Paul Merson has claimed Tottenham were beaten to the 2015-16 Premier League title because they were frequently scheduled to play after eventual winners Leicester City.
The Sky Sports pundit came up with the unexpected new reason for Spurs’ failure to end their five-decade title drought as he assessed Liverpool’s hopes of beating Everton on Sunday.
Predicting that Liverpool will triumph 2-1 at Goodison Park, Merson explained the disadvantage of playing after your main title rivals.
“Massive, massive game. Manchester City will have probably won and be top of the league, and with 10 to go, who plays first is a big mental advantage,” the Arsenal legend told Sky Sports.
“I thought Tottenham were unlucky when they didn’t win the league in 2015/16, it felt like Leicester were always playing first, and Spurs were always playing catch-up.
“If Liverpool win, they’re ticking off a big game. It’s out of Man City’s hands at the moment, but as soon as Liverpool do drop points I think they’re in trouble.”
OPINION
That’s a novel reason from Merson on why the bitter rivals of his former club Arsenal failed to emerge triumphant three seasons ago. Do TV schedulers have a bigger role to play than the multi-millionaire players guided by huge backroom staffs? No, of course, they don’t. But it is certainly a significant mental hurdle to constantly be playing after your main title rivals, especially when they are churning up victories, as Leicester did so relentlessly during the final months of their remarkable title-winning campaign. Spurs eventually finished behind Arsenal in that campaign after falling apart in the aftermath of that infamous Monday night defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, a bruising encounter physically and mentally that ended their title hopes. But they were the second best side in the country, as they were again 12 months later when finishing second – to Chelsea. Sadly for the Spurs faithful, they have never got so close since, and certainly won’t finish above Liverpool or City this season.