Even in one of Tottenham Hotspur’s best Premier League seasons to date, where they had finally seemed destined to end a 55-year wait for league honours – but for the 5,000-1 heroics of champions Leicester – Spurs still ended up behind Arsenal after Sunday’s drubbing.
Tottenham’s 5-1 defeat away to relegated Newcastle United allowed the Gunners to pip the Lilywhites to second, and the title of ‘best club in North London’, with their 4-0 win at home to relegated Aston Villa.
The plot twist is academic as both sides still earn automatic qualification for the Uefa Champions League regardless of finishing second or third, but in terms of rivalry and boasting rights between both clubs this will needlessly smart.
Arsenal are perennially taunting their neighbour’s inadequacies with the banterful celebration of St. Totteringham’s Day marking their almost annual confirmation of finishing above Spurs.
Things haven’t happened to the contrary since 1995. And in the first season since Tottenham’s food poisoning bout of 2006 that saw Arsenal pip them to the post for Champions League football, it finally appeared Spurs would buck that trend and turn the tables on their rivals – but they still earnt no reprieve.
To capitulate in the manner they did against Newcastle was unnecessary, but with nothing to play for and the pressure off with regards the title, and Champions League qualification secured, it was perhaps understandable.
You would have expected a little more pride from Spurs to end a good season on a slightly higher note however, and at least hold out for a superior ranking over Arsenal.
What this has perhaps shown Mauricio Pochettino though, is that his Spurs side are nowhere near good enough to contest for the title in any normal season, where the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea will be back firing on all cylinders. And that beyond the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli, there isn’t really much substance or mentality to his squad.
The Argentine manager called it the worst day of his career, but maybe it’s a blessing in disguise as this will leave Spurs biting to get back over the summer rather than being as self-assured as they perhaps were.
In Arsenal’s case they arguably had a lot more to fight for. If Spurs were coming down from the disappointment of just missing out to Leicester, the Gunners were seeking to silence sections of their own supporters who had turned against them after yet another season where they had failed to grab the bull by the horns. Their wait for the title now extends to 13 years. But if they had played with this season-ending conviction throughout, it may well have been a different story.
While finishing above Spurs and qualifying for the Champions League for a record-extending 17th consecutive season isn’t likely to totally absolve Arsene Wenger of his many critics, it may frustratingly buy him a little more time to tick over, whereas finishing below Spurs would have almost certainly put his future on top of the agenda this summer.
