Tottenham not good enough to win the title

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has the difficult job of attempting to strengthen the Spurs squad this summer

I have to say I have enjoyed watching Tottenham over the past few seasons. In fact, as a neutral, they were probably my favourite team to watch last season.

The interplay between Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane was breath taking at times.

However, despite all their nice play, there was always a sense that it was not going to amount to anything tangible at the end of the season. The same applies to the new season.

Tottenham ‘a bit behind’

After their 3-0 defeat by Manchester City on Saturday, Spurs boss Mauricio Pochettino admitted that he feels that his team are a bit behind City. The Argentinian boss told Sky Sports:

“Of course, Man City have more senior players than us and they invest more money than us,” Pochettino said. “You can see that we have a lot of young players on the bench.

“It’s true the squads are completely different but we are building the squad. Maybe today they have a little bit of an advantage, they are ahead of us because they have signed and kept the players that they want.

“We are a little bit behind but working hard to sign some players who can help us and bring some energy, and make us more competitive.”

Need to add extra quality

Tottenham have been just short of winning the Premier League title in the past few seasons. That was before Manchester United spent big money on Romelu Lukaku, before Chelsea splashed out on the likes of Alvaro Morata and Tiemoue Bakayoko and before City spurned over £200million.

In reality, Tottenham were not good enough to win the title the last few seasons. It does not take a genius to work out that they will not be strong enough to win the title when their rivals have strengthened their teams even further during the summer.

I fear for Spurs if they do not strengthen. The club from north London have a very strong first eleven when everybody is fit, which can beat any team on their day. However, beyond the clubs best 16 or so players the backup is questionable.

Tottenham have not achieved their top-four status by spending big, but instead developing players and spotting bargains. That strategy will only get you so far in these days of clubs spending ridiculous amounts of money on players.

Leicester’s amazing title victory will always be the exception to the rule of team development over big spending. However, the Foxes title win was a true one-off. Tottenham need to add quality to their squad if they are to have a realistic chance of winning the Premier League in the new campaign.

Not fancied by the bookmakers

It seems the bookmakers do not fancy Spurs chances of winning the title in the new Premier League campaign, as they are odds of 9/1 to win the league. That makes the side from north London fourth favourites for the title, despite third and second place finishes respectively in the last two seasons.

I do not think that Tottenham were ever going to spend big this summer. Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is not one for allowing bosses to spend big sums of the clubs money on new signings.

However, Tottenham have not even made the sort of shrewd signings this summer that has turned the team into regular title contenders. The only real transfer activity at the club has seen England right-back Kyle Walker leave for Manchester City in a big money deal.

Walker’s absence will not be too much of a blow, as Kieran Trippier had usurped the England international towards the end of last season anyway.

The old phrase of ‘if you are not moving forward, you are standing still’ applies to Spurs this summer. The last few summer transfer windows have not been great for Tottenham.

Last summer’s dealing could only be described as poor, while this summers can be best described as non-existent. One factor that could be delaying new signings is that Pochettino is struggling to improve the options he has at his disposal.

Tottenham would have to pay big money to improve first eleven. That means Spurs having to be clever in the transfer again and attempt to dig up some more gems.

Unfortunately, any prospective signings would unlikely be willing to sit on the Spurs bench. That presents Pochettino with a big problem when looking for new additions.

As entertaining as Tottenham were to watch last season, I just do not believe they have enough quality to be genuine title challengers in season 2017/18.

Can Tottenham challenge for the title in the new campaign?