‘No’ – Paul Merson brutally assesses Spurs’ title challenge after ‘new side’ emerges under Big Ange
Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has ruled Tottenham out of the title race despite topping the Premier League after eight games.
Ange Postecoglou’s side have been in fine form this season, winning six and drawing two of their opening eight fixtures.
Home wins over Manchester United and Liverpool have sent a message to the rest of the Premier League, with the Australian manager doing incredible work after becoming Antonio Conte’s permanent successor in the summer.
The atmosphere at the club was incredibly negative with Conte in charge but Postecoglou has quickly turned things around and is getting the best out of the likes of Heung-min Son and Yves Bissouma, who both struggled last term.
As mentioned previously, Tottenham are top of the Premier League and will be until the international break ends and domestic football returns in a little less than two weeks.
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Arsenal only beating Manchester City by one goal on Sunday ensured Spurs’ would stay on the Premier League summit, with Saturday afternoon’s win at Luton Town keeping Postecoglou’s side above their north London rivals via goals scored.
Discussing the win at Kenilworth Road, ex-Gunners star Merson said Spurs would have been out of sight if they had Harry Kane but “showed a new side” by holding on to win 1-0 with ten men.
He wrote in his Sky Sports column: “It was a funny game! I was sitting there in the first 15 minutes thinking, ‘if Harry Kane was playing now, the game would have been over,’ given the number of chances they missed.
“Then Spurs did not look like scoring after that, bar the goal. But fair play to them, going down to 10 men and digging in and getting a result, you have to hold your hands up.
“I know Luton are right down at the bottom, but it is still hard. Spurs gave away a few chances, but in the end I thought they dug in and showed a new side to Tottenham.”
Merson does not think Spurs will be staying on top of the Premier League and hints that they are not a shoo-in for Champions League qualification, which “would be an unbelievable season”.
“So fair play to them, they are top of the league at the moment – will they stay there? No, but that is not the point,” he added.
“If they were to get in the Champions League next season, then that would be an unbelievable season for Tottenham.”
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