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Newcastle United are going down, but we still have the small matter of this match against Spurs to tend to before we go. It means absolutely nothing to us, but Spurs have a bunch on the line with record points hauls and finishing above Arsenal and other fun things to play for. They are covered on the SBN network by the excellent Cartilage Free Captain with whom we've had several fun q/a sessions over the years. This final one was no different. You can find my answers to their questions here.
Without further ado, here are the words of GN Punk:
Getting Mauricio Pochetino locked down has got to feel good, yes? This has got to bode well for the future.
I'd like to think that the collective group of Spurs supporters around the world all exhaled at the same time when the announcement was made. This club seems to have turned a corner with Mauricio Pochettino at the helm and losing him to a club like Manchester United would have been a punch in the gut. Even though he came out and said that he had verbally agreed, that meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson made everyone concerned for just a short period of time. Either way, we have our man and things continue to look incredibly bright.
Which view is winning out in the Spurs fan base: "This season has been a success" or "This season will always be a disappointment."?
Definitely "This season has been a success." While everyone is certainly disappointed in losing out the title, most forums, podcasts, and comments that I've taken in have gone away from the disappointment to realizing that Spurs are a single point away from finishing their highest ever placing in the Premier League era and three points away from achieving their highest ever point total. Either one of those would also result in Spurs finishing above Arsenal and breaking the 20-year streak of St. Totteringham's Day. Add all this up with Champions League football and it's been one hell of a season.
If you presume that something has gone wrong this season, what was the weak link? How do you expect it to be addressed in the summer?
If I had to point at one thing, I would say depth. While Spurs' regular Starting XI is capable of beating anyone in the league this year, we've seen what happens when a couple of those key cogs are removed from the machine. Dele Alli has been replaced fairly well with Heung-Min Son, but Mousa Dembele's suspension especially hurt as we do not have a like-for-like substitute for Moose.
If I had to point at one thing, I would say depth. While Spurs' regular Starting XI is capable of beating anyone in the league this year, we've seen what happens when a couple of those key cogs are removed from the machine. Dele Alli has been replaced fairly well with Heung-Min Son, but Mousa Dembele's suspension especially hurt as we do not have a like-for-like substitute for Moose.
The Transfer Window will be fun this year. While Spurs are a club that generally get linked to approximately 174 players over the course of three months, Pochettino has made it clear that this squad needs to get stronger. I'll be doing a five-part series on this addressing who I think stays and goes in the offseason, but I'm expecting in no particular order to have the following addressed: Backups for Dier and Dembele, a viable second scoring option up top besides Kane, and perhaps one more to add to the attacking band. This will all hinge on who isn't around after the summer, but there's going to be some movement and improvement.
Say Newcastle win the game. What will they have done or what will have gone wrong on your end?
Our midfield gets overrun. Without trying to be overly negative about anyone, this midfield is simply not the same without Dier and Dembele in the pivot. The options behind our two main midfielders are Ryan Mason and Tom Carroll. Mason will almost undoubtedly start on Sunday, but don't let that fool you: He's an attacking midfielder playing out of position. As for Carroll, he's more suited to play as a DLP type midfielder, but he's a bit smaller and can get pushed off of the ball a lot easier than Dembele. The key to beating Spurs on Sunday for Newcastle will be to push Mason out of position, which you will get at least a couple opportunities to do that.
Which London Championship side will Spurs fans be rooting for against Newcastle next year?
Well, Charlton Athletic are going down to League One, so they're out. I firmly believe that nobody actually likes QPR because they're QPR, so that won't happen. That leaves Brentford and Fulham since it doesn't look like any London clubs are coming up from League One. I've personally held a soft spot in my heart for Fulham since Clint Dempsey is what got me watching Premier League football. Brentford is a good shout too since Alex Pritchard was there on loan last season and he thrived for them in the Championship.
Obligatory prediction question.
Tottenham want to end this season on a high note. There's going to be an empty feeling in everyone's feelings if they manage to have a season like this and still finish behind Arsenal. I think they come out focused and prepared for anything. I'll call for a Kane brace and Son scoring for the third match in a row to lock up second place. 3-1 Spurs.