For Tottenham Hotspur this season, success will be to qualify for the Champions League at the very least, but the club could well finish higher. Mauricio Pochettino’s side should aim for the title, even if such aims are fruitless. Famously, Bill Nicholson declared that “It is better to fail aiming high than to succeed aiming low”.
There are 36 points waiting to be won with key clashes such as those against the likes of Arsenal still to be fought. If Spurs really are to challenge for the title, every single match must be treated with equal importance. There are teams fighting for consolidation in the Premier League and these teams must be respected. In addition, the players must push hard to ensure that maximum points are attained, as Tottenham have the most draws in the top six of the Premier League.
Drawing is a bad habit for winners. No winning team should ever be set up to draw, or to contain. Pochettino has shown no signs of playing negative football so far and seems to share this mantra of vibrant, attacking football, despite the number of draws. This kind of positive football is absolutely vital for a chance at winning the title.
The race for the title is still hanging precariously in the balance, with six teams all vying for glory. Tottenham are definitely one of the main competitors for the title, even if such dreams were never conceived at the start of the season. There are absolutely no guarantees in football, definitely not in this Premier League season, so they must graft harder than their competitors if they are to seize the title.
One major obstacle for Tottenham is the Europa League. Whilst Pochettino has invested in the competition so far, the newfound position of his team may affect its involvement. After all, does it really matter if Spurs fall out of Europe now, with a far superior European competition within their clutching grasps? No, it doesn’t, but this doesn’t necessarily mean a complete overhaul of the personnel he has used so far in the competition. Key players like Hugo Lloris, Eric Dier and Harry Kane must be rested. If not fully rested, then at least they should be protected as Spurs cannot afford to lose any players to injury.
The squad is deep enough and should be relied upon to avoid injury and fatigue. Resting important first team players may not even be a curse for Spurs’ progress in Europe. Indeed, players such as Joshua Onomah, Harry Winks and Thomas Glover may be given invaluable match time and one of them may prove to be the next significant discovery. Pochettino has excelled at promoting youth players so far and it would pleasing to see such policies continued. The team are still in the running for the FA Cup, which could also be both a drain on the squad as well as another potential title to add to the haul.
Would it be disappointing if Spurs chose to give less priority to the Europa League and FA Cup and get knocked out, followed by a failure to claim the Premier League title? Not necessarily. Tottenham’s aims at the start of the season would have been to qualify for the Champions League. This would be a massive achievement in itself, and anything else is a bonus. There is a lot of positivity buzzing around White Hart Lane and rightly so.
