By their fairly recent standards, this has been a vintage season for Tottenham Hotspurs. A good spell where players and manager are working well together, with early cup exits, heavy defeats and a grumbling manager that sucked the life out of the players’ confidence.
As we end the season, Spurs will not be taking part in any European football next season and, with many uncertain aspects yet to be dealt with, there is no confidence that things will be any better next season. For Spurs’ fans, the only thing they celebrated is Man City winning the league, avoiding the embarrassment of Arsenal winning the league and Spurs finishing outside of Europe. Join us as we run back the clock and investigate the topsy-turvy season that Tottenham Hotspurs endured.
THE PEAK
Tottenham Hotspurs are the only other team this season to have occupied first place other than Arsenal or Man City; definitely strange to think about. The actual peak was on Saturday, March 18th, when Spurs took the lead again after being pegged back 1-1 by Southampton, which would have given them third place in the table. We all know what happened after.
In the first half of the season, Tottenham almost gave teams a head start, letting them score first and almost provoking them to play the best football, which was good when they managed to turn it around. The late winning goals in thrilling comebacks against Leeds and Bournemouth were fun to watch; same goes for the dramatic last kick against Marseille, earning Spurs a spot in the knockout stage of the Champions League.
Another highlight was Harry Kane’s goal that meant he broke Jimmy Greaves’ goal-scoring record, making Kane the outright top goal scorer in Spurs’ history. Fans who were present during that match will treasure that moment for ages and would count it as an ‘I was there’ moment.
THE LOW POINT
During this season, Tottenham had it all, fans might have said at one point, ‘oh this can’t get any worse’, but it did. Two managers sacked, one managing director banned from football, Arsenal did the double over them, several protests against Daniel Levy and a couple of painful defeats along the way.
The first signs of decline popped up in the fifth round of the FA Cup, when Spurs got Sheffield United. Antonio Conte decided to rest Harry Kane, but the result was a defeat, turning Spurs from a one-man team into a mass of nothingness. That kickstarted a negative spiral that they failed to recover from. However, that did not represent the low point, that was to come at St James’ Park when, inside 20 minutes Newcastle scored five and Spurs looked shell-shocked.
KEY AREAS TO IMPROVE
Spurs are now being considered a manager graveyard after the short stint of Nuno Espirito Santo and two unsuccessful runs by Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte as they all failed to rekindle the joy under Maurizio Pochettino.It’s now time to take a step back and think long and hard about who should take charge of the team for next season and beyond. A coherent plan has to be devised, who would be a good fit not only in terms of manager quality but also depending on the personnel available. Now Spurs do not have Champions League football as a luxury to rely on when trying to coax players to join, so that might be difficult during the summer window.
Another key appointment needs to be done for a director of football, a new defence, a new goalkeeper, some creative players and another goal-scorer. All of which suggests that the club need a hefty budget, which they don’t have. Pedro Porro and Yves Bissouma’s performance against Leeds may offer some hope at least, with the Portugese having a positive impact since joining from Sporting.
In our opinion the most important thing is keeping hold of Harry Kane and sort out his contract. Speculation last summer was that he might join Man City, but he remained at Spurs due to Conte going into his second season in charge and Champions League football, this summer; Kane won’t have the reassurance of quality manager or European football. Offers from either Real Madrid or Manchester United might just tempt him to move – shocking isn’t it.
PLAYERS SURPLUS TO REQUIREMENTS
The protagonists of this abysmal season are clear, and football fans will be scratching their heads if the likes of Eric Dier, Emerson Royal or Davinson Sanchez start the first game of the next season for Spurs. Some just don’t fit the bill, Emerson Royal endured a redemption story at a certain point in the season, but he soon fell into his usual sub-par performances. Eric Dier and others have been at the club for many years and some parties may feel it’s time to move on, whilst others are not just the calibre of players that will improve Spurs up the table.
PREDICTED FINISH FOR NEXT SEASON
It’s difficult to state which position could be achieved for Spurs, it all depends on the manager that they bring in and the players he recruits to assemble the new look of Tottenham Hotspurs. Concentrating on the Premier League only, with no extra mid-week games might be a blessing in disguise for them as they look to get back into Europe for next season.
At the moment it’s hard to give a definitive answer where they might finish next season but as things stand, they might be looking at another season out of Europe.