When Tottenham played Burnley back in September, they blew them apart and were still unbeaten. The talk of a Spurs revolution under Ange Postecoglou was gaining momentum.
Fast forward to May and the reality has long since set in, with their manager admitting last week that his side are not a Champions League club yet.
As centre back Cristian Romero highlighted in his programme notes, this is a year of transition and though Spurs look likely to miss out on Champions League football, the supporters can perhaps take hope from the fact that Postecoglou has won more points (63) in his first season in charge than Mikel Arteta managed (61) in his first full campaign at Arsenal.
They only have to look at their north London rivals to realise what could be achieved with patience in the long term.
The hosts had to be patient on Saturday against a resolute Burnley side who ultimately lost the game hunting the winner that would have kept them in the Premier League for at least a couple more hours.
This was certainly not a good Spurs performance but when you’re on a run of four defeats on the trot, winning in any way will do and that explained the joyful scenes when Micky van de Ven scored the winner eight minutes from time.
Under Postecoglou, Spurs have now won 25 points from losing positions in the top flight and though that points to problems with conceding first — they have gone a goal down in their last five league games — it shows that they are a side with resilience.
Anything less than three points for Aston Villa on Monday night will keep Spurs’ top-four hopes alive and Dejan Kulusevski is determined to see his side overcome title-chasing Manchester City on Tuesday.
‘I just want to win. Against Manchester City, it is always an amazing game and my focus is on them. If we win, then anything can happen,’ said Kulusevski, who scored a last-minute equaliser at the Etihad Stadium when the sides met in the reverse fixture in December.
Pep Guardiola’s City side have failed to score at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the top flight since it opened in 2019. With an unprecedented fourth Premier League title on the line, it would be just the time to break that duck.
