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“Spurs have been scouting wrong for years.” — Trophy Series | Tottenham Hotspur Blog News
How Do You Spot a Winning Mentality — Before It’s Too Late?
Good morning.
Winning mentalities (positive people) say Spurs won the 2025 UEFA Europa League, while losing mentalities (negative people) say Spurs finished 17th.
That’s it in a nutshell.
Morgan Gibbs-White has a release clause. Spurs said we’ll pay it, end of story.
That’s it in a nutshell.
Putting league position over trophies is exactly what the very same people have been complaining about, hypocrites.
When I have finished laughing, we can move on.
No wonder this blog goes over their heads.
But enough of the nutshells, onto today’s offering.
Tottenham Hotspur won the Europa League in 2025.
We proved we could win.
But now, with Son and Romero likely to be sold… and a manager with no trophies to his name…
We’re back at a crossroads.
And here’s the uncomfortable truth:
If we don’t know how to spot winners — we won’t build another winning team.
And if we don’t know what a winning mentality actually looks like, we’ll keep buying the wrong players.
Most Fans and Clubs Get This Wrong
Ask most fans what a winning mentality looks like and they’ll say things like:
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“He never stops running.”
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“He wore the armband.”
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“He claps the fans even after a loss.”
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“He plays through pain.”
They’re describing effort.
Emotion.
Grit.
And they’re not wrong.
But they’re not right either.
Because here’s the truth:
Trying hard isn’t a winning mentality. It’s the minimum.
Real Winners Behave Differently
If you want to spot a winning mentality, don’t look for veins popping in the tunnel.
Look for this:
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A refusal to hide when things go wrong.
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An ability to lift teammates — not just themselves.
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Total clarity in pressure moments.
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An internal standard that never drops, no matter the scoreline.
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The ability to influence results without needing the ball.
Cristian Romero didn’t win all his finals by chance.
He won because he played the same way every game — aggressive, accountable, unapologetic.
He doesn’t play the occasion.
He is the occasion.
Spurs Must Change How They Scout Mentality
We’ve scouted wrong for years.
We look at:
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Goals
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Assists
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National team caps
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Whether they’ve “played in Europe”
But do we ever ask:
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“What does he do when we’re 1–0 down?”
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“Is he a leader when it’s quiet?”
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“Can he raise the players around him?”
Those things don’t show up on a stat sheet.
You don’t see them in YouTube compilations.
But they win trophies.
With Leaders Like Son and Romero Potentially Leaving…
We don’t just lose skill.
We lose standards.
We lose players who:
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Trained like it was a final
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Set the tone without needing a manager
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Carried belief into the dressing room
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Made others believe this club could win
If we don’t replace that mentality, then we don’t replace those players — no matter who we buy.
The Risk with a Manager Who Hasn’t Won
Thomas Frank now walks into a dressing room full of Europa League winners.
And he has to convince them that he can take them further.
Without ever having done it himself.
That’s hard.
So the club must support him by identifying players with inner drive — not just outer polish.
We need hunger.
Ambition.
Fire.
Not names. Not reputations. Not resale value.
We’ve Seen What Happens Without It
Since 2008, we’ve had squads that tried.
Squads that were almost good enough.
But not quite.
4 finals.
No trophies.
Until 2025.
Why?
Because Ange Postecoglou didn’t just coach football.
He coached belief.
And he signed players who had it — or could be shaped to have it.
🔚 THBN The Final Word
If you go back to the FA Cup finals of the 70’s and 80’s the rhetoric from Brian Moore and studio experts was:
How the youngsters in each team handle the occasion will decide the game.
It was about mentality back then, it’s nothing new.
Tottenham Hotspur’s new era can’t be built on guesswork.
We can’t afford to keep finding out whether a player has the right mentality after they sign.
We need to know before they pull on the shirt.
That means building a new scouting layer — for personality, not just passing.
Mentality, not just metrics.
Because if we don’t learn how to spot winners…
We’ll go back to just signing names.
And wondering why nothing changes.
COYS
The Tottenham Hotspur Trophy Series
