Is This Finally the Year Tottenham Achieve Their Champions League Ambition?
Tottenham Hotspur’s recent history has been a bit too "Spursy" for their liking.
They probably realised that when the club’s name was widely accepted as a mocking verb to describe a team that “consistently and inevitably fails to live up to expectations,” as the Urban Dictionary puts it.
Indeed, every season Spurs plot their assault on finishing in the Premier League’s top four, and every season —almost without exception—they fall short of their objective.
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The White Hart Lane club have promised much in recent seasons, most notably when Gareth Bale was still there, and yet they never seem to move any closer to their grand ambition.
They are not a club with sights on world domination, instead they would be quite content with just a Champions League place. That’s all they want, and four of them are handed out in the Premier League every season.
Still, it’s been over four years since Spurs played at the top level of European club football, finishing fifth in five of the past 10 seasons. But that wait might be about to end.
Whisper it, but as things stand, Tottenham are in good shape to finish in the top four this season. Mauricio Pochettino’s side haven’t suffered a domestic defeat since the narrow opening-day loss to Manchester United at Old Trafford, and are lurking just three points adrift of fourth place. And with every passing game their form seems to improve.
Assuming Leicester City, at some point, fall away it would seem logical to predict that, with Chelsea and Jose Mourinho’s meltdown still continuing, Spurs will claim the final Champions League spot this season.
A re-energised Liverpool side under new manager Jurgen Klopp might pose a threat, but Tottenham would appear to be the front-runners.
Their development under Pochettino has been rapid, with Spurs a mishmash of contrasting ideas and philosophies just a matter of months ago. There were glimpses of what the Argentinian was professing last season, but his squad wasn’t equipped to carry his ideology. Things are different this term, however.
In Toby Alderweireld, Pochettino has found the dynamic defensive figure he lacked last season, with Eric Dier also establishing himself as the protective barrier in front of the back four.
The emergence of Dele Alli as a potent attacking midfielder, with Mousa Dembele also fulfilling his potential in a Spurs shirt, has given them more presence in the centre of the pitch too.
Of course, the progression of Harry Kane has given Spurs the natural goalscorer they have missed since the days of Dimitar Berbatov.
Top-tier goalscorers are the most difficult thing in football to find, but Pochettino has got himself one—with doubts over the 22-year-old's long-term promise quelled by his recent form of six goals in just four games.
What’s more, almost every one of Spurs’ best players are still young with plenty capacity for further improvement. They are growing ever more comfortable with Pochettino’s methods and practices, getting better with each passing match. That improvement is ominous for those looking to challenge Spurs for Champions League qualification this season.
Pochettino has repeated many of the tricks that made him such a success at Southampton, giving English youngsters a chance to flourish—despite adopting a continental style of play.
Arsene Wenger once spoke about his desire to build his Arsenal team around a core of homegrown talent, but it is Spurs who are doing that in north London. Of the club’s 23-man squad, 12 are English, with as many as seven of them considered first-team figures.
White Hart Lane’s homegrown core is so promising they have been drafted into the England team at the earliest possible opportunity. They are the vanguard of the national game’s next generation, as Alli in particular showed with his stunning strike in Tuesday’s international friendly win over France at Wembley. Dier and Kane will also, most likely, be included in Roy Hodgson’s squad for next summer’s European Championships.
Spurs also find themselves part of a growing trend in the Premier League this season. Those with the best defences have risen to the top of the table (with the exception of Leicester), with Tottenham conceding just 10 goals from 10 fixtures. This time last year, Pochettino’s side were five places and, more importantly, four points worse off.
Their improvement can be charted on evidence in the league standings and on the field, although Pochettino must now focus on completing the final stage of Spurs’ development; turning them from a team that’s now difficult to beat, into a winning side.
Tottenham have lost just one Premier League fixture this season, but they have won just five of their 12 games so far—drawing six.
They might have set a precedent for themselves with two wins from their last three outings, but now they must find a way to sustain that form if they are to truly establish themselves as an elite side.
Rather strangely, the confirmation of Spurs’ top-four credentials might have come, not in victory, but in the north London derby draw against Arsenal earlier this month.
They might only have claimed a point, but for 75 minutes of the match, Pochettino’s side were dominant and looked on their way to victory. They were ultimately pegged back to 1-1 but Spurs had already done enough to prove that they weren’t quite so "Spursy" anymore.
Pochettino still doesn’t have that one defining star that so many exceptional teams have, but he now has a team invested in his ways and means. He has a squad now rid of any narcissism or ego, making the most of what he has at the club. It’s a path which could lead to the Champions League.
Arsenal are often decried as English football’s most tedious club, but their north London rivals hold a claim to that title—or at least they have done in recent years.
Something is different at White Hart Lane this season, though. Finally, this might not be the same old Spurs.
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