Slow out of the gate: It’s the same old Tottenham song

Mauricio Pochettino probably envisioned a slightly better start to the Premier League season, but his team’s slight stumble out of the gates is a story he’s seen before. 

Yesterday’s dismantling of Everton at Goodison was surely the start of a recovery indicative of Spurs from season’s past.

Spurs, after four matches, have taken seven points from four games and are in fifth spot in the league table.

It’s the same spot they were in after four games last season, a campaign that saw Tottenham finish as runners-up to their detested West London rivals. Eight points from the first four games in the 2016-17 season, Spurs didn’t taste defeat until Match Day 13. Tottenham’s record, however, was plagued by draws, with six in 13 matches.

Spurs scored seven goals and allowed two for a +5 goal differential at this stage of last season. The Lilywhites currently have seven goals for and three against, good for a goal differential of +4. But the similarities between slow starts don’t there. If you go back to the 2015-16 season, when Spurs finished in third place behind Leicester and a North London rival that I can’t bear name, you won’t be befuddled to see another snail-like pace out of the blocks.

Spurs were winless in the first four games of that season, drawing three and losing one. They had a goal differential of -1 and found themselves reeling in 16th place.

If we know another thing about Spurs’ poor starts, it’s that they have the innate and admirable ability to turn it around, thereby swiping August from their memories. But we also know all to well that, even though Spurs recover from their August wounds remarkably fast, the resultant regeneration is never quite enough to meet their ultimate goal of winning the Premier League title.

Next: Can Spurs drop Ben Davies when Danny Rose is fit?

You can blame Tottenham’s lastminute.com transfer tendencies and injuries for their early season misgivings. New acquisitions barely have time to find out where the home stadium is, let alone create chemistry with their new teammates and learn Mauricio Pochettino’s system.

Slow starts, since arriving in May 2014, are a familiar scenario for Mauricio Pochettino and his band of Lilywhites. And so are the following, almost guaranteed recoveries. I just hope this season’s resurgence will be more authoritative and resounding, providing Spurs a platform to win their first league title in over 50 years.