Monday Hoddle of Coffee, End of Season Edition, May 22, 2017

Note from Jake: Sorry y’all; hit “schedule” on this but apparently did not set the time correctly. Apologies for getting it up so early.

Fun trivia for the day: Tottenham ended the season with 15 goals scored in their final three matches and 13 in their final two. When was the last time anyone in the big six managed that feat? Second part: When was the last time each of the other members of the big six managed a comparable scoring outburst?

Here are your answers:

The last team to score more than 15 goals in three games was the 2011-12 Manchester United squad. They scored 16 in three games and 19 in four:

• 3-0 v Tottenham
• 8-2 v Arsenal (LOL)
• 5-0 v Bolton
• 3-1 v Chelsea

If we lower the bar to 14 goals in three games, we can find somewhat recent examples from the other four members of the big six.

Chelsea managed the feat in 2010-11 under Carlo Ancelotti:

• 6-0 v West Brom
• 6-0 v Wigan
• 2-0 v Stoke

Man City managed it in 2011-12 during their first title campaign:

• 4-0 v Blackburn
• 4-1 v Aston Villa
• 6-1 v Manchester United (they did this one month after United’s 3-1 victory against Chelsea)

Liverpool did it in 2013-14, the Suarez/Sturridge season (also known as the Gerrard Slip season):

• 5-1 v Norwich
• 4-1 v West Ham
• 5-0 v Tottenham

They also had an insane run of 37 goals from 11 matches later in the year which ended with a 3-2 win against Norwich. (One week later: Gerrard Slip)

Finally, let’s not forget our Europa League-dwelling neighbors Arsenal. They last scored 14+ goals in three games in 2011-12:

• 7-1 v Blackburn
• 2-1 v Sunderland
• 5-2 v Tottenham

One other note about these numbers: We’re talking about how good Tottenham’s attack was in these last three games, but note that three of the five lists above include games against Spurs—and all of them have come in the past several seasons. We’ve talked about this before but it’s worth mentioning again: Mauricio Pochettino has transformed this Tottenham defense. Certainly, his first season at Spurs was awful defensively, but ever since the signing of Toby Alderweireld and the decision to move Eric Dier into midfield, Spurs have been the Premier League’s best defensive side. Given where we were in the final year under AVB and He Who Must Not Be Named, that’s a remarkable turnaround.

Oh, and yes, this is a fake account. I DO NOT CARE BECAUSE IT IS BEAUTIFUL: