Tottenham's dream season could be the first of many to come
Tottenham Hotspur's dream season ended at home. Against West Brom. After they hit the bar multiple times. With their fans groaning. And the match finished with them completely losing their system and nerve, flailing away once things turned poorly.
It was everything Tottenham - old Tottenham - would have done. Tease their fans and then capitulate at the worst time possible, except this time, they did it with the title hanging in the balance and essentially put an end to a dream season.
But what a dream season it was.
It's the last week of April and with six days left in the month, Spurs were in the title race. Spurs, the team that usually aims for fourth, only to have that goal be laughed off more times than not as a dream too big. The club that measures itself against North London rivals Arsenal, whose wage bill is nearly double Tottenham's. The club that last finished in the top two in 1963.
With one win in their final three matches, Spurs will clinch a top two finish, and guarantee themselves to finish ahead of Arsenal for the first time since 1995. They will be into the Champions League for only the second time in their history.
Spurs did all of this playing their way. A club whose motto is "To Dare Is To Do" and prides itself on being a stylish, attacking team, was exactly that.
Even at the beginning of the season, when Spurs failed to win their first four matches, Mauricio Pochettino's men showed signs of brilliance and come September, they were ready to put on a show.
A 4-1 win over Manchester City was the first inkling that this team might be special, and a stretch of nine matches unbeaten starting in October confirmed it.
As the season went on, trying to stay in the race for the top four turned in to being securely in fourth place. Then hoping to hold onto that last Champions League spot turned into faint title dreams. And finally, the hope of challenging for the title was a reality.
Spurs really were one of England's best. And it all happened so quickly.
Dele Alli became a bona fide superstar, the darling of England and a linchpin in the Tottenham midfield, all before his 20th birthday. He wasn't just good, or even stunningly poised for a teenager, but he had the audacity to do what only a kid would be dumb enough to try. Often times it was a nutmeg, and other times a chip over the top of a defense. Most memorably, it was flicking the ball over a defender, over his head and then striking the goal of the season from 20 yards.
Take a bow, @Dele_Alli! You've voted his strike at Palace as your @UnderArmour Goal of the Month for January! #COYShttps://t.co/7uy56ud1MI
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) February 10, 2016
Toby Alderweireld emerged as one of the best central defenders in the Premier League, making good on the £11 million Spurs shelled out for him. Not only did he shore up the defense, but his passing made the team's attack all the more dangerous.
But it was the holdovers that made Spurs truly special.
Hugo Lloris, Christian Eriksen and Jan Vertonghen were as good as ever, and this year they were joined by Eric Dier, Erik Lamela, Mousa Dembele and Danny Rose as dependably excellent players. Lamela's turnaround was Pochettino's finest work, transforming the former record signing and admitted flop into a key cog again. Dembele's physicality became indispensable to the midfield and Rose exhibited a discipline he'd never shown before, while Dier's transition from defender to midfielder didn't only prove to be a game-changer for Tottenham, but it also has him in the England national team picture.
And of course, there was Harry Kane. The man who took the league by storm a year ago failed to score in his first eight matches of this season, raising questions about whether he was a one-year wonder. But now, with three matches left to play, he leads the Premier League with 24 goals and the homegrown talent looks to be unquestionably the country's preeminent goal scorer.
With all that talent, Tottenham don't figure to be going anywhere either. They're into next season's Champions League and get the £50 million that goes with it. And that money will be added to a team that is preposterously young.
Not a single starter is 30 years old yet, with Kane, Alli, Dier, Eriksen, Lamela, Rose and Kyle Walker all 25 or younger. Pochettino has empowered his young players, and they've rewarded him with not just adequate play or dependability, but brilliance.
The manager has been rightly praised for his work with the team, but Pochettino's impact goes beyond results. Finally, the club has a structure and system that makes its success sustainable. And as good as this season has been, and the bright lights that await them next season, Spurs' future looks even brighter beyond that.
Rendering of Tottenham's new stadium.
A new stadium is already under construction and set to open in 2018. The new ground will seat 61,000 fans and have the premium seating that brings in millions of pounds per year. With all that cash coming their way, Arsenal will no longer have double Spurs' wage bill, and Tottenham won't have to sell their best players because they couldn't afford to keep them. No longer will fourth place be ambitious or second place be a dream season. That type of success will become reasonable on the white side of North London.
There is no doubting the disappointment at White Hart Lane on Monday. The tears from the supporters who saw their decades-old dream of topping England die made that perfectly clear. But those wounds will heal.
When Spurs look back on this season, they will remember how they thrashed Manchester City at home, then went to the Etihad and won again. They'll replay Alli's wondergoal, any number of Kane's beautiful finishes, Son Heung-Min's leaping backheel winner and bask in the memories of the 3-0 beating they laid on Manchester United.
Most of all, Tottenham will remember what it is like to truly be in the title race. They'll remember how improbable it was and the giddiness that came with waking up every match-day knowing that a trophy was on the line. And they'll get to look forward to that same feeling next season and the season after. Because this is just the start for Pochettino and Co.
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