‘Sixth every year forever after’: Uncomfortable truth is Tottenham are right where they should be

'The temptation is to say Tottenham are failing,' writes Richard Jolly, but 'the more accurate interpretation is that Spurs .... are neither underachieving nor overachieving'.

Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane reacts at the end of his side's 0-0 Premier League draw with Burnley on Sunday. Darren Staples / Reuters / April 5, 2015

Sometimes the verbs are the most damning part. The temptation is to say Tottenham Hotspur are "failing" in their attempt to qualify for the Uefa Champions League.

The more accurate interpretation is that Spurs, who probably have the sixth-highest wage bill in the Premier League, finished sixth last season, are sixth again and could conceivably come sixth every year forever after, are neither underachieving nor overachieving.

They are simply carrying on in their own particular form of purgatory, invariably able to glimpse the top four but not finish in it.

So their campaign is not a failure, and not just because they reached a cup final. In some respects, it qualifies as a success.

Mauricio Pochettino has given them an identity, an industry and an endearing belief in youth. But the concern should be that, in terms of personnel, the gap between them and the elite clubs appears a gaping chasm.

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Because how many of the Tottenham team would fit in a top-four side? Probably only four: Hugo Lloris, one of the top three goalkeepers in England; Jan Vertonghen, among the finest footballing centre-backs; Christian Eriksen, one of the best goal-scoring midfielders; and Harry Kane, a prime candidate to win the PFA Player of the Year award.

And that is not enough. Not since Everton surpassed every expectation by finishing fourth in 2005 has a side with so few outstanding individuals punched above its weight to secure Champions League qualification.

Tottenham can cite the potential midfielder Nabil Bentaleb exhibits, the encouraging campaign left-back Danny Rose is enjoying or Nacer Chadli’s promising return of eight goals. But Vertonghen has lacked a regular central-defensive partner, and right-back Kyle Walker has regressed.

Ryan Mason’s policy of running around frantically in midfield has brought him an England cap, but questions remain to be answered about precisely how good he is. No one has cemented a place alongside Eriksen and Chadli in the trident of attacking midfielders.

The focus on Kane has been all-consuming, but the reliance upon him is equally pronounced. He has scored 19 league goals; the other strikers have mustered a mere three. His goals have been worth 22 points; subtract them and Tottenham would be in danger of relegation.

He has provided the feel-good story of the season, the footballing equivalent of a romantic comedy, but reality may intervene come August. This has probably been the season of Kane’s life. In all probability, he will not be as productive again.

Kanemania, English football’s newest phenomena, has benefited players who have justified neither price tags nor reputations. Their shortcomings have become a subplot as Kane has driven the narrative. But one of football’s abiding lessons is that mistakes tend to catch up with clubs.

Tottenham have erred in the transfer market in the last two summers. Eriksen and Chadli apart, the windfall they received for Gareth Bale in 2013 was squandered. It is telling that only one of last summer’s acquisitions, Eric Dier, figures in Pochettino’s preferred team, and the defender is very much a work in progress.

Meanwhile, his squad players include Roberto Soldado, Emmanuel Adebayor, Erik Lamela, Mousa Dembele, Paulinho, Etienne Capoue and Benjamin Stambouli, seven forwards or midfielders who arrived at a combined cost of £110 million (Dh604.5m) have contributed five league goals in 112 league appearances this season. Strikers Soldado and Adebayor owe Kane a particular debt; he has done the job they were hired at rather greater expense to do. But when Kane, 21, has been subdued, which is not often but was the case in Sunday’s stalemate at Burnley and March’s mauling at Manchester United, Tottenham have looked lost.

Kane has epitomised the organic element to Pochettino’s reinvention of Tottenham. Admirable as it is, and despite Tottenham’s troubled relationship with the transfer market, the key to progress lies in importing outsiders.

There is not enough quality. It would help if Spurs could dispose of their expensive misfits because upgrades, especially those who have the energy to play Pochettino’s pressing game, could be required in several positions.

Man for man, the Argentine may have a lesser starting 11 than he possessed at Southampton, where he finished eighth, but Kane’s year has been so remarkable that he has piloted Tottenham into the top six.

He was the catalyst for the memorable victories against Chelsea and Arsenal. Despite that, the facts are that Tottenham have two wins in nine league games against the five teams above them. They have taken a solitary point in the five away matches.

They have done well to be sixth.

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