Ex-Spurs man predicts best case scenario for club’s PL finish this season

Jamie O’Hara has claimed that a top-six finish is the best Tottenham Hotspur could hope for under Nuno Espirito Santo this season.

Tottenham finished outside the top six for the first time since 2009 last season, which meant that the club missed out on both the Champions League and Europa League football, having to settle for a place in the inaugural edition of the Europa Conference League.

It is fairly evident that Nuno was not Tottenham’s first choice, with the club speaking to a whole host of candidates before hiring the Portuguese coach.

The former Wolves boss certainly has a big job on his hands, with the squad looking well short of the levels they reached under Mauricio Pochettino a few years ago.

O’Hara admitted that he is fairly hopeful about Nuno’s appointment but insisted that a top-four finish is well beyond the Lilywhites’ reach since they are unlikely to spend much money this summer.

When asked what Tottenham’s target should be, the former Spurs midfielder told talkSPORT: “Top six. I think a lot of Spurs fans will agree with me, unless there’s a big overhaul.

“I like Nuno as a manager. He did a great job at Wolves, played some great football. The 3-4-3 got the best out of a lot of players and we saw the emergence of some great players like Ruben Neves. I’m excited to see what he can do at a really big club like Spurs.

“What I’m worried about is that the squad is just going to be the same. I can’t see there being a revamp. There’s this whole thing about Harry Kane, will he stay or will he go but my biggest concern is the players we’re still going to be left with.

“I’ve talked about this massive rebuild but I just can’t see it happening. Pre-season has already started, Spurs aren’t going to be spending a lot of money, the Harry Kane situation will rumble on so that money’s not going to be available for a while.

“I think Nuno will get decent results with this team but they won’t do anything special. The rest of the team needs revamping. We need new midfielders, new wingers, we need a new back four and could probably do with a new goalkeeper because Hugo Lloris is getting older.”

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The one thing that Nuno has going for him is the lack of expectations and the pressure that comes with it. In many ways, it now feels similar to the start of Pochettino’s reign.

The Argentine was not the club’s first choice at the time and came in when expectations were really low after the AVB and Sherwood disasters. Hopefully, the environment is right for Nuno to get the best out of the squad, much like it was for Poch back in 2014.

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