Realistic hopes for next season

[dontcallme]

So our season is coming to a close and chances are we'll end up in the top 6 and runners up in the league cup. Results wise many would have been happy with that at the beginning of the season.

But there is some disillusion among fans as our form has gone downhill at the end of the season when we still had a chance of 4th.

The papers are linking us with so many players that it is hard to judge what quality of players we are looking at and how much business we'll be doing in the summer.

Chelsea look set to stay as regular title challengers for the forseeable future and City have a strong enough squad and bank balance to maintain their status at the top of the table. Arsenal are also consistently finishing at the top and the signing of Sanchez has reinvigorated them.

Utd are getting their act together and look set to spend big again this summer. They're the chance for us to nick 4th as they'll be having to deal with a lot more games now they are in European competition again.

Liverpool look set to be losing another of their top stars and are likely to be our closest rival again.

So what are our realistic hopes for next season?

I feel with probably competing in EL again we'll be battling Liverpool for 5th.

We need to improve our performances in the EL. To compete at the top we need to be able to handle a lot of games which involves our squad being rotated a lot more.

At the moment it doesn't feel like many of our squad players are able to perform sporadically. Paulinho, Capoue and our strikers just don't perform when called upon for the most part.

 

[prawnsandwich]

4-4-2?

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

Champions Fucking League.

 

[prawnsandwich]

Champions Fucking League.

We have plenty of fuckers at the club. I think we would do well in that league.

 

[Lilbaz]

Win the EL. Would be my priority. Will finish 5/6th in the league.

 

[Shea]

Win the EL. Would be my priority. Will finish 5/6th in the league.

I dunno how realistic that is

We have never looked even remotely close to winning it

 

[Lilbaz]

I dunno how realistic that is

We have never looked even remotely close to winning it

Then we need to get better.

 

[Strikeb4ck]

Good signings over the summer, get rid of the deadwood.

For Pochettino to have be smarter with, have more flexibility with, and be less stubborn with his tactics and player selection. For instance, I think many on here are realizing that a 3 man CM suits just about every midfielder at this club better.

A strong push for top 4 in the league.

A real effort in either a domestic cup or the Europa League.

Playing more youngsters particularly in easy European/domestic games. Bedding in a few more young talents in general - Onomah, Veljkovic, etc.

 

[DaSpurs]

I dunno how realistic that is

We have never looked even remotely close to winning it

Which is pretty sad, as going into it we have the top or near the top UEFA coefficient going into the tournament. That doesn't mean we should be winning it, but we should at least be doing better than that we've done.

Personally, I think much of it is down to the fact continental sides we've faced have been more balanced than we have, even if they've had less quality. They've also run circles around us, and any of them who can finish easily do us. Get better depth, get more balance, and there's no reason we shouldn't realistically expect better.

I'm with Baz on this one, I expect us to make a proper push in the Europa next season what with the increased competition for top four now that Man U are back and Liverpool haven't been midtable as they were while we were flirting with fourth.

 

[Mr Pink]

Slog it out in the Europa, go out against the first decent team we're up against in the knock out rounds and then tail off in the League and finish nicely in 6th with nothing to play for come April.

Rinse and repeat

 

[mpickard2087]

I know many people find it boring to talk about, but I think we need to be tactically much smarter next season and be more organised both with and without the ball. On paper a top 6 finish and a cup final looks pretty good for a first season, but if we are honest we are well off the pace of the top four and have shown no consistency all season, and the cup run we were handed was about as easy as you could wish for and making the final was par for the course. Its also been a real struggle to put our game plan into place, and we are struggling to put key components of it into practice.

I want better coaching, better/smarter tactics and more flexibility. Consistent performances are a must next season. Even if we only got 6th again next season I'd be content if I thought Poch was tactically getting things pretty spot on, we could clearly see the 'philosophy' being put into place and clearly identifiable, and he was getting near to 100% out of the resources available to him. Currently that isn't the case.

 

[prawnsandwich]

The end of cliches on this site would be nice.
For Spurs my realistic hope is that we get another striker who can help Harry.
Harry is so good we don't even know it. He is world class.

 

[Shea]

Then we need to get better.

Which is pretty sad, as going into it we have the top or near the top UEFA coefficient going into the tournament. That doesn't mean we should be winning it, but we should at least be doing better than that we've done.

Personally, I think much of it is down to the fact continental sides we've faced have been more balanced than we have, even if they've had less quality. They've also run circles around us, and any of them who can finish easily do us. Get better depth, get more balance, and there's no reason we shouldn't realistically expect better.

I'm with Baz on this one, I expect us to make a proper push in the Europa next season what with the increased competition for top four now that Man U are back and Liverpool haven't been midtable as they were while we were flirting with fourth.

I agree we need to get better and I agree we should be able to do better but I don't think realistically we will win in next year and I think those who set their expectations for the season by that will end up disappointed

I think the yardstick for progress next season will be in the league - if we can get back to being 5th and challenging for fourth again that will be realistic and acceptable progress

I'd love a cup win, especially the Europa but I think we have more chance of getting back in the mix for fourth than winning the Europa next season

 

[Lilbaz]

I agree we need to get better and I agree we should be able to do better but I don't think realistically we will win in next year and I think those who set their expectations for the season by that will end up disappointed

I think the yardstick for progress next season will be in the league - if we can get back to being 5th and challenging for fourth again that will be realistic and acceptable progress

I'd love a cup win, especially the Europa but I think we have more chance of getting back in the mix for fourth than winning the Europa next season

So you think that Dnipro and Sevilla are better teams than us? Or are they better than City/Chelsea/Arsenal/Man Utd/Liverpool?

 

[DaSpurs]

I agree we need to get better and I agree we should be able to do better but I don't think realistically we will win in next year and I think those who set their expectations for the season by that will end up disappointed

I think the yardstick for progress next season will be in the league - if we can get back to being 5th and challenging for fourth again that will be realistic and acceptable progress

I'd love a cup win, especially the Europa but I think we have more chance of getting back in the mix for fourth than winning the Europa next season

Gotta disagree mate, we keep being expelled from the tournament by sides I think weaker than us, but more balanced than us. Sides keep progressing beyond us which we have no business losing to with our resources. Dnipro and Sevilla are in the final, we should be beating Dnipro, and I think we easily have potential if we get it right this summer to beat a side such as Sevilla. Conversely, I view it as nearly impossible for us to do anything this summer that would allow us to leap any of the current top four. So while I agree expecting to win the Europa next season is a recipe for disappointment, I do expect us to make a much better push in it than we have, and I do think that is a more realistic expectation than us having viable chances of threatening Arsenal or Man U next season.

It's worth mentioning that I have a nasty hunch Arse will finally go out this summer and get that top class striker they've been lacking. I think they may move for Lacazette. If they get him, I hate to say it but I think they will be a very good side next season.

 

[Shea]

So you think that Dnipro and Sevilla are better teams than us? Or are they better than City/Chelsea/Arsenal/Man Utd/Liverpool?

No but I think we've shown we're more likely to compete for top four over the course of the season (hence finishing fourth twice and narrowly missing out and coming fifth several other times) than we are to get through the knock out stages in the Europa on aggregate (as we've proven by failing to ever surpass the Quarter finals)

Every year I hear Spurs fans talking about how we will win the Europa because as an EPL team we're stronger than the competition but we never even get close

This thread is about realistic expectations - it's not about the level of opponents it's about the focus and management of caseload. Realistically next season the league will remain the priority, it;s all well and good saying we should prioritise the Europa and go all out to win it at the expense of the league form, but we all know that won't happen - the league will remain the primary target and we will struggle to get beyond the knock out stages in the Europa

What you're saying about the competition in the Europa compared to our rivals for the CL spots in the league is the same things Spurs fans said last year and the year before that and it will be the same thing said next year, but realistically we will be closer to top four than winning the Europa I think

 

[THFCSPURS19]

Points improvement, better attacking football, better defence and hopefully a better run in the cups.

We will again have little chance of getting CL, but I hope we still put in a stronger challenge. The problem is that a lot of our fans will call for Poch's head if we don't get CL, which is ridiculous IMO.

 

[Shea]

Gotta disagree mate, we keep being expelled from the tournament by sides I think weaker than us, but more balanced than us. Sides keep progressing beyond us which we have no business losing to with our resources. Dnipro and Sevilla are in the final, we should be beating Dnipro, and I think we easily have potential if we get it right this summer to beat a side such as Sevilla. Conversely, I view it as nearly impossible for us to do anything this summer that would allow us to leap any of the current top four. So while I agree expecting to win the Europa next season is a recipe for disappointment, I do expect us to make a much better push in it than we have, and I do think that is a more realistic expectation than us having viable chances of threatening Arsenal or Man U next season.

It's worth mentioning that I have a nasty hunch Arse will finally go out this summer and get that top class striker they've been lacking. I think they may move for Lacazette. If they get him, I hate to say it but I think they will be a very good side next season.

It's the same story as last year, the year before that and the year before that

People point to the weaker teams that we should be beating in the Europa and how strong the competition is in the league and suggest we should be winning the Europa and have missed our window of opportunity in the league and the teams above us are just going to pull away

Every year the same thing is said

But every year we're closer to top four than we are winning the Europa - we won't make Europa our main target and this will leave us unable to win it

We'll be unlikely to win the race for fourth either but I think that will be where Levy expects progress and that is what we will target. If we can get back in the mix (which we barely were this year and faded badly) it will be seen as progress and that's what Poch will focus our attentions on

To win the Europa I think we would need to go all out for it and I simply don't think we will

REALISTIC targets will be to improve as a team, become solid as the back and show the type of form we showed against Chelsea and Arsenal with the high pressing game and racking up more points while being an attacking threat and defensively sound. Get back in the top 5 and getting more points again while competing for the top four, that will be progress and that will be acceptable I think

Top four and Europa are both unrealistic in my eyes

 

[Lilbaz]

No but I think we've shown we're more likely to compete for top four over the course of the season (hence finishing fourth twice and narrowly missing out and coming fifth several other times) than we are to get through the knock out stages in the Europa on aggregate (as we've proven by failing to ever surpass the Quarter finals)

Every year I hear Spurs fans talking about how we will win the Europa because as an EPL team we're stronger than the competition but we never even get close

This thread is about realistic expectations - it's not about the level of opponents it's about the focus and management of caseload. Realistically next season the league will remain the priority, it;s all well and good saying we should prioritise the Europa and go all out to win it at the expense of the league form, but we all know that won't happen - the league will remain the primary target and we will struggle to get beyond the knock out stages in the Europa

What you're saying about the competition in the Europa compared to our rivals for the CL spots in the league is the same things Spurs fans said last year and the year before that and it will be the same thing said next year, but realistically we will be closer to top four than winning the Europa I think

We have always focused on the league and not bothered with Europa. The top 4 will all strengthen this summer with better players than we can buy. Liverpool might as well they certainly have more money than us. Our hope is that we can get a balanced side that plays well.
We might get a top 4 and we should try to. But I would prefer getting CL by winning the Europa. And we are in no position to dismiss a possible chance of a trophy.

 

[Spurger King]

Realistic? About the same as this season, but probably with one less cup final.

I don't expect a top 4 finish next season, but I think we can realistically hope to see Kane prove he's not a one-season wonder, more progress on the new stadium, and a clearer picture of Pochettino's abilities as a head coach.