Opinion: Where this Spurs side ranks among our greatest of the Premier League era
As Spurs fans, we love to reminisce about the past. Fans of a certain age will look back on the great Double-winning side of 1960/61 and will cite the likes of Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Smith, Cliff Jones and Terry Dyson as their favourite players of all time.
Fast-forward a generation and you find supporters discussing our side of the early 80s, the FA Cup wins of 1980/81 and 1981/82, with the culmination of those ‘glory, glory’ days being that famous 1984 UEFA Cup win, and those fans will name Ossie Ardiles, Ricky Villa, Tony Parks and Steve Perryman among their all-time greats.
The younger generation have not been as lucky. Just one League Cup in a barren run of one trophy in 32 years, and counting. Though, in more recent years, they have been blessed to watch the likes of Harry Kane, Gareth Bale, Heung-min Son, Jermain Defoe and Dele Alli from the views provided by both editions of the Park Lane, Shelf Side or the Paxton Road.
This current side, led by Ange Postecoglou, has the potential to be an all-time favourite. Maybe it’s because this young, exciting team, playing front-foot football and controlling games, is a far cry from the dull, uninspiring mess that was served up by Jose Mourinho, Nuno Espirito Santo and Antonio Conte over the past few years.
Maybe it’s because, inspired by ‘Ange-ball’, the new stadium has seen matchday atmosphere on a consistent basis unlike ever before. Maybe it’s because it’s so refreshing to listen to Ange’s press conferences which, unlike his predecessors, are not repetitive and uninteresting.
But where does it rank among Tottenham’s greatest sides of the Premier League era?
2005/06 – Manager: Martin Jol
League Position: 5th
Standout players: Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe, Ledley King, Edgar Davids, Michael Dawson, Michael Carrick
On paper, you may question why this team have been included – no top 4, disappointing early cup exits, that final day debacle…
Forget about lasagne for a minute. The team of 2005/06 was a breath of fresh air for Spurs fans. The previous season was a dull 9th, and it could easily have been worse had Jacques Santini been allowed to stay.
Exciting players were brought in (what was a Champions League winner like Edgar Davids doing at a team who had finished 9th?), Martin Jol inspired Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe to score 25 goals between them in the league, and the emergence of Michael Carrick in midfield earned him a big move to Manchester United in the summer.
Final day fiasco aside, the points haul of 65 was enough to secure Spurs’ highest-ever Premier League finish of 5th, and subsequent European qualification for the first time since an ill-fated 1999/00 UEFA Cup campaign.
Similarities can be drawn between this side and the current side. No, the team of 2005/06 weren’t managed by a charismatic Aussie, but what they did have was a rock-solid defensive pairing of Ledley King and Michael Dawson.
This is actually similar to the current pairing of Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero – the former already drawing comparisons with the great Ledley – and a team spirit to rival that of Ange’s side, who, to an outsider, seem more ‘together’ than any Spurs side has been for years.
Are they better than what we currently have? In short, no. This current team is packed to the brim with world-class players and a top, emerging manager – the team of 2005/06 were running on, mostly, solid players who could do a job in the Premier League – though that work ethic and team ethos was on another level to teams from the past.
2009/10 – Manager: Harry Redknapp
League position: 4th
Standout players: Aaron Lennon, Jermain Defoe, Luka Modric, Michael Dawson, Peter Crouch
The first Spurs side that fans born in the late 1990s to early 2000s were able to truly fall in love with.
On paper, with a solid mid-table manager like Harry Redknapp, and an uninspiring best XI, a few gems aside, it looked like a season of challenging for Europa League qualification for Spurs.
But we went one better.
It may be to do with the fact that we were up against Manchester City’s newly-found riches in the battle for 4th place, but it seemed like most of the league were willing us over the line to Champions League qualification and our highest-ever Premier League position.
Redknapp’s second-to-none man management, memorable victories over Arsenal and Chelsea, and of course Peter Crouch’s winner at the Etihad, it was a season to remember.
A trip to Wembley was even on the cards for the FA Cup semi-final, but a dismal display against lowly Portsmouth ensured we would have to wait to lift that famous old trophy again.
Are they better than what we currently have? No. However, it could be argued that this Spurs team, in their prime, would give our current team a good game. A certain Gareth Bale was on the bench for most of the season…
2016/17 – Manager: Mauricio Pochettino
League position: 2nd
Standout players: Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Heung-min Son, Hugo Lloris, Christian Eriksen, Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen, Moussa Dembele
After a few years of ‘nearlys’, Europa League football and Tim Sherwood, Mauricio Pochettino arrived in the summer of 2014 and set about curating a squad that, at its peak, would go on to finish 2nd in the league, with a home-grown superstar from the academy leading the line. It wasn’t bad, was it?
Time and time again on social media we are reminded of this team’s greatness – 86 points would have been enough to win the league in some seasons – and graphics of the strongest lineup from this season, consisting of Lloris, Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Dembele, Wanyama, Eriksen, Dele, Son and Kane.
It was a fitting farewell to the old White Hart Lane, and a true testament to the ethos that Poch brought to the club, that we would go unbeaten all season in N17 – we would also reach another FA Cup semi-final but eventually lose out to Chelsea.
On its day, the team just seemed invincible – another North London Derby victory, a memorable win under the lights against a Chelsea side which were the only team in the country better than us at the time, a win over Manchester United in the final game at the Lane… Pochettino built arguably our greatest team of the Premier League era.
Are they better than what we currently have? Yes – but not much better. This current team still has so much to prove, and with a captain who starred in the great 2016/17 side, Heung-min Son, the sky is the limit for Postecoglou’s boys.
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