Much of the talk surrounding Tottenham Hotspur this season centres on their controversial move to Wembley Stadium.
Spurs are playing at the national stadium for a season while their White Hart Lane home is redeveloped into what promises to be one of the best stadiums in Europe.
The North Londoners played their European matches at Wembley last season and struggled for form and results.
And those struggles have continued into this season with Mauricio Pochettino’s side beaten by Chelsea, toiling to draws with Burnley and Swansea City and only just edging out Barnsley 1-0 in the Carabao Cup.
The club’s apparent ‘Wembley hoodoo’ has been the subject of much debate among fans and pundits, as has Tottenham’s place in the football food chain when it comes to the size of their fanbase.
Now former Liverpool and Wales star turned pundit Dean Saunders has raised doubts over Spurs’ support on talkSPORT after only 23,826 fans turned out to watch the cup win over Barnsley.
Dean Saunders
“I was there for the Swansea Spurs game and I’ll tell you what I was surprised at,” Saunders told the Jim White Show on talkSPORT.
“I’m sure when I’ve played against Spurs over the years, they had like 30,000, 35,000 crowds.
“There was 73,000 there. Now where have 35,000 Spurs fans come from all of a sudden?
“50,000 went missing last night (vs Barnsley), 50,000 never went.”
Saunders is only pointing out what rival fans have taken great delight in highlighting.
Swathes of empty seats greeted Tottenham and Barnsley on Tuesday night
So is it a reality check about the size of Tottenham Hotspur as a football club or are there a series of mitigating factors.
The fact the club have played so many matches at the iconic ground means the novelty is bound to wear off.
The Carabao Cup, rightly or wrongly, is not a priority for Pochettino and the volume of games given the fact Tottenham are competing both domestically and in Europe is not easy on the pocket of supporters.
The truth is it is probably a bit of both.
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