What should be expected from Tottenham Hotspur this season?

When Tottenham Hotspur sold their star Welshman, Gareth Bale, for an insane amount of money, there were debates (consumed all of the transfer window chit-chat) on whether it was a good bit of business or not.

No doubt Bale is a quality player, but is he 100 million kind of quality? Well, the jury is out and I hope the jury doesn’t ever come back from their discussion because, well, most of us have had enough of that discussion. But Spurs on the other hand, they beg for some serious introspection.

Spurs’ net outflow during the transfer window before the start of the season was a measly 4 million pounds. So, why are the expectations so high from them this time around?

Well, look at the talent they brought in. Soldado, Paulinho, Lamela, Eriksen, Capoue, Chadli… that is some business! And then they go on to make some very interesting stats this season.

They have played 11 games in EPL and scored only 9 goals! With the additions they have made and the already existing talent of Dembele, Sigurdsson, Defoe, Lennon, Holtby and the rising star Townsend, that is pretty disappointing fare in front of goal.

The only teams to score less than Spurs are the 3 teams in the relegation battle. On the bright side, they have let only 6 goals in. And that is with some very minimal purchases in that part of their setup, only Chiriches is of note.

So, how can a team that brings in so many attacking options score less goals but turnaround their defence into being among the best in the league? This is what, in my opinion, spells trouble for AVB. The below could be some of the reasons.

1. This is the first season together for this interesting bunch of players. There is talent there, no doubt, but the very best of them need time to gel.

2. All the purchases are young players with no EPL experience. And those of us who have been following EPL know that it is not easy to adapt to the work rate and physicality of EPL.

3. AVB doesn’t know his best XI yet. Most of the team was assembled during the end stages of the transfer window and have had next to no preparation time with each other. And AVB himself has had very little time to experiment combinations and he of course cannot experiment in an EPL match.

OK, those were some reasons, but now let us look at what should worry any spurs fan as the season progresses.

1. While the forward line is yet to gel, the unexpectedly good show by the defense will start waning as the season continues. That is not unexpected, but with the goals drying up, the leaking of goals will hurt more than they would be comfortable with.

2. Every team needs to worry about injuries and that is why they have squad depth. But a team struggling for goals cannot afford their only real centre forward hope, Soldado getting injured. And with him playing every match, that is one big risk. The only other top team with forward problems is Arsenal. But they are in such red hot form, they could probably survive the blip. Not the same story for Spurs, I am afraid.

3. When the season started no one guessed that Manchester United would have such a tough start to the season. This was good news for a team like Spurs, which have been on the fringes of Champions League football qualification and EPL title contention. But then, no one thought that Arsenal would be so strong or for that matter Liverpool so good in the first third of the season either. Considering that Chelsea and Manchester City are still favorites to take the title, Spurs suddenly look like having an uphill battle to make this a good season.

I like AVB as a coach, I like the team he has assembled, but I fear for them this season. If they do manage to make something positive this season, it will be some very good football on display from the Spurs, fingers crossed.