Tottenham Hotspur football club have had a mixed bag of success in the past decade, both on and off the field, but do the good really outweigh the bad?
Good
Bringing in Jose Mourinho
It was a controversial decision to say the least when it was announced that Mauricio Pochettino had been relieved of his duties at Tottenham Hotspur, and it was compounded even more when no less than 12 hours later his successor had been announced.
Three-time Premier League winner Jose Mourinho was the new man in the Lilywhites dugout, a decision that was met with mixed reviews, but nearly a year on from that day, it seems to have been a successful one.
Spurs currently sit 2nd in the Premier League table and had an extremely successful transfer window strengthening in every necessary position.
Harry Kane and Son Heung-Min have started the season in red-hot form, while Gareth Bale is back at Hotspur Way after seven years away and with Mourinho’s men still alive in four major competitions the 12-year wait for silverware could be up.
Bad
Not starting Lucas Moura in the Champions League final
The biggest game in Tottenham’s recent history, for one of the richest prices in the world of football, and the man who got them there was left on the bench.
Mauricio Pochettino chose to start Harry Kane instead of Lucas Moura against Liverpool, despite the latter scoring an unforgettable second half hat-trick against Ajax to get Spurs to the final.
The England captain was far from match fit, after an ankle injury in the quarter-final game against Manchester City had seemingly ruled him out for the season, but he still played the whole 90.
Eventually Moura was introduced in the 66th minute and he got straight into the action, nearly scoring with his first attack.
This debate will most likely never end but in hindsight it seems like it would have been a better decision to go with form over quality.
Lucas Moura when Mauricio Pochettino started Harry Kane ahead of him for the Champions League final pic.twitter.com/Ir0qxfOBdW
— ODDSbible (@ODDSbible) July 3, 2019
Good
Building one of the best stadiums in Europe
White Hart Lane will always be remembered as a ground with great pedigree, the atmospheric nature of the stadium and the fans within touching distance of the pitch will never be forgotten.
But, ambition is something that never wanders and the higher-ups wanted something bigger and better for Tottenham Hotspur football club.
On April 3, 2019 Spurs unveiled their brand-new luxurious stadium with a staggering opening ceremony followed by a routine 2-0 win over Crystal Palace.
Their previous stadium, which was located quite literally just to the left, will always be a part of Spurs history, but no one can deny the state-of-the-art Tottenham Hotspur Stadium takes them to the next level.
Bad
Gareth Bale’s replacements
In 2013 Spurs lost Gareth Bale and replaced him with Christian Eriksen, Roberto Soldado, Nacer Chadli, Vlad Chiriches, Paulinho, Etienne Capoue and the only remaining survivor from the infamous magnificent seven, Erik Lamela.
Bale had carried Spurs to a 5th place finish in 2012/13 season, and with the huge influx of money Spurs brought in seven unproven Premier League players.
Eriksen and Lamela were the only players to have any substantial impact at the club with the other five leaving within one or two seasons.
This just showcased it would have been a much better investment signing players who had already adapted to the pace of England’s top flight.
Good
Everything about this summer’s transfer window
Seven years after the first time they should’ve done this, Spurs turned to the teams around them in search of some needed depth.
Tottenham acquired Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Matt Doherty, from Southampton and Wolves respectively, and veteran goalkeeper Joe Hart was signed on a free transfer.
Carlos Vinicius and Sergio Reguilon were brought in from abroad and for more depth at centre-back Joe Rodon joined from Championship side Swansea City.
All the signings served a needed purpose and three out of the six have comfortably nailed down a starting position.
There was a seventh signing made by Spurs, but we’ll get to him.
Bad
No new signing for 517 days
Despite Mauricio Pochettino making it very publicly clear that Spurs needed a painful rebuild, the club came out of the 2018 summer transfer window with no new players.
Lucas Moura had been brought in the January window of that year and while Spurs did have a successful season finishing in third, their squad was far from perfect.
Ageing centre-backs and injury prone holding midfielders meant that Spurs were miles away from the unstoppable force they had been in their final season at White Hart Lane.
No one could deny that Spurs had a good squad but what they did lack was depth and the ambition to evolve their squad to ensure they remained challenging at the top.
Good
The return of Gareth Bale
It had been seven years since the last time Gareth Bale put on a Spurs shirt but this season that stat changed.
Spurs recaptured their star player from Real Madrid on a season-long loan after his relationship with Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane worsened.
Now at 31-years-old, Bale may be entering the latter stages of his career and won’t have it in his legs to make the gut-busting runs he did at the San Siro.
However, the morale boost around the club was huge and the feeling of fans ambitions for the season only increased.
Bale hasn’t made the impact he would’ve liked in his return, but the Welshmann’s winning goal against Brighton showed he still has a killer eye for goal.
Bad
The lack of support for Mauricio Pochettino
In his five-year reign at the club, Mauricio Pochettino completely transformed the way Spurs played, taking them to regular Champions League finishes.
Spurs became known for the high-pressing game and their ability to comfortably beat the teams in the lower half of the table.
Unfortunately, Pochettino could only go so far with his squad and when he needed help from the higher-ups, it was nowhere to be seen.
This was capped off with the signing of absolutely no one in the 2018 summer window and the over-reliance on Harry Kane.
If Pochettino had been given the necessary support and not been sacked early in the 2018/19 season who knows where he could’ve taken Spurs