Why Tottenham Hotspur could still finish in the top four this season
Mauricio Pochettino is a Tottenham Hotspur legend. Yes, he hasn’t won a trophy yet and the League Cup in 2008 remains their last piece of silverware in recent times. However, the impact Pochettino has had on the club is gigantic.
Spurs had finished 6th in the table in the 2013/14 season when Daniel Levy decided to bring in Mauricio Pochettino from Southampton. In the four seasons since his appointment, Spurs have finished 5th, 3rd, 2nd and 3rd in the Premier League. He brought the club from the anonymity to a consistent top-four team.
If we consider last season, Spurs finished 3rd with 77 points, 4 points behind Manchester United. The Londoners have always been a flaky team away from home, particularly against top-six sides and the previous term proved that point.
A lot has been said about the Londoners’ lack of business in the summer and how they became the first club in Premier League history to not sign a single player. But there is another side to this story too. Spurs, in fact, kept all their star players at the club and offered extended contracts to a lot of them.
Yes, bringing in new faces is important but what the outsiders fail to see is the cohesion in this team. The likes of Dele Alli, Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Kieran Trippier, Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld, Danny Rose, Hugo Lloris, Mousa Dembele and Eric Dier have been together at the club for more than 3 years now. These set of players, most of which are England and Belgium internationals, share a special bond between themselves and with their manager. They are well-versed in his tactics and the manager knows his troops inside out.
To freshen up the squad, Pochettino can always bring in talented youngsters like Luke Amos and Oliver Skipp from the academy.
Manchester City are the clear favourites to win the title again and Liverpool are seen as their biggest competitors. But Spurs are running under the radar here. The fact that no Premier League team has retained the title since that legendary Manchester United side in 2009, makes it tough for City as well.
The Red Devils haven’t started the season well while Chelsea and Arsenal are rebuilding their teams under new management and have to deal with the Europa League as the season progresses.
This gives Spurs a perfect chance to cement their place in the top four and, who knows, perhaps even mount a serious title challenge. They have begun brightly, winning 3 out of 3, which includes an impressive win over United at Old Trafford.
Even with their current squad, they are capable of achieving great results, like they showed against Real Madrid at home and Juventus away last season. But now, its Pochettino’s job is to get that final blockade away – the mental blockade. This has been hampering Spurs’ chances of becoming a top team. They have lived in the shadows for far too long, now it’s their time to take the centre stage.
