Why Tottenham Hotspur have dried the tears and are looking to a bright future

Although it appears they will miss out on the title, there are many reasons for optimism at Spurs

Dele Alli and Mauricio Pochettino, just two of the reasons to be cheerful for Spurs (Getty)

Kyle Walker lay on his back staring into the night sky before Hugo Lloris hauled him to his feet. Toby Alderweireld buried his face in his hands as the tears came. Then the Tottenham players trudged off the field and back into the deathly-quiet dressing room. They knew the enormity of what had unfolded at White Hart Lane on Monday. They knew - even though Harry Kane would half-heartedly deny it post-match (“unlikely” was as far as he would go) - that the dropped points against West Bromwich Albion had dashed their dream.

Ryan Mason didn’t try and sugarcoat the bitterest of pills: “Everyone’s gutted,” he said, “there’s not many words being spoken. We’re frustrated, angry and disappointed – so many emotions. The dressing room is very down.”

Alderweireld agreed: “The world stopped for a minute. You want to process it in that minute but you can’t find the answer. Everyone was devastated, every player, every member of staff, every fan. It was very painful. At that moment, it just hit me.”

Lloris, who was at fault for the equaliser - a rare blemish on an excellent season - spoke with candour too: “There are no words to describe the feeling. There is a lot of disappointment because in the last two, three months we started to believe, the fans started to believe as well.”

But where there was despair there was also hope from the players. And the words came from the heart at the Lane not via a silver linings playbook. Alderweireld: “The crowd can feel something special is happening at this club. We want to give them the title. OK, now that’s difficult, but if we give them the Champions League next season it’s the right step.”

Lloris: “I don’t take it like we failed. We are still a young squad and there is a lot of positives this season. It’s been a brilliant run and we can't lose sight of that. There is no reason why we can’t have a bright future…”

I don’t take it like we failed. We are still a young squad and there is a lot of positives this season. There is no reason why we can’t have a bright future

&#13; <p>Hugo Lloris</p>&#13;

There is a genuine sense that Mauricio Pochettino, who agreed a new contract on Friday - “we can achieve big things in the future. I believe in this project” - can build on this season next and maybe even go one better, assuming they do finish behind Leicester as the season plays out.

Gary Lineker believes his former club will win the title next term. He uses the same two words as Lloris: bright and future. “I’ve been really impressed,” he tells The Independent. “Whatever happens this season, the future for Spurs is really bright if they can keep this lot together. If I had to go for a winner of next season’s Premier League, I’d go for Tottenham.

“Other clubs will be bringing in big players; you’ve got Pep [Guardiola] coming in at City, a lot of people think that means they will automatically win it. Maybe. They’ll be strong contenders. But Tottenham are strong, and I like Pochettino and I like the way his teams play. They are only going to get better.”

The players were given Tuesday off this week - which was always the plan win, lose or draw with West Brom - and by Wednesday the mood at the training ground was upbeat again according to those around the club. There is a bigger picture to admire and Lineker’s optimism is shared.

The squad is the youngest in the League, with only Michel Vorm over 30, so the potential for improvement is huge. Dele Alli is 20, Eric Dier and Kane 22 and the full-backs Kyle Walker and Danny Rose only 25.

Spurs believe they will keep the group together too, what with the lure of Champions League football and the canny improvement of contracts over recent seasons - a feeling of success being rewarded. Pochettino has agreed a new five-year deal, Kane’s terms were improved this time last year - also with a five-year deal and Alli joined from MK Dons in early 2015 and had his wages doubled in January.

I’ve been really impressed. The future for Spurs is really bright if they can keep this lot together. If I had to go for a winner of next season’s Premier League, I’d go for Tottenham

&#13; <p>Gary Lineker</p>&#13;

Spurs’ new training ground in Enfield is one of the best in the world and this coupled with the under-construction £750m, 61,000-seater stadium, which should be ready for the start of the 2018-19 season, means the club will have the facilities to rival any.

There is a feeling at Spurs that if the team can hit next season with momentum a title challenge is realistic - they only took three points from their first four games of this campaign. All the players are now well-drilled in the Pochettino Way - high-intensity, fitness-based, high-energy game - now that the Argentinian has had two full campaigns and one summer working with the squad. The workaholic manager - he arrives at the training ground before 8am and is still there into the early evening - was still getting his message across last summer and there was a certain amount of coming to terms with his style of play, role requirements and intense methods. Now the players are realising the benefits of the double trainings sessions, which he is still implementing at least once a week at Hotspur Way even at this stage of the season. The lack of muscular injuries at Tottenham this year has been noticeable.

Pochettino does not suffer insolence either; there’s an unwritten code of conduct. Andros Townsend fell foul and is now fighting relegation with Newcastle following an altercation with the fitness coach. Respect is expected - players shake hands with all staff members when they enter, for example, the training ground restaurant.

There is also a healthy camaraderie among the players - partly because they are in a similar age bracket - and have special handshakes that they have worked out with one another. Even after they have left training and gone home the badinage continues as quite often the whole squad will go online and play Call of Duty with or against each other in the same group game.

There are, of course, potential flies in the liniment. Kane, 24 league goals and counting this season, is not yet paid £100,000 a week and Alli is on £25,000 - European football’s cherry-pickers will not be deterred by these figures. And with a new stadium to build - one that has increased in projected cost since its inception - the pennies have to be watched. The club insists funds are ring-fenced via stadium naming rights and commercial deals and, of course, the new TV deal money and Champions League income will help.

In the meantime there is Chelsea on Monday and if there had been any dip in motivation following the Baggies draw, meeting the old enemy, who have been so outspoken about not wanting Spurs to win the title, has revived them, club insiders feel from watching and speaking to players this week.

Harry Kane will 'go again' believes Steve McManaman (Getty)

But longer term, having come so close to the title should they fall short, will the players find it hard to pick themselves up? Jamie Carragher this week said how his Liverpool teams that challenged for the Championship always struggled to back it up the following year.

His former team-mate, Steve McManaman, who won La Liga with Real Madrid in 2000/01 and 02/03, thinks not. “Yes, they’ll be deflated but I wouldn’t have thought the players will find it hard to go again,” he tells The Independent. “Only because of the age of the team. I don’t think Kane will think that or Alli or Dier. And I hope those three all improve next season thanks to their experiences. That’s what would normally happen with players of that age. I hope they think: ‘you know what, I’m Young Player of the Year, now I’m going to be Player of the Year.’

“Or Kane is going to go: ‘I’m going to score another 30 goals next year and chase Alan Shearer’s record down.’

“Look, it’s going to be incredibly hard for Tottenham to do it,” McManaman adds, “because at City someone is going to say: ‘Pep, here’s X amount of millions - go and do your stuff’. City won’t be as average as they’ve been this year, no chance. Chelsea, Man U the same.

“Spurs will have a hard summer with England which could affect them at the start of the season but they are the type of characters who’ll roll their sleeves up and go again. I hope they do have another good go because the longer Mauricio is there they will just get better and better.”

No need for too many tears or too much pain at the Lane then.