People were concerned that the wheels were going to come off at Tottenham Hotspur this season.

The North London side lost right-back Kyle Walker to Manchester City.

Then current England international Danny Rose came out in the press stating that:

‘Time is running out and I do want to win trophies,’

That was a dig at Spurs and he followed it up by slating the club’s transfer policy. Rose also believed he was deserving of a better contract. Rumours soon began that Tottenham’s wage structure wasn’t high enough to keep the current squad happy and others would soon join Danny in voicing their discontent at the club.

Recruitment in the summer was slow and that had some questioning if Tottenham would have a squad capable of keeping up with the title challengers.

Then we had the Wembley hoodoo.

The Lilywhites are rebuilding White Hart Lane and that won’t be ready until the start of next season. So they’ve had to make the national stadium their new temporary home for this term. Problem with that is that they played three times at Wembley in the Champions League last year and they lost two of those fixtures.

At the start of this term they failed to pick up all three points in any of their first three Premier League encounters at Wembley. Nerves started to kick in and fans were fearing of Wembley stage fright.

But Spurs are flying at the moment and have one of the best squads in England. Things are once again stable and last season’s runners-up are looking to fight the Manchester clubs for the league title come May 2018. If you wish to bet on Tottenham or any other side this season then check-out the latest at Top Football Tipster.

They did manage to get players through the door and those signings improve the squad as a whole.

Paulo Gazzaniga might only be the side’s third choice goalkeeper but it means Spurs have three players in that position that can handle life in the Premier League.

Hugo Lloris is clearly the number one and he’s one of the world’s best keepers but it’s great to know you have adequate back-up to fill in and compete for his place. You definitely need a top goalie if you are going to compete for trophies and in the French number one, Spurs have a top shot-stopper!

With Walker gone, Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino needed to recruit a new right-back. They had Kieran Trippier already at the club and he has improved greatly with more first team exposure but again Pochettino loves competition for places. The Argentine brought in Serge Aurier from PSG. The Ivory Coast international is being used more in the European games but his passing, running and aerial ability has already been praised by Spurs supporters.

We all know Harry Kane is a world class goalscorer. After suffering from another goal drought in August, the Spurs number ten has been banging the goals in for fun ever since. He has eight in nine Premier League outings. People wondered if he could do it on the Champions League stage but Harry has five in his first three games in that competition this season.

Kane demolished Liverpool on Sunday as the Lilywhites thumped their Merseyside rivals 4-1. The England international marksmen is this generation’s Alan Shearer and he will be vital for his club if they can challenge for the league title.

In previous years when Kane was missing no other striker would come in and take up the responsibility needed to get Tottenham over the line in games. But the Spurs management team believe that they’ve solved that particular problem by bringing in veteran frontman Fernando Llorente.

The thirty-two year old Spaniard has yet to find the net for his new team and hasn’t started a league tie thus far but you know that he can produce the goods when needed as he has a CV that proves it. Last term he bagged fifteen Premier League strikes for a struggling Swansea side. His build, physicality and ability in the air offer Tottenham a different route to goal and that could change games that are on a knife-edge. If Kane were to miss a few games due to injury, Spurs now have a hitman that can come in and grab goals.

Tottenham Hotspur have been very strong at the back in recent years but that hasn’t stopped Mauricio from adding a new central defender to freshen things up in defence.

Davinson Sanchez had a terrific season with Ajax during the last campaign. That convinced Spurs head honcho Daniel Levy to spend around £42m for the young Colombian.

Sanchez, while still raw, has the confidence to play his own game and has settled in well at the back in between Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen. Davinson is fast and strong in the tackle but he’s also very good at passing the ball out from the back. The centre-back has a whopping 93% passing success rate in his first seven Premier League appearances.

As well as the new summer signings, Spurs are also ready to welcome back long term casualties Rose and Erik Lamela.

Rose might have been disgruntled at the start of this term but his experience and ability will be invaluable during the hectic Christmas period. He’s without doubt one of the league’s best left-backs.

Argentine international Lamela missed the last twelve months due to a persistent hip injury but could make a return to the first team squad for the League Cup fixture against West Ham this week. Erik is a very talented forward who just started to influence things at White Hart Lane just before his long term injury lay-off. He can offer more vision, skill and craft if Son Heung-Min’s industrious style isn’t working in the attacking areas.

The main thing the Tottenham squad have in their favour this season is that they have great balance as well as the added strength in depth.

They have a superb playmaker in Christian Eriksen, who can create chances out of nothing. They also have the wonderfully gifted Dele Alli who can pick up goals and assists that change the biggest of games.

Then on the defensive side they have Mousa Dembele and Victor Wanyama. Those players break up play and get the creative stars on the ball as much as possible.

You need to have both types of player in your squad if you’re going to succeed.

Remember the preseason criticism from Danny Rose and how others would follow suit?

Well it didn’t happen. I think that’s because the players appreciate what they have at Spurs and they also have a huge amount of respect for Pochettino.

There’s no point upsetting things when you might be on the verge of something huge and most to the team’s stars understand that.

What about the Wembley hoodoo?

Well that was blown away when Kane and Co smashed their way past a highly recommended Borussia Dortmund side in the Champions League. They have also won their last two home games in the league, including that 4-1 thrashing of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool side.

Add that to the highly impressive away form and you can see why Tottenham are on fire at the moment.

They have a huge test coming up this weekend against Manchester United at Old Trafford but can you really write off the Lilywhites?

Pochettino is a manager who gains positive results and he has amassed a strong, hungry squad that have no fear and I believe that they believe they can win the Premier League title this season.

It will be interesting to see if the great recent run can continue as the unstoppable force come up against the immovable object.

 

Posted on October 24th, 2017 by scott
Filed under: Article