Tottenham Hotspur look to streak way to sixth in Premier League
By Aaron Coe
Tottenham are unbeaten in their last 5 matches and a win makes it 4 straight
During the heyday of the Mauricio Pochettino era, Spurs were a streaky team who could catch fire and run off major winning streaks. In fact, in every season since Pochettino became coach Tottenham Hotspur had a run of at least four straight wins, until this season. Now Jose Mourinho is trying to right the ship and get Spurs streaking in the right direction again.
It started in 2015-16, there were three three-game winning streaks, which were a prelude to a major run of 7 straight wins in all competitions and seven straight in the Premier League with a Europa League tie and an FA Cup loss breaking up the 10 game streak. Then in 2016-17 as Spurs challenged for the title, they made several runs at major winning streaks.
First, there were five straight wins across all competitions from September to October. Follow a lackluster 10 games – which ultimately cost Spurs the title that season – Tottenham ran off victories in 9 of 10 matches in all competitions including a 7-match winning streak. Following a 3-3-2 stretch Spurs ran off eight straight victories in all competitions.
Tottenham is looking to end things on a high note
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Only losses to Chelsea in the FA Cup final and West Ham in early May dented that stretch. Some people remember Tottenham bottling the Championship that season with that loss to West Ham.
However, win you win 13 of your last 15 games in all competitions it is hard to call it bottling. In truth that 10 match lull and then 8 match funk cost Spurs, not the finish.
Tottenham started the following 2017-18 campaign strong winning 8 of their first 11 in all competitions including a five-game winning streak. While that five-match run was followed up with three separate 3-match streaks and a four-match run, Spurs never could recapture that magic of the previous season and could not sustain a run.
Finally, Tottenham Hotspurs reached the 2018-19 season, which fans will always remember for the magical run to the Champions League Final, but in truth, Spurs were no longer playing their best football by the time the Final arrived. Spurs seemed to get their bearings with a couple 3-game winning streaks and a nice six-game run early in the season. Despite not signing anyone that summer, Spurs seemed to have a plan and approach.
However, in December Tottenham Hotspur lost Eric Dier – injury and illness – and then lost to Wolves. As the calendar turned over to the new year, Harry Kane and Dele Alli both got hurt as Tottenham had their last four-match winning streak back in January-February 2019. Spurs played 18 matches following that February 13 victory over Borussia Dortmund, losing 10 and winning only six. Two of those wins were over Manchester City and Ajax, which helped deliver Spurs to the Champions League Final, but the team that got there was a shell of the squad that ripped off six straight early in the year let along 8 straight two seasons earlier and we know how the final went.
This brings us to the current season 2019-20 where Tottenham Hotspur fell completely off the cliff. Spurs won only five of their first 17 matches in all competitions and never won even two matches in a row. This led to the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino and the appointment of Jose Mourinho in November. Tottenham Hotspur immediately responded winning three straight matches for the first time since April 2019.
While Spurs have not been stellar under Mourinho, they have managed two more three-match winning streaks, including the current streak which includes being unbeaten in five. With victories over Arsenal, Newcastle, and then Leicester City, Spurs now have a chance to win four-straight – with a victory of Crystal Palace – and begin that climb back toward the top in a season not quite over yet. A streaking Tottenham side is a good sign heading into next season and maybe, just maybe the magic of 2016-17 can return and Spurs can finish the job.