Tottenham’s Echoes of Leicester Aren’t That Loud

There’s a sense around the Premier League that Tottenham are somehow in the running to claim Leicester’s throne as the most unexpected of title hopefuls.

On a superficial level, it’s easy to see where one might draw comparisons. A run of fine form through the festive season has elevated Tottenham to near the top of the league. Their rivals falter one by one and can do nothing but look on as Mauricio Pochettino leads an unlikely, inexperienced and as-yet-untrophied team to potential glory.

It’s there where the likelihood stops however. For one thing, a title hunt was in the cards for Tottenham long before this current blue streak began. We here at HotspurHQ even whispered the possibility in the gloomy aftermath of last season’s late term implosion.

As the likes of Chelsea and the Manchester clubs refitted and rebuilt over the summer, that impression only intensified. Pochettino would lead a young but stable squad into a 2016/17 season that seemed set to be characterized by instability.

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Pundits and fans alike could be forgiven if they forgot about that early optimism. While Spurs remained unbeaten in the league for over three months, they still didn’t exactly look like the same team that enjoyed such a fine spring. That they suffered such an inglamorous exit from the Champions League didn’t help matters.

Then December happened. With Harry Kane returned to fitness, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli emerging from slumps and Victor Wanyama tearing up midfields, things began to click. The current winning streak began, and all those doubts got cast aside.

None of that means that Spurs enjoyed the same advantages or context as Leicester did last season however. Claudio Ranieri benefited from the universal assumption that teams like Leicester simply didn’t win the Premier League. They, like some politicians we could name, were bound to trip up and fail at some point.

Only they, like a certain politician, didn’t fail. They continued to beat teams who showed up on the pitch thinking that they would be the one to humble these upstarts. They defended marvelously and Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez combined for a duo act that exceeded even Kane and Alli in sheer irrepressible quality.

No one is treating Spurs with such easily punishable condescension.  Chelsea and Burnley and West Brom all show up for a fight and simply get out-played. This Tottenham side is simply that hot right now, and there’s plenty of reason to think this is sustainable for weeks — maybe months — to come.

Next: Pep Guardiola: Tottenham Were the Better Team

The point of this article isn’t to say that Tottenham won’t win the title. Rather, it’s to say that to assume Tottenham can win the title at this point isn’t nearly as controversial as it was to think the same of Leicester in January of 2016.

This is a team that Pochettino began to build two and half years ago to do precisely what it is doing right now. Perhaps it is all coming to fruition a bit earlier than most expected, but it is by no means a surprise or an accident of fate that Tottenham are now ascendant.