Was away on holiday in Mexico so I missed the final game vs. Leicester. Watched it later on PVR and was particularly struck by the dreadful performance of Wanyama, who was at fault for the final 3 Leicester goals. Don't know what has happened to him, but he, along with Rose, have been our biggest disappointments. I woud classify our season as a definite success, despite the lack of silverware. I think Poch did very well to wring out 3rd place, CL qualification and 77 points out of a limited squad. I think our best XI can compete with anyone in Europe, but as soon as we have to dip into the squad to replace our top players there is a definite drop off. Season Highlights As soon as the draw came out for the CL, nobody gave us a chance of getting out of our group, yet we ended up winning it comfortably with memorable wins over Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund (home and away). In the league we beat everyone in the top six except for Pep City, with the away win at Stamford Bridge (our first there in 28 years) the high point. We also had a run of 14 games unbeaten (11 wins), bookended with losses to the City Express. Season Lowlights Going out of the League Cup at home to a rubbish Canning Town side after leading 2-0 at half-time, throwing away the CL last-16 tie against Juve with some slapstick defending and then fading away in the FA Cup semi-final against Man U were amongst the low points. What Wembley Hoo-doo? Despite all the moaning and gnashing of teeth, all the silly geometrical and spatial theories as to why Spurs could not play at the national stadium, Spurs ended up winning 13 of their 19 home games and 20 of 28 in all competitions. The advantage of playing a full season at Wembley is that the players will go into the new stadium acclimatized to the standard 105 metres by 68 metres pitch size. The Players As usual, it starts and ends with King Harry, who scored 41 (30 in the league). For the second straight season, Son provided crucial secondary scoring and Eriksen ran the show in midfield. Dele Alli was always going to have problems to better his 18 goal season and I felt he took some harsh criticism, but his overall body of work was good and I think at 21 he is just touching the surface of his ability. Dembélé and Dier were a good CM tandem, but Mousa seemed to fade towards the end of the season and it appears that he will never be fully fit. Jan Vertonghen and Davinson Sanchez formed a good partnership in central defence with the young Colombian improving as the season went on. Serge Aurier, who was signed ostensibly to replace Kyle Walker, showed some promise, but was too erratic to keep Kieren Trippier out of the side. On the left flank, Ben Davies surprised many by keeping an out-of-form Danny Rose on the bench, while young Kyle Walker-Peters looks like he could be a sleeper at RB or right wing back. Victor Wanyama suffered a knee injury early in the season and never regained the form that made him a beast in midfield. In goal, Hugo Lloris had his share of great stops but also erratic moments and it may be time we consider bringing in someone to challenge him (any one of Jack Butland, Nick Pope or Tom Heaton would be an excellent acquisition). Moussa Sissoko...well why even bother? The Gaffer He is the key to the whole thing. While our more financially powerful rivals are flexing their muscles, Poch has just got on with it and in a short time has turned a dysfunctional squad and club into a regular CL qualifier. He still needs to get his head around the fact that the domestic cup competitions are important and his act of downplaying them has grown thin. Our biggest forseeable problem will be holding on to him as he issued a thinly veiled ultimatum to the chairman during his final press conference demanding big money to remake the squad. Going Forward Heading into the new stadium with CL football and an exciting young squad should mean big things ahead for the club. However, we will have to wait and see if Daniel Levy and Joe Lewis share that vision. In the best case scenario, they adjust the wage structure, bring in key pieces to strengthen the squad and a period of trophy winning follows. In the worst case scenario, they maintain the status quo, watch the manager leave and end up selling our top players, with a dip back to our previous Europa League status. The other wild card would be the sale of the club. It is no secret that ENIC bought the club as an investment and are looking to turn the club and the new stadium into a massive profit. If we get a sugar-daddy owner, we could turn into a powerhouse similar to City or Kremlin FC.
Very nice...a few comments. I definitely agree with this. Not to mention that Kane, Eriksen, Son, and Vert are all key members of their national team as well - and none of them are teams like Andorra or the US. To me, far and away, the wins over Real Madrid and Broussia Dortmond were the biggest wins in years. Spurs have shown they can do it in league, but to do it against two teams who are perennial contenders to the CL title was substantial. And just as impressive to me is that Spurs took 10 of 12 points from them. To me, the utter mental collapse v. Juve was the worst part for Spurs. After dominating RM and Dormond at home in the group stage, and Juve at home pre season, this was a very winnable match for Spurs. But Juve were right in that Spurs were mentally a weaker team. To me, this is getting over played. In the past, Spurs had trouble at Wembley, in part, due to a change in stadium size from WHL. As much of the commentary said, it was just until Spurs got adjusted, not that it would be a season of misery. I figured it would be 4 or 5 matches. Turns out is was the Chelsea loss that made the difference. Hopefully Winks comes back. Dembele should go due to that lack of 100% match fit issue. Not sure about Wanyama, maybe see how it does next season. Poch brought him along for a reason. Trippier was a surprise being able to hold down the spot. Good on him. Not surprised about Davies, since Rose seems to be on his way out and I don't think was ever really given an equal shot. Yeah, I've been wondering about Lloris. The added difficulty is that he is captain, too. How is Sissoko part of the France national team? I think the wage structure will be adjusted some, with more revenue coming in (loan repayments considered). It is also apparent that Levy has been willing to spend some money to purchase players, so that does not seem to be an issue. As always, it seems that players who are willing to play Poch's style both technically and mentally are what is the challenge. For example, as talented as Nymar is, I don't think Poch would ever consider him if it was realistic.
Dembele says he won't sign a new contract, so he will probably be sold. If they can't get a good replacement, maybe keep him for the last year of his contract and let him go on a free, but not if he is going to be a "locker room cancer." Wanyama and Rose, usually I think players coming back from serious injuries deserve some time to get back to where they were, especially if they were playing great when they went down (as they both were). I suppose you could say this about Winks, too, though I don't think he was playing at the same level when he got hurt. Trippier was a surprise, but I still don't think he's a very good defender. Vorm is out of contract, so it seems they must bring in a new keeper to compete with Lloris.
The players we want to keep now only leave for the very biggest teams. Holding on to Poch is key for making the next step. I think he brings the vision and spirit to the club that attracts players. Would you rather earn 100K a week playing for him, or 120K for Mourinho? Surrounded by a bunch of Billy Big Boots types that don't seem to give a toss half the time? I know some will claim the mighty dollar is everything, but I remember when the reason we couldn't hold on to players was that playing in the Champions League was everything.
Playing in the CL was always BS - proven when we made the CL and couldn't sign anyone. It's about the money. I agree that keeping Poch is essential - can't imagine the club not keeping him.