It's been the strangest of seasons. Liverpool have had a massively successful season, yet so far have nothing to show for it. 97 points and finishing 2nd has got to be one of the biggest kicks in the guts any team has ever suffered?
Man City were maybe not as worthy champions as Liverpool were unbelievably worthy runners-up. Four defeats against one, both teams virtually unplayable - all season. They have made it a classic season. Except, apart from the token challenge by a Spurs side that already looked like they'd blown it - there was a point where, if Spurs won their remaining 13 games they would have won the league because they would have beaten the then two clubs above them. In reality, they played the last 13 games like a team struggling against a relegation threat and fourth was, in the end, gifted to them by the inconsistency of those below them, especially an incredibly profligate Arsenal, who really should have sown up 3rd weeks ago and ended up 5th.
You kind of have to take Spurs out of standard end-of-season reviews because they're a special exception this year; so if you analyse Chelsea, Arsenal, and Man Utd, the most impressive was undoubtedly Wolves, despite finishing three wins shy of 6th. They still might screw up next season by getting into the Europa League, but they did themselves proud this season and with that kind of improvement the top six will be looking over their shoulders next year. They're ahead of those around them by virtue of being the new boys - second season syndrome could strike if they're playing in the Europa League at the end of July.
Unai Emery had an arguably better season than Wenger's final one, but they still missed out on an automatic Champions League place, but might still squeeze in if they win the Europa; they have Chelsea in their way and there will be no love lost. Chelsea and their fag-smoking mad monk have won no friends and have become a slightly distasteful element of the Premier League. It is a club that is clearly not being run as well as it once was and you feel that they're going to go backwards, especially with a transfer ban (upheld after appeal). Man Utd fans were praising saint OGS 8 weeks ago; they ended the season with almost the worst form in the league and had they not had a good patch might have struggled for 6th. There's a lot of work and money needed to be spent there.
And then there was Spurs. Rediscovered the 'spursy' nickname with some awful performances and instead of salvaging wins from losing positions, they seemed to do the opposite this year. 13 defeats... 7 of those came in the days and weeks following the outside title challenge claim (they did exactly the same in 2012). The last player to sign for Spurs was Lucas Moura, two transfer windows ago and this season the club has been blighted by injuries, have played 4/5ths of the season back at Wembley and no one really expected them to get in the top four, yet they finished 4th and more importantly they did something else.
Looking back at the forecasts Roger and I made in August, neither of us did that bad. I had Fulham in the top 10, he had Watford relegated, I had the top 4 with City as winners, he also had City winning but only two of the others. We were as close as City and Liverpool in the end.
However, while that part has told part of the story, the season is not over. It has something special right at the end. The fact that Arsenal play Chelsea in the Europa final is an achievement in what is a far more unpredictable tournament than the Champions League usually throws up, but that is overshadowed by Liverpool versus Spurs. Yes, Spurs. In the Champions League they have been the team that refuses to lay down and die. They were less than 20 minutes away from elimination in Barcelona in December. They played some of their best football of the season by getting rid of Dortmund and played in two of the most nail-biting ties against Man City. Ajax should have been easy, but Spurs lost the first leg, at home and were 2-0 down at half time in Amsterdam.
Liverpool had not had an easier ride but they struggled to get out of their group and generally sailed through the knockout until they hit Barcelona. Despite playing really well, the reds got stuffed 3-0 and all seemed lost. Just less than 24 hours earlier they were winning 4-0 to mark possibly the most remarkable comeback in European football history. At half-time in Amsterdam, Spurs trudged off looking beaten. The squad, hampered by injuries, quite threadbare and exhausted, also hadn't got Harry Kane. Any Spurs fan would have thought at that point there was not going to be a grandstand finish; most of them were hoping we didn't get humiliated.
The last man to sign for the club, Lucas Moura, teaming up with a rejuvenated Dele Alli, scored three times, his third with almost the last kick of the match to ensure four English clubs compete in the two European cups. As a Spurs fan, all I can say is... blimey.
As a Spurs fan I'm petrified. Ah, forget about the final, I'm proud my team has made it, of course I'll be disappointed if they lose, but... wow, man. No, what I'm petrified about is winning it. Winning would maybe mean losing Pochettino. The players who want to leave to win a European title will have achieved it. Winning it might completely break up a once great thing.
I expect at least five of our players will never pull on a Spurs shirt after June 1st. Spurs have achieved top four finishes for four consecutive years. They cannot be considered as anything than probably the third best side in the country. The board needs to replace the players going and bring in a couple of others and that means rebuilding with players that ease into the team quickly; that don't need to bed in and will expect to be paid the money a top four side should be paying with the resources at their disposal. ENIC needs to take Spurs into the same areas as Arsenal as far as wages are concerned and that will cost them a lot of money and they also need more players... There's nothing to suggest that Daniel Levy will spend anything apart from, well, having to.
No one knows at this point what Chelsea will do between now and August. You expect Olly will get to spend some cash and then half a season before the knives come out and Dick Emery will continue to positively rebuild, depending on which European cup competition the Arse are playing in. The team that is no longer the joker in the pack are the team now punching at a similar weight, with a better stadium and arguably more money but most importantly greater expectations from the fans. There are no more excuses. Investment in the squad has to happen because we're at the end of an era.
The squad that got us here is about to fall apart. The first sign was Kyle Walker, but we coped without him. Then Dembele and we struggled to dominate. Now we're facing more departures and we're in a position where we have to look at our squad and ask ourselves not who needs to go but who needs to stay.
I expect Hugo to remain, I also expect Gazzaniga to take the #2 jersey and possibly an academy promotion to fill the benchwarmer's position.
In defence, regardless of age, Jan Vertonghen shouldn't go anywhere; he's got three years in him at least and what he can teach and what he gives makes him essential. Davinson Sanchez is the other rock and these two would be the centre two for the coming season in my team. It's the rest that are problematic; Serge Aurier won't be going anywhere, I expected him to get time, like Sissoko, and he's useful as a back up. There's a question mark over Juan Foyth but I feel that's fan backlash and press speculation. I believe Eric Dier is a confidence player and needs a run in the team to get him to the position that makes him important; whether he's got first team stamped on him is now a doubt and his temperament can be a problem. He's a better defender than he is a defensive midfielder. Ben Davies is also an adequate squad player and Kyle Walker-Peters is going to need to step up. What the team might need are new left and right backs.
Midfield isn't really a position we've considered a problem in recent years but next season it can't just be built around Winks, Sissoko, Alli and Lamela. It's remarkable that I can consider Moussa Sissoko as worthy of inclusion, yet he's proved his worth more than once and if he can score some goals... Harry Winks runs the midfield in a way that hasn't been seen for years; he always finds space. Dele Alli needs to step up; a good rest over the summer will do him the world of good and I believe that he'll be used deeper in the next season because he controls it very well and could well fill part of the void from Eriksen's inevitable departure. Lamela will, if injury free, be given one more season to see if he can consistently do what he occasionally does. I expect Oliver Skipp will remain part of the main set up and maybe another will move where he was, but we need three midfielders and one of them needs to be first team material.
Up front it's clear that support for Kane, Moura and Son is now a priority. There needs to be a goalscorer; a target man; someone who can play with Harry as the #10.
That's six players and guess what? Not all six are going to work out; we know that. We also know that some of them might take a year to get with the program. The problem we have is we can't really expect any more players and, let's be honest about this, we've bought about four players in five years that have pulled on a first team shirt more than as a cameo.
I figure we need to or will lose Vorm, Trippier, Rose, Wanyama, Alderweireld, Janssen, N'Koudou, Onoma, Llorente, probably Cameron-Vickers and, of course, Eriksen. I say, 'of course' because we could get £150million for him and that could get us three good players and meaning Daniel Levy might only have to spend another £100million on rotation players. We are going to struggle to find and then buy enough players without having to either keep some of what we've got or possibly doing a 'Gareth Bale' and spending a lot of money on a certain amount of unknowns - either that or Levy has to loosen the wage strings.
But that is to come (or not, maybe). Before then the biggest night in the club's history has to happen. Win or lose, I hope the boys do themselves proud.
