Tottenham Hotspur 2024-25 season overview – A season of contrasts

A Premier League campaign that will go down in shame but a European journey that will go down in fame—2024-25 was a season of extreme highs and lows for Tottenham Hotspur.

In most seasons, the threat of a shock relegation might have been a genuine concern, yet despite Ange Postecoglou’s second-year trophy forecast, that nightmare scenario never unfolded.

Spurs underwhelmed for large stretches of the league campaign, ending 17th and suffering 22 defeats — the highest ever total by a side surviving a 38-game Premier League season — though one might now question how significant that stat truly is.

Despite collapsing domestically, Tottenham kept pressing on in Europe. Postecoglou adjusted his approach and led them to end a 17-year wait for major silverware, much to the delight of fans with Spurs tickets.

Legends like Luka Modric, Harry Kane, Hugo Lloris, Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen never lifted a trophy in North London. But despite this group’s league woes, they’ve become cherished figures among the fanbase.

This campaign will be remembered as a chaotic thrill ride that concluded perfectly.

An overwhelming injury crisis ruined their league hopes and pushed their focus toward cup tournaments, though even then, few genuinely expected them to finish the season with a title.

Postecoglou silenced every doubter. Together with his players and staff, they persevered — and it all came together in Bilbao, where a 1-0 win over Manchester United secured the Europa League crown.

Season overview

After the heartbreak of missing out on Champions League qualification for the 2024–25 campaign, Tottenham Hotspur began the new season in underwhelming fashion, registering just one victory from their opening four Premier League fixtures — a run that included a home defeat to fierce rivals Arsenal.

Following that setback, Postecoglou made the defiant yet honest claim that his second year at any club always brought silverware — a statement that would become the yardstick for judging his season — although Spurs’ bleak domestic displays suggested his unblemished track record might finally be broken.

Across their first 23 league outings, Tottenham managed a mere seven wins — one of which was a resounding 4-0 dismantling of Manchester City — as Postecoglou navigated a winter period plagued by a brutal injury list, constant scrutiny of his tactical rigidity, and a series of demoralising cup exits.

Aston Villa ended their FA Cup journey in round four, while a 1-0 first-leg triumph over Liverpool in the EFL Cup semi-finals was followed by a humiliating 4-0 thrashing at Anfield. Spurs ultimately became the first team in Premier League history to suffer 22 defeats in a 38-game season and still avoid the drop.

Having placed fifth the previous year, the North Londoners plummeted to 17th under Postecoglou’s leadership — flirting dangerously with recording their worst-ever points tally and league finish since the competition’s inception.

Between December and January, Spurs endured a dire spell, producing just one win from 11 league games, with a mounting injury crisis regularly depriving the team of a dozen senior players.

Despite their domestic collapse — and there was no shortage of issues in that department — Tottenham maintained their European momentum, notably producing a spirited comeback to knock AZ Alkmaar out in the round of 16 before stunning Eintracht Frankfurt away in the quarter-finals.

Their progress on the continent likely saved Postecoglou from being dismissed mid-season, and he ultimately rewarded the club’s faith by delivering the trophy-starved fanbase long-awaited silverware.

Their triumph over Manchester United in the Europa League final not only secured Champions League football for next term but may also hand Postecoglou a chance to continue leading the project long-term.

Breakout years for Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray offer reasons for optimism, yet there is no disguising the extensive rebuilding needed over the summer to restore their league credibility.

From Brennan Johnson’s scrappy opener to Micky van de Ven’s spectacular aerial clearance and Guglielmo Vicario’s pivotal injury-time stop — Tottenham shattered a 17-year drought and, in doing so, earned an unexpected return to Europe’s top table.

Still, speculation over Postecoglou’s future remains intense, with some sources suggesting that a single trophy might not be enough to guarantee his position. In the coming weeks, clarity is expected on whether the Australian will remain in charge for the 2025–26 campaign or if the board will begin the search for a successor.

Best player 

Amidst all the chaos and glory that defined Tottenham Hotspur’s season, one figure remained unwaveringly present on the pitch — Pedro Porro.

Porro accumulated more minutes in the Premier League than any other Spurs player this season (2,608), putting him 217 ahead of Kulusevski, who ranked second. He was one of only six players to surpass the 2,000-minute mark in the league for the club. While Pape Matar Sarr made appearances in more league fixtures (36 compared to Porro’s 33), the Senegal midfielder featured from the bench in 14 of those contests. If Tottenham hadn’t embarked on such an extended European run, Porro would almost certainly have played in every outing.

As injuries dismantled the defensive core — the area most integral to the team’s stability — the Spaniard remained the sole ever-present member of Postecoglou’s first-choice backline.

Admittedly, specific teammates experienced more spectacular peaks.

Dejan Kulusevski was undeniably the standout performer during the campaign’s opening months, and had injury not halted his rise, he might have mounted a genuine case for the overall Premier League Player of the Season accolade, not just Spurs’ internal recognition. Brennan Johnson, meanwhile, etched his name into Tottenham folklore with his instinctive finish at the near post in Bilbao. This moment will be eternally commemorated across the stadium and training complex to inspire future stars. Lucas Bergvall, arguably Tottenham’s top performer of 2025 before sustaining an ankle issue in training ahead of the Europa League semi-final, rightfully earns a place in the discussion, too.

Still, availability remains an irreplaceable asset — and no individual contributed more consistently across the season than Porro.

Most improved player

Djed Spence’s comeback story was as improbable as it was inspiring. Initially brought to North London from Nottingham Forest in July 2022, the full-back spent two frustrating years bouncing between loan spells at Rennes, Leeds United, and Genoa, never gaining traction at his parent club.

His departure felt inevitable — until an unexpected resurgence in pre-season saw him turn heads within the coaching staff. Spence delivered a string of promising displays, convincing Ange Postecoglou to halt any transfer exit. Even so, it wasn’t until December that he earned his first Premier League start of the campaign, but once he did, there was no turning back.

Since 15 December, Spence has gone on to complete 90 minutes in 19 of Tottenham’s last 22 league outings. Before that date, his involvement in league football amounted to a mere 64 minutes — a forgotten man suddenly transformed into a defensive mainstay.

Remarkably, Spence had been omitted from Tottenham’s Europa League group-stage squad entirely. He was so far down Postecoglou’s depth chart that his inclusion in the knockout rounds later felt like a minor miracle.

His momentum reached a high in February when he notched his first Premier League goal in a Spurs victory at Ipswich. On X, he shared an emotional message: “A kid who had the wildest dreams to play in the Premier League. A kid who had the wildest dreams of scoring in the Premier League. That dream came true. NEVER stop believing in your dreams and trustinging in God.”

Best performance of the season

Amid a domestic campaign saturated in underachievement, the precise standout moment arrived via a dominant away triumph that halted Manchester City’s 52-game invincible streak at the Etihad Stadium.

Manchester City were condemned to a crushing 4-0 home loss against Tottenham Hotspur, a result which snapped their 52-match undefeated run at the Etihad in all tournaments. City had not been beaten on their turf since a 2-1 reversal against Brentford on 12 November 2022. Still, goals from Pedro Porro, Brennan Johnson, and a brace from James Maddison brought the extraordinary sequence to a close.

Maddison, who was turning 28 on the day, delivered the opener in the 13th minute — clinically finishing from an outstanding Dejan Kulusevski delivery — before scoring again just seven minutes later. His second was even more exquisite, delicately lifting the ball over Ederson following superb individual play from Son Heung-Min.

This landmark result represented only the third occasion a visiting side had triumphed by a margin of four or more goals against the current Premier League title-holders — with Tottenham having now recorded two of those, following their 6-1 rout of Leicester in May 2017, and joining Manchester United’s 6-1 win over City in 2011.

The defeat also meant Guardiola had now suffered nine total losses to Spurs in all contests — more than against any other team throughout his managerial tenure.

Though Maddison came agonisingly close to becoming only the third player in Premier League history to net a birthday hat-trick, he narrowly missed out on that individual milestone.

That stunning victory lifted Tottenham into the top six — yet it proved to be the peak of their ascent, as their league standing deteriorated swiftly in the weeks that followed.

Historic night at Bilbao

Tottenham Hotspur claimed their first significant piece of silverware in nearly two decades after overcoming Manchester United to lift the UEFA Europa League.

It marked the end of a trophy drought that stretched back to their 2008 League Cup success — a 17-year wait concluded by this narrow 1-0 triumph in Bilbao.

Though the final lacked attacking quality, it was Brennan Johnson who emerged as the decisive figure. The 23-year-old was credited with applying the crucial final touch shortly before the interval. That proved to be their sole effort on target throughout the entire contest — but it was sufficient to clinch victory for the north London side in front of dejected fans with Man Utd tickets.

Tottenham etched their name into the history books by becoming the lowest-ranked domestic league side ever to capture a prominent European honour — yet none of that was relevant on the night. With their league form among the poorest in over a century, this encounter represented an all-or-nothing occasion for Ange Postecoglou.

Across his previous managerial roles, Postecoglou’s second campaign typically brought silverware — winning league titles in Australia with South Melbourne and Brisbane Roar, in Japan with Yokohama F. Marinos, and again with Celtic in Scotland. He also secured the AFC Asian Cup with Australia in his second year in charge.

Having built his coaching reputation on delivering results in his sophomore seasons, Postecoglou had voiced his assurance that a similar outcome awaited Tottenham — and he delivered precisely that.

In his pre-final media briefing, the Spurs boss bristled at an English reporter’s insinuation that failure would make him appear a “clown”. His sharp reply: “I’m no clown, and I never will be, mate.”

That night’s outcome proved him right — and left him enjoying the final laugh.