The race for the title

[Shadydan]

My concern is how we will cope without Dembele for the first four games of the season. That's a big loss.

This is my concern as well also our EURO players won't be 100% match fit either, however Wanyama I think can come in and cover Dembele and we now Jansen to take the pressure of Kane's shoulders.

 

[onthetwo]

when do the Euro players return?

 

[kitchen]

Yup. Dembele being out in the first four points could well cost us points which will come back to bite us... In my view he's world class when on song (as he was last season) and we don't have an adequate replacement. Wanyama is combative and physical but not in the same league as Dembele in terms of ball carrying, although he is very good at retention.

 

[Shadydan]

Yup. Dembele being out in the first four points could well cost us points which will come back to bite us... In my view he's world class when on song (as he was last season) and we don't have an adequate replacement. Wanyama is combative and physical but not in the same league as Dembele in terms of ball carrying, although he is very good at retention.

I think what we're looking for is the steel and the power that Dembele provided and Wanyama gives us that.

 

[Lighty64]

I think what we're looking for is the steel and the power that Dembele provided and Wanyama gives us that.

which with Everton and Liverpool in our 1st 3 of Dembele's ban won't be a bad way to use Wanyama

 

[Bulletspur]

I am looking at Dembele's ban as if he has been injured and will miss four games. This has happened in the past and we have coped. At least we will know when he will return

 

[Shadydan]

And also it will give Dembele some much needed recovery tine between matches, couldn't be happier with the Wanyama purchase

 

[Singaspur]

I highly doubt we will challenge for the title tho it's not impossible if lots of things go our way. I would be very happy with 4th or 3rd again but being realistic, think 5th or 6th is more likely.

What will be interesting to see - probably sometimes thrilling and sometimes frustrating - is how our young players develop. There's no guarantee that things will go on a neat straight line upward path. Some of them (Alli, Dier even Kane) may have extended downturns or may unfortunately turn out to be 1 or 2 season wonders. On the other hand, if a couple of them make that step up in quality and consistency (eg if Lamela or Christiansen produces at the level of Silva or Alli at the level of, say Lampard in his prime) then, wow, we could be fantastic. Pretty confident about our back 5/7. Think it's gonna be largely down to whether the front 4 (and backups) can up their game.

And btw I wouldn't consider it a disaster if we did end up 5/6/7 this season. I think Levy/Poch are clearly playing a longer game. The goal is to have a very good side hopefully challenging for the title and studded with academy products and with a lot of upside potential when we move into the new stadium. They will be ruthless about achieving that but won't panic even if we have a mediocre season.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

And btw I wouldn't consider it a disaster if we did end up 5/6/7 this season. I think Levy/Poch are clearly playing a longer game. The goal is to have a very good side hopefully challenging for the title and studded with academy products and with a lot of upside potential when we move into the new stadium. They will be ruthless about achieving that but won't panic even if we have a mediocre season.

If we don't challenge there are a handful of SC'ers who will simply not accept that. Sadly, there will be carnage in Spurs Chat.

 

[Hoops]

If we don't challenge there are a handful of SC'ers who will simply not accept that. Sadly, there will be carnage in Spurs Chat.

Yeah but we will challenge so its OK.

 

[kitchen]

I am looking at Dembele's ban as if he has been injured and will miss four games. This has happened in the past and we have coped. At least we will know when he will return

When he was out last season we dropped points that we otherwise wouldn't have imo...

 

[Chris Flynn]

I predict we will get minimum of top 4, too close to call more than that. Not impressed or envious of any of the other 'top' teams signings , spent a fortune on mediocraty. I also predict Ibra will flop. Maybe 10 in the leauge. This isnt leauge 1 where he can knock cbs around like ragdolls and he isnt playing for a team that are miles ahead. He'll get to christmas not doing as well as he thought, not fancy it any more and shweisteiger it

 

[Chris Flynn]

When he was out last season we dropped points that we otherwise wouldn't have imo...

Agreed but we didnt have victor who is a much more solid presents in there. May not be as adventurous but he will make us much more solid. We wont lose those games then its up to the front 4 to win it!

 

[dirtyh]

reckon we'll be anywhere in top 6/7 but just looking forward to us kicking shit out of the chavs again.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

This season is incredibly hard to call. I don't see Leicester being near the top again, but you have to think that Arsenal, Man U, Chelsea (a functioning Hazard alone is enough to move them up the table), City and Liverpool will form part of the top 6, presumably with us there as well. Other teams have strengthened well, and/or already have very good first team squads, and there's the added fixture list we'll have this year. On the plus side, our young side is a year older and more experienced, and we've added sensibly to the squad. This should stand us in reasonable stead.

- I think it'll be very, very tough for us to finish top 2 given the strengthening other teams have done, alongside the extra fixture load
- I think 3rd would be an absolutely outstanding result
- I'd bite your hand off for fourth
- I could well see us finishing 5th
- 6th would be a disappointment
- 7th would represent a poor domestic season

Of course, how far we get in the CL will play a big part in how we perceive the success, but we should really do what we can to ensure requalification for the CL and help solidify our place amongst the tier 1 prem teams.

Will be a tricky season for sure

 

[Indacupfortottenham]

I think we will be involved again this season baring injuries.
Think we picked up more points than any other team in the second half of last season. We have kept that young talented group together which has always been a problem for us and I think they will only get better and better.
Also strengthened the squad in key areas.

 

[LexingtonSpurs]

I don't know how we will finish - thats why we play the games!

But, I like our chances to be in the mix. Yes, several teams around us have signed new players, brought in new/old managers. But, I think we have improved significantly since the start of last season.

GK: Lloris is still among the best in the league

RB: Walker - he has improved, and as he showed this summer, one of the best RBs in the league
CB: Alderweireld is one of the best, Vertonghen and Wimmer form a great partnership with Toby. Top 2 or 3 easily.
LB: Rose is one of the best attacking LBs, and I think his defense/concentration improved immensely last season.

DM: Dier showed this summer that he is close to world-class as a DM - much improved, and more confident than the start of last season
CM: Dembele is a world-class box-to-box. He has to stay healthy and stop eye-gouging, but there are not many better in the league.

AM: Lamela looks like he has gained loads of confidence to go with his talent over the summer - he will be a key player for us this year, and not many better in the league. Alli has a big year in front of him. He has to show more maturity, but when he is focused, he has a knack for being in the right spot at the right time, with the confidence to pull off some amazing things. Eriksen, who has been among our best players for the last few years, might be a "weak" (I use that sarcastically) spot in our very strong line-up)

S: Kane is perfect for this formation - he will continue to get goal scoring opportunities, and may even have less pressure if Lamela and Alli add more goals. Plus, he will get a break from time-to-time this season.

Truly, there are not many teams that can match us in talent, and on top of that, we will have continuity. The season will not be easy, but I expect that we can be right in the mix of another title run, assuming key players stay healthy.

 

[adamsky]

I would say so far that Kante and Mkhitaryan look to be the outstanding deals, with Ibrahimovic, Xhaka and Gundogan looking like the next best deals. Despite this, I still think we look as strong as all the other teams as we have no obvious weak spots and a settled team. Obviously depending on how the rest of the window goes, I think we will be in the mix for the title and would be really disappointed with being outside the top 4. The very fact that this thread is 'Race for the title' shows how our expectations have been raised and rightly so.

 

[djw1973]

Ibrahimovic just scored on his debut 3:22 bicycle kick. I think he will get quite a few this season for Utd.

 

[shelfboy68]

Cant see us making a challenge for the title if Im being honest with last season being a year out for the big boys, fourth will be hard as well so its 5/6th for me with maybe a cup run.
Having said this i still expect us to have a decent season with more youngsters developing and working towards levys masterplan.