All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur

Production

The series was announced in October 2019, with Tottenham Hotspur becoming the subject of the All or Nothing franchise. Initially eight episodes were planned, but an extra episode was added to cover the season after its suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic. The production crew gained access to the club, installing 25 remotely-operated fixed rig cameras and 66 ambient microphones at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and the training centre in Enfield.

These were placed in the home team dressing room, the offices of key figures including the head coach, and other locations such as the first team's restaurant. For away matches, a camera crew followed the team. Club chairman Daniel Levy sanctioned the access, but manager Pochettino expressed concerns about the extra workload. The series covered little of Pochettino and his sacking, focusing instead on his successor Mourinho.

Editing was done remotely due to lockdown rules and social distancing protocols, and the number of staff was reduced. Goalkeeper Hugo Lloris stated that the production contributed to tensions between players and officials. He wrote that the cameras were installed without player consent, and that despite a rumoured £10 million fee from Amazon to the club, players received no compensation for wearing microphones. Lloris and other players had an agreement that the training dressing room would have no microphones, making it the only place they could speak freely; players also deliberately sat at tables without microphones. Lloris described the series as a constraint with consequences.

Reception

Critical reception was mixed. Stuart Jeffries of The Guardian called the documentary boringly sanitised, arguing that the makers were like embedded war reporters compromised by close association with the subject, and that the series ignored Pochettino's viewpoint in favour of PR footage. Henry Mance of the Financial Times described it as a lot of hype with little delivery, amounting to a first draft of hagiography that was not compulsive viewing.

Michael Hogan of The Daily Telegraph thought it was nearly a glorified puff piece, but was saved by Mourinho's personality, which he found compelling; he noted that viewers never truly got to know the players, who came out suspiciously well. In contrast, Caroline Framke of Variety considered the series revealing and dynamic television about a team reinventing itself amid turmoil, calling it an improvement on the previous installment All or Nothing: Manchester City.