With Manchester City and Liverpool being so dominant in the EPL last season, the time has come for another team to step up to the mark and compete for the top honours in the 2019/2020 season. The only team that looks capable of making the leap is Tottenham Hotspur. But the question to be asked is – is it really feasible?
Manchester City achieved every honour in terms of domestic football when they became the first team to win the UK domestic treble capturing the EPL title, the Carabao Cup and of course, the FA Cup.
Towards the end of the season, there was still talk of a historic quadruple but Tottenham Hotspur denied that them in that extraordinary Champions League second leg tie when Spurs snatched one of the most dramatic victories ever with VAR coming to the forefront.
As for the EPL title, the race went down to the wire, and it was only on the very last game that City was able to keep Liverpool away from the top spot with their 4-1 victory over Brighton. Liverpool then went on to lift the Champions League trophy and again it was that same team, Tottenham Hotspur, who they had to beat.
It was only the fact that Spurs had such a poor run of results in the final run-in with Harry Kane being absent due to an injury at just the wrong time that saw them finish in fourth: two points behind Chelsea, but one and three points respectively in front of fifth-placed Arsenal and sixth-placed Manchester United.
But Chelsea losing Eden Hazard and their transfer ban, Manchester United being so unsettled with the Romelu Lukaku and Paul Pogba situations and Arsenal remaining rudderless, these teams are very unlikely to challenge either City or Liverpool. That just leaves Tottenham, but how likely is it for them to make that challenge?
Let’s take a quick look at the positives that could enhance Tottenham’s chances of joining the elite. The first positive is the fact that their manager, Mauricio Pochettino, is still with them. There have been rumours for many months about him moving on, but things now seem to be stable on that front.
One thing is for sure though, and that is if Tottenham do not win a major trophy next season, he will almost certainly go. He is ambitious and desperately wants to have something to show for his undoubted ability as a top rate manager.
The second positive is the new Spurs stadium. For all of last season, Tottenham was homeless. They played their home matches at Wembley and good as Wembley is, it is not their home ground. It is a testament to the teams’ spirit that they competed as well as they did with all of the uncertainty of when the new ground would finally be ready.
Other positives revolve around the players. Harry Kane seems to be staying put as are Dele Ali and Son. It is even being said now that Christian Eriksen may not go after all, and that is certainly one of Pochettino’s dearest hopes.
Other good news is the addition of 22-year-old Tanguy Ndombele who could play alongside Moussa Sissoko in a formidable pairing. As Pascal Chimbonda said in a recent interview, Ndombele is a massive signing. It is also hoped that Toby Alderweireld will remain with the club too.
One big negative is that Daniel Levy is yet to give Pochettino full control over transfers. It’s the thing that sets Spurs apart from City and Liverpool, and it may well count against them.
But the last and possibly biggest negative is that dodgy Tottenham temperament. They still have a tendency to lose too many games unexpectedly. If their manager can knock this out of them, then Spurs will be serious contenders.
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