‘Nearly men’ seek elusive silverware
Tottenham open their Champions League campaign at Inter Milan on Tuesday bidding to banish the growing belief that they lack the steel to win major silverware.
Packed with dynamic young stars and well drilled by charismatic manager Mauricio Pochettino, Tottenham appear to have all the ingredients required for a winning recipe.
Having nine Tottenham players among the four World Cup semifinalists, a group that does not include key players Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min, underlines just how potent their squad should be.
Yet since Pochettino took charge in May 2014, Tottenham have proved English football’s ultimate tease.
Without silverware since the 2008 League Cup, Tottenham are in danger of becoming European football’s “nearly men”, a predicament that has raised the stakes for Pochettino and his players.
At an age when Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola were already well established as managerial titans, the 46-yearold Pochettino is still waiting for his first trophy.
Crumbling in the face of adversity has been a Tottenham trademark for decades and, while Pochettino has done much to raise standards at the north London club, he is yet to eradicate their tendency to repeatedly snatch failure from the jaws of success.
Entering this season with the exact same cast of players as last season – there were no signings partly due to the financial constraints of a delayed new stadium – has left Pochettino with his hands tied and the results have been entirely predictable.
When a 3-0 win at Manchester United extended Tottenham’s perfect start, many pundits were quick to hail them as serious rivals for City’s title.
But just days later, Tottenham reverted to type, allowing the momentum to slip from their grasp in a shock 2-1 defeat at Watford.
Saturday’s 2-1 home loss to Liverpool once again underlined that Spurs are far from the finished article.
And with Barcelona and PSV Eindhoven also in Tottenham’s group, a defeat at the San Siro would be a significant setback to Pochettino’s hopes of finally getting his hands on that long-awaited trophy.