Tottenham to success this season, then everything that has happened over the past year—beginning with Levy's departure in September last year—will ultimately be vindicated in the eyes of the fans.

By then, people will probably also stop rehashing this "history" and instead look forward to the future with genuine optimism.

But if Tottenham continues to struggle, if the massive investment ultimately fails to deliver as hoped, if the new strategy proves ineffective, then questions about "whether it was all worth it" will resurface.

For now, the answer remains open-ended.

One year has been enough for Tottenham to undergo significant changes, but it is not enough to prove whether the end of the Levy era represents a successful restart or the beginning of another long adventure.

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