So what about that for a season! Good or Bad?

Shadydan said:

Losing 3-0 to Brighton was worse because it was Brighton and we didn't even try.

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That was rock bottom for me, it was the day I gave up hoping for anything and just accepted we'd lost Europe and would finish bottom half, fortunately I was wrong and after that the only way was up.

So here are the stats:

• 6th place finish - our worst in six years and our joint lowest finish of the past eleven years.
  
  
• For the first time in six years - we failed to reach the final four of any competition at all.
  
  
• 40 points behind the league leaders - the biggest gap in twelve years and statistically our fifth worst title challenge of the 28 Premier League seasons
  
  
• Final standing of 59 points - our lowest in the eleven years since the "2 points from 8" season, and only the third time in fifteen seasons that we have failed to reach the 60 points mark.
  
  
• 12 points fewer than last season - our biggest year-on-year drop of the last twelve years and our fourth biggest drop of the Premier League era.
  
  
• Goal difference of +14 - Our lowest in five seasons. The number has halved from last season's +28 and is a long way behind the +60 we had in 2017.
  
  
• 61 goals scored - our lowest total of the past five years
  
  
• 47 goals conceded - our worst defensive record in the past five years and our third worst total of the past twelve years.
  
  
• Eight clean sheets - the fifth fewest in the league, our lowest total of the past thirteen years and our fourth lowest total of the 28 Premier League seasons.
  
  
• Third best home record in the PL with 39 points - behind just Liverpool and Man City.
  
  
• 11th best away record in the league - only 20 points and just four wins on the road all season (West Ham, Wolves, Villa, Newcastle) - compared to 10 and 11 wins in the previous two seasons.

A few good results in the last month and finishing above Arsenal don't change the facts - it's been a fucking disaster of a season.

It's a bad season. We had to sack a manager and we didn't meet our objectives. It's as simple as that.

If I was to judge the Jose aspect of the season. I think there was moments when he should have definitely got more out of the squad than he was getting but he also improved a lot of things by the time the season came to an end. I think there is cause for optimism and I think in his first full season we will reach the Champions League and win a trophy.

A car crash in many ways but we've come out the other side and probably in better shape than I expected part way through.

I'm hopeful that with a couple of additions, some rest and a proper pre-season we'll be up for it again next season.

Certainly not a good one, but considering how it started, the trauma of ditching a popular manager & the injuries qualifying for Europe has to be seen as moderately OK.

John48 said:

Certainly not a good one, but considering how it started, the trauma of ditching a popular manager & the injuries qualifying for Europe has to be seen as moderately OK.

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I think that's right

It feels worse than it is because of (i) the expectations and (ii) despite the results, watching the team, all season, has been unbelievably painful

I think that many people are going to have to temper their expectations, the swashbuckling high press has gone, the high tempo, in your face Pochettino years are no longer the things to expect or ask for. It's going to take us as fans to get used to a different style of playing because it's incredibly unlikely that Mourinho will change.

That's not to say that some of Mourinho's teams haven't been fluid and expansive, some of the Chelsea football in both spells in charge were brilliant but they were the exception rather than the rule. Porto played some good football, so too Real at times but Inter is the real Mourinho, a strong team ethic, all working hard not to concede, that's the key against the bigger teams, even if Mourinho teams have enough class and firepower to go toe to toe with the big hitters, it is more likely than not that he reverts to type and does everything not to lose.

When Dembele was allowed to go to China, Eriksen, Toby and Jan had also refused to sign new contracts, that was the end of the Pochettino era. He had lost the confidence from the players that Tottenham was going somewhere, it is ironic considering the miracles in Manchester and Amsterdam and the consequences of those games ie a CL final but the final itself showed why those players (you could add Rose to them tbf) had lost the belief that was needed in Poch to be successful. Now that's not to say Poch gets all the blame, that season we hadn't signed anyone and some of that blame lands at the boardroom.

Weirdly, the virus saved our season, we were incredibly lucky that the break happened when it did, poor form and a huge injury list meant mid-table mediocrity beckoned. Mind you, I'd have taken mid-table mediocrity if we didn't have to go through this global pandemic.

As an 11, we can match anyone or maybe not be defeated and that always gives us a chance. The problem has for the last few years and exacerbated in this current one has been the squad depth. Will, we actually look at that this summer and get some average players to come in as cover? I suspect so, Pochettino was always looking to improve the first 11 and that's always a need but whether or not you can improve the first 11 is always going to be difficult when you're that good and the players come at such a high premium. We simply do not have the transfer or wage budget of other clubs.

So I suspect a different summer, one which will be undramatic but which will fill the holes that we have in the squad. A RB, a LB (assuming Rose leaves), a DM and a second striker, maybe possibly a centre half, although Foyth, Tanganga and CCV could be used sparingly (it's a risk, especially if Dier/Toby/Sanchez get a long term injury).

So whilst I believe we will have a fairly quiet summer in the transfer window, I actually expect those holes to be filled. Which is something that didn't happen under previous management.

We saved our season thanks to a bit of luck with the break and we finished above Arsenal, we have one of the best managers in the world, who has always won things, even if he has won them ugly.

The truth is Liverpool and Man United have a massive advantage over us on transfer budgets and wages, City, Chelsea and soon to be Newcastle have unlimited funds. If we want to see a way to compete then we have to look at Leicester, a strong 11 and good/average cover, tbh we should be finishing above Leicester with our squad now, a few tweaks and some good if unspectacular signings and a much more balanced squad and we will be fighting for the CL places next year.

Get CL and a 60k each week once this fucking virus fucks off and finances will allow us to spend big next summer (possibly).

So yeah, it's not going to be pretty but it may be effective and we hopefully will have some silverware come the end of next year.

Good..........




...........riddance

Before Covid - Empire Strikes Back

After Covid - A New Hope

Shadydan said:

Losing 3-0 to Brighton was worse because it was Brighton and we didn't even try.

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Not managing a shot at goal v Bournemouth was absolute shite as well. That was one of the worst displays I can remember. Even getting tanked by Bayern, we gave it a go, went behind, chased it and everything they tried flew in the net.

Very bad season.

We had to sack Poch, who most of our fans loved as he just seemed to stop giving a shit (possibly due to our transfer dealings being so crap?).

We once again left gaping holes in our squad not acquiring a defensive midfielder, back up striker and at right back still didn’t use KWP even though we let last seasons first choice a Trippier go.

And we didn’t get Fernandes when he was there for the taking and instead farted about with Dybala only to fuck that up. That still grates quite badly with me (and even last summer you could see Lo Celso and Fernandes we’re completely different players and Eriksen was always going to leave so should have got both).

Japhet said:

Not managing a shot at goal v Bournemouth was absolute shite as well. That was one of the worst displays I can remember. Even getting tanked by Bayern, we gave it a go, went behind, chased it and everything they tried flew in the net.

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Yeah that was super pants

Well all I can say whilst we have been average and sometimes poor and sometimes rubbish and seen as absolute crap by many but and its a big but we still managed sixth place and finished above Arsenal who are supposed to be on the up under Arteta .
So for me until we see what Jose does next year I am not making any judgement the only thing I will say is that I firmly believe we would have been in a relegation battle if Poch had stayed on . The Brighton game shouted out " very poor team "

Good and bad parts, but overall:
- the terrible form that began at the start of 2019 continued unabated and, if anything, got worse
- because he was either unwilling or unable to rectify the position, the best manager that we have had since Venables, or possibly Burkinshaw, was fired
- our record transfer has, so far, turned out to be a complete bust
- our record has improved under Mourinho but the football is absolutely terrible to watch

So I would have to vote for 'bad'.

SUIYHA said:

So here are the stats:

• 6th place finish - our worst in six years and our joint lowest finish of the past eleven years.
  
  
• For the first time in six years - we failed to reach the final four of any competition at all.
  
  
• 40 points behind the league leaders - the biggest gap in twelve years and statistically our fifth worst title challenge of the 28 Premier League seasons
  
  
• Final standing of 59 points - our lowest in the eleven years since the "2 points from 8" season, and only the third time in fifteen seasons that we have failed to reach the 60 points mark.
  
  
• 12 points fewer than last season - our biggest year-on-year drop of the last twelve years and our fourth biggest drop of the Premier League era.
  
  
• Goal difference of +14 - Our lowest in five seasons. The number has halved from last season's +28 and is a long way behind the +60 we had in 2017.
  
  
• 61 goals scored - our lowest total of the past five years
  
  
• 47 goals conceded - our worst defensive record in the past five years and our third worst total of the past twelve years.
  
  
• Eight clean sheets - the fifth fewest in the league, our lowest total of the past thirteen years and our fourth lowest total of the 28 Premier League seasons.
  
  
• Third best home record in the PL with 39 points - behind just Liverpool and Man City.
  
  
• 11th best away record in the league - only 20 points and just four wins on the road all season (West Ham, Wolves, Villa, Newcastle) - compared to 10 and 11 wins in the previous two seasons.

A few good results in the last month and finishing above Arsenal don't change the facts - it's been a fucking disaster of a season.

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Nice to see so many positives in the season just over.

When looked at in isolation getting 6th after the shambles this season has been is good.

But after spending big in the Summer for little return and failing to arrest the slide over the last 3 seasons it's bad.

But we've definitely ended the season on a high with our form since the return of the injured players and Jose seems to be targeting the glaring weaknesses in our squad so there is cause for optimism next season.

Very poor season, but I am very excited at the prospect of Europa League next season.

It seems we finally have a manager who values it as a competition too so hopefully we'll see some success there.