Spurs: No Signings in a Year, No Stadium, but Somehow Still Improving

Despite not making any signings and having to delay their stadium plans, Tottenham Hotspur are still improving as a club under Mauricio Pochettino.

It’s official! It’s been exactly 365 days since Spurs made their last signing, when they brought Lucas Moura in from PSG on deadline day of the last January transfer window. In the year that has passed, we have seen the plans for Spurs’ new stadium delay by over half a year, and questions still remain as to when it will be ready for their use. Their board has also refrained from making any signings, as they invest more into the stadium and put faith in Pochettino to continue delivering the goods without investment. In fact, Spurs were the only club in Europe not to make a single signing in the 2018 summer window. It’s a situation that would be calamitous for many clubs, and that would normally show on the pitch with poor performances. Not for Spurs though.

When they made their last signing, exactly one year ago, they sat in 5th place with 45 points from 24 matches, and 20 points off the top of the table. Now, they sit in 3rd with 54 points from 24 matches, just 7 off of 1st place Liverpool.

Spurs have Mauricio Pochettino to thank as usual, as he continues to get more and more out of his players.

Sure, he hasn’t won anything of note yet, and some of the things he says are questionable. You cannot deny that Mauricio Pochettino is a brilliant manager that is going above and beyond what is expected of him.

If another manager wasn’t given a single penny of investment in a summer window, there would be rifts. There would be spats, and there would be drama, but not with Pochettino. He understands the project on hand and has continued to work with the likes of Son, Kane, Alli, and Eriksen to improve their play on the field.

They crashed out of both domestic cups last week, but securing a top 4 place and progressing in the Champions League is far more important regardless, as those are far better signs of progress than the domestic cups, and provide far greater financial reward.

There are not many clubs in the world that would improve their play after a year like Spurs had, but Pochettino clearly isn’t cut from the same cloth as a regular manager.