Gary Neville brutally shuts down Tottenham title charge and blames one pivotal issue; praises Postecoglou ‘connection’

Gary Neville has attempted to shut down claims Tottenham will challenge for the Premier League title this season, despite their excellent performances and unbeaten record from their first seven matches.

New Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has done a brilliant job so far, getting the team to play exciting football which completely contrasts with how they were operating under the likes of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte.

Postecoglou has also won over fans and the media thanks to his down to earth nature and witty responses during interviews.

Tottenham’s last-gasp 2-1 win over Liverpool on Saturday – which was helped by a ‘significant human error’ in the VAR room – saw them reach 17 points from seven outings.

Spurs and Arsenal are the only two teams in the Prem who have yet to lose this season, following Manchester City’s shock defeat Wolves.

Spurs sit in second place, one point behind leaders City and ahead of third-placed Arsenal through goals scored.

READ MORE: Tottenham ‘especially’ eager to sign Arsenal, Wolves target and ruin club’s emergency contract talks

Following Spurs’ dramatic home win against Jurgen Klopp’s men, Neville was asked whether they have the potential to go all the way and challenge City for the Prem crown. However, he thinks that Spurs’ lack of squad depth will hold them back.

“I don’t think they’re title contenders,” Neville said (via Sky Sports). “When you see the bench coming on at the end, you know they’re not title contenders, I think they’ll be way off that.

Tottenham ‘not title contenders’, but ‘spirit’ draws praise

“But what they are is spirited, more resilient than I imagined they would be and I say that more out of the North London Derby last week and what I saw.

“They’re in a good place. There’s a spirit in the stadium, on the pitch and there is a connection with the way the manager is, the players on the pitch and the people in the crowd. We’re not talking too much about the boardroom at Spurs as much as we would have been in the last few years.

“There’s no doubt there’s something happening here for Spurs. It isn’t always as good as it looks and I think there will be challenges down the line, but I think they’ll have a better season than I thought they would.”

Postecoglou and Spurs will be aiming to prove Neville wrong by mounting a serious title charge. Although, it is clear to see where the former Manchester United right-back is coming from.

Against Liverpool, Postecoglou brought on young centre-forward Alejo Veliz, Manor Solomon, Oliver Skipp and two players the manager is hopeful of selling – Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Ben Davies.

Compare those substitutions to who Klopp was able to bring on – Diogo Jota, Ryan Gravenberch, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Wataru Endo and Ibrahima Konate – and it is clear that Spurs’ squad depth is lacking.

Perhaps this is something Spurs will push hard to improve in the January transfer window, in order to give Postecoglou an even better chance at succeeding.

Meanwhile, the top displays of a new Spurs man have resulted in praise from a former Arsenal star.