What a crazy season.
Started thinking that 3rd was ours for the taking, even if there was no shot at beating City or Liverpool. Was excited to see what we could do in the Cup competitions, potentially winning one of the domestic Cups. Excited by the new additions of Ndomebele, Sessegnon and GLC (likely in that order as well which has obviously flipped now).
Fast forward to the end of the year and I guess I am happy that we got 6th based on where we were at the middle of the year. Gone from being excited about the future of the team to terrified about how we will fill all the holes we have.
I'll give Jose a C+ for getting us to 6th, although I think that had more to do with the other teams around us than great work from him. I think his time should be over (I know there is no chance it will). He came in to see if he could get something out of this core and we saw that ship has sailed and we need huge changes to the squad. He does not seem to be the manager that should be in charge of that and with him as manager we are likely just going to try and hold on to being kind of competitive rather than make the changes needed to be truly competitive which is disappointing.
As for the squad:
Disappointing to see the drop off from Jan. I love the player, he has been great for the club but he is clearly done for our club. I hope he goes somewhere and has a great end to his career.
The back 4 really is a mess. KWP clearly was not ready to start for this club and despite his supposed good play (overrated) at Southhampton is not the answer at RB. The less said about Aurier the better, sorry for his loss but get him out of this club. Davies, is what he is a back-up level player with huge limitations both offensively and defensively. At best he should be in a situation where he is paired with a young guy who is working on taking his spot, ideally he should be full time back-up. Toby was great at the end of the year and the lone positive (maybe Tanganga as well but still questions about him) in the back 4. Sanchez is adewaute but made no progress this year and seems to be what he is. Dier is ugh. He offers a frustrating combination of terrible play and overratedness by both fans and the manager. Really need 4 news players (2 FBs, 1 vet CB and one youth CB) but will be lucky to get one new guy.
MF is a disaster. Will keep it short by saying GLC was great this year, a real positive to build around going forward. Sissoko and WInks cannot start. Winks keep around as a squad player but that is it. Skipp needs more time, which he should get in Europa. Gedson was a puzzling addition as he seems to add nothing to the squad. I think it is time for Alli to be sold if there is any kind of market for him. I appreciate him as a player but I am not sure where he fits or if the team can afford the up and down nature of his play (and give an F meter.)
Wingers and Forwards- the obvious strength of our team. What needs to be said about Kane other than legend. I was unsure about Son but he really impressed me at the end. He seemed to be a lot more effective in a front 2 with Kane than I would have thought he was. Obviously a likable guy as well.
Love Bergwijn and think he should be an automatic name on the first 11 next season. Moura improved at the end but is still way to limited with the ball at his feet in terms of passing and gets in the way more often than not. Seems to have some value so hopefully will be sold. Lamela, I don't think he has much value so keep him as a sub to go out and press and foul, foul and foul. Just keep the ball away from him as much as possible.
The club need to make decisions on Sessegnon and Ndombele. If you could get the money we spent last year on them now, I would sell them both in a heartbeat. If Sess is a winger, we don't need that now, could use that money in areas of much bigger needs. I really don't understand that handling of him at all even the recruitment of him prior as it seems we should have added him last winter if he was just going to sit all year this season.
I have been vocal about my concerns over Ndombele's fitness and effort levels. I am willing to give him a chance as he seems like the player we need if you believe all the reports of his supporters and apologists. I would prefer to bring someone in that actually appears to care but doubt we have the money to do that or the ability to identify that player. I will try and give him a 3rd/4th/5th chance and hope he turns it around because that is what is best for the club but he is hard player to support and has done nothing to earn those extra chances other than be a desperation hope.
Overall a pretty poor season in which it seems we are just treading water while other clubs are moving further away from us. Salvaged a bit by finishing 6th and getting back to Europe but it is hard to see the club having much success in the future and 6th seems to be our likely finishing spot for the next few years. Things can change fast though and hopefully that happens for us soon, but I would say this is the least confident I have felt about Spurs in the "summer" for as long as I can remember.
