With Champions League over and the 2019-2020 finally in the rear view, might as well do a assessment about how we all feel about our respective clubs and rate our confidence in them on a scale of 1 to 10. I'll start with mine.
Club: Tottenham Hotspur
Rating: 4
Spurs crashed to earth after riding all the way to the UCL Final last season with a truly wretched season that saw a beloved coach fired, a hated coach hired to be his replacement, perhaps the best player from that UCL run sent to Italy, and various other key players either injured or regressed. Almost anything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, however the team was able to scrape together enough competence at the end to at least qualify for Europa League. However, the days of Spurs regularly finishing in the Top 4 and being around the title race at certain points seem like they might be in the rear view.
With Kane, Son, Lloris and Alderwireled Spurs still have a collection of top-end talent, followed by capable professionals in Moura, Sissoko, Sanchez, Lo Celso, Lamela and Bergwijin. Outside of that the team has obvious problems at a number of positions, most clearly at fullback with Serge Aurier (perhaps out the door as an improbable bidding war in Germany and Italy appears to be taking place) and Ben Davies providing below-average defense and service on both sides. There also are significant issues in central midfield, Sissoko is good but Harry Winks is not, and record signing Tanguay Ndombele had a lost first year in London, battling injuries, fitness and staying on Jose Mourinho's good side. That was addressed in a smart acquisition of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, but some signs of life from Ndombele would be great.
Attacking Midfield also remains a major concern, primarily because the team never got a suitable replacement for Christian Eriksen, and the sudden decline of Dele Alli, who hasn't played a full season since 2017-2018. Dele is still only 24 and the team desperately needs him to regain his prior form and use his creativity to create scoring chances for the talented forwards that Tottenham still have. Lo Celso was pretty good last season, but he isn't a true replacement for Eriksen, at least he wasn't last season (0 goals, 2 assists) and the team needs talented players on the attacking side who can create chances for Kane/Son/Lucas/Bergwijin.
Perhaps most troubling is that there doesn't appear to be any clear direction for the future of the team. Canning Poch and bringing in Mourinho was a very aggressive move to try and get something immediate with this core of players; you don't bring Jose in to start a rebuild. However, Spurs don't spend money and have sold key players from that core group, sending mixed signals to supporters and making the Jose appointment even more confusing. What is Tottenham actually trying to do? The team also lacks prospects right now who feel like they have the potential to become big stars. That is one thing where Arsenal feel clearly ahead of Tottenham; as miserable as their season was, the development of players like Saka and Nketiah create a wave of optimistic excitement that does not exist at Tottenham at the moment. Young players like Ryan Sessengon and Gedson Fernandes were brought in but did nothing in year one.
At the end of the day, Tottenham should probably score some goals next year, but terrible fullback play will remain an issue as it doesn't appear to be a top priority during the offseason, and the Jose show can spin out of control at any time, if it was ever on track in the first place.
Club: Tottenham Hotspur
Rating: 4
Spurs crashed to earth after riding all the way to the UCL Final last season with a truly wretched season that saw a beloved coach fired, a hated coach hired to be his replacement, perhaps the best player from that UCL run sent to Italy, and various other key players either injured or regressed. Almost anything that could have gone wrong did go wrong, however the team was able to scrape together enough competence at the end to at least qualify for Europa League. However, the days of Spurs regularly finishing in the Top 4 and being around the title race at certain points seem like they might be in the rear view.
With Kane, Son, Lloris and Alderwireled Spurs still have a collection of top-end talent, followed by capable professionals in Moura, Sissoko, Sanchez, Lo Celso, Lamela and Bergwijin. Outside of that the team has obvious problems at a number of positions, most clearly at fullback with Serge Aurier (perhaps out the door as an improbable bidding war in Germany and Italy appears to be taking place) and Ben Davies providing below-average defense and service on both sides. There also are significant issues in central midfield, Sissoko is good but Harry Winks is not, and record signing Tanguay Ndombele had a lost first year in London, battling injuries, fitness and staying on Jose Mourinho's good side. That was addressed in a smart acquisition of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, but some signs of life from Ndombele would be great.
Attacking Midfield also remains a major concern, primarily because the team never got a suitable replacement for Christian Eriksen, and the sudden decline of Dele Alli, who hasn't played a full season since 2017-2018. Dele is still only 24 and the team desperately needs him to regain his prior form and use his creativity to create scoring chances for the talented forwards that Tottenham still have. Lo Celso was pretty good last season, but he isn't a true replacement for Eriksen, at least he wasn't last season (0 goals, 2 assists) and the team needs talented players on the attacking side who can create chances for Kane/Son/Lucas/Bergwijin.
Perhaps most troubling is that there doesn't appear to be any clear direction for the future of the team. Canning Poch and bringing in Mourinho was a very aggressive move to try and get something immediate with this core of players; you don't bring Jose in to start a rebuild. However, Spurs don't spend money and have sold key players from that core group, sending mixed signals to supporters and making the Jose appointment even more confusing. What is Tottenham actually trying to do? The team also lacks prospects right now who feel like they have the potential to become big stars. That is one thing where Arsenal feel clearly ahead of Tottenham; as miserable as their season was, the development of players like Saka and Nketiah create a wave of optimistic excitement that does not exist at Tottenham at the moment. Young players like Ryan Sessengon and Gedson Fernandes were brought in but did nothing in year one.
At the end of the day, Tottenham should probably score some goals next year, but terrible fullback play will remain an issue as it doesn't appear to be a top priority during the offseason, and the Jose show can spin out of control at any time, if it was ever on track in the first place.