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With all the attention of the media spotlight on the new huge marquee signings of both players and managers at the likes of Manchester Utd, Manchester City and Chelsea among others, the one team being overlooked in the title race this season is the team who are arguably in the best position for this season, that is Tottenham Hotspur.
Unlike their rivals who’ve been on the biggest shopping spree ever seen in a transfer window, Spurs have very quietly added to their squad and help improve the depth of their squad which was lacking last season, in spite of how impressive they were last campaign. Mauricio Pochettino even took a cheeky dig at Spurs’ rivals, claiming that they were spending due to feeling panic about the state of their squads, adding that he was very happy with what he has at White Hart Lane.
So far this summer, Spurs have brought in midfield enforcer Victor Wanyama from Southampton, a player Pochettino brought to the south coast club, after the Kenyan enjoyed three successful seasons at St Mary’s. Also, Spurs ended their wait to buy a striker to give some competition to Harry Kane in the form of Holland forward, Vincent Janssen. Janssen scored 27 goals in 34 games last season for AZ Alkmaar and at only 21-years old, he fits into the Pochettino mould of young promising player who can only get better.
So looking back at last season, where do Spurs need to improve, it’s hard to tell, it’s easy to forget that last season, Tottenham scored the second highest number of goals, conceded the fewest goals of any sides in the Premier League and only lost six games throughout the entirety of last season. Also last season, Pochettino’s team won more points from losing position than any other team in the Premier League, 18 points won from those situations. So looking back Spurs already have the nucleus of which to build another strong title challenge this season.
There are, though, some areas that Pochettino will look for his side to improve on, chiefly, converting more wins in games. Spurs drew 13 games last season, the second highest amount of any team, so by turning over most of those draws into victories in tight games is one part of Tottenham’s need for improvement. Another one is being able to finish off matches. Spurs lost 20 points from winning positions last season in League matches, more than any other side. This inability to close out a tight game is something that Pochettino will want to see rectified in the upcoming campaign.
Another area is discipline. Spurs players were given more yellow cards than any other team last season, but ironically never had a player sent off. But some players ill-discipline did prove costly last season. Dele Alli got himself suspended for three games towards the end of last season for punching a player in the 1-1 draw against WBA, there were many small examples, but the one every Spurs fan still remembers is ‘The Battle of the Bridge’.
Knowing they had to win to keep the title race alive, Spurs raced into a two-goal lead away at Chelsea before the game then descended into madness. Mousa Dembele eye-gouged Diego Costa, which earned him a six-Game ban, which is still in effect at the start of this season, Kyle Walker was involved in a number of incidents, including a deliberate off the ball trip on Eden Hazard, and Erik Lamela was shown to be treading on the hand of Cesc Fabregas.
Eric Dier was very fortunate to stay on the pitch after a number of sliding tackles. Even after the final whistle of the game, the players continued to have scuffles in the tunnel. This show of rashness proved that while Tottenham were no longer a team that can be bullied around, it did show that more maturity would be required in the future to prevent this from happening again.
Then there’s the team, Pochettino will feel confident once again in Harry Kane leading the line up front. Also with Dele Alli, Eric Dier, the resurgent Erik Lamela, Toby Alderweireld, Hugo Lloris and others in the squad will all be looked at to keep up their amazing form from last season. In addition, it’s very likely that more of the young academy prospects from N17 will be stepping up to the first-team. It’s no secret that Pochettino has a soft spot for bringing in youth talent and Spurs have that in abundance.
The likes of Josh Onomah, Harry Winks, Cameron Carter-Vickers and also the very highly regarded 17-Year Old Marcus Edwards have all featured prominently throughout the pre-season for Spurs and Tottenham’s fans should be excited by the next generation of talent coming through the doors of North London’s Lilywhites.
So ultimately what are the chances of Spurs winning their first League title since 1961? In short, they’re very good, with the improved squad, the continuing development of an already very good side, combined with a meticulous young manager who is seeking to step up again, it’s highly possible that Tottenham Hotspur could finish their final season at White Hart Lane with the fitting farewell, being crowned the new Premier League champions.
