Progress. It might not be pretty, it might not be quick but Tottenham’s development this season speaks for itself - and Manchester City might just be looking over their shoulders.
After all the fantasy football points have been counted up and the headlines are hoovered up by the O.G. Ronaldo in the stands from last weekend's win over Wolves, Harry Kane and that thousandth Premier League goal, the big picture continues to underline just why confidence is growing in the white half of north London.
Three games, two wins and a draw so far. Spurs surrendered their meeting with Wolves 3-2 under Antonio Conte last season after twice leading, remember? They couldn’t take even a point off Chelsea and were stunned at home - again, despite twice leading - by Southampton in February.
This time around they’ve taken a point at Stamford Bridge, smashed Southampton and settled a score with Wolves. Let’s not kid ourselves, they weren’t Real Madrid. Kane took his goal well, heading in his 64th-minute winner from a corner. He would have scored even sooner had his diving header, five minutes after the break, not hit the crossbar.
But Wolves dominated large parts of the play as Tottenham struggled to create in the first half. They simply couldn’t score - just like last season. Conte still has work to do to prevent teams bossing his teams in that regard. Seven of Conte’s starters in that March 1 defeat against Bruno Lage’s side have either gone or are out of the picture. Conte’s ruthless summer surgery has raised the level of quality, depth and expectation.
Tottenham’s step up in class to face Chelsea last week was clearly too soon for the Class of ’23 to take all three points. But this week’s drop back down to middleweight provided clear evidence for why Conte is struggling to keep a lid on a belief in the white half of north London that the club could yet compete for the title. Don’t laugh, look at the facts. The gap has been bridged before in the Premier League: Liverpool ended the 2017/18 season fourth, two points behind Spurs, no less, and 25 points off Manchester City.
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Twelve months later they were second, a point behind Pep Guardiola’s team. A year after that they were top - 18 points clear of City. Juventus were seventh, 24 points behind champions Milan, when they hired Conte in 2011. They lifted the title that season and retained it. Twice. Chelsea were 10th, 31 points behind champions Leicester when Conte arrived in 2016. A year later they too were champions.
Inter Milan were fourth, 21 points behind champions Juventus when Conte rocked up in 2018. A year later they were runners-up but had reduced the gap to just four points. Twelve months after that they lifted the title. The secret of his success each time? Recruitment. Each club bought into the Conte masterplan and backed him with the players to execute it. Spurs are now hoping they have given him the tools to do the same. Punching their weight against two of the most consistent teams in Premier League history would rank among the Italian’s finest achievements. But then he did get a shocking Spurs side into the Champions League last season, didn’t he?
