da betway： Out of the Champions League with a group game still to play isn’t just saddening for Tottenham Hotspur, it’s embarrassing.
da cassino： Given the implosion of the title favourites last season, and given that Leicester City won the league, Spurs’ renaissance has gone more under the radar than it might have done.That’s not to say that no one noticed, but it is to say that they aren’t lauded as something special.
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In fact, the biggest compliment that they seem to have been paid so far – other than the saw-toothed jibe that Mauricio Pochettino is fit to manage a club much bigger than Spurs – is that Spurs are no longer ‘Spursy’. Well, elimination from the Champions League after just five games probably proves that theory wrong.
And it’s true. Spurs are still Spursy, but that adjective has changed its meaning since Mauricio Pochettino’s arrival at the club. It now means something different: a slow start followed by a good ending.
Last season, that Spursiness cost them a league title. This time last year, Tottenham were again on an unbeaten run. Defeat in the opening game of the season to Manchester United – thanks to a Kyle Walker own goal – was the only league defeat Spurs suffered until mid December when they lost to Newcastle. That doesn’t sound like a slow start, but ‘unbeaten’ doesn’t tell the whole story. In the 14 Premier League games between losing to United on August 8 and losing to Newcastle on December 13, Spurs drew eight times.
It’s a familiar story: in the 12 games so far this season, Spurs have drawn exactly half. Once again, unbeaten doesn’t tell the whole story. Contrast that with league leaders Chelsea: they’ve lost twice already, but won nine of their other ten.
But there is a difference for Spurs. So far this season, teams are taking points off each other. It’s a more even league. Manchester City find themselves only one point off the top, but they suffered a run without a win in all competitions for over a month between 24th September and 29th October – given we’re only in November, that’s quite a long period.
But this season, although Spurs may be just as New-Spursy as they were last season, there’s a real difference: this season, teams are taking more and more points off each other. In the Premier League, Spurs’ slow start hasn’t seen them lose much ground. They are currently four points behind leaders Chelsea. After 12 games last season, Spurs were five points behind Manchester City, who were top at that point.
Spursiness has moved on. This Tottenham team might be performing strangely at present. They might look lethargic and unable to convert games from draws into wins, but their last-gasp victory over West Ham might point to a change in fortunes there.
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In fact, last minute goals were a feature of Spurs’ start to the season last year. Their superior fitness – Pochettino’s pre-season taskmastery is to thank for that – is probably the reason why they can keep going later in games. That doesn’t just mean they are physically fitter and can therefore keep going until the end, but it also means they are mentally less fatigued and therefore more able to make the right decision later in the game.
That fitness will stand them in good stead towards the end of the season, too. As will their experience of having imploded in the title race last year: this experience of elimination in the Champions League will have a similar effect this time next year.
Spurs are no longer the same Spurs: they are no longer the flakey, embarrassing, flatter to deceive Spurs they used to be. Spurs are a new kind of Spursy – one that will fail and lose, but learn from the experience.
The question is, has this new Spurs learned that Europa League football is to be avoided at all costs?