With an away fixture against Everton tomorrow afternoon, Tottenham supporters here in the Football Transfer Tavern are hopeful that their club can make it a festive programme to remember with three cracking victories out of three.
Making light work of a home fixture against Norwich City on Boxing Day before snatching a hard fought 1-2 victory at high-flying Watford on Bank Holiday Monday, Tottenham rose to third place in the Premier League with many questioning why simply talk about a top four finish and not the title itself?
At the time of writing, Tottenham had lost the joint fewest amount of games in the entire top flight alongside Leicester City and Spurs’ new found resilience is there for all to see under Mauricio Pochettino with Toby Alderweireld, Eric Dier and Dele Alli having proved huge success stories so far this term.
If there’s one criticism of this high-flying Spurs team, it’s that they still draw way too many games with that total standing at eight for the season right now but considering they don’t lose many, you can understand why Spurs fans are claiming this is finally the season they break back into the top four.
While the mood is highly positive at present, there are still a few tiny fears lingering in the minds of a few of our Spurs fans here by the bar.
That’s why today we’ve devised a list of Tottenham fans’ five biggest fears for the remainder of the 2015/16 campaign.
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Click on the image below to reveal Tottenham fans’ five biggest fears this 2015/16 campaign.
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An injury to club talisman Harry Kane
It seems silly now that Harry Kane had his doubters earlier this campaign when many critics were claiming he was simply a one season wonder given his fantastic exploits in 2014/15.
Ever since the Manchester City game at home, Kane has started to look like his old self once again and when in the mood, he looks an unplayable force up front for Spurs.
Scoring against Arsenal yet again, not to mention downing West Ham United almost single handedly, Kane is somebody who Tottenham simply cannot afford to see injured for any length of time given his worth to the team.
What’s more, the only first team striking back up Tottenham boast at the moment is both Heung-Min Son and Clinton N’Jie although it could be claimed this pair and more like wingers rather than out-and-out forwards.
With just young Shayon Harrison behind these two, you can see why Tottenham fans crave an additional striker in the January transfer window this month for cover.
More league draws hindering their forward momentum
Stoke City, Leicester City, Everton, Swansea City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion.
Despite flying high in the Premier League right now, there’s still no getting away from the fact that Spurs are the Premier League’s draw specialists with eight to their name so far this season.
If only Tottenham could’ve turned half of these tight games from one point into three, Mauricio Pochettino’s side would be searing with even more belief and a definite run at the title, let alone finishing inside the top four.
The fear amongst Tottenham fans is that more drawn games may suck the club closer to the likes of Crystal Palace, Manchester United, West Ham United and Liverpool who are also in and around the Europa League qualification spots at the moment.
There’s no doubting that Tottenham’s defence can keep the goals out but Harry Kane definitely needs some more goalscoring support to turn these draws into more victories.
That they get jittery come the business end of the season
They won’t want reminding but the fact still remains that in the years gone by, Tottenham have seemed to come up against some form of mental block when it comes to finishing inside the top four.
Finishing six points behind fourth-placed Manchester United last term, unfortunately for Spurs themselves, they’ve earned themselves a reputation of finishing a respectable fifth but nothing more in recent times.
Given Chelsea’s dramatic fall from grace this term, not to mention the huge improvement and resilience as instilled by the impressive Mauricio Pochettino, surely this is Tottenham’s best shot of finally getting the job done.
That said, given the club has had to deal with its fair share of disappointments regarding failing at the final hurdle to get into Europe’s elite competition so many times, Pochettino will have to guard against any potential negativity come the business end of the season in April and May.
That Pochettino doesn’t supplement his thin squad in January
Now while you’d imagine that Daniel Levy will support Mauricio Pochettino in the January transfer window, Tottenham still have to go out and get their business done.
Everybody knows that Spurs wanted Berahino in the summer and Berahino wanted Spurs but West Bromwich Albion chairman Jeremy Peace turned down the prospective deal at the eleventh hour.
An additional striker is what every Tottenham supporter wants in January but with so many teams playing hardball over their players, getting business concluded in a swift manner isn’t always the way it goes.
The fear is that if Tottenham fail to make any new additions this January, it could be a huge missed opportunity if the club then suffer injuries that derail their top four tilt thereafter.
We’ve seen the benefits of Pochettino working with a tight-knit squad all season but if key cogs such as Hugo Lloris, Toby Alderweireld, Dele Alli or Harry Kane get injured, Tottenham could be in trouble.
That their Europa League commitments hinder their top four battle
Facing a Europa League last 32 two-legged tie against Italian giants Fiorentina next month, it couldn’t have got much harder for Spurs following the knock-out round draw.
That said, Tottenham will feel they’re a better club than the Viola and everybody looks forward to what will surely be an intriguing European battle.
Nevertheless, if Tottenham manage to successfully negotiate their way past the men from Florence, battling on both the European front, not to mention a top four battle may weigh heavy on this relatively small squad.
For so many years now, Tottenham have treated the Europa League with respect, yet crave a shot in the Champions League instead and Mauricio Pochettino will have to approach each and every game with extreme care to ensure Spurs make a good fist of both their European encounters, not to mention the domestic slog come Spring time.
