Spurs being Spurs
11/10/2024 17:03:25
It has been a mixed start to the 2024/2025 Premier League season for Tottenham Hotspur. They currently sit in 9th place heading into the second international break of the season. They have played 7 games winning 3, most impressively a 0-3 at Old Trafford against Manchester United. They have also suffered 3 defeats this season losing 2-1 away at Newcastle, 0-1 at home to rivals Arsenal and most recently 3-2 away at Brighton, where they looked incredibly comfortable, but then let a 0-2 lead slip.
This has been the identity of Spurs for a long time, throughout the last couple of decades. They have a reputation as a team that is toothless when they are put under pressure and often let leads like the one they had last Sunday. In the 2015/16 season they let a 0-2 lead slip away at Chelsea to draw 2-2 in a result that gave Leicester the title. In the 2020/21 season Spurs had a 3-0 lead at home to West Ham, drawing 3-3. You can even go as far back as the 2001/2002 season where Spurs had a 3-0 lead at home to Manchester United at half time but went on to lose the game 3-5. This is a reputation that Spurs need to discard if they want to reach the heights they expect and win trophies. Let’s dive into Spurs’s season so far and what we can expect from them in the remainder of the campaign.
Results
Spurs have played 7 games in the Premier League this season, 2 in the Europa League and 1 in the Carabao Cup. They opened up their Premier League season with a 1-1 draw away at newly promoted Leicester, letting a 1-0 lead slip away. In their first home game of the season they hammered Everton 4-0. They then suffered back to back defeats on either side of the international break, losing 2-1 away at Newcastle and 0-1 at home to Arsenal. They responded with back to back comfortable victories 3-1 at home to Brentford and very impressively 0-3 away to Manchester United.
Most recently in the Premier League they let a 0-2 lead slip away at Brighton, losing 3-2. In the Europa League they have 2 wins out of 2, defeating Qarabag FK 3-0, playing the majority of the match with 10 men and Ferencvaros 1-2. Spurs have made it into the last 16 (round 4) of the Carabao Cup after their round 3 win over Coventry, where they scored in the 88th and 92nd minute to scrape a 1-2 victory. They will have the difficult task of facing Man City at home in round 4 and if they can win, they will have a huge chance to end their 16 year trophy drought.
'They will blow teams away with their blistering attacking football one week and then put in a “Spursy” performance like the one seen at Brighton.'
What to expect this season?
It must be said that all 3 of Spurs’s defeats this season have come against strong opposition in Newcastle, Arsenal and Brighton, but the way they lost to Brighton specifically will sting them and could dent their confidence. Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool look like filling those top 3 spots again so there will be a race on for that 4th Champions League spot. Spurs will be desperate to get back into the UEFA Champions League and after their 0-3 win at Old Trafford they probably would have been favourites to get that spot, but now as is often the case with Spurs we do not know what to expect from them. Spurs take risks in possession under Postecoglou and have an extremely high line, which is sometimes a hindrance to them, especially against the bigger teams.
I believe for the rest of this season we will very much see the mixed Spurs that we have seen so far this season. They will blow teams away with their blistering attacking football one week and then put in a “Spursy” performance like the one seen at Brighton. They will be in the hunt for the top 4 and will be well capable of getting it, if they can show better consistency. The pressure will grow on Postecoglou if Spurs continue to show inconsistency. The fans want to see the team in the Champions League but also they are desperate to see the club end their trophy drought. For this to be a successful season for Spurs one of those two things needs to happen.
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✒️ Jack Guing – Football and GAA Sports Expert
Jack Guing has a strong knowledge of the sport of GAA through the lens of performance analysis with multiple GAA teams. He holds a master's degree in sports performance. He has a huge love of all things sports, especially golf, soccer and GAA. He uses statistics and performance analysis in order to predict the outcome of matches and events.
