Tuesday 19 April 2016 13:49, UK
Tottenham kept up the pressure on Leicester with an emphatic 4-0 win over Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on Monday night. The result keeps their title hopes alive but with Mauricio Pochettino at the helm of this young squad, the long-term prospects are equally encouraging, writes Adam Bate.
Leicester City are having the season of their lives. The annus mirabilis. The perfect storm. But whatever anybody is calling it, nobody is in a rush to suggest it will happen again. For second-placed Tottenham, there's a growing feeling that the situation is rather different.
"I've said it a lot this season that this is an unbelievable chance for Spurs to win a title and this chance may not come again," said Jamie Carragher on Monday Night Football. "But I think I may be wrong. The more I watch them, the more I think this chance might come again.
"I was expecting Spurs to go back to being challenging for top four, but the more I watch this team, I think in terms of years to come, this is going to be a side that's challenging for the title." Such talk is enough to get Tottenham fans giddy. But the logic is sound.
For while seven of Leicester's favoured starting line-up this season have already turned 29 years old, that's the age of Spurs' senior man - goalkeeper and captain Hugo Lloris. Not a single outfield player in their squad has celebrated that particular birthday just yet.
That in itself can bring a certain exuberance. "They were quicker to everything," said Stoke boss Mark Hughes after seeing his side dismantled. But it's not just the youth and dynamism of Mauricio Pochettino's side that's proving so impressive. It's the discipline. It's the quality.
Tottenham might well be the best coached team in the Premier League and they're playing football to excite. The league table is no liar, of course, but the underlying data is there to support the story and it's telling quite the tale.
They are the top goalscorers in the division with 64 goals, having created more chances than any other side (449). And yet, they've also conceded the fewest goals, having let in only 25 at the other end. It's a combination only Spurs can boast in England's professional leagues.
What's more, there's momentum too. Thirteen of the last 14 goals scored in Spurs games have been by them. If Leicester are all about getting over the line, Spurs are just getting better. This is a team now freed from cup distractions and powering towards the finish.
Harry Kane and Dele Alli took the headlines on Monday and Carragher understandably called them "superstars" for their contributions. Kane tops the scoring charts, while there's no younger player in Europe's biggest four leagues with as many goals or assists as Alli.
But everywhere around the pitch there are success stories. Kyle Walker and Danny Rose provide the energy on the flanks - they produced more than 70 high-intensity sprints each against Stoke - while fellow England international Eric Dier is there to drop back and cover.
In the centre of defence, the Belgian pairing of Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld have impressed, with the latter arguably the finest centre-back in the country this season. Ahead of them in midfield, compatriot Mousa Dembele has been a statistical sensation.
Dembele ranks fourth in the league for both dribbles and tackles - an unusual combination that hints at his all-round skillset. There was even a rare assist at Stoke and the visiting fans made a mockery of the suggestion that he's an unsung hero by chanting his name repeatedly.
Christian Eriksen is Spurs' playmaker supreme, with only Mesut Ozil having created more chances this season, and the Dane showed remarkable vision to pick out Alli for the second goal of the night. Meanwhile, Erik Lamela is in the form of his White Hart Lane career.
The Argentine laid on Kane's second and it's clear that both men have fused application with talent - Eriksen in covering more ground than anyone (12.2 kilometres), Lamela in making more sprints (82). It's testament not only to their hard work but the work of the manager.
"Sometimes when you're picking a player of the match for Spurs, it could be five or six of them because it's all about the team," added Carragher. "The man who should get most of the credit is the manager, because what he's created here is something very special."
What Pochettino has created is a culture, and that can be far more powerful than mere personnel. It can endure even when players are replaced. And it can win titles. The Spurs fans at the Britannia Stadium on Monday evening are sensing one might not be far away.
"Leicester City, we're coming for you," they chanted, with increasing gusto as the goals went in. There's no denying that pipping the Foxes to the Premier League crown should be the primary focus right now. But Tottenham can look beyond that too.
For while it's true that the big guns will be adding to their arsenal in the summer, it's apparent that Arsenal and the rest are the ones now playing catch up. Those same Spurs fan know it too. "Arsene Wenger, we want you to stay," they sang.
Of course, they'll want Pochettino to stay too but then why would he leave? "Everything is there for Tottenham," added Carragher. "He's got to try to win a lot of trophies with this team because they're very capable."
Capable and hungry. "We're not going to stop," Alli told Sky Sports after the game. That's a worry for Leicester City right now. But in the longer term, it should be a worry for each and every other team hoping to win a Premier League title any time soon too.
