This is my Season Review 2019/20
Where to start? The beginning would be good.
Last season ended disappointingly. Off the back of a CL Final loss, it left us on a downer for the start of this season.
The 2019 off-season was interesting. Having not spent anything in Summer 2018, we smashed our transfer record for Tanguy N’dombele. Some saga about Dybala and image rights went on throughout the transfer window. In came GLC and Sessegnon amongst others. We flogged an English player to a top tier European league (when was the last time that happened?). We also won a trophy! AUDI CUP CHAMPIONS (An English team beat a German team on penalties too, I was there! I recorded all of the shootout too. A story to tell the grandkids!)
3 small letters had a big impact on PL football this season. V A R. I will leave the opinions up to you.
Having spent the first part of 2019 at Wembley, this season was supposed to be our first full season back at home (White Hart Lane). The crowds were going to flock in and get this season kickstarted in a positive way. The first game was a lacklustre performance against a newly promoted Villa side. 3-1 win flattered us (but N’dombele scored and murmurs of a new star at Spurs echoed around the ground afterwards). 12 months later, lead balloon?
Everyone knows the CL run papered over cracks we had in our squad and these cracks grew ever deeper. Colchester dumped us out of the Carling Cup. 3-0 loss away to Brighton saw the end of Pochettino. Poch was at the helm for 5 years (a long fucking time in modern football). THFC were back in the manager merry go-around (it felt weird as a Spurs fan being back to hiring and firing managers after such a long time). A manager in charge of some of our better years in our history would require a replacement with a pedigree for winning trophies. Someone to push us further from the great work that Poch had done.
ENTER Jose Mourinho.
Christ on a bike, the Special One at Spurs? Nah. Could Spurs fans get their heads around a Chelsea manager coming to us? A person you could hate with every sinew in your body? Apparently, it was supposed to be alright, because the Special One was now the Humble One, whatever that means. He was supposed be less of a prick! He managed to convince a tightwad like Levy to part with £15 million so perhaps he was working that humble charm.
1 training session later, we played Southstand Billy’s favourite team. Spammers away, 3-2 win. OMG we won a fucking game. Dele’s brother didn’t show up, rather Dele himself. Some sort of hybrid 3 CBs with Aurier as a WB was a noticeable change by Mourinho. New Manager Bounce was clearly evident in that performance. After the bounce, results were up and down. Football wasn’t the most exciting, yet we beat Burnley 5-0 at home and Son scored a worldie! Only home game I’ve missed in 3 years – maybe I’m the jinx?
We left the 2010s without a trophy, having played some scintillating football and some of our best season finishes in the PL. Consistently in the top 4 for most of the decade (was Levy happy with just this?). 2020 brought a new year, new decade and a new dawn for the club. Roll on New Years Day 2020, Southampton away. Our Iron Man striker H.Kane was never supposed to be get injured. If he was then Sonny would fill in like last season. Second striker? What are they? It’s never easy with Spurs, Kane injured on the first day of 2020 with a hamstring, the curse of 2019 just rolled over. Sonny went up top. Villa away, Son scores 2 (a last gasp winner to bring all 3 points home). But hang on a second! The South Korean who we rested our entire striking hopes on comes away with 3 points, 2 goals, and 1 broken arm. 0 strikers – Fernando where are you (to the tune of ABBA)? Without any strikers our play was unstructured, turgid and results accordingly poor. CL knockout rounds were due to begin. An upstart club, RB Leipzig lie in wait with an upcoming manager playing an energetic, attacking game. They made mincemeat of us. CL run ended at the first knockout hurdle. One less trophy available. FA Cup still going. Replay wins against Middlesbrough and Southampton. Norwich at home next. 1-0 up, SuperJan at the back post. But hold up – 9000 Norwich fans went into delirium when they equalised. They played for penalties, Krul was their keeper. Lost on penalties, Troy Parrott, the new kid on the block was given the responsibility to step up and take a penalty (missed!). Tough on the kid. Gedson Fernandes who has hardly featured took the final one. A 5-year-old could have taken a better one. Dumped out of the FA Cup, another trophy-less season. FFS!
Could the season get worse? Why YES! Actually, the entire PLANET was fucked!
GLOBAL PANDEMIC – CORONAVIRUS.
A once in a lifetime event happened. No football – what are we supposed to do without it? In fact no sport at all, no live entertainment. Nothing! Having taken many lives this was not a time to be thinking about football or anything of the sort. Stay safe, stay home, save lives! Lockdown!
Should football restart? Is it safe? 3 months later it did restart. Except no crowds. Our brand new stadium and nobody was in it! Only Spurs.
3 months without football it could have saved our season. Injuries plagued our squad before lockdown. We were back to full strength after lockdown. Time for a late charge for a top 4 spot. Man Utd next, also contenders. Decent performance, new signing Stevie B with a goal! But hang on. VAR strikes, penalty to Man Utd. It’s the same script as before. Ends 1-1. Dodgy results against Bournemouth and Sheff Utd dented our chances of CL.
But a run of wins and Mourinhoesque performances, least of all in the NLD, is cause for optimism. The first NLD in our new stadium (Son and Toby score to keep North LDN WHITE!). Finishing above Woolwich/Plumstead (wherever the fuck they are from) makes a shit season, slightly less shitty.
So, we finish 6th and in the Europa League after 5 continuous seasons in the CL. Some sort of European football is good for this club as Bill Nicholson said.
I and others are glad to see the back of this season. It certainly was a rollercoaster, looks like it’ll be more of the same next season.
Where does it leave the club now? Investment is badly needed. If someone could DM Levy a list of DM’s that would be a start. And whilst we are at it, an RB, LB and ST would be good too.
To the future, Coronavirus vaccines, facemasks n all. All’s I know is that the year ends in 1. 2020/2021 – Trophy Time Tottenham! Get It Done – No Excuses! COYS!
Best thing about it is we can relive this season on Amazon! FFS
Grade: 5/10
