Why Tottenham can actually win the English Premier League this season
“If you ask me, honestly, I think they will make top four. I think they could even win the league this year…”
Ex-manager Harry Redknapp is someone who really knows Tottenham inside out. And when the English coach makes such a claim, it surely must be backed by some serious insights.
It’s been 59 years since Tottenham Hotspur won the English first division. Since then they have come close multiple times to securing the highest accolade in English football, have had some serious world-class talents in their squad and have had a manager who changed their fortunes. But the only problem? Not a single English Premier League title for almost 6 decades.
But 2019–20 has been a year of revolutions. Not only in the world with respect to Coronavirus, but also in the white half of London. After six long years at the club, Mauricio Pochettino was sacked by the club management — which came as a real shock to some star players in the camp. This is because a majority of them had made their debuts and grown to stardom under Pochettino.
What made it more controversial was that last year was also the period when Amazon signed a contract for capturing the ‘Behind the Scenes’ at Tottenham. This would mean that the apparent sacking of the Argentine coach would actually be viewed up and close by the entire world on their television sets.
Nevertheless, the sacking of their dear head coach was a signal of intention. A signal of ambition by renowned Chief Executive Daniel Levy. But that was not the ending. A bigger storm was about to hit the English giants.
The ‘Special One’ for a special job
‘The Special One’ as Jose Mourinho is fondly known in the footballing fraternity was appointed in a shock move by Tottenham well into the 2019–20 season. A serial winner with most of the clubs he’s managed, this is Mourinho’s fourth stint in English football, and the third club he’s managed in the English Premier League. Having won 3 Premier League titles with Chelsea, he is no stranger to winning trophies in London.
As the players moved from the father-son relationship with Pochettino to a student-disciple relationship under Mourinho, results started becoming evident. While Pochettino stressed on playing good football even if it lost the team some points, Mourinho just wanted to win — and that’s what he did.
In just about 8 months, the Portuguese manager helped Tottenham secure a UEFA Europa League spot and the players surely celebrated it like winning the title on the last day of the season, along with the staff.
With the new 2020–21 season on the rise and just about 10% finished already, Spurs are going all-in this time. Hoard of signings to strengthen the squad, a strong rapport between the manager and the players and results going their way — Tottenham are ready to challenge for the English Premier League.
Bale, Reguilon, Doherty sum up a brilliant summer transfer window
Tottenham Hotspur have never been a side which needed a complete overhaul. The club boasts England’s number one striker, Belgium’s number one centre-back, Asia’s biggest footballing sensation and now — the biggest export by the English Premier League back from Real Madrid.
Yes, Gareth Bale is back in London. The Welsh Wizard, who once set the Premier League and Europe on fire with his ability to single-handedly destroy the opposition, has secured a loan move back to Spurs. Not to mention, there was a point where Bale almost won the League for Tottenham before his 100 million move to Real Madrid.
Though age is not on his side now, the 31-year-old still surely has got something in his arsenal to help propel his boyhood club to glory this season. With Heung-Min Son and Lucas Moura in-charge of first team duties, it is obvious that Bale will not be starting many games this season, but his goal-scoring cameos would be needed by the club in this long season.
Joining him, from Santiago Bernabeu to London, is another Real Madrid loanee — Sergio Reguilon. The left-back, who won the Europa League a month ago, was heavily chased by top European clubs including previous club Sevilla, Manchester United and also Tottenham. But the management from the white half of London were the best suited to Reguilon and Madrid’s conditions and the 23-year-old is already training under Mourinho.
While Bale is yet to make an appearance for Spurs due to injury, Reguilon already made an impact in the Carabao Cup game against Chelsea. The Spanish full-back was instrumental in the club eliminating their city rivals in an epic game which saw Tottenham come from behind to win the game and progress to the next round.
Another signing which is being talked about a lot for the past few months is none other than Matt Doherty from Wolverhampton Wanderers. Mourinho was highly critical of the club’s existing crop of full-backs as Tottenham saw various opportunities pass-by as their wider defenders never took their chances to move higher up the field and contribute to the attack. This put a huge pile of pressure on the attackers under which they crumbled and caused instability in the team.
With Doherty, Mourinho finally has his man. A wing-back for Wolves, Matt Doherty runs the right-wing for his team whenever he starts a game. Defensively compact, he can combine very well with the offensive players in the team and makes overlapping runs many a times which causes trouble for the opposition. We can expect a lot of assists by both the new full-backs Doherty and Reguilon this season.
Another big signing for Spurs this season has been Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg from Southampton. This can also be called a trademark Mourinho signing. Hojbjerg is the MVP (Most Valuable Player) in the Special One’s setup.
Whoever has followed Mourinho a lot must be aware that the defensive mindedness of the legendary Portuguese coach is his main focus. Mourinho is a part of a yesteryear managerial class which have always believed that football is not just a goal-scoring game. The main part is to also not let goals pass-by.
With this key fact in his mind, Mourinho has always deployed a defensive midfielder in the team just ahead of his defence. This pivot acts as a helping hand in the attacks, whereas turns into the fifth or sixth defender when the team is under-attack. Hojbjerg has been brought in for this very role — and he’s doing it well.
With these key signings, the squad is really ready to compete for any trophy in Europe this season, and surely the times look exciting in the white half of London.
Champions and challengers’ struggling could boost Spurs’ chances
As the new season began with a short break after COVID-19 disrupted operations, everyone expected the same set of winners and losers. Liverpool and Manchester City — the elite above the rest; Chelsea and Manchester United fighting it out for Champions League spots; And Arsenal along with Tottenham somewhere leaning behind in the Europa League places.
But the scene changed dramatically.
Ever since Arsenal toppled Liverpool in the Charity Shield, the Premier League has been a circus of uncertainties. Newly promoted side Leeds United are giving a tough time to the Champions and Challengers. Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton & Brendan Rodgers’ Leicester look as if they could actually finish in the top-four miraculously. And then there’s Mourinho’s Tottenham who just signalled their title ambitions with a 1–6 win at the famous Old Trafford Stadium of Manchester United.
Tottenham have been in such a situation in the past. To be precise, a couple of times in the last decade where they almost had a shot at the title but ended up coming second or finishing in the top-four. But why is the current situation more advantageous to Spurs this time around? The simple answer — Jose Mourinho.
A two-time treble winner with FC Porto and Inter Milan, in addition to being a multiple league winner with Chelsea and Real Madrid, Mourinho has no inhibitions of even playing the dirty game to win matches. He doesn’t expect his team to play the most flamboyant football, but instead just cares about the three points falling into his kitty.
When the league enters the last stages, Mourinho’s influence will be really important to scrape wins or sometimes not drop all three points. What helps Mourinho in the journey too, is the fact that Club Chairman Daniel Levy is also a big fan of the ex-Manchester United coach. This means that Levy could go all guns blazing in making sure that the team has all the resources to fit the gaffer’s requirements.
Over and all, every star has aligned perfectly for Tottenham to finally make the big leap and win their first Premier League title in 60 years, if they can do it in 2021. They have Gareth Bale back who gave them their biggest hope of winning the title back in time. They have a coach who has won everything possible in world football. They have one of the best club chairmen who is financially sound and has a great footballing IQ. And finally in Harry Redknapp’s words — “They have got the squad to win the title…”