Fifth place, Europa League, a League Cup final defeat. Tottenham are a perennial ‘nearly there’ team. Sixth last season and fifth this season, perhaps we should look on this as progress, but the truth is that if Liverpool didn’t simply surrender in the last few weeks of the season, Spurs would be nowhere near fifth place.

But it’s not as if Spurs have been awful this season. Pochettino’s hard work in the pre-season to get players fit has seen them score plenty of late goals - in an era of marginal gains and evenly matched teams, fitness late into the game is a huge benefit.

The problem for Spurs is that they seem to have taken two steps backwards for every tentative step forward this season. They’ve brought through young players, Harry Kane is the obvious example, but they’ve simply relied too much on his ample goal threat.

Usually the youngsters rely on the older players to carry them through, but Spurs’ big-name players don’t look like they have the quality to do it. Or at least, they don’t show it often.

For all the work on training and fitness, Erik Lamela and Christian Eriksen have only looked good in fits and starts, but they’ve blown cold more than they’ve blown hot.

They’re surely not bad players. They came into this league with fanfares, but buying four or five players to replace Gareth Bale with the money recouped from his sale? Well, you get what you pay for: the pair have managed just a single goal each since the Capital One Cup final.

The question now is whether or not this is the manager’s fault. Pochettino didn’t buy these players, but he’s presided over their poor run. You can come down on either side of the coin - either Pochettino is a poor manager, guiding his team to uninspiring records but bailed out by the Midas touch of Harry Kane, or he’s a miracle worker who managed a fifth placed finish despite the poor form of key players.

Like so many things, the truth is somewhere between the extremes. Harry Kane’s form cannot be discounted, but neither can the fact that some players have really let their manager down.

Harry Kane’s goals have directly led to 24 points for Spurs. Take those goals away and Spurs would surely have won some of those games without Kane, someone else would have scored at least some of those. But they wouldn’t have amassed all 24. Taking 24 points away from Spurs’ total of 64 means you scrape over the 40 line. That’s food for thought. Especially given that there were only four defences who shipped more goals than Spurs in the league this season. Spurs have conceded more than Hull and the same number as Burnley, both relegated teams. They’re the sort of stats that damn managers - perhaps this one would have been too were it not for Harry Kane.

But Pochettino himself surely takes the credit for Kane. A young man who he has nurtured not only into a Premier League goal machine, but into a man whose country will rely on him in years to come. Given the Argentinian manager’s prowess in the youth development field you’d be forgiven for thinking that England were relying on Pochettino’s ability to nurture youth. Perhaps even the FA themselves are hoping that Pochettino’s job is safe!

With so many managers suddenly available in world football at the moment - big names such as Klopp and Ancelotti - Pochettino might fear for his job at the moment. Where perhaps a month ago he might have felt totally comfortable in the White Hart Lane hotseat, he might just feel a little less easy right now.

It’s been a season of little progress for Spurs, but they really are nearly there. If Kane can continue his magnificent form, if Spurs can tighten at the back and if they can add goals from other sources then they can challenge for the Champions League spots for real this time. They need a fast start to the new campaign, though. You get the feeling that a poor start, coupled with the disappointments of this season might just be too much for Daniel Levy’s patience. Pochettino may still be on thin ice.

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