I miss football. If you’re reading this, you probably do too. I’m not a doctor or epidemiologist so I won’t talk too much about the current global health pandemic that is the reason that there isn’t any football. Obviously, it’s very serious and is affecting so many more important things than football. I’m writing about football not because it’s important (at the end of the day, it’s not) or because I’m insensitive to all the other problems this pandemic is causing (I’m not). I’m writing about football because it’s comforting and an escape from all the other more serious topics.

With that out of the way, let’s talk about Tottenham. With the Premier League and Champions League pretty much guaranteed to be over for the season, this is essentially an impromptu end of season review. Spurs had a very tough year. It felt like a complete disaster for the majority of the season, but looking back now that it’s over, there are some silver linings to be found. Losing Pochettino hurt a lot, but it still feels like it might have been an inevitable move and better to rip the bandage off and get it over with than let the situation drag on and lead to even more damage. In sports, all squads and managers have an expiration date, and once that date passes it usually stinks worse than expired milk. A house cleaning was long overdue and it’s better to start that late than never.

We got knocked out of the Champions League, but that was always going to happen eventually. At least we made it out of the group stage. We’re in the top half of the table, despite playing horrid football for at least sixty minutes most weekends. Being in the top half of the table isn’t the goal and it’s disappointing that we aren’t in the top four as things stand, but we really aren’t that far off. In the unlikely chance that the season gets resumed, Spurs absolutely have a chance to fight for a spot in the top four. And all of these results come despite the incredible injury and squad depth problems that Spurs fans don’t need me to remind them of.

That leads me to what might be biggest silver lining of this entire situation for Spurs- key players are finally getting a rest. Dele, Harry Kane, and Heung-min Son in particular have been playing football nonstop for club and country for three straight years. With the World Cup, the Asian Games and Asian Cup, the UEFA nations league, Euro qualifying, and club preseason commitments, these players haven’t had a proper break or rest since 2017, if they even had one then. All three have slowly and steadily suffered injuries due to this overload on their bodies. Athletes need rest and time off to let their bodies recover, and modern football simply doesn’t allow for this for players in the top leagues who also have national team duty. On top of that, they used to play for a manager notorious for intense double training sessions, running them even further into the ground during the season. This break can hopefully let them finally get some rest and refill their tanks. If whenever football comes back Tottenham can field a starting lineup with Kane, Alli and Son all healthy and fully rested, they will be a force to be reckoned with.

A silver lining as big as that must be accompanied by an even more worrying storm cloud. That storm cloud for Tottenham is their record signing, Tanguy Ndombele. Being a former athlete, I usually take the player’s side in any player-manager debates. But on this one, I’m slowly realizing that Mourinho might be right to publicly throw shade at Ndombele. I don’t like Mourinho’s methods, but as a fan you can’t help but be frustrated watching Ndombele barely move out on the pitch. I don’t doubt that he has injury problems and probably isn’t at 100%, but if that’s the case maybe he shouldn’t be playing at all and should be focused completely on rehabbing so he can play at 100%. Only Ndombele and maybe his personal trainers know the whole story there, so I’m probably wrong, but it’s infuriating to watch him languish in the center of the pitch as players hustle around him. It’s the same frustration I’ve felt multiple times watching Harry Kane come back prematurely from an ankle injury only to never leave second gear jogging around outside the penalty box. It’s sense of amazing capabilities under the surface, but knowing that you won’t see anything special today. Ndombele has shown brief flashes of his full potential this season, but they’ve been few and far between. Hopefully he too can use this time period to physically recover and come back next season fully fit. Another good sign this season is that Tottenham finally signed some more talented young players. As a fan, nothing is more satisfying than to watch a younger player develop having potential into actually being a great player. Gio Lo Celso is only 23, the same age as Dele, Dávinson Sanchez, and Ndombele, and is already one of our most important players. Steven Bergwijn is 22 and has shown so much capability, but still has room to grow. Gedson Fernandes is 21 and hasn’t shined as brightly as the others, but still could come good with time. Ryan Sessegnon is only 19 and clearly hasn’t shown his best yet this season, but has plenty of time to develop. I am so excited to watch these players develop over the next few seasons.

On the flip side of that coin, Spurs have some players who we need to say goodbye to. Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen were two of the best defenders I’ve ever seen play for Tottenham, but sadly their time in the spotlight is ending. It’s incredible because they were one of the top three centerback pairings in the premier league last season, but Jan in particular simply doesn’t have anything left in the tank to give. Toby could probably play another season as a starter, but it’s clear his best days are behind him too. They’ve done so much for Tottenham over the years and I will miss them dearly. I wrote about how sad I was to see Toby going two seasons ago when it seemed like he would be sold rather than let him run down his contract, but that ended up not being the case. I’m so glad we got to see him play more for Spurs since then, and I’ll never forget his diagonal crosses he could put on a platter. Jan had one of the most remarkable performances I’ve ever seen from a Spurs defender last year as a wingback against Dortmund. When Spurs signed Jan in 2012, it signified their intentions to make the leap into the upper stratosphere of Premier League clubs, and the fact that they did that successfully shows how pivotal he has been for the club.

There are other players who we’ll probably never see play for Tottenham again as well. Danny Rose might already be gone, and he’s been just as loved by me as Toby and Jan over the years. Moussa Sissoko might be on the way out after having such an incredible comeback story here at Tottenham. Juan Foyth is probably gone as well, even though he will surely be a great center back in a few years’ time. One of Eric Lamela or Lucas Moura might go too, to clear the path for Bergwijn and Sessegnon. Lamela will always be my favorite good-not-great player of all time. If any of these players leave, they will be missed.

That’s the sad part about football – it all comes to an end eventually. Players sign for different teams. Managers are fired, or poached by other teams. Your favorite lineup gets broken up. Players retire. Teams that were dominant get overtaken. Successful tactics stop working. Things change. For a while at Tottenham, it seemed like the rules didn’t apply. We kept essentially the same core for years, and didn’t show any signs of making changes. It felt like Pochettino would be the next Sir Alex Ferguson, and the entire squad would stay in their prime for ten years before retiring as Spurs Legends. At some point, that dream ended. Now we’re back to reality. Players we love will leave the club. We’ll fall in love with new players, and then they’ll be gone. Mourinho will leave. We’ll get a worse manager. Then a better manger, then maybe a worse one again. Life goes on. Back to normal.

I can’t wait to watch Tottenham Hotspur play football again.