What was the situation like when the league was suspended on 13 March? Bleak, with José Mourinho the first to say so. The manager had major injury concerns, with Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Moussa Sissoko and Steven Bergwijn each a long-term casualty. The squad looked tired and unbalanced, with Mourinho repeatedly bemoaning the fact that without Kane – who ruptured a hamstring tendon on 1 January – he had no senior No 9. The manager made no secret of his frustration at the failure to sign a new striker in the mid-season window. Unlike his predecessor, Mauricio Pochettino, he does not consider Son to be able to play at centre-forward. The team had rather ridden their luck at times – in the home wins over Manchester City and Southampton for instance, the latter in an FA Cup replay. After that game Mourinho said: “It’s very difficult to progress the way we want. Basically, it’s game to game, building a team with what we have.” Then the luck ran out. Spurs hit the shutdown on a sequence of six games without a win, a period when they were eliminated from the FA Cup and Champions League, and slipped to eighth in the Premier League.
What about now? All change. From pessimism to optimism. The fitness situation has improved radically with the aforementioned quartet all ready to play, although there are now doubts over Giovani Lo Celso. Son even found the time to fit in his mandatory four-week basic soldiers’ training course in South Korea. Mourinho has had bonus weeks to work with his squad, making it like the pre-season he never had although, plainly, the Covid-19 protocols have meant that things have been different.
What needs to be done to have a successful end to the season? Finish in a Champions League spot, which will be fifth rather than fourth if Manchester City’s looming ban from the competition is upheld; that would appear a lot more attainable. Champions League revenues are vital to the club as they feel their way into the era of the new stadium and try to cope with anticipated losses of more than £200m for the period to June 2021 because of the pandemic.
Have players and staff behaved during lockdown? The decision from a club owned by the billionaire, Joe Lewis, to seek a 0.5% government loan of £175m has drawn criticism as did the one to reduce the wages of the 550 non-football staff by 20%, in some cases by placing them on furlough. The latter decision would be reversed after two weeks. Serge Aurier had the hierarchy tearing out their hair after he uploaded pictures to Instagram of himself having a haircut – his third breach of lockdown regulations. Mourinho, Tanguy Ndombele, Davinson Sánchez, Ryan Sessegnon and Sissoko were also guilty of breaking the rules.
Any unsung/community heroes? In addition to the community work from Mourinho and the players, the club have delivered NHS services at their stadium, with North Middlesex university hospital using it for Covid-19 drive-through testing and the relocation of its women’s outpatient services. The testing has been for hospital staff and key workers from other health and social care organisations while the outpatient services have been to support the redirection of pregnant women away from the hospital’s main facility. The services will continue to be accommodated as matches return.
Key player in the run-in? Kane. Who else? Remember what Mourinho said after he signed Bergwijn at the end of January to supplement the pace and creativity of Son, Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela in wide areas. “Imagine Harry Kane with these four options on the side, it’s magnificent,” he said. Of course, he went on to say that without Kane the team were going to have a problem at centre-forward but now that all the pieces are in play, will there be fireworks? This has been the worst injury of Kane’s career and the longest lay-off – even before the pandemic. How will it affect his strength and explosiveness?
End-of-season prediction “We don’t have the right to lose games”, according to the captain, Hugo Lloris. Fourth place looks beyond them and, in the fight for fifth, much will depend on the matches against Manchester United, Sheffield United and Arsenal, which are too tight to call. Mourinho has largely struggled to instil a cohesive attacking gameplan while defensively there have been too many errors and too few clean sheets. He needs to find the answers – quickly.
Remaining fixtures (all times BST): Fri 19 June Manchester United (h) – 8.15pm, Sky Sports Tues 23 June West Ham (h) – 8.15pm, Sky Sports Thurs 2 July Sheffield United (a) – 6pm, Sky Sports TBC Everton (h), Bournemouth (a), Arsenal (h), Newcastle (a), Leicester (h), Crystal Palace (a)