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This summer has seen Tottenham Hotspur do some early business bringing in Lyon's Tanguy Ndombele and Leeds United's Jack Clarke, although the latter was loaned back to Leeds for the season. They don't seem to be done with business though and have been linked with plenty of players to fill in at full back and attacking positions.
Having gone two transfer windows without a single incoming transfer, Spurs put their faith in the players they had and those coming through the youth ranks. An admirable policy though it may be, it could have been a contributing factor to why Spurs finished the league so poorly last season. This season, their summer has begun with good intent and they seem to be looking to plug holes early on and give the incoming players plenty of time to gel with the team.
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Mauricio Pochettino has delivered consistently good results for five seasons with Spurs now without a trophy to show for it. That dam has come close to breaking a few times over the last five years, but Spurs have just been stopped short. Spurs' attractive brand of football seems to be on the verge of bearing fruit, and here's why they're likely to challenge for the Premier League title this year.
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#3 Robust & Versatile Midfield
The Spurs team is probably best described as fluid. Especially in attack, the midfielders are constantly on the move and interchanging with forwards, rendering their formations (3-5-2, 4-2-3-1, or a 4-4-2 diamond) just squiggles on paper. However, there is a core group of players getting the job done for them week in and week out.
It was Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, and Mousa Dembele, but that changed last season. Dembele's exit from the club brought the burgeoning talent of Winks to the fore, Moura's rise to prominence saw him play an increased role in the side, and somewhere along the way last season the side seemed to learn to win without Kane. There may yet be more flux this season with Eriksen constantly being linked to moves away. If he does move, Spurs seem to have lined up moves to replace the talismanic Dane.
All in all, Spurs have sought to make their midfield more robust with the addition of Ndombele who offers his talents in attack as well as defence. Oliver Skipp from the youth ranks looks set to get a few minutes in the first team as well. Spurs have at least a couple of options in every position this season and will expect the likes of Alli, Moura, and perhaps Lamela to score goals from midfield this season.
Winks and Ndombele will play a key role in bringing the ball out from defence either via accurate passing to attacking positions or dribbles from deep areas. This was the missing piece for Tottenham last season with Dembele's injuries and eventual departure, but they have addressed it in the market and seem poised for a good outing in midfield this season.
#2 Multiple sources of goals
Harry Kane has been Tottenham's top scorer every season since 2014/15, registering in excess of 20 goals every season for 5 campaigns running now. Eriksen brings in close to 10 goals if not more on average every season as well. Son has now joined those ranks contributing his cool 15 to 20 goals a season as well.
This Spurs forward line has seen great cameo goal scorers such as Dele Alli, Nacer Chadli, Erik Lamela, and last season Lucas Moura. Spurs are able to consistently ensure they have 4 or 5 different goal threats from open play because of their fluid style of playing.
Crucially though, their Achilles heel for a while had been an inability to win without Harry Kane. Last season, they demonstrated their ability to overcome that particular obstacle, winning 6 out of the 10 games they played without the English striker. Son, and Moura have both borne the mantle of goalscorer for Spurs and found that they carry it well. Of course, when Kane is available, they're just as deadly combining with him.
It makes Spurs a deadly opponent to face, especially when they show the grit and mental fortitute to pull off a comeback like they did in last season's Champions League semi-final against Ajax. They're going to be raring to go this season.
#1 Close Encounters
Last season, Spurs registered the third most wins after Manchester City and Liverpool, they scored the fourth most goals, were among the top 5 defences, and among the top 5 shot takers in the league.
Its easy to forget that at the start of February 2019, Spurs were trailing both City and Liverpool by 5 points with a game in hand over City and matches against both still on their fixture list. A run of winless games (4 losses and a draw) spanning the tail end of February and the whole of March meant they were then lumped with the masses and the title quest had become a two-horse race.
Slips are a more memorable way of fumbling a title challenge but Spurs will be forgotten for taking the non-glamorous route. They lost winnable games as they seemed fatigued and unable to cope with the energy of other teams. A knock on effect of playing so many games punctuatued by short, inadequate breaks meant that Spurs' small squad was pushed to its limits and came up short.
A thin squad to challenge for the title and progress in Europe seemed like too much of an ask for Pochettino's squad. They have since built once again and the finished product of this season may yet close the gap that they couldn't bridge last season.
