Opinion: What Tottenham’s realistic aims for the season should be

I came up with the idea of this opinion piece before Tottenham took on NS Mura in the Conference League. I prepped myself and my ideas and then decided to take a break and, as most die-hard Spurs fans were doing, sat down to watch us take on a team I had very little knowledge […]

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I came up with the idea of this opinion piece before Tottenham took on NS Mura in the Conference League.

I prepped myself and my ideas and then decided to take a break and, as most die-hard Spurs fans were doing, sat down to watch us take on a team I had very little knowledge of about at a quarter to six on a Thursday evening.

What a mistake that turned out to be.

Before the game, my piece was going to be full of optimism and positivity, and suggestions of dare I even say a trophy or two; opinions I had due to Antonio Conte’s arrival.

However, a tough wake-up call in Slovenia, followed by some damning comments from our new revered coach, reminded me of something; we may have Antonio Conte, but this is still Tottenham Hotspur.

Pochettino, Mourinho and Conte are all managers Tottenham Hotspur have had in recent years, and whilst it seems to be a feature of the modern game to lay the blame at the manager’s doorstep when things go wrong, I think our third world class manager in as many years suggests another issue at the club; the players.

But this is an article about the expectations of the season ahead, and as this is my first article for The Spurs Web, I don’t want to start off on the wrong foot with the readers; my opinions are not all doom and gloom.

Whilst a large majority of this squad are simply not talented enough and do need moving in, I do believe we have the two men to do that in Conte and Paratici.

Unlike the two previous managers, I am optimistic Conte will outlast the deadwood at the club, and Patrici will be a busy man come January. Levy has no choice now; he must back him.

If we get the business right over the winter, I still believe a top four finish, despite how unlikely it may seem now, is possible.

With some new players, Conte’s players, I think we do have enough to finish above Arsenal and Manchester United this season, purely due to us having, in my opinion, the best manager of the three.

Where our main issue may lie, and I never thought I would write this, is West Ham.

However, I believe we will be out of the Conference league in a couple of weeks’ time, and whilst this would have seemed disastrous at the beginning of the season, it could play into our hands now.

If a relatively inexperienced West Ham team are still juggling Thursday nights with the Premier League in the latter stages of the season, and we are just focussing on the league, we could be a lot fresher in the battle for fourth.

As for the domestic cups, well this is an article about realistic expectations, and realistically our squad is not deep enough to compete in the cup competitions and the league.

Therefore, I think Conte would be wise to focus on the Premier League, and realistically try to crack that top five, with top four perhaps still in reach if we can get Kane and Son firing again, along with some positive business in January.

But this is Tottenham, meaning we will probably look back on this article in May, after Conte has walked due to a dispute over transfer funds with Levy, we have narrowly missed out on the top 6, and Spurs’ official twitter account are tweeting their delight at the announcement of our new head coach, Gattuso, on a two-year deal!

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