Why Spurs are genuine Premier League title contenders

Spurs are genuine title contenders. Well, Jose Mourinho certainly seems to think so anyway. Before the Blues visited White Hart Lane, the Portuguese manager stated that he thinks Spurs can mount a serious title challenge. “There is no pressure on them, like it is in the other four or five top teams to reach important positions. Nobody speaks about them as title contenders, like they speak about Man City, Man United.”

And why not? It is certainly an exciting time to be a Spurs fan. Unbeaten in the Premier League since the opening day, it’s now the beginning of December and most fans have forgotten what it feels like to lose. It’s certainly a testament to how far we’ve come that the reigning champions felt the need to come to White Hart Lane and ‘park the bus’. Whilst we left feeling bitterly disappointed we didn’t win the game, Mourinho said that it was Chelsea’s best performance of the season. How the tables have turned.

We’ve already demolished title favourites Man City 4-1, and the winning margin could’ve, and perhaps should’ve, been greater. We were the better side at the Emirates and should have won that game. And with Leicester in and around the top of the table, it shows that the gap between the top sides and the rest of the table is, perhaps, shrinking.

Take our bitter rivals Arsenal – they have a massive chance this year but for some reason or another, they can’t seem to keep their players fit, or rather, stop them getting injured. This will eventually derail their charge. Man Utd don’t score enough goals and the players are becoming disillusioned with Louis van Gaal’s tactics. City have a great squad but can’t seem to keep Aguero fit, whilst we slowly tick along and keep picking up points.

Alli has been a key component in Spurs’ impressive start to the season.

Our next five fixtures are West Brom, Newcastle, Southampton, Norwich and Watford. In the form we’re in, we could well take 15 points from those games. Massive ask I know, but I believe and am confident we can achieve this. With the situation the other teams around us are in, it’ll be interesting to see the table after these next five games, IF indeed we do win them all. It’ll also be the half-way point in the season so it’ll be very interesting to see what the table looks like after everyone has played everyone.

I believe we can beat anyone at the moment, and I’ve never had this much confidence in a Spurs side before. It is a great testament to the brilliant work Mauricio Pochettino and his staff are doing. So much so that we’ve seen England debuts for midfielders Eric Dier and Dele Alli in recent months, and these two in particular have been absolutely key to our success so far this season.

We’re playing with a real high-energy pressing game and a fantastic work ethic that I’ve never seen at Spurs before. The players just seem so fit – they don’t stop running the whole game, even when we’ve played three times in a week. We don’t have any real stars and I think we’re better for it, just a great group of players who work hard for the team. It reminds me of the recent Atletico Madrid side that won La Liga, or the Dortmund side that won the Bundesliga.

We look a lot stronger mentally as well. Against Villa, at 2-0 and cruising, we could’ve collapsed when they got a goal back, and perhaps the old Tottenham would have, but we didn’t and we went on to score a third. Away to Bournemouth, going a goal down inside the first five minutes would’ve shattered a Spurs side of old, but this team held their nerve and went on to win 5-1 in the end.

We’re scoring goals and not conceding many either. The way we put West Ham to the sword was terrific, particularly considering their away form this season. Time will tell if this young side can last the pace, and God knows what we’ll do if Harry Kane gets injured (another striker MUST be bought in January) but I think the very least we can hope for at this stage is a place in the top four. It really is an exciting time to be a Spurs fan.

COYS