Article by Sean WalshFollow e-Spurs on Twitter here!
Every year, we expect the best. We blindly look on and expect the season to go smoothly, and at the first sign of trouble we panic and there’s a meltdown. My point is that we never look at both sides of the spectrum. We focus on the positives in order to ignore the negatives and hope that once they’re disregarded they’ll never return. That’s not how reality works, though.
Take last summer for example, let’s look at our signings:
Paulinho was evidently not the midfielder we needed no matter how good he was at the Confederations Cup. He was a real talisman for Brazil but we didn’t need that. He was tipped as a box-to-box midfielder, and people used his summer performances to back that up. However, the performances and accolades were a mask. He’s a midfielder who roams into attacking positions and can create havoc amongst the opposition defence; his tracking back is poor. In AVB’s system, he didn’t fit in. We didn’t make enough chances for him to move forward appropriately, and sometimes it left our defence vulnerable (e.g. West Ham). He worked well in the temporary 4-3-3 we had going on, but that lasted for one game and was ultimately scrapped. Should Louis van Gaal come in and implement his own 4-3-3, there may be a route back for Paulinho. Maybe.
Nacer Chadli was admittedly a class apart in the Dutch Eredivisie, and I think he was worth what we paid for him. Conversely, it took him a while to get going, and we have only seen glimpses of what he can do so far. Perhaps the money could have been invested in a winger already proven in England, or maybe Chadli will show his true colours next term.
Roberto Soldado is a poacher, something that hasn’t worked in our system for a long time. We first tried signing Christian Benteke, a target man, and David Villa, a complete forward package- either of these two would have slotted into AVB’s system (look at Falcao at Porto), and they probably would have been one of the league’s leading scorers. Soldado, has not. In another system, maybe he would have done better, but I think the Tottenham hierarchy were under such pressure to bring in a big name striker they bought the first one on the market. It certainly made us happy in the summer…
Whatever happened to Etienne Capoue? His 20 minutes vs. Crystal Palace saw him make more interceptions than any other team that weekend, and he followed this up with a fine performance vs Swansea City (in a 4-3-3). The next week, though, he suffered a nasty injury vs Arsenal, and hasn’t really been back since- he played as a centre back vs West Ham in the League Cup, but a good performance collapsed in the last ten minutes, tarnishing any reputation he had after what had been a miserable week for Spurs. We saw so little of Capoue that we may never know how good he could have been- he was credited as one of the top players last season in Ligue 1 that didn’t play for PSG. His supposed freezing from the team by Tim Sherwood may mean he’ll want an escape route in the summer.
Erik Lamela. Coco Lamela. £30million record signing Erik Manuel Lamela. “What is a Lamela?” you ask. Well, in lilywhite, I’m not too sure. He had bit part appearances for the first few months of the season, but that was it. He received starts vs Fulham, Sheriff and Southampton, during which he played magnificently, but a troublesome back injury has seen him miss most of this season, and may keep him from his dream of playing at the World Cup. He’s still young and has potential, but after an injury like this, that potential may never be realised. It could be the start of a Ledley-esque problem, and it may make Levy regret forking such a huge sum of money on a risk.
Vlad Chiriches is without a doubt very skillful and composed for a centre back so young, but his lack of awareness has contributed to a few self-inflicted goals this season. Luckily, centre backs don’t peak until they’re around 30, so there’s plenty of time for Vlad to come good. Should LvG come in, he’ll be a perfect example of the Dutchman’s ‘Total Football’ philosophy, the idea that a professional footballer could play in any position given. Vlad is quick, neat and has a great tackle. A few more tweaks and we have a top centre back on our books, but not just yet.
And finally, Christian Eriksen, arguably our best signing. He’s been phenomenal this year, and could very well be shortlisted for the PFA Young Player of the Year award, whilst also boasting a strong challenge for our own player of the season. His passing is slick, his dribbling is magical, and his shot is sublime. He has all the trademarks of a top number 10. However, his game isn’t complete, and Spurs fans need to realise this sooner rather than later. His defensive effort has looked pretty poor recently, and sometimes he doesn’t look too bothered (I noticed this with Jan Vertonghen last season, now look at him…). I’m absolutely positive Christian Eriksen will become one of the world’s best players, but he still has work to do.
Now, since I don’t want to seem biased, I will dissect my own hope and expectation of Louis van Gaal becoming Tottenham Hotspur manager.
* His tactics will need a while to suit and adapt to the English game, so don’t be surprised if his results don’t start smoothly.
* He keeps the same backroom staff at a club, so don’t be surprised if the likes of Tim Sherwood and Les Ferdinand stay on.
* He’s a winner, but he’s not afraid to tell people how it is, including the fans- don’t get too peeved if he snaps at us.
* He’s a short term option to steady the ship and this would probably be his last job before retiring; he may not make us title winners but he’ll certainly try his best.
Of course, these circumstances all depend on whether van Gaal is the man to replace Tim Sherwood (another thing that’s merely a possibility).
Whilst I’m at it, let me burst some bubbles on other people’s perceptions:
* Roman Pavlyuchenko, as likeable a person he was, wasn’t a good enough striker for us.
* Harry Redknapp wasn’t as tactically inept as people made him out to be (though he didn’t know how to rotate a squad).
* We’d be worse off if Daniel Levy and ENIC weren’t here. Without them, we’d still be a mid-table club. Levy wants to win the Premier League before he sells on. Just have a little patience.
* We’re only supposedly in Arsenal’s shadow because of what our fans say. Leave them alone and they’ll be the deluded and obsessed ones.
If you yourselves have any theories and ideals you’d like to question, feel free to leave a comment.
Take off the rose tinted glasses, people.
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If you believe Erik Lamela has a 'Ledley-esque' back problem, your glasses are more rose-tinted than anyone else out there.
ReplyDeleteThe boy's had injuries, but the reason why he hasn't play, is because Sherwood doesn't fancy him.
Next season, under a new manager, we'll see the true Erik Lamela.
I hope ur right,because its him and Eriksen I has the highest hopes for
ReplyDelete"We’d be worse off if Daniel Levy and ENIC weren’t here. Without them, we’d still be a mid-table club. Levy wants to win the Premier League before he sells on. Just have a little patience".
ReplyDeleteWhile this is true Levy also needs to have patience with the next man that he puts in place, instead of these knee jerk reactions to a bad defeat
I personally hope Van Gaal doesn't come - we don't need another short term manager, we need someone for the long term ........ who's that bloke doing well at Zenit at the moment .....
ReplyDeleteAre the seven players that came in at the start of the season just not good enough, (Eriksen apart) or is there going to be a big improvement in the second season?...the likelihood is they will all stay as the losses would be huge if the club decides to sell...Who, therefore, would be eager to come in that boasts a CV that clearly shows an ability to get the best out of his players?..The job that Tony Pulis has done at Palace is quite remarkable, here`s a British coach vastly experienced that has never really had an abundance of real quality to work with yet to get Stoke into Europe and his present team up to half way in the table has made him a real candidate for manager of the season (let`s face it Palace were doomed before his arrival)..It would be very interesting to see how he would perform at Spurs with this current group ...I personally would love to see him get
ReplyDeletethe opportunity, some of these players are far better than they`ve shown, and if he gets it right, which I think he will, I can see us having a really good campaign next year !!
could he be that person ?..