What the hell was all that about?

Tottenham Hotspur came into the 2022/23 season full of optimism and for good reason.

They had pipped rivals Arsenal to a top-four spot months earlier and sent their north London rivals into a tailspin in the process, while Antonio Conte looked rejuvenated and ready to oversee a memorable campaign.

Oh, and how memorable it was. Here’s your comprehensive review of Spurs’ season.

For 90min’s pre-season predictions, 11 of our 17 panellists had Tottenham finishing in third. Only two – Jamie Spencer and Harry Symeou – thought Spurs would not make the top four.

It was a pretty consensus school of thought that Conte would at least secure a second successive season of Champions League football. He had talked plenty about the need for the club to build for the long term and there was hope he would be the one to lead the way.

90min also had Tottenham’s summer window down as the sixth-best in the Premier League, with signings such as Richarlison, Yves Bissouma and Ivan Perisic seen as masterstrokes.

Harry Kane

30 Premier League goals. The most headed goals in a Premier League season (10). The most games ever scored in during a Premier League season (26).

90% of Spurs’ squad underperformed this year, but Harry Kane kept them afloat. He enjoyed stellar success on a personal level, becoming the all-time record scorer for both club and country during the spring, but was let down by his teammates, various coaches and the board.

If you want to know just how important and impressive Kane has been, his only notably challenger for this award tore his ACL in February.

Honourable mentions: Rodrigo Bentancur, Chirpy & Lily the mascots

Harry Kane vs Brentford

I refuse to credit this as a free-kick goal, but whatever. That fight with Opta is for another day.

It’s only fitting that Harry Kane scored Spurs’ best goal all season. leaving it until their final home game to take the acclaim.

Dejan Kulusevski’s clever lay-off allowed Kane to strike a moving ball and curl one into the top corner of David Raya’s net, replicating a move Liverpool used in their win at Leicester earlier that week.

Honourable mentions: Son Heung-min vs Leicester, Son Heung-min vs Eintracht Frankfurt, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg vs Marseille, Oliver Skipp vs Chelsea, Son Heung-min vs Brighton, Lucas Moura vs Leeds

Tottenham 1-0 Manchester City

Good lord, Spurs put in some stinking performances this season. They were only able to win two of their ten games against the ‘big six’.

However, their first of these was almost the perfect team display. Kane broke Jimmy Greaves’ all-time Tottenham scoring record early on and the hosts were able to completely nullify the champions.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect is this would be Manchester City’s final defeat before going on to win a third successive title, with only Brentford beating them after this point until the end of the season.

Spurs broke Pep Guardiola’s brain. Again.

Honourable mentions: Tottenham 6-2 Leicester, Brighton 0-1 Tottenham, Marseille 1-2 Tottenham

Ivan Perisic

The pickings are unbelievably slim. It’s not even as if Ivan Perisic was anything more than adequate.

In fact, he was a net-negative for a big chunk of the season, proving far too slow to keep up with Premier League standards and often occupying the same space as Son Heung-min.

However, he at least brought tangible benefit, registering eight Premier League assists and providing maturity and an appreciative responsibility prior to the World Cup break.

Honourable mentions: Fraser Forster, Clement Lenglet, the idea of Alessandro Bastoni

Rodrigo Bentancur

Another award where there were few contenders. Rodrigo Bentancur only edges out Kane because it wasn’t some big secret that he’s been a world class striker for about eight years.

The Uruguayan often provided the driving force and thrust Spurs needed to mount their various comebacks in the first half of the season.

His ACL injury in February coincided with Tottenham’s steep decline and pathetic exit from the Champions League. They were trending downwards anyway but Bentancur’s absence was key to this downfall.

Honourable mentions: Harry Kane, Emerson Royal, Emerson Royal’s £1m cryochamber

Antonio Conte

Yeah yeah, I know this plays into Conte’s ‘you protect the players’ rant after his final game before being sacked and Spurs’ results got even worse after he left, but this was a mess of his own making. He does not escape blame and should certainly not feel vindicated.

Speaking on the Oh What A Night podcast, 90min’s head of Italian content, Alessandro Eremiti, claimed the view from his home country was that Conte was in the perfect situation at a club like Tottenham, that he had constructed a squad built in his image at a contending Premier League side.

Where Spurs were dynamic and proactive in 2021/22, they were lifeless and pragmatic in 2022/23. Conte refused to sign a long-term contract but called out players and the board for lacking commitment.

If Tottenham were even 75% as good as they were last season, Conte might have lasted the year. They couldn’t clear that low bar.

A lot of Spurs’ best players – Son, Dejan Kulusevski and Cristian Romero to name a few – were terrible during key parts of the season, but when such performances are all synchronised, that’s a problem with the setup.

Honourable mentions: Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski, Cristian Romero, Eric Dier, Richarlison, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Beyonce, Fabio Paratici, TFL, Cristian Stellini, Hugo Lloris

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