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After beating Sheffield United last Sunday to secure European Football, Tottenham finished 5th place which is what we will reflect on today. For me it was a disappointing end to the season but when you look at the season as a whole with a new manager playing an opposite style of football to what we have been playing under Mourinho and Conte and also losing your best player and most likely the best player in the world at that then you have to say that we cannot be too unhappy with the season as a whole. If Arsenal had beaten Munich and reached the semi final of the Champions League then 5th would have made it as a Champions League place and we would be in entirely a different situation then. But alas Arsenal did not win this game and we are in the Europa League this season. Some say it is a better step than to play in the Champions League as it will be a chance to give the fringe players a run out and develop the younsters so the Champions League will have to wait until next year. Manchester United and Newcastle finishing outside the European spots having been in the Champions League this year was also pointed out. They (especially United ) have gone back this year. Yes they have reached an FA Cup final but their team is terrible.
Spurs started great with ten games unbeaten in the League and sat top of the table in October. But the turning point came when they played Chelsea. We got two injuries to Van Der Ven and Maddison and also 2 red cards with Romero and Ugogie during this match and the suspensions and injuries killed us in the games after this one. Spurs have a great 1st 11 but not a great squad and it is hoped that this will be looked at in the summer. Tottenham are open to saying goodbye to Gil , Los Celso , Sessegnon, Davies, Royal , Hojbjerg, Djed Spence, Joe Roden , Reguilon and they will listen to offers on Richarlison , Bissouma. This will fund out players in during the summer as well as a war chest of around £200 million. Ange wants to totally overhaul the squad and when asked by a journalist if 3 or 4 players in , in key positions , he said that was not enough so Spurs will be busy in the summer. Tottenham will be targeting the FFP probelm clubs who need money in to balance the book and come inside the financial fair play guidelines. Tottenham are not short of a few pound but it will be getting the current players out that will be the problem. And we have the euros in the middle as well. Players often come of age at the Euros so deals are normally done before this happens. Otherwise you are talking about millions added on. So Johan Lange who is our new director of football and prefers to work in the shadows is currently trying to get Gallagher over the line before the euros.
When talking about Tottenhams season as a whole , the end of the season ended in disappointment as we didn't make top 4. As well as this there was that game against Man City where half our fanbase were actually up for Man City so that Arsenal would not win the league. When Sonny got through on goal , the stadium held their breath and the weird atmosphere around the whole game was extraordinary. Spurs played well against City and noone can say that we threw the game. However we lost and nobody was going to cry about it. Ange said it was the worst game he has ever managed because there was pressure on him not to lose by too much otherwise his integrity would come into question and he was not happy about that. He had a go at the fans which i think was his right. It was all cleared up a couple of days later when he said that he got the whole situation wrong and got everybody back onside.
I break the season up into thirds actually. The first third is pre Chelsea where we were flying and everyone loved Angeball and the new attacking style. We were all happy and there was a buzz around the place. New manager , new style and teams had not worked us out yet. Then came Chelsea with the suspensions and the injuries.
The 2nd third was the injury hit phase and the Asian Cup when Sonny was gone on international duty. Tottenham scraped together a team and got over the line but bearly. We still had a relatively ok record.
The final third was the run in where we were playing the likes of City , Liverpool, Newcastle , Arsenal and Chelsea and it was a disaster losing 4 games on the trott. Many say you turned out games the other way around and we had a poor start and then went 10 games unbeaten at the end then we would be much happier with our league finish.
I do believe we have the right manager for the job and I cannot wait to see who we add in the summer. The squad is in Australia at the moment for a pointless money grab. This was announced in March just before the Fulham match which was a surprise defeat. The players limped out for their first friendly in Melbourne this morning. You could see that they would prefer to be lying on a beach in Miami rather than training in Melbourne. But these are their commitments and they get well paid for it. So Spurs news will be taking a break for a while until we come close to the new season. It has been emotional. Thanks to all the Gunners that read these posts. I love annoying you all.
And in other news.
Arsenal were quietly getting their open top bus celebrations ready for last Sunday because they had a feeling the hammers could do a number on Man City. Not a hope in hell was that happening when Foden fired in City's first goal after a couple of minutes. It was never going to happen. @belemo thinks I owe him 500 Hive apparently for Arsenal finishing above Spurs in the league. I remember betting him 20 quid worth of Hive alright but he upped his bet with @deniskj to 500 Hive and included me in his little arrangement. The first instalment will be going out this week with the next rewards I get. He better watch out for it.