Tottenham Hotspur have not begun their Premier League season the way they'd hoped they would.
The North London club lost 1-0 in their season-opening match against a revamped Everton team. Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored the only goal of the match to defeat a Spurs team which was devoid of any real threat throughout proceedings.
After a turbulent 2019-20 season which saw a mid-season coaching change as well as the departure of Christian Eriksen to Inter Milan, many wondered just how Tottenham would fare with an off-season which would be expected to provide the club with a little more stability. However, things did not go as planned off the field.
For one thing, the stability mentioned never materialized. As noted after the Everton match by head coach José Mourinho, the club's pre-season preparations were disrupted by several Covid-19 cases within the team as well as multiple player departures for international matches. This instability and lack of preparation was clearly on display as Tottenham slumped to a tame loss.
Furthermore, Tottenham failed to land any signings of note during the off-season. The biggest name to arrive at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was Pierre-Emile Højbjerg, who was signed from Southampton. Not only did Tottenham fail to adequately replace Eriksen; they did not strengthen their squad at all and even lost Jan Vertonghen to Benfica.
The failure to find a quality replacement for Eriksen in particular has to sting for Tottenham for one key reason: they are coached by Mourinho.
When looking at Mourinho's most successful teams over the course of his coaching career, one feature stands out: they tend to be built around an elite midfielder who is equally comfortable at either the number 8 or number 10 position. Players such as Deco, Frank Lampard, Wesley Sneijder, Mesut Özil, and Luka Modrić come to mind. Eriksen is just such a player and could easily have served as the fulcrum of this Mourinho team just as the names mentioned did.
Making this season even tougher for Tottenham is the fact that the chase for the last two Champions League spots will be very tight. Liverpool and Manchester City should easily finish first and second in the league in some order. However, behind them is a mass of teams which could all easily finish between third and ninth depending on circumstances such as injuries, suspensions, fixture congestion, or even perhaps (but hopefully not) the effects of another season hiatus caused by yet another severe Covid-19 outbreak.
Chelsea and Manchester United will be favoured to once again occupy the final two Champions League berths. Tottenham will also have to fend of challenges from North London rivals Arsenal as well as Leicester, Wolverhampton Wanderers, and the much-improved Everton team which just beat them if they are to return to the biggest stage in European club football next season.
After their surprising run to the Champions League final in 2019, many expected Tottenham to take the next step and become regular contenders for titles both domestically and in Europe. One reason this has not been the case lies in the fact that some of their players have not developed to the degree which had at one point been expected of them.
The likes of Dele Alli, Davinson Sánchez, Eric Dier, and Harry Winks had been expected to make improvements beyond what they have achieved to this date. This is rather disappointing because at that point, Tottenham looked like a team with a bright future and perhaps even a title or more on the horizon. However, this now appears to be a far-off dream.
The biggest worry of all for Tottenham has yet to be realized, but it very well could at the end of this season if things continue as they have: Harry Kane might just leave the club.
Having just started his ninth Premier League campaign as a Tottenham player, the 2018 World Cup Golden Boot winner must surely have become frustrated with constantly being on the outside looking in as far as silverware is concerned. With his club now in decline, another poor season might end up causing him to run out of patience with the club.
It's not really possible to pin down Tottenham's struggles over the past year to any one factor. Players? Coaching? Front office? All have played a role. Right now, the only thing that seems to be certain is that Tottenham are likely to face another difficult season.
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