Spurs have enjoyed a season full of ups and downs which ended on rather disappointing note with a 2 -0 defeat in the Champions league final against Liverpool.
From being in contention for every tournament they were in to eventually being knocked out from the FA cup and EFL cup in the same week. The Premier league campaign for Spurs after January was a disaster but somehow the club managed another top 4 finish.
Here we have a look at Spurs season:
Premier League – 4th
Spurs started the season by creating an unusual record of becoming the first club in the Premier league history to not sign a single player in the transfer window.
Spurs faced a lot of backlash from fans and pundits and many predicted the club to have a disastrous campaign ahead.
Tottenham started the season on a high note with a early 3-0 victory against Manchester United at the Old Trafford.
Spurs kept proving their critics wrong and kept delivering good results even when a number of their key players were injured.
Injuries to Kane and Alli was the turning point for Spurs as they went from being in contention from lifting the Premier league title to eventually dropping from the title race and then had to fight for a top four finish.
Spurs only managed to win 3 of their final 12 league games.
However as Arsenal and Manchester United were also going through a grey patch Pochettino’s side somehow managed to finish in the top four for the third consecutive season.
After the final fixture against Everton, Spurs ended the Premier league campaign with 23 wins and 13 losses scoring 67 goals and conceding 39.
Domestic Cup Performance
Carabao Cup – Semi Finals
It was a repeat of history for Spurs as once again they crashed out of the EFL cup in the semi final. The injury to Kane and Alli left Spurs short of alternatives in their attack and eventually lost the 2-1 on aggregate to Chelsea.
Spurs defeated their arch rivals Arsenal 4-2 to reach the EFL cup semi final for the third season in a row. After the victory Spurs were drawn with their North London rivals Chelsea. The 1st leg ended with a 1-0 victory for Spurs courtesy of a controversial Harry Kane penalty.
In the 2nd leg of the fixture Spurs were without Kane and Alli. The match went to penalties and Eric Dier, and Lucas Moura both failed to convert, sending Chelsea to the semi finals and crasing out of the cup.
FA Cup – Fourth Round
Tottenham managed a 7-0 victory over Tranmere in the third round of the FA cup and were drawn against League side Crystal Palace for the 4th round.
Spurs were the favorites to go through from the fixture but the injuries to Kane and Alli left Spurs toothless.
Connor Wickham and Andros Townsend scored for Palace to knock out Spurs from their 2nd consecutive competition in a span of 6 days.
Champions League – Runners Up
Spurs performances in the Champions league is perhaps the only positive from this season. Spurs were placed in group B alongside Barcelona, Inter and PSV. Tottenham started of their campaign failing to win any of their first 3 matches.
With just 3 games remaining it appeared impossible for Spurs to qualify for the next round. Spurs later managed to snatch victories against PSV and Inter and held Barca to a draw at the Champ Nou in order to book their place in the Round of 16.
Spurs faced German side Borussia Dortmund in the Round of 16 and defeated the German side 3-0 at the Wembley in order to put them in a commending position to reach the quarter final.
The 2nd leg, despite being away in Germany Spurs still managed to snatch a 1-0 victory courtesy of a goal by Harry Kane.
In the quarter final, Spurs drew against their league rivals Manchester City and hosted their European match at their new stadium. Spurs managed a 1-0 victory in the first leg after Sergio Aguero failed to score from the penalty spot.
The return leg saw both the team score twice in the opening 20 minutes which turned out to be one of the most anticipated fixture of this season with Llorente scoring a controversial goal which was given a green light by VAR to make it 3-2 on aggregate, Sterling’s last minute goal was disallowed by VAR for being offside and Spurs reached their first ever Champions league semi final.
Spurs were set up for facing Dutch side Ajax in the semi final. The first leg at the Spur new stadium saw Spurs suffer another home defeat as Van De Beek scored a crucial away goal for Ajax.
With the 2nd leg in Netherlands Spurs went down 3-0 on aggregate at the end of the first half. The second half half saw Spurs winger Lucas Moura score thrice in the last 20 minutes to book their place in the final on away goals.
Moura scored a last minute goal to snatch the finals spot from Ajax and bring an end to their remarkable campaign.
In the final Manager Pochettino made the poor decision to start Harry Kane who missed a month of action because of his ankle ligament injury.
Salah and Origi scored for Liverpool in order to hand Spurs their biggest upset of the season
Best Player
Son Heung-min
The South Korean was the most important player for the club this season and stood up in the absence of Kane and Alli to win matches for Spurs. He single handedly destroyed Manchester City to help Spurs book their place in the Champions league semi final.
This was his best season at the club and he was very rightly awarded the Player of the season by Tottenham Hotspur for his contribution to the club this season.
Worst Player
This one was a difficult pick as Spurs had a no of players who spent most of the season on the sidelines because of their injuries.
However if we have to pick a player who was the worst even after getting a considerate amount of playing time on the field it has to be none other than RB – Kieran Trippier.
The England international was a star for England at the World cup in Russia but failed to give his best for the club. He was good in some matches but could not be consistent with his performances and faced a lot of criticism from the fans and pundits
The England international made a number of mistakes throughout the campaign and has been linked with a move away from the club with Napoli being his likely destination.
The Manager
There is little you can say to Mauricio Pochettino for the season. Despite not making a single new signing Pochettino guided his team to another top 4 finish in the Premier league, final of the Champions league and Semi final of the EFL cup.
If he can do this with a team exhausted of energy, a no of key injuries and no new signings just imagine what could he have done if Spurs had brought new players and had depth in their squad.
We can only wonder.
