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Tottenham stood still in 2019. Have they made the same mistake twice?

Tottenham stood still in 2019. Have they made the same mistake twice?

Adam Lofthouse
Adam Lofthouse
SEP 2, 2025

In 2019, Spurs, struggling domestically, a string of injuries plaguing the core of their team, somehow stumbled their way to a Champions League final showdown against Liverpool. It was not to be that night, as a fairly blunt performance (and some pretty iffy refereeing) saw Liverpool win the game 2-0 and walk off into the sunset with the trophy.

Spurs could have, and should have, used that as a springboard to launch the club to the next level. They did indeed spend big. Tanguy N'dombele, Gio Lo Celso and Ryan Sessegnon, brought in for over £100m combined. (Lo Celso was a loan, made permanent the following year)

Fair to say, it didn't exactly work out. Sessegnon had hamstrings made of cheese, Lo Celso showed glimpses but ultimately wasn't physical enough, and N'dombele loved McDonald's and, as it turned out, only quite liked football.

Spurs went into the following season with glaring holes in their squad, a core group of players that had climbed the mountain together but never reached the peak, and a manager who knew it was all falling apart at the seams.

Compare that to 2025. Spurs have stumbled their way to another major European final, whilst having a disaster of a domestic campaign and a second season on the spin with an injury list comparable only to a military unit's casualties in wartime.

But tellingly, this time Spurs emerged victorious. So, have they now learned from their mistakes of 2019? Well, this time they have made a snap decision to change their manager. In hindsight (always easier that way) there is maybe a case to argue for Pochettino walking away after the Champions League final in 2019. In fact, some say if Spurs had won that night, he would have.

Squad Strengths and Lingering Concerns

I, like many Spurs fans, will always hold Ange Postecoglou in high esteem. He did what no one else could. Not Poch, or Jose, or Conte, who all, in my opinion, had better squads (and a certain Harry Kane) at their disposal. He won. He set his stall out, promised he was going to do it, and ACTUALLY DID IT. Remarkable. Through it all, he stood up for the club in the press, spoke well on all matters thrown at him, and remained true to himself throughout. Nothing but respect for him. When the club moved on aging players and replaced them with teenagers, Postecoglou refused to grumble at all.

However, we were VERY bad for a lot of last season, and in the cold light of day, a change seemed to be for the best. So Thomas Frank comes in, and first impressions are we'll be much more compact and tactically flexible this year. Which is great. But does he have a squad to cope with the demands of what could be a 60+ game season?

In short. No, I don't think he has. Don't get me wrong, Simons, Palhinha and Kudus are three brilliant signings, especially when compared to who came in 2019. They're PL ready, CL ready and immediately improve the first XI. It's not often Spurs make three signings of that calibre in one window.

But is it enough? At time of writing (5pm on deadline day, if you were wondering) Spurs look to have wrapped up a loan for Randal Kolo Muani. A 26 yr old forward with - looking back through his career history - one good season to his name. He'll add depth, which is something Spurs sorely lack in forward areas, but may not add much quality or consistency.

What happens if Solanke's ankle issue keeps him out for a number of weeks? Richarlison can be relied upon to cause havoc whenever he plays, but not always score, and he doesn't play anywhere near enough. Will Muani step up when needed? It is the same in the wide areas, where there are perhaps the numbers but not the quality. Brennan Johnson is a goal scorer, but ineffective outside the box. Mathys Tel and Wilson Odobert are yet to do anything in a Spurs shirt that gives the fans confidence they can step up when required. It feels like the club is one Kudus injury away from losing all their spark in wide areas. Simmons is class, instantly the best player at the club. But if misses games, who fills in? A lack of creativity and flair was glaringly obvious in the monotonous display Spurs put in at home against Bournemouth at the weekend. Jim Ratcliffe had the Man Utd dinner ladies running out of Carrington quicker than Spurs' forward players moved on Saturday. Over the course of a season, we can't rely solely on Simons.

A Team of Potential, But Not Depth

At the back, Dragusin is out until around the new year, Japanese youngster Kota Takai managed to get injured without playing a game in pre-season (obviously) so that just leaves Danso as the only recognised centre back available if Romero or VDV get injured. But don't worry, neither of them misses many games.... honest.

So, where does all this leave us? A decent first XI that in theory should be able to compete with any team in Europe on its day. But, as always with Spurs, it's not really the XI that are the issue. More the squad as a whole. If three or four are lost to injury come October/November - with Maddison and Kulusevski already missing large chunks of the season - then it's hard to see anything other than a struggle through to May. In fairness, having Thomas Frank and his tactical awareness at the helm should help, and I wouldn't expect to see Spurs languishing in the bottom half of the table again.

But with Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Man Utd and others all strengthening significantly on last season, it is hard to see where Spurs can muscle their way in and compete for a top 4 spot.

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