{"id":11524,"date":"2016-10-13T09:41:31","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T08:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.colossusbets.com\/?p=11524"},"modified":"2019-04-05T16:59:50","modified_gmt":"2019-04-05T15:59:50","slug":"from-pretenders-to-contenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/from-pretenders-to-contenders\/","title":{"rendered":"FROM PRETENDERS TO CONTENDERS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tottenham have somewhat gone under the radar on contenders for the Premier League title this season, but are they best equipped to go all the way this campaign?<\/p>\n

Tottenham pushed last season\u2019s surprise title winners Leicester all the way last season before running out of steam in the final few weeks as they eventually finished third in the table.<\/p>\n

Mauricio Pochettino\u2019s men underlined their title credentials with a thrilling victory over Premier League favourites Manchester City at White Hart Lane prior to the international break.<\/p>\n

The manner of the victory over Pep Guardiola\u2019s City<\/a> in itself was impressive as they ended their perfect start to the season, but what made it all the more impressive was that it was achieved without star man Harry Kane.<\/p>\n

Spurs<\/a> have made their best start to a league campaign since 1960\/61 , collecting 17 points from their opening seven matches and they boast the only unbeaten record so far and the division\u2019s best defence.<\/p>\n

Pochettino<\/a> did not bring in too many new faces during the summer window preferring to offload some of the dead wood to make the squad more balanced and from back to front they have a strong spine that is good enough to win trophies.<\/p>\n

Hugo Lloris offers quality and experience in goal<\/a>, Belgian duo Jan Vertongen and Toby Alderweireld provide a commanding defensive pairing \u00a0 while Eric Dier, Victor Wanyama and Moussa Sissoko bring strength and power to the engine room allied to the creation of Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli.<\/p>\n

Son Heung-min has been a revelation after a disappointing debut season last term, while Harry Kane<\/a> is sure to provide goals once he returns to fitness and finds his best form.<\/p>\n

The England man has been a reliable source of goals for two seasons now, and doubts have always existed over whether or not Tottenham<\/a> would have enough cutting edge without him, but recent performances have shown Spurs can cope without their talisman.<\/p>\n

As the stats and results illustrate everything bodes well<\/a> for Spurs on the pitch and it looks just as good off the pitch after securing a number of their top stars on long-term deals.<\/p>\n

Following on from May when Pochettino signed<\/a> a new deal seven players have signed new long-term contracts since the start of the campaign and with more to follow the club look poised to prosper in the future.<\/p>\n

Tying down the large majority of the first-team to new team will ensure continuity, stability and harmony to the squad and show that progress is rewarded by the White Hart Lane hierarchy.<\/p>\n

Pochettino has overseen impressive progress since his arrival from Southampton<\/a> in the summer of 2014, shaping a young squad in his style.<\/p>\n

Tottenham at their best when they are playing with unbelievable energy and confidence are arguably the toughest side to beat in the Premier League and this season<\/a> may offer them their best chance of winning their first English championship since 1961.<\/p>\n

Their rivals are somewhat in transition with Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte<\/a> all still coming to grips of their first seasons in charge of their respective clubs.<\/p>\n

Also the experience of last season\u2019s near miss will stand Tottenham\u2019s young players in good stead as they look to be involved in another title race<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Bouncing back from last season was always going to be a test of \u00a0Spurs\u2019 strength and resolution and their start to this season shows they are now the real deal going from pretenders to contenders.<\/p>\n

Tottenham<\/a> are determined to show that last season\u2019s title tilt was no flash in the pan and that they plan to be contesting for England\u2019s top prize on a regular basis over the next few years.<\/p>\n

Spurs look a good bet to match last season\u2019s achievements or go even better and with everything in sync on and off the pitch you would not bet against them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tottenham have somewhat gone under the radar on contenders for the Premier League title this season, but are they best equipped to go all the way this campaign? Tottenham pushed last season\u2019s surprise title winners Leicester all the way last season before running out of steam in the final few weeks as they eventually finished third in the table.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[643],"tags":[174,240,177],"class_list":["post-11524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport","tag-news","tag-peter-orouke","tag-ticker"],"yoast_head":"\nFROM PRETENDERS TO CONTENDERS - Colossus Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tottenham have somewhat gone under the radar on contenders for the Premier League title this season\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/from-pretenders-to-contenders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FROM PRETENDERS TO CONTENDERS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tottenham have somewhat gone under the radar on contenders for the Premier League title this season\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/from-pretenders-to-contenders\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colossus Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SportsBigger\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-13T08:41:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-05T15:59:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colossusbets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Alderweireld.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"615\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peter O'Rourke\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/SportsPeteO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ColossusBets\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peter O'Rourke\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/from-pretenders-to-contenders\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/from-pretenders-to-contenders\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Peter O'Rourke\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ef8b723aa4c198de93a11fbd8e636069\"},\"headline\":\"FROM PRETENDERS TO CONTENDERS\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-13T08:41:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-05T15:59:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/from-pretenders-to-contenders\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":652,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"News\",\"Peter O'Rouke\",\"Ticker\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2016\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/from-pretenders-to-contenders\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colossusbets.com\\\/blog\\\/from-pretenders-to-contenders\\\/\",\"name\":\"FROM PRETENDERS TO CONTENDERS - 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