The impressive season start Tottenham Hotspur have been going through has been attracting eyes from most of the UK. Some try to downplay Spurs’ season thus far by saying that they are a one-season wonder club, while other fans prefer to analyse numbers and stats before getting to a final conclusion.
Thinking about this, we compared Spurs’ Premier League results from the last seasons to their dream start for this one.
However, before effectively comparing the previous seasons to this one, we are going to cover Tottenham’s most important moments since the 2018/19 season, as they played a major role in the current season.
UEFA Champions League Final
Every Spurs fan remembers that UCL campaign where they knocked out heavyweights in Europa to make it to the final against Liverpool.
Borussia Dortmund, Man City, and Ajax were on the way to the North London club, whose major dream was to fight for the big ears.
The most memorable match of that entire European campaign was the second-leg against Ajax in Amsterdam. Spurs were 3-0 down on aggregate at half-time and saw Lucas Moura come from absolutely nowhere to score a second-half hat-trick on his weak foot to book their place to the final in Madrid against the Merseyside Reds.
The final itself was shambolic for Tottenham, who let their emotions get the best out of them and couldn’t threaten Liverpool, who went on to win 2-0 and lift their number six.
Still, it was a historic moment for Pochettino and Spurs, who reached the final of a European competition for the first time ever. Despite the bittersweet feeling at the end, the 2018/19 season was overall great for the club.
New Stadium
During the same 2018/19 season, Tottenham also inaugurated their brand-new stadium in North London. In order to build the high-tech Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Spurs had to get rid of the traditional and former stadium White Hart Lane.
The entire cost to build the stadium was about one billion pounds, and Spurs even played the last home games of that CL campaign at the new stadium, hosting both Man City and Ajax.
The Pochettino Departure
Perhaps everything got saddened with the departure of Argentine manager Mauricio Pochettino from Spurs. He was such a likable guy, always humble, and most importantly, a great football manager.
Pochettino was the one who took Tottenham to the highest point of the club’s history so far, which was the 2018/19 CL Final against domestic rivals Liverpool. They ended up losing to an overall better team in the end, but still, he was the man in charge of that Spurs team.
Besides that, he was at the wheel of Tottenham since the 2014/15 season, and from then on, Pochettino revolutionised the Tottenham way, as Spurs managed to get multiple top-four finishes under the Argentinian.
At the time of his departure, Poch seemed to be irreplaceable for various reasons, with the strongest one of them being due to the fact he was doing too much on a shoestring budget club.
The date of 19 November 2019 was the end of an era at Spurs. It didn’t mean it was the end of the Tottenham Hotspur project, though.
The Special One
Meanwhile, 20 November 2019 marked the day the Special One arrived at Tottenham. Spurs went from Argentina to Portugal in order to sign one of the greatest football managers the football world has ever seen: Jose Mourinho.
The iconic Portuguese manager took a sabbatical from the football manager role after being sacked from Man Utd back in December 2018.
It is still early to call, but Mourinho has great numbers in a little more than a season ahead of the North London side. In 57 matches ahead of Spurs, the Portuguese manager won 31, drew 13, and lost 13.
Besides finishing outside the UCL qualifying zone last season, the Special One currently tops the PL, with Spurs having a memorable season start, as we will discuss later.
Comparing Spurs’ Performances Over the Last Six Seasons
Following the brief introduction to the most important things that happened to Tottenham over the last seasons, the time has finally come for us to dig deep into data and compare Spurs’ PL starts season by season, starting at the 2015/16 one until the current 2020/21 one.
For obvious reasons, we will only analyse Spurs’ performances until Matchday 12, as this is the one we are at in the current season.
2015-16
In the 2015/16 season, Pochettino’s Spurs ended Matchday 12 sitting 5th on 21 points, five away from league leaders Man City.
Tottenham finished this season sitting third, on 70 points, 11 away from champions Leicester City.
2016-17
This was maybe Spurs’ best season ever in the PL. On Matchday 12 they were also sitting 5th but with three points more than the previous season, on 24.
They finished second-place, only behind champions Chelsea. The Blues got 93 points that season, while Tottenham, 86.
2017-18
This was also another top-four finishing season for Pochettino’s men. On MD12, Spurs were in the top-four, in 4th place on 23 points.
They finished the season sitting third on 77 points, 23 away from champions Man City, who broke the league record for most points in a season, finishing on 100 points.
2018-19
This was a memorable two-horse fight season between Liverpool and Manchester City, who fought for the title until the very end. On Gameweek 12, Spurs were sitting 4th on 27 points, and finished the season in the same place, having conquered 71 points.
2019-20
The 2019-20 season was a watershed season for Tottenham. A very weak league start, sitting 14th on 12 points on MD12 eventually led to Pochettino’s sack from Spurs later in that season.
With the Special One at the helm since November, Tottenham recovered and got UEL football, finishing 6th on 59 points.
This season was a turning point, not only for Spurs, but for the whole league, as the new normal was introduced alongside the coronavirus.
2020-21
In terms of points on Matchday 12, this is not the best season from all we analysed thus far, as Spurs have currently 25 points. The major difference, however, is that they actually top the league on goal difference.
It is true that the bar seems to be lower this season, due to games behind closed doors, psychological fears from the players, and also the number of injured players in the league right now.
Against all odds, Tottenham have been showing that it is possible to have a great season start and dream with the Premier League trophy.
Whether they will actually become champions of the league or not will depend on various factors, but Mourinho and Spurs are not joking around.
Their deadly front-three is perhaps their strongest point, as they have Harry Kane, Son Heung-Min, and Gareth Bale. They have also quality players on the bench, with the likes of Lucas Moura and Dele Alli ready for a chance.
It is undeniable that the future is bright for Tottenham, and titles will naturally come as long as they keep on the great and hard work.
