Former Tottenham player Peter Taylor, who represented the club in more than 120 appearances during the late 1970s, says that the club are finally showing the kind of form that could make them successful in the Premier League title race. Last season, Mauricio Pochettino almost guided the team to an unlikely title only for the team to disappoint in the last few weeks of the campaign and finish third. After a run of six consecutive wins in the league, Spurs have moved into the second spot. Taylor says that there are a number of crucial differences between the Spurs team of this season and the last.
Players like Harry Kane and Dele Alli have improved significantly compared to last campaign. Alli is no longer a creator but a scorer of goals. The England midfielder has managed 10 league goals already and he stands to reach a tally of 20 for the campaign. Kane is close to becoming the leader in the Premier League Golden Boot race after scoring a hat-trick in his last match against West Brom. Taylor says that it is clear that this Spurs team has learned from the mistakes of the last campaign. He said:
“They seem to have learned from last season. Mauricio Pochettino has a brilliant squad – you can change the full-backs and it doesn’t make too much difference to the team. Taylor told Express Sport.
“Pochettino has been incredibly clever and good. He’s got a great squad and if they keep on with the same confidence, they could do very well and have a strong chance.”
Learning from the mistakes has already allowed Spurs to get some crucial results against the top teams. They have managed to beat the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea at White Hart Lane. Spurs will have a great opportunity to make the biggest statement in the title race when they travel to the Etihad stadium to take on Manchester City this weekend. Even though City are not in a great run of form themselves, going away and getting a result against a title rival would be a major sign that Spurs are ready to take other teams on.
Taylor reckons that Spurs have the capability to win the game. City are yet to kick on under manager Pep Guardiola, and it seems that the former Barcelona boss does not know his best starting line-up. On the other hand, Pochettino has rotated very few players and has kept the core of the team going even when there were disappointing results during the months of October and November.
One of the biggest disappointments of the season so far has to be the club’s inability to deal with injuries in the best possible way. Players like Vincent Janssen not hitting the targets as expected has been a major factor. Now, if the Jan Vertonghen has been ruled out for the next two months and it will be interesting to see how Pochettino cope without the 29-year-old.
