Tottenham had another fresh start in the summer as Mauricio Pocchetino was lured from Southampton to take over as a manager, replacing Tim Sherwood after a hugely disappointing previous campaign. One of the most sought-after and respected managers in the league, the Argentinian did not undertake a massive overhaul in the squad and made only a few singings. Federico Fazio was the main arrival in the summer and the only one expected to be a regular. The manager preferred to give a chance to young players in the squad and the likes of Nabil Bentaleb, Ryan Mason and Harry Kane would be indeed given their extensive opportunities to shine through. It was a rather perplexing start of the season as Spurs played some promising and excellent football at the start, only to turn some occasionally shocking displays. They were embarrassed by Liverpool at home for a 3:0 loss and also suffered hugely demoralising losses to West Brom and Newcastle at White Hart Lane by the end of October. The period of adjustment to the new man in charge was proving a long and testing one and the results remained far too inconsistent and varying. Excellent fightbacks in away wins at Aston Villa, Hull and Swansea in close succession in November and December showed proof of considerable character and belief in the squad. On the other hand, the team sometimes looked utterly flat and now knowing what to do. At the same time, Kane started to emerge as a genuine exciting and excellent player up front. He did not start the season as a first-choice striker but his excellent goalscoring record in the Cup games earned him the right to be number one by November. The academy product did not look back and enjoyed a real dream season, banging in more than 30 goals and playing with the sort of freedom, swagger and ease that is reserved for the top players. Alongside him, Christian Eriksen, Mason and Bentaleb enjoyed excellent seasons as well and were the main reason why Spurs started to climb up the table. They really sent a message with a stunning 5:3 win over Chelsea on the first day of 2015. The future seemed bright at that stage as the young guns were firing and the team seemed to have bought into Pocchetino’s philosophy. But the wheels began to come off by mid-February, just after another jubilant win over Arsenal at home. A poor 2:0 loss at Fiorentina meant an exit in the Europa League and Chelsea rolled them over in the League Cup final soon after that. There was still a tight battle for the Champions League spots to look forward to. But an utterly spineless and inept showing away at Manchester United in March resulted in a 3:0 loss. Spurs never really recovered from that and the rest of the season petered out disappointingly, with the team getting only a Europa League slot again. Thus, it has not been a triumphant first season for the new man in charge but he has shown enough promise so far to suggest that better things lay in wait for Tottenham, provided that they sign a few good players to bolster the overall quality in the squad.
