World Cup heroes could hinder Tottenham’s start yet again

Spurs have been slow out of the blocks

Nobody is really talking about Tottenham Hotspur this summer.

While the rest of the Premier League’s big-six have hogged the headlines for varying reasons, Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs have flown under the radar.

They’re 14/1 to win the Premier League this season, and 4/5 for a top-four finish.

But they haven’t made a single signing this summer, while the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal have invested heavily in the off-season. This could be a difficult campaign for Spurs.

World Cup won’t help Poch

Pochettino had a heap of key players at the World Cup. Harry Kane, Dele Alli, Keiran Trippier and Eric Dier were with England, while Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen were with Belgium.

Both those nations played the full seven matches and aren’t in pre-season with the main squad yet.

That puts Spurs significantly on the back foot with the new campaign rapidly approaching.

And that’s a concern for the North London outfit, given they’ve shown a trend in recent years for starting seasons slowly.

Spurs’ stuttering starts

In 2014-15 they won only three of their opening nine matches. It was the same a year later. In 2015-16 they improved, but still only won five of their first 11 games.

Last season again showed a slight improvement, Spurs won six of their first nine games.