Form is temporary and class is permanent so we are told but when we take a look at the Premier League table you may be surprised to know that one of the most under performing sides in the league over the past 10 games, and that is a good length of time to gauge form, is Tottenham. The Londoners were tipped to push on this season under Antonio Conte but they have picked up just 13 points from their last 30, that isn't a terrible figure for a few teams, but not for a club whose aspirations at the beginning of the season would have been a title challenge. It must be galling for Tottenham who have achieved plenty in the last five years albeit without silverware to see their eternal rivals Arsenal in 1st place after the Gunners have suffered in recent times. Tottenham reached the final of the Champions League in 2019 and that was the time to announce themselves and finally step out of Arsenal's shadow but it hasn't happened.
The worry for Tottenham is that a top four place is hardly assured not with the emergence of Manchester United and even though Liverpool have suffered this season, Arsenal have improved ten fold and Newcastle look to be a force to be reckoned with now. So where does this leave Tottenham? Where does it leave Harry Kane and where does it leave Antonio Conte? The club seem stuck in the middle of nowhere land, too much quality not to be playing in some sort of European competition next season but that doesn't matter all they want to play in is the Champions League, but not enough quality to be giving any of the top 3 sides a decent run for their money. Harry Kane's dream move away to Manchester City is dead and buried and it could well be one of football's saddest tales that a player with so much obvious talent and quality may finish his career with zero trophies. Is being England's all time goalscorer- which should happen next year or the Premier League all time goalscorer, which will surely happen, any substiute for that winning feeling and a cabinet full of trophies? Kane is a player that should be remembered in world football but there is a real threat that outside of England he won't be. As for Conte he has whined plenty of times and hinted on too many occasions that he could leave the club before his contract expires. He has a win rate of 55% which may not sound too bad for Tottenham but it is his lowest with a club side since he managed Siena over a decade ago. This summer may well bring some changes for the club from the pitch and possibly from the dug out too.
Sadly over the Christmas period one of the greatest sportsmen and perhaps the greatest footballer of them all Pele passed away, he was 82. The significance of Pele on football can never be under estimated, he was as important to the game as were the Beatles to music. There isn't a time that any one who loves the game didn't know of Pele, simply put a mythical figure who delivered on the pitch and had skills in his boots long before Johaan Cruyff, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Zinedine Zidane and Cristiano Ronaldo came onto the scene. Pele was the genuine article who won a staggering 3 World Cups. His name is so important to football, that quite simply he was part of everything that made up the game back in his playing days and makes up the game even in the present time. His name will live on for centuries.
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