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Why Tottenham look primed to challenge again next season

If this season's Chelsea and Leicester City sides are anything to go by, predictions are essentia...



Why Tottenham look primed to c...
Soccer

Why Tottenham look primed to challenge again next season

If this season's Chelsea and Leicester City sides are anything to go by, predictions are essentially pointless pursuits in the Premier League.

That being said though, expecting Tottenham to push on again after this campaign is hardly the wildest prediction of all time.

Perhaps in seasons gone by, a surprise package like Spurs might have seen their best players poached. But that does not appear the case heading into this summer.

Should they fail to win at home to West Brom tonight, Leicester will take a big step towards securing the title at their expense.

But the core of the squad is highly likely to stay and grow together into the 2016-17 season with none of their key players out of contract until June 2018 at the earliest.

That is the year Christian Eriksen, Jan Vertonghen and Erik Lamela will see their current deals wind down, while Harry Kane (2020) and Dele Alli (2021) are tied to the club for far longer.

It increases the sense of stability at the club and despite occasional murmurings that some big clubs are interested in manager Mauricio Pochettino's services, that does not seem likely to materliase in the short-to-medium term, given that Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Liverpool have all made or announced managerial changes recently or appear stable heading into next season.

After a relatively slow start, Spurs have improved as the season has gone on, as players become accustomed to the system Pochettino has instilled and while a certain level of stability can eventually lead to stagnation in the long-term, that is not the case for a young Totteham side who can continue to hone their places in the gameplan.

That is not to say that they will be among the very top favourites with Man City likely to be resurgent under Pep Guardiola, Antonio Conte's Chelsea and Manchester United being an unknown quantity, Jurgen Klopp having had time to build a Liverpool side closer to his image and an Arsenal side in what could be Arsene Wenger's final season in charge.

The one main danger is if they do not find a way to adapt if opposition sides work out how best to out-manoeuvre their current setup.

But there is enough structural stability for Tottenham to be in a position to challenge those sides before budgetary restrictions are felt with the new stadium. So in the short-term, the future looks bright for Tottenham regardless of this season's title race outcome.

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