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The new Premier League season is well and truly on the horizon – there’s less than a week to go before it kicks off now – and while fans of some clubs probably have some concerns, for Tottenham fans this time there’s a lot to be hopeful for.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side enjoyed a fruitful 2018/19, and while the ending to their Premier League season got a bit sticky, reaching the Champions League final and finishing 4th to secure a spot in Europe’s biggest competition for the upcoming season meant many fans were happy.
But could Spurs really go one better this season and make a real push for the Premier League title against likely rivals Manchester City and Liverpool? Potentially. And here are 4 reasons why.
#1 Ndombele will offer a more dynamic option in midfield
Tottenham’s midfield was largely a conundrum last season; at times they looked fantastic in the centre of the pitch, but during other games they looked horribly short and over-run, even against lower-level opposition. The majority of the time, the issue for Mauricio Pochettino’s side was down to personnel issues.
Essentially, when Spurs were at full strength in the centre of the pitch – with the metronomic passing of Harry Winks, the raw physicality of Moussa Sissoko and the creative talents of Christian Eriksen – they were able to succeed, but if one or more of the three were missing, suddenly big issues were exposed. The biggest issue? In the absence of the injured Winks towards the end of the season, Eriksen was consistently forced to drop deeper to collect the ball, largely nullifying his creativity.
Thankfully though, after two transfer windows with no incoming talent, Pochettino has been able to plug the hole in the middle of the park with a new player – the ultra-talented Frenchman Tanguy Ndombele. Sure, the former Lyon man cost a lot of money – a club record initial £55m – but he offers just what Tottenham appear to require right now.
Ndombele has the raw physicality to allow him to play from a deep-lying role, but he’s also able to make defence-slicing passes like a more creative force – he delivered 7 assists for Lyon last year, with a total of 47 key passes and a success rate of 89.1%. Basically, he should replace Moussa Dembele, who was sold to China last January and never replaced.
Adding Ndombele into the mix alongside the three afore-mentioned players means that Tottenham shouldn’t be caught short against anyone in the upcoming season, even if an injury arises. One player really shouldn’t make that much difference – but in this case the Frenchman could prove to be the key to a real title push for Pochettino’s men.
#2 They’ve managed to keep hold of their key defender
When Tottenham’s 2018/19 ended, boss Pochettino mentioned that it could be time for a “painful rebuild” at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. While it was clear that Spurs would be dipping their toes back into the transfer market in order to let this rebuild happen, it also became clear that some players would be exiting the club – and not just fringe ones like Vincent Janssen and Georges-Kevin N’Koudou.
Since then, Kieran Trippier has been sold to Atletico Madrid, Janssen has exited too, while rumours continue to fly around with regards to the futures of players like Victor Wanyama and Danny Rose. But one man who appears to be sticking around, to the shock of most fans – for another season at least – is defender Toby Alderweireld.
The highly-rated Belgian seemed all set to exit Spurs this summer due to a clause in his contract, which was extended by the club last season.
Essentially, extending Alderweireld’s contract for a year meant that a release clause of £25m also kicked in. But despite the incredibly cheap fee – particularly when you consider Aston Villa paid a similar price for Tyrone Mings – no rival club made a bid for Alderweireld before the clause expired at the end of July, meaning he looks to be staying put.
For Pochettino, that’s a huge boon. Sure, he’s got Jan Vertonghen and Davinson Sanchez, as well as cover in the form of Juan Foyth and Eric Dier, but Alderweireld has been Mr Consistency in Tottenham’s defence for the past few seasons. During the 2018/19 in particular he was fantastic, returning from a hamstring injury to show the kind of form that made him one of the highest rated defenders in the league.
Even if he leaves the club on a free transfer at the end of his contract next summer, to have Alderweireld back in the fold could be the difference between Tottenham being able to keep those all-important clean sheets to make a real push for the league title.
#3 There’ll be no World Cup hangover for Pochettino’s stars
Last summer’s World Cup was fantastic entertainment for football fans across the world, but for Tottenham, it perhaps wasn’t quite so good.
Sure, it was a great achievement that the club had eight of their squad involved in the semi-finals – more than any other club in the world – but it meant that many of Pochettino’s players came into 2018/19 with somewhat of a hangover.
Kieran Trippier, for instance – one of England’s shining lights in the tournament in Russia – simply couldn’t find his form and struggled throughout the season, a complete collapse for a formerly consistent player that eventually led to his exit to Atletico Madrid.
France’s World Cup-winning captain Hugo Lloris was inconsistent too, making some major errors at times and also becoming embroiled in legal problems due to a drink-driving charge. Dele Alli also had his least productive season to date at Spurs and while Harry Kane was his usual goalscoring self, he also picked up more injuries than he’d ever done before and missed swathes of the season.
Add in the fact that Heung-Min Son also missed portions of 2018/19 on international duty, and it becomes clear that international football wasn’t Tottenham’s friend last season.
Coming into 2019/20 though, that shouldn’t be an issue at all. England’s players were of course involved in the Nations League finals, but that ended way back in early June, and since then the whole squad for the most part has been recharging its batteries.
A fully fresh Tottenham squad are a match for anyone in the Premier League, and if the likes of Alli and Kane come into the season firing on all cylinders, it’ll take some stopping them.
#4 They aren’t finished in the transfer market just yet
Last season was one of frustration for Tottenham fans when it came to transfers, as after Lucas Moura was signed in January 2018, Pochettino was unable to add any new talent to his squad in the following two transfer windows.
Coming into this summer both Pochettino and chairman Daniel Levy promised things would be different, and sure enough, Tanguy Ndombele and Jack Clarke have both been signed since the end of 2018/19.
For a lot of Spurs fans though, that hasn’t been enough. Clarke – a young prospect – has been sent back on loan to Leeds, who sold him to Tottenham, and while Ndombele is expected to make a huge impact, many people were expecting more from the club.
Thankfully, the transfer window is still open for another week – and naturally, Levy has always been a man to leave things late.
Currently, Tottenham are heavily linked with the signing of two players – Argentine playmaker Giovanni Lo Celso of Real Betis and left-sided defender/forward Ryan Sessegnon of Fulham.
Current reports suggest deals for both men are close, and the only sticking points are the prices – which will likely be ironed out in the next few days.
Assuming Spurs do sign both men, Pochettino’s squad would suddenly look a lot stronger. In Lo Celso they’d have a potentially brilliant playmaker to take the pressure off – and eventually replace – Christian Eriksen, and in Sessegnon they’d have one of the best prospects in world football, a 19-year old who has earned comparisons with Tottenham legend Gareth Bale.
A relatively thin squad with a lot of tired players was enough to finish 4th in last season’s Premier League table and make the Champions League final – so it’s not hard to imagine how well a stronger, fresher squad could do in the upcoming season. A title challenge would surely be on the cards.
