Whenever Tottenham Hotspur go crashing out of a cup competition or lose a high-profile game, the rhetoric from the media is always the same – they are “Spursy” or “Bottlers”.
The accusation is that Spurs cannot get over the line because they don’t have the mental strength or guts.
Is that true? Or is it a far more complicated situation?
Under the stewardship of Daniel Levy, Tottenham start from a different position than their competitors.
Spurs do not have unlimited resources, like some of the other members of the Premier League top six, or the investment of an oligarchy.
In addition, until Mauricio Pochettino took over at White Hart Lane, Tottenham was not a regular fixture in the Champions League.
Therefore they did not have access to the massive paydays a club can earn from being in that competition.
Of course, it easy to label Pochettino and his team as the “nearlymen”, after all, they have been beaten in a final, three semi-finals and fell at the final hurdle in two attempts to win the Premier League.
Though, when you examine the facts and figures, as compiled by the Guardian, they tell a different story.
Included with this article are some of these facts and figures from the footballing accounts of the top six from 2016-2017.
Tottenham rank sixth in both key areas – they have the lowest turnover and the lowest wage bill.
Considering these figures, it is not surprising that they have not climbed the mountain to glory.
Tottenham have fewer funds to spend therefore will lose out financially in the chase for the best players.
Of course, some would say, they need to gamble.
Well, Spurs are gambling – the club is building a state-of-the-art new stadium and have the best training facilities in the country, if not Europe.
Tottenham have recently started paying their best players the market rate and signed the likes of Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Son-Heung min to new long-term contracts.
If you look at the table below it shows that in fact not only are this current Tottenham team not bottlers, but they are performing minor miracles to stay in the hunt for the biggest trophies.
Manchester City
Total wage bill: £264.1m Turnover £473m
Manchester United
Total wage bill: £263.5m Turnover £581m
Chelsea.
Total wage bill: £219.7m, Turnover £368m
Liverpool
Total wage bill: £207.5m, Turnover £364m
Arsenal
Total wage bill: £199.4m, Turnover £427m
Tottenham
Total wage bill: £126.9m, Turnover £306m