It’s not been a bad few seasons as a Spurs fan. Not compared with the – on the whole – mediocracy that has been the case for nigh on forty years. It’s what, as a realistic supporter I’ve come to expect. Three top three finishes is more than they’ve had in the last forty years put together.
But I’m even more worried as this season approaches than I was last year. Spurs far exceeded expectations last season. I though playing at Wembley would be a millstone around their necks, that they would finish seventh, go out of all the cups in the first game played, and go out of the Champions’ League at the group stage, even before the draw was made. Finishing third was a surprise, getting out of the group stage was a bonus, and another losing FA Cup semi-final was more than expected. The only one I got right was the exit in the Carabao Cup in the first game vs West Ham, throwing away a two goal lead to lose 3-2. Wembley wasn’t as bad as it could have been, we lost the same amount of games there as we did in our proper designated away games.
However I see no reason for optimism for the forthcoming season. There are five reasons for this.
- The World Cup. Nine of what would be our starting eleven started World Cup games last weekend. There is no way that they will be ready to play at the start of the season, mentally or physically. A three week holiday before a single week of pre-season isn’t enough, especially for players who were looking jaded before lengthy World Cup runs.
- No transfers in. Unless they have been so far under the radar that no news agency has reported them. All I’ve seen are more lengthy contract extensions. Good for keeping important players at the club, but with all other clubs buying players, Spurs needed to have been buying players already this summer. Leaving it until the last minute of the English transfer window is madness. Which is linked to…
- Players leaving. Two of the first team seem destined to leave no matter what. There are no replacements, and with the transfer window for the rest of Europe not closing until well after the English one does, there is plenty of time for those payers to be picked off at will, with no chance to get replacements in as the window is closed for Spurs to get replacements.
- A New Stadium. Yes, it’s still called White Hart Lane, but it an entirely new build. Due to gross incompetence, we will also be playing out first home game of the season at Wembley, before eventually having a proper home game in the middle of September. Regardless of the team playing, it takes time to bed down in a new stadium. It doesn’t feel properly like home for a couple of years, and no one can be sure what the atmosphere would be like. Arsenal struggled to bed in themselves, but they had the advantage that their players had been winning trophies before they moved.
- Mentality. Spurs can’t get over that hump. It’s so long since they’ve won a trophy, it’s like an invisible wall in front of them. There is no doubting that the manager and the team have improved leaps and bounds in the last five years, but they’ve still won nothing, and when the pressure comes down, they always look lost. I don’t think Mauricio Pochettino can get them over that hump. Another semi-final loss, five minutes of madness against Juventus, things that could have been dealt with if there was a proven winning manager in charge. But there isn’t. Much as I may dislike him, Jose Mourhino would have won something with this Spurs squad.
So where do I think this leaves Spurs for the coming season? Struggling to finish sixth, and probably a distance behind the top five. The rest of last year’s top six have strengthened, other sides in the Premier League have spent money and won’t have European action to distract them. Unless there is some drastic action in the next couple of weeks, Spurs just won’t have a squad capable of playing in Europe and the Premier League. They will probably sacrifice the Carabao Cup and go out in the first game. If they are struggling by the new year, the FA Cup will go out of the window, and when they drop down to the Europa League after finishing third in their Champions’ League group, there won’t be much effort made to get through in that competition either. A run of games at the end of the season to get some points will see us scrape sixth, and then the exodus starts big time. Back to years of struggling, bouncing between sixth and twelfth.
And I’ll still be supporting, expecting the worse, but hoping, just for a change, that everything goes right.