Tottenham legend Gary Mabbutt believes that there is no reason why Tottenham cannot challenge Manchester City and Liverpool this season and compete for major honours.
There is now a feel-good factor at Spurs that has been missing since Mauricio Pochettino’s time at the club, with the players and the fans having now fully bought into Antonio Conte’s project.
Mabbutt has even gone a step further and suggested that the buzz around the club is unlike anything he has seen since his playing days, with Spurs moving in the right direction both on and off the pitch.
The FA Cup-winning centre-back told The Daily Mail: “I have been at Spurs 40 years and it’s been a while since I’ve felt a buzz like this. Even when we won the FA Cup, the club were going bankrupt and we were in the business pages more than the sports section.
“Now I look around and we’ve got the best stadium in the world, we’re financially secure and Antonio is building a great squad. Ossie Ardiles and myself hosted Franz Beckenbauer at the training ground and he was astounded by what we had. He said it was the best he’d ever seen.”
Given the strong finish that Tottenham had last season and the business the club have done this summer, many pundits have picked the Lilywhites as their favourites to finish third behind last season’s top two (BBC Sport).
Mabbbut believes that Spurs can even challenge Pep Guardiola’s and Jurgen Klopp’s sides.
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He added: “Any team in the world would like Harry and Son and the board have been incredible to give Antonio £150million for signings who look great. If we perform as we are capable, we could be putting in a sustained challenge for all the major trophies this season.
“People look at Manchester City and Liverpool, but I think Sadio Mane is a bigger loss for Liverpool than people might realise.
“City have replaced Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus but in football, the dynamics change in a dressing room and it can take a while for the replacements to become accustomed.”
During his playing days, Mabbutt embodied the fighting spirit that Conte is trying to build at Spurs, and the 61-year-old admitted that he would have loved to play under the Italian.
He said: “I’d have loved to have played for Antonio. I was the type who wanted to play in the biggest games against the best opposition, dealing with the pressure. I never wanted to hear negativity in my dressing room and I think Antonio is the same.”
Spurs Web Opinion
I think it is too early in the season to be talking about challenging the top two.
At this point in the season, we should take each game as it comes and if we are in touching distance of the top around February, only then can we start to get excited.
Thankfully, I do not see Conte or any of the Spurs players entertaining any talks of a title bid as of yet.
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