It's been far from a perfect season, with inconsistent performances, the sacking of Poch, underperforming or unsettled players, injuries, and a general sense of the progress of the last few seasons being lost to a degree.
There has been no big, season-defining win - except maybe West Ham away - and other than the draws against Arsenal and City our record against any of the traditional top 6 has been pretty woeful for a while now.
Despite this, and the very abrupt end to the Mourinho bounce in recent weeks, it's not all doom and gloom.
We are still in the FA Cup, albeit with a tricky tie against Soton to come next week. And Mourinho will be determined to win it.
And we're still in the Champions League as well, albeit with another tricky tie against RB Leipzig. You can't envision a repeat of last season's epic run at this point, but we were poor in the league from January last year and still managed to get to the final, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility.
There's also been promise in the performances of Lo Celso, Lamela, Sessegnon (at times) and (particularly) Tanganga in recent matches, while Gazzanigna has been largely good in goal, which suggests there is a team to take us forward.
We were arguably due a season like this, after years of being on an upward curve and remarkable consistency. The top 6 had become so dominant, but that was always bound to crumble at some point. Aside from Liverpool, who are beating all-comers, none of the traditional top 6 is performing well. Arsenal are as poor as I've ever known them, United are horribly inconsistent, Chelsea are very hit and miss, and even City aren't the team they were in the past two seasons.
To finish top 4 for four straight seasons, on a lower budget, and without a stadium for a few of them, was a remarkable achievement. We also had a league cup final, a number of FA Cup semis, a league cup semi, and the Champions League final to show signs of progress.
But that team has now gone as far as it could. Eriksen seems to be on his way, Rose has really struggled for form and game-time, Dier has lost all of his confidence, Wanyama is surplus to requirements, Dembele, Walker and Trippier have all gone, Lloris is not the keeper he once was and much more prone to injuries and mistakes, Alli's form has been hit and miss, and even Super Jan and Toby have lost a yard of pace and some of their defensive solidity. Son, Alli, Kane, Toby and maybe Lloris will remain, but the lion's share of that team will go elsewhere.
It will be a season of transition, and I have the fear we've appointed on reputation rather than with a clear long-term goal in mind. Mourinho is showing signs of being a yesterday's man, in terms of his tactics and strategy. He is being out-thought and outfoxed by younger, brighter managers. Maybe he's not moved with the times?
Harsh to judge him on 10 or so games with a team that isn't his, but the form has tailed off badly since Boxing Day and we look to be back to where we were under Poch in his final days - disjointed, lacking ideas, lacking spirit, lacking a cohesive style and lacking a clear identity.
It could well be another season like 2013/14, where we finished 6th and ultimately achieved little, before Poch came in to turn things around.
But there is still hope in the cup competitions and Jose's ability to win stuff. We really could do with some silverware after all these years to perk up an otherwise troubled season. Maybe it'll be like 2007/08 again - inconsistent league form, but ultimately trophy glory made that alright. COYS.
Far from a vintage season, but...
posted on 20/1/20
comment by Phendombele (U20037)
posted 13 minutes ago
United, Chelsea and Arsenal will all be spending and making more signings than us. All 3 desperate to improvement even more than we are. United will come in with 100mill for Kane in the summer i reckon.
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More signing than us? How do get to that?
I think we are the only one to sign anyone so far?
It’s hard to sign players of quality in this window and we are in such a predicament that we need them now!
But we are also being rightfully wary of buying another potential deadbeat.
We are doing ok in the market and by now means this is the end if our dealings. I like the new young guy.
Fir once we are looking for quality đź‘Ť
posted on 20/1/20
comment by Amanda Hugginkiss (U11574)
posted 5 minutes ago
comment by Phendombele (U20037)
posted 4 minutes ago
absolutely scandalous
LB, RB and two quality CMs in that window were minimum
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It's just common facking sense isn't it. Get rid of all the current crap and Spurs probably need, what, 8-10 new players.
If they'd just bought 3 or 4 good new players in that barren summer, and then maybe 1 or 2 in the barren January, then that would leave the team only needing about 4 more now. Still not ideal, but would have spread the pain so much more evenly and helped so much with offsetting the team's sharp decline
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it somehow gets more and more ridiculous the more i think about it and it was off the scale when it first happened
posted on 20/1/20
i just laughed it off initially and someone could overlook it when we were getting good results and up there at the top mid season last season. but all deceiving us to this inevitable happening now
posted on 20/1/20
comment by Phendombele (U20037)
posted 1 minute ago
i just laughed it off initially and someone could overlook it when we were getting good results and up there at the top mid season last season. but all deceiving us to this inevitable happening now
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I distinctly remember the unease people were feeling at the time, thinking how badly it could come back to bite Levy/Pochettino in the aerse.
To be fair I remember at the time Pochettino himself was banging on about how difficult it was to buy players and all that... properly wound me up at the time, because all clubs face the same issues. The only added issue Spurs face is that they refuse to pay the going rate, so it's a difficulty of the club's own making.
posted on 20/1/20
comment by Phendombele (U20037)
posted 1 hour, 5 minutes ago
United, Chelsea and Arsenal will all be spending and making more signings than us. All 3 desperate to improvement even more than we are. United will come in with 100mill for Kane in the summer i reckon.
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£100 million, are you joking. One of the world`s top strikers, will be going for at least twice that. Levy wouldn`t accept £100 million for one leg.
posted on 20/1/20
comment by Amanda Hugginkiss (U11574)
posted 2 hours, 43 minutes ago
This is all well and good, but Mourinho is not a good choice for a rebuilding job - particularly under a famously parsimonious chairman. Saying he's a chequebook manager with badly outdated methods isn't judging the guy prematurely or unfairly. It's calling a spade a spade based on the majority of the past decade in which he's markedly and obviously declined compared to the best managers out there. He's living off a 15-year-old reputation.
And if money is suddenly available, it's very unfair on Pochettino who had surely earned the patience now being afforded to Mourinho. Let's not forget, Pochettino only received backing in one transfer window over the last 2 years. It's all very well saying "Mourinho can transform the team if properly backed in the next 2 years," but so could Pochettino FFS. He managed it WITHOUT proper backing. Imagine what he could've achieved if he'd been properly incentivised.
I'll freely admit I've been against Mourinho since before he was appointed because I neither like nor rate him, and I very much both liked and rated Pochettino. But looking at the situation objectively, it's a clusterfack of bad decisions which all stems back to Levy.
I seriously don't see Spurs going anywhere but backwards while Mourinho and Levy have the reins. I'd love to be wrong, but I don't think I will be.
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I think you have to conclude that our failure to win a trophy is more than about players/personnel.
Poch had a squad that achieved 5th, 3rd, 2nd, 4th in the league. Surely that is / was good enough to compete in the domestic trophies.
Trouble is that in the last 5 years the winners of the domestic trophies has been City, United, Chelsea, Arsenal....so its quality top 4 / 6 winners every time. Its never going to be easy or a given that we ca npick up even just a lower level trophy.
To win, to have that edge, you need quality (we have) you need luck (we often lack this) you need a winning mentality (v. questionable) and you need experience of winning (none!). Mourinho brings those factors which we have been missing - the absolute winning mentality and the experience of winning.
If Jose achieves nothing else, bringing in a trophy and developing a winning culture is essential. If our suqad is not good enough to win the league / UCL then so be it, we must target and win the next level down because if we develop a squad that is of the highest quality we still need a winning culture to be able to deliver.
Poch's biggest failure was IMO not to target a minor trophy and get that winning culture rolling from an early stage. May be unfortunately we found ourselves in a title challenge in year 2, so everything else suddenly played second fiddle, all resources poured in to that and this also seemed to happen in year 3.
I think Jose is perfect for the next stage because the next stage is about winning stuff.
posted on 20/1/20
Mourinho brings those factors which we have been missing - the absolute winning mentality and the experience of winning.
doing great with this so far...
posted on 20/1/20
comment by Devonshirespur (U6316)
posted 1 hour, 37 minutes ago
comment by Amanda Hugginkiss (U11574)
posted 2 hours, 43 minutes ago
This is all well and good, but Mourinho is not a good choice for a rebuilding job - particularly under a famously parsimonious chairman. Saying he's a chequebook manager with badly outdated methods isn't judging the guy prematurely or unfairly. It's calling a spade a spade based on the majority of the past decade in which he's markedly and obviously declined compared to the best managers out there. He's living off a 15-year-old reputation.
And if money is suddenly available, it's very unfair on Pochettino who had surely earned the patience now being afforded to Mourinho. Let's not forget, Pochettino only received backing in one transfer window over the last 2 years. It's all very well saying "Mourinho can transform the team if properly backed in the next 2 years," but so could Pochettino FFS. He managed it WITHOUT proper backing. Imagine what he could've achieved if he'd been properly incentivised.
I'll freely admit I've been against Mourinho since before he was appointed because I neither like nor rate him, and I very much both liked and rated Pochettino. But looking at the situation objectively, it's a clusterfack of bad decisions which all stems back to Levy.
I seriously don't see Spurs going anywhere but backwards while Mourinho and Levy have the reins. I'd love to be wrong, but I don't think I will be.
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I think you have to conclude that our failure to win a trophy is more than about players/personnel.
Poch had a squad that achieved 5th, 3rd, 2nd, 4th in the league. Surely that is / was good enough to compete in the domestic trophies.
Trouble is that in the last 5 years the winners of the domestic trophies has been City, United, Chelsea, Arsenal....so its quality top 4 / 6 winners every time. Its never going to be easy or a given that we ca npick up even just a lower level trophy.
To win, to have that edge, you need quality (we have) you need luck (we often lack this) you need a winning mentality (v. questionable) and you need experience of winning (none!). Mourinho brings those factors which we have been missing - the absolute winning mentality and the experience of winning.
If Jose achieves nothing else, bringing in a trophy and developing a winning culture is essential. If our suqad is not good enough to win the league / UCL then so be it, we must target and win the next level down because if we develop a squad that is of the highest quality we still need a winning culture to be able to deliver.
Poch's biggest failure was IMO not to target a minor trophy and get that winning culture rolling from an early stage. May be unfortunately we found ourselves in a title challenge in year 2, so everything else suddenly played second fiddle, all resources poured in to that and this also seemed to happen in year 3.
I think Jose is perfect for the next stage because the next stage is about winning stuff.
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Hard to disagree with this except for the conclusion
Mourinho 10 years ago maybe. I don't see today's Mourinho being the guy to deliver even a minor trophy on a relative shoestring.
posted on 20/1/20
So far this season it has been vintage Levy
posted on 21/1/20
100 mill doesn’t get Kane Under levy. I reckon if you want Kane Levy would demand a world record fee.