Spurs & Leicester 2016/2017 season

[Paul the Wolf]

Given both Spurs and Leicester are having a fantastic time this season and could easily finish first and second , in your opinion will they be "one hit wonders" and both struggle to make top 4 next season or could they continue their success.

If the usual suspects up their game, United, City and Chelsea who have all had sub-standard seasons not to mention other teams, Liverpool, West Ham etc, lurking plus the increased revenue for all teams, where do you think both will finish next season?

Personally believe Spurs may challenge for top 4 if they keep Kane but believe Leicester will buckle under increasing number of games and expectation and struggle even to make top half.

Thoughts?

 

[Nanook]

I think the top four will become a top six with Liverpool and Spurs. Every so often another team will finish in the top four and maybe we will see more seasons like Leicester where teams like Everton, West Ham, Southampton could challenge for the title.

The only teams who could have any long term success are the big six though.

 

[ADJUDICATOR]

Spurs will probably be in the mix again for Europe. Leicester is a mystery. They definitely won't come top 3 again next season but it's team spirit, cohesion and tactical nous that's driving them. It makes more sense to leave these predictions till after the transfer window though.

 

[Rado_N]

It's hard to see Leicester doing it again as I reckon they'll lose a few key players in the summer.

 

[Classical Mechanic]

Spurs will be back in the Euro Cup with Harry Kane firing United to quadruple glory. Leicester will be relegated. The old order will be restored and everyone will be happy again.

 

[Igor Drefljak]

Leicester will drop out of the top 6 next season and Tottenham out of the top 4.

 

[Utd7]

Spurs will still be in the picture as long as they keep Pochettino and they don't sell their youngsters which I suspect won't happen in one off season. Levy is too smart for that.
Leicester is a different story because I don't expect them to keep Mahrez for example. I think the temptation to play for a 'bigger club' will be too appealing. And even if they do keep their core, they will have the target on their backs next season and that can be a challenging adjustment, look at Chelsea this season.

 

[Moston_Lad]

Let's be honest, nobody will able to predict anything with certainty moving forward if Leicester win the league!

 

[rpitchfo]

It seems to be very difficult at the moment to sustain a successful campaign in Europe and the premier league at the same time. I don't think either team have the squads to deal with the pressure of both.

 

[redmeister]

Spurs spine is so strong, it' just the key players are hugely under rated. Alderwerield and Dembele are Spurs 2 best players this season and will dominate POTY voting on Spurs websites. Yet the media and casual fans will see Ali and Kane as Spurs best players. People go on about Leicesters key players like Kante and Mahrez for the Prem POTY, yet Spurs 2 best players never get a mention. No matter how good Kante has been, Dembele is the Prems standout CM this season. The reason I'm pointing this out, is because Spurs have such a strong group of players, yet people tend to focus on the young English stars and don't realize the depth they have in terms of top quality, so could be written off as a one season team. But in Lloris, Alderwerield, Dembele, and Kane they have an absolutely brilliant spine to a team and I don't see them losing it. Leicester don't have that kind of spine and will probably lose key players.

 

[Mciahel Goodman]

Leicester to finish 12th or something next season, then relegation the season after. Spurs to be perpetual bottlers as per usual.

 

[Cheesy]

Spurs will compete for the title again. They're unlikely to lose any of their current best players, who will be even more tempted to stay due to CL football. The only reason they'll suddenly struggle is if Pochettino departs and isn't replaced well.

Leicester will be interesting. I actually think they'll keep most of their better players, due to CL football, as well as the fact that Chelsea, Liverpool, and United or City won't be in it. Especially since, for some of Leicester's players, it may be their one opportunity to play in the CL. As for the league, I think they'll struggle to win it or compete, but if they retain their current side and manager, they'll perhaps be similar to a Southampton type side, and may mount another CL challenge.

 

[GlastonSpur]

Next season I'd say it's likely that, with Pochettino as coach, Spurs young squad will improve further, even without the likely addition of one or two new players that a CL budget will afford. And in a little more than 2 year's time (the start of the 2018-19 season) we will move into our new stadium, with its long-term effect on boosting finances. So all in all I don't see Spurs fading away in the foreseeable future.

I'd predict that Leicester City will continue to surprise next season, provided that they keep their current squad intact, which I think they have a good chance of doing with CL football on offer. It's unlikely they'll challenge for the title again, but they could well be challenging for top 4.

 

[bosnian_red]

Leicester will for sure fall away, but possibly still get like 7th or so. If they lose Kanta/Mahrez then they'll go even further down probably. They'll probably focus more on the champions league and cup competitions anyway next season, just to see how far they go. Can't really blame them for that either.

Spurs on the other hand will probably focus on the league again, and they'll likely strengthen without losing Kane/Erikson or Pochettino. Can see them putting up a big fight for the top 4 again, but I expect United/Chelsea/City all to be significantly more consistent and challenge for the title. The top 6 seems like it'll definitely be City, Chelsea, United, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal. Arsenal probably to fall out of the top 4 and be the weakest of those if Wenger is still around. Klopp with Liverpool are improving, we'll improve with Mou, City will improve with Pep, Chelsea will improve with Conte, and Spurs will continue to develop. All this of course if Mourinho takes over at United and Conte at Chelsea. I'd expect City, United and Chelsea to all put up a proper title challenge.

It's hard to predict really. West Ham, leicester, Southampton, will almost definitely still be strong teams, same with Everton. Maybe I'm just being overly optimistic for United, but I just think the prem overall will improve a lot next season, seems hard for it not to.

 

[Rafateria]

Leicester will for sure fall away, but possibly still get like 7th or so. If they lose Kanta/Mahrez then they'll go even further down probably. They'll probably focus more on the champions league and cup competitions anyway next season, just to see how far they go. Can't really blame them for that either.

Spurs on the other hand will probably focus on the league again, and they'll likely strengthen without losing Kane/Erikson or Pochettino. Can see them putting up a big fight for the top 4 again, but I expect United/Chelsea/City all to be significantly more consistent and challenge for the title. The top 6 seems like it'll definitely be City, Chelsea, United, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal. Arsenal probably to fall out of the top 4 and be the weakest of those if Wenger is still around. Klopp with Liverpool are improving, we'll improve with Mou, City will improve with Pep, Chelsea will improve with Conte, and Spurs will continue to develop. All this of course if Mourinho takes over at United and Conte at Chelsea. I'd expect City, United and Chelsea to all put up a proper title challenge.

It's hard to predict really. West Ham, leicester, Southampton, will almost definitely still be strong teams, same with Everton. Maybe I'm just being overly optimistic for United, but I just think the prem overall will improve a lot next season, seems hard for it not to.

Agree with almost all of this.

I think United though will be a team in transition and will probably be in a similar situation to that they are in now, not because they won't be stronger but because all around them will be stronger too. The Moyes/LvG eras have set them back and so long as they don't appoint Giggs then they should stride forward under Mourinho or another top manager.
City and Spurs will be up there again, good managers, won't lose players and will be able to strengthen.
Arsenal I can see losing ground - whether Wenger leaves or stays they need changes, Liverpool will be stronger but not enough for a PL title challenge but good enough for a real Top 4 challenge.
Leicester I fear for as I can't see how they will keep hold of Kante, Mahrez and maybe Drinkwater too. If they can keep hold of them then Top 10, if not they may be back to fighting to stay above the bottom 6 because those are 3 of the 4 players that have made a difference.
Chelsea will be Top 4 challengers but need serious surgery (and will suffer the likely lose of Hazard too) to challenge for the PL, I don't see it next season.

With all the money flooding into the PL only Barca, Real and Bayern will be able to bid more for players that the likes of financially average PL teams such as WBA, Swansea or Everton could afford. The PL strength in depth will only increase and therefore also the likelihood of someone doing another 'Leicester' though probably not to the same extent. The thing is for sure, the days of guaranteed Top 4 for any team are now history.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Spurs will challenge for top 4 with Leicester finishing in the top 10.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

Call me skeptical but I'm still waiting for a sting exposé of a sophisticated steroid operation involving Leicester. Otherwise it makes no sense.

 

[africanspur]

If we finish in the top four this season, we'll have finished in the top four 3 times in the last 7 seasons. And finished 5th three times and 6th another time out of those seven seasons

5th (6)
5th (1)
6th (10)
5th (6)

In brackets the number of points off 4th.

Not exactly rock solid entrenched in the top 4 but hardly coming in out of the wilderness either for a complete shock.

This spans redknapp, avb, ducking sherwood and poch too so it's not limited to one great manager punching above their weight either.

As for Leicester, who knows. It's difficult to know. They've played very few games this season and I don't know how they'll choose to prioritise next season. Very difficult to judge really

 

[Crossie]

Not just related to this thread:
Every season, people - pundits, journos, fans - make predictions about teams, managers, players.

Every season proves how wrong 99% of those predictions are. However, neither would they openly admit it but they do the very same for next season again.

It shows how wrong Immanuel Kant was.

 

[Pyroblazer]

Leicester will drop back, Tottenham will be upthere I guess at least next year because while I expect that we, City and Chelsea will improve a lot, it will be still the first season for the new managers and will take some time. The season after that could be difficult for Spurs if Jose, Pep, Conte and Klopp are doing a good job at their teams. I think at least one of them will get it spot on, so I don't expect Spurs to be so close to the title like they have been this year.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

Even if Leicester win the league, I don't think they could attract the best players this Summer. They aren't rich enough and aren't exactly located in Barcelona.

They will need to rely on finding hidden gems like Mahrez every Summer and it just won't happen.

Spurs however, I think will get stronger. I think they will win the league next season assuming they keep Poch, Alli and Kane

 

[Loublaze]

Even if Leicester win the league, I don't think they could attract the best players this Summer. They aren't rich enough and aren't exactly located in Barcelona.

They will need to rely on finding hidden gems like Mahrez every Summer and it just won't happen.

Spurs however, I think will get stronger. I think they will win the league next season assuming they keep Poch, Alli and Kane

So if Chelsea and City under Pep get back to regular form, and United make vast improvements, you'd still see Spurs winning?

 

[royboy16]

I think the top four will become a top six with Liverpool and Spurs. Every so often another team will finish in the top four and maybe we will see more seasons like Leicester where teams like Everton, West Ham, Southampton could challenge for the title.

The only teams who could have any long term success are the big six though.

I think you could add Everton to the mix if they get their s£it together and can old on to their good players,especially Lukaku.

 

[Nanook]

I think you could add Everton to the mix if they get their s£it together and can old on to their good players,especially Lukaku.

I don't think Everton are rich enough, their new owner might change that but I doubt it.

 

[Klopper76]

If we finish in the top four this season, we'll have finished in the top four 3 times in the last 7 seasons. And finished 5th three times and 6th another time out of those seven seasons

5th (6)
5th (1)
6th (10)
5th (6)

In brackets the number of points off 4th.

Not exactly rock solid entrenched in the top 4 but hardly coming in out of the wilderness either for a complete shock.

This spans redknapp, avb, ducking sherwood and poch too so it's not limited to one great manager punching above their weight either.

As for Leicester, who knows. It's difficult to know. They've played very few games this season and I don't know how they'll choose to prioritise next season. Very difficult to judge really

It must wind Spurs fans up so much that the media still paints us as a bigger club than you. You've been finishing above us consistently since the 09/10 season and yet we still get talked about like we're the ones who should be pushing top four every year. Assuming you finish in the top four this season I think you're probably in the strongest position going into next year. There's instability at United, City and Chelsea with new managers coming in. You're ahead of us at the minute and Arsenal have a better squad in my opinion but they will always be held back by Wenger. Not a bad time to be a Tottenham fan.

I don't know what to expect from Leicester. They could drop off but I think Ranieri will want to build around what he has.

 

[LawCharltonBest]

So if Chelsea and City under Pep get back to regular form, and United make vast improvements, you'd still see Spurs winning?

But I don't think any of the 3 will. That's like asking "If United become like the United of 08, do you still see Spurs winning?" It's moot if I don't see it happening.

I think Spurs currently have the best squad in the league and will strengthen it even more this Summer

 

[Offside]

I reckon Leicester will:

- Not be as high in the league
- Still take a few enjoyable wins e.g. against big teams
- Still have some magic from some of there players
- Play some memorable European cup games and be proud when they go out

 

[Trizy]

I think it's literally impossible to predict top 4 next season, you'll have Spurs and Arsenal looking for a top 4 spot and with a new manager and spending in the summer so will Chelsea, United and City.

 

[LouisDanGaal]

Spurs spine is so strong, it' just the key players are hugely under rated. Alderwerield and Dembele are Spurs 2 best players this season and will dominate POTY voting on Spurs websites. Yet the media and casual fans will see Ali and Kane as Spurs best players. People go on about Leicesters key players like Kante and Mahrez for the Prem POTY, yet Spurs 2 best players never get a mention. No matter how good Kante has been, Dembele is the Prems standout CM this season. The reason I'm pointing this out, is because Spurs have such a strong group of players, yet people tend to focus on the young English stars and don't realize the depth they have in terms of top quality, so could be written off as a one season team. But in Lloris, Alderwerield, Dembele, and Kane they have an absolutely brilliant spine to a team and I don't see them losing it. Leicester don't have that kind of spine and will probably lose key players.

Alderweireld has certainly been their player of the season and I think fan voting would reflect this but you are hugely overrating Dembele. He isn't one of their very best players yet alone the best cm in the league, not even close to it. He is more a case of a written off player who has turned it around so gets a lot of credit for proving people wrong much like Ashley young did with us last season. In terms of importance to the team he is behind Lloris, Vertonghen, Alder, Dier, Alli, Eriksen, Lamela and Kane, while still being a very good player. I think it shows the strength Tottenham have now, while not any truly world class players they have a lot in the next couple of categories.

In terms of next season Tottenham need a few additions and they will certainly be competitive for champions league again and will be a real hurdle for us to try and get back up there. In terms of Leicester, it depends entirely on recruitment, they will almost certainly lose their best player Mahrez and I wouldn't be shocked if a bid to big to turn down came in for Kante. If this happens they will struggle but being in the champions league may allow them to attract players not previously possible. I wouldn't expect them to finish above 8th though but I also wouldn't expect a relegation battle after all the experience and confidence the players will have gained this season.

 

[redmeister]

Alderweireld has certainly been their player of the season and I think fan voting would reflect this but you are hugely overrating Dembele. He isn't one of their very best players yet alone the best cm in the league, not even close to it. He is more a case of a written off player who has turned it around so gets a lot of credit for proving people wrong much like Ashley young did with us last season. In terms of importance to the team he is behind Lloris, Vertonghen, Alder, Dier, Alli, Eriksen, Lamela and Kane, while still being a very good player. I think it shows the strength Tottenham have now, while not any truly world class players they have a lot in the next couple of categories.

In terms of next season Tottenham need a few additions and they will certainly be competitive for champions league again and will be a real hurdle for us to try and get back up there. In terms of Leicester, it depends entirely on recruitment, they will almost certainly lose their best player Mahrez and I wouldn't be shocked if a bid to big to turn down came in for Kante. If this happens they will struggle but being in the champions league may allow them to attract players not previously possible. I wouldn't expect them to finish above 8th though but I also wouldn't expect a relegation battle after all the experience and confidence the players will have gained this season.

I watch Spurs every single game, do you? He or Alderwerield has been their best player this season. He's been brilliant and has been the best CM in the league. Ask actual Spurs fans who watch all of their games how good Dembele has been. Also check out Whoscored and Sqwuaka who also both have him ranked as the number 1 CM in the league. Also check out Spurs PPG when Dembele starts in CM and without him.

 

[LouisDanGaal]

Yeah I watch every spurs game that doesn't conflict with a United one and I'm rooting for them to win the league as obviously we can't. He has been brilliant and I'm not disagreeing with you on that I just think there are a fair few players ahead of him in the queue both in terms of centre mids in the prem and Spurs players in general, I'm not trying to take anything away from him. Imagine Tottenhams position this year without him, and then imagine it without Kane, its pretty obvious which is the more important and the better player. PPG is maybe the most useless stat in football, Gareth barry is second in the league I believe and I think top is some Bournemouth player and I'm not even bothered enough to look into which one its that much of a pointless stat. Centre mid is by far the most difficult position to judge in terms of stats as its such a nuanced position, its not like a striker where you can look at goals and assists or a defender where you can look at tackles and goals conceded. It really is a position where you can only work out the best by watching a player play and seeing what they bring to the game, obviously what kante and dembele bring to the table are very different things so you can't really suggest a stat to contrast them with fairly.

 

[redmeister]

Yeah I watch every spurs game that doesn't conflict with a United one and I'm rooting for them to win the league as obviously we can't. He has been brilliant and I'm not disagreeing with you on that I just think there are a fair few players ahead of him in the queue both in terms of centre mids in the prem and Spurs players in general, I'm not trying to take anything away from him. Imagine Tottenhams position this year without him, and then imagine it without Kane, its pretty obvious which is the more important and the better player. PPG is maybe the most useless stat in football, Gareth barry is second in the league I believe and I think top is some Bournemouth player and I'm not even bothered enough to look into which one its that much of a pointless stat. Centre mid is by far the most difficult position to judge in terms of stats as its such a nuanced position, its not like a striker where you can look at goals and assists or a defender where you can look at tackles and goals conceded. It really is a position where you can only work out the best by watching a player play and seeing what they bring to the game, obviously what kante and dembele bring to the table are very different things so you can't really suggest a stat to contrast them with fairly.

Ok, name these CM's who have been better. When you look at the league this season you are going to have a big problem when refuting Dembele. You can't go for any of ours, Arsenals, Liverpools, Cheslea's or City's. Not only have none been very good, Dembele has dominated them all, other than ours, where he didn't play in CM. He completed outclassed the West Ham CM and even though Spurs lost to Leicester, Dembele was bossing Kante and Drinkwater until he got injured and had to go off, after which Leicester scored. When you look at his stats over the season he's number 1 and when you see his CM battles against the other top CM's in the league he's come out on top against everyone. In all the Spurs games you've seen this season, name one single game where Dembele wasn't dominant in the CM? I haven't seen anyone get the better of him. Spurs have only lost one game all season with Dembele in CM and as I pointed out, that only happened after he went off injured.

It's easy to say he hasn't been the best, but is it easy to name better one's?

 

[Loublaze]

But I don't think any of the 3 will. That's like asking "If United become like the United of 08, do you still see Spurs winning?" It's moot if I don't see it happening.

I think Spurs currently have the best squad in the league and will strengthen it even more this Summer

You believe Spurs have a better squad than United, Chelsea, Arsenal and City?

 

[Mr Smith]

You believe Spurs have a better squad than United, Chelsea, Arsenal and City?

I believe Spurs have a better mentality and more driven players than United, Chelsea, Arsenal or City. As this season has taught us, that sometimes counts for more than talent.

Honestly in my opinion it's time to start taking Spurs seriously. They have become an very well-run club with the right priorities and an extremely promising young manager. Not only that, but their big players (Kane, Eriksen, Alli, Lloris) don't really have much motivation to leave, and the new TV money means the club doesn't have much motivation to sell them. That might change in 5 years, but at the moment, the likes of United, Chelsea and City all have some big rebuilding jobs ahead, and I wouldn't be surprised if Spurs are right back challenging for the title next season as well.

Leicester will struggle next season I'd say. Some of those players simply won't be able to replicate their once in a lifetime seasons (Morgan, Huth, Albrighton, Vardy, etc) and the added strain of European football will take a toll. Also, the vultures not just in England, but across Europe, will be circling for Mahrez and Kante.

 

[LouisDanGaal]

Ok, name these CM's who have been better. When you look at the league this season you are going to have a big problem when refuting Dembele. You can't go for any of ours, Arsenals, Liverpools, Cheslea's or City's. Not only have none been very good, Dembele has dominated them all, other than ours, where he didn't play in CM. He completed outclassed the West Ham CM and even though Spurs lost to Leicester, Dembele was bossing Kante and Drinkwater until he got injured and had to go off, after which Leicester scored. When you look at his stats over the season he's number 1 and when you see his CM battles against the other top CM's in the league he's come out on top against everyone. In all the Spurs games you've seen this season, name one single game where Dembele wasn't dominant in the CM? I haven't seen anyone get the better of him. Spurs have only lost one game all season with Dembele in CM and as I pointed out, that only happened after he went off injured.

It's easy to say he hasn't been the best, but is it easy to name better one's?

Again just to repeat my point judging a centre mid on stats isn't helpful as you can manipulate it to go to whichever centre mid you want by downplaying certain stats and overstating others if you choose to. And to repeat I rate Dembele highly, good player, top technique and can really dictate the tempo of a match. In terms of centre mids better than him in the league, Kante is the number one this season by a pretty big distance, look at leicesters defence and then try and explain how they have been so good recently and the answer is primarily him. Gets the ball back incredibly efficiently, covers an immense amount of ground and gets attacks started quickly with accurate long balls to mahrez/vardy/albrighton, he is by far and away the best centre mid in the league, regardless of you if think dembele was bossing the midfield, Tottenham also scored their goal in the game when Kante went off. In the other game they played this season Dembele came on and then Tottenham conceded the winner 5 minutes later so one-off performances against each other probably aren't the way to compare them, but Kante comes out on top.

By virtue of his side having more points it could be argued that Leicester have won the midfield battle in more games but teams don't really work in individual departments. Being a good team means the different departments of the team being joined up. It's all about following the match plan set up by the manager for how to go about winning that game. Kante is the reason Leicester can play the way they play, he is their busquets, if he gets injured or gets sold in the summer they will collapse. Dembele wasn't even a starter at the beginning of the season and if he gets injured he can be replaced without the team suffering too much, you wouldn't suddenly panic that spurs title chances would fall apart if he got injured.

Others better than him in the league there are Fernandinho, coquelin and cazorla. Underperforming players who are substantially better than him include our own schneiderlin, Yaya toure, Wanyama and Chelsea have Fabregas and Matic who are better players but if you only take into account recent form you wouldn't see that. Tottenham are playing well so a lot of their players are playing on top form while other teams players aren't, if other players were on top form Dembele is not a particularly special player.

 

[a_devil_inside]

Spurs have slowly been progressing over the years, don't see any reason why they can't be title challengers but I think the likes of Man Utd, Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City are all going to improve so it will be harder.
Leicester I see them slipping down, maybe not even a top ten finish. Teams like West Ham, Everton, Stoke could push them down, maybe even Newcastle but depends on what Benitez does with them (As long as they are still in the league).

 

[redmeister]

Again just to repeat my point judging a centre mid on stats isn't helpful as you can manipulate it to go to whichever centre mid you want by downplaying certain stats and overstating others if you choose to. And to repeat I rate Dembele highly, good player, top technique and can really dictate the tempo of a match. In terms of centre mids better than him in the league, Kante is the number one this season by a pretty big distance, look at leicesters defence and then try and explain how they have been so good recently and the answer is primarily him. Gets the ball back incredibly efficiently, covers an immense amount of ground and gets attacks started quickly with accurate long balls to mahrez/vardy/albrighton, he is by far and away the best centre mid in the league, regardless of you if think dembele was bossing the midfield, Tottenham also scored their goal in the game when Kante went off. In the other game they played this season Dembele came on and then Tottenham conceded the winner 5 minutes later so one-off performances against each other probably aren't the way to compare them, but Kante comes out on top.

By virtue of his side having more points it could be argued that Leicester have won the midfield battle in more games but teams don't really work in individual departments. Being a good team means the different departments of the team being joined up. It's all about following the match plan set up by the manager for how to go about winning that game. Kante is the reason Leicester can play the way they play, he is their busquets, if he gets injured or gets sold in the summer they will collapse. Dembele wasn't even a starter at the beginning of the season and if he gets injured he can be replaced without the team suffering too much, you wouldn't suddenly panic that spurs title chances would fall apart if he got injured.

Others better than him in the league there are Fernandinho, coquelin and cazorla. Underperforming players who are substantially better than him include our own schneiderlin, Yaya toure, Wanyama and Chelsea have Fabregas and Matic who are better players but if you only take into account recent form you wouldn't see that. Tottenham are playing well so a lot of their players are playing on top form while other teams players aren't, if other players were on top form Dembele is not a particularly special player.

I just think you are naming players for the sake of it. Cazorla and Coquelin got mullered by Dembele. It was only a few weeks ago where we saw Dembele get MOTM against Fernandinho at the Ethiad. This debate wouldn't be happening if you watched Spurs every game. It's like discussing the form of Southampton players with someone who only watches them every now and again. If you watch Spurs and Dembele a lot then you don't try and claim Cazorla, Coquelin and Fernandinho have been better than him.

 

[Loublaze]

Spurs have improved but I think they're being grossly overrated on here. This thread shall be revisted

 

[LouisDanGaal]

I just think you are naming players for the sake of it. Cazorla and Coquelin got mullered by Dembele. It was only a few weeks ago where we saw Dembele get MOTM against Fernandinho at the Ethiad. This debate wouldn't be happening if you watched Spurs every game. It's like discussing the form of Southampton players with someone who only watches them every now and again. If you watch Spurs and Dembele a lot then you don't try and claim Cazorla, Coquelin and Fernandinho have been better than him.

I don't know why you've decided you are the authority on spurs and nobody else is entitled to an opinion, even if they've seen the vast majority of their matches this season. No I very specifically picked players who were obviously and objectively better than Dembele, pretty much to the point of it not being a debate at all but your obsession with one off duels isn't helping. Spurs are the best balanced team in the league so their midfield doesn't get overrun, Fernandinho is holding up the fort by himself as city really need a new cm. Coquelin was a huge miss for Arsenal when he was missing and they are missing cazorla too currently. Dembele is not even the best cm at Tottenham, probably comes in third, I honestly find it shocking how much you overrate him to the extent where if he is included in a single papers player of the season awards I will never question you again.

 

[Gol123]

Spurs will probably be in the mix again for Europe. Leicester is a mystery. They definitely won't come top 3 again next season but it's team spirit, cohesion and tactical nous that's driving them. It makes more sense to leave these predictions till after the transfer window though.

Literally no tactical nous in Leicesters game. Their manager even admitted so.