Why Tottenham could be the side to challenge Manchester City's EPL dominance
The 2018/19 Premier League season is now well upon us and after two thumping victories – first, a one-sided 2-0 win over supposed contenders Arsenal and then a 6-1 mauling of Huddersfield – the question already on every fan’s lips is a simple one – who can stop Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City?
Over the summer, the majority of the talk has centred around Jurgen Klopp’s apparently much-improved Liverpool side, while of course, the rivalry between the two Manchester clubs remains huge.
Despite finishing 3rd last season, most pundits have already ruled out Tottenham’s chances of catching or even overhauling Pep’s men. Most people point towards Mauricio Pochettino’s lack of transfer activity during the summer that saw them add no player to their ranks.
New reports have also emerged that Spurs might not even have a home stadium until 2019 as safety concerns have delayed the project. But despite all this, they have shown plenty of grit and could still be City’s main challengers in 2018/19 – and here are 5 reasons why.
#5 They haven’t signed anyone...
When Tottenham failed to make a single signing in the summer transfer window, Spurs fans and neutrals alike were largely horrified. They became the first side since 2003 to not make a signing in a summer window, and the feeling was that chairman Daniel Levy’s notoriously tough negotiating tactics were to blame.
But in reality, outside of Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish, Tottenham didn’t actually have any concrete links to any other players outside of the odd piece of media babble. And unlike his counterpart Jose Mourinho at Manchester United, Mauricio Pochettino hardly seemed annoyed by the lack of new players to add to his squad – in public at least.
Curiously then, the fact that Tottenham haven’t signed any new players might actually play into their hands. You could argue that the lack of signings means a lack of competition for places, but that simply isn’t the case – there’s competition throughout the squad, between full-backs Serge Aurier and Kieran Trippier to wide-men Heung-Min Son, Erik Lamela and Lucas Moura.
Instead, it also means that Tottenham’s squad is remarkably settled and nobody needs to embed themselves into Pochettino’s system as they have done previously. Every player in the squad knows exactly what the Argentine wants from them and that knowledge, and the togetherness that the squad has clearly cultivated – makes them the most likely challengers to City’s title.