How do we Tackle January?

Article by Shaun Simon

One of my favourite quotes from one of my favourite ever movies sums up the hidden blessing we’ve taken from our mauling at the hands of Manchester City.

“Everybody has to take a beating some time” is a quote taken from Goodfellas that I always tend to throw at the abusers I face after a several heavy defeats over the years. Not meaning to dwell on that match but I remember sitting there when we were three-nil down and praying to get beaten by five or six. Though it hurt to see those goals going in, I felt as a team we had to face a huge embarrassment to create some discussion within the inner circles of White Hart Lane. Losing by three or even four could go down as a bad defeat against strong opposition, much more had we scored a consolation goal. Had the beating not have been so severe it would have just been the subject of niggling debate between Spurs fans on who to pick next, who to buy next and other such weak subjects. When the final whistle went at the end though I was raging with anger towards the team and the manager, the only comforting that I did start to feel was that this defeat would either make us or break us as a team.

That result might go down as being one of our greatest in terms of turning points. Though last season we witnessed so many nail biting, last minute wins it didn’t always hide the fact that so many of our players were so mentally dependant on Gareth Bale. I remembered many times willing our other flair players to show a moment of inspiration before seeing Bale beat two men then thumping in the winner from range and my rants were all forgotten about. Come pre-season I accepted early that Bale would be leaving and I thought it would be an opportunity for somebody else to stand up and show some desire to drag the team forward. In those early games of the season nobody seemed capable of doing so. All the talent we had bought in were maybe too comfortable in the knowledge that when we did eventually gel we’d be a formidable force. One thing is gelling as a team requires hard work, it requires a lot of fight and commitment. We started the season with a friendly game pace and attitude and it stuck. As fans we’d argue on the forums who we should pick, who should play where and how we should play but we didn’t emphasise the need to understand why the club crest is on the left hand side of the shirt. Had we not been destroyed by City we may have been none the wiser. We needed the situation to go to boardroom level, the club needed the fans to feel such disdain for the team. We needed the impetus for a siege mentality.

The result against Manchester United was not as important as the response. The previous match stripped many of our players naked as to how they were being perceived. I started to despise a handful of our squad myself but those two games were so incredibly poignant in terms of how our season went from there. AVB received press criticism reminiscent of his Chelsea days, there was talk of the sack and who should replace him next. There was even talk of dressing room revolt. Everything would be evident from how we tackled Fulham and Sunderland. From the United game Sandro led the charge to ignite some pride back into the team and the rest followed. That hard work needed to gel the team together was now in flowing effect. We are now working harder as a team and the fans are responding. The old guard may not know the natural runs and intricacies of the new players but especially against Sunderland there are signs of trust and the will to fight for ones comrade. Were back in sixth position in the league and things have almost gone back to normal and the subject of the forums has gone from managerial replacements back to who we should buy from New Year’s Day.

In an ideal world we’d buy nobody. I do not think we should entertain the thought of trying to integrate another set of new faces into a project that has just begun to find its feet. There has been an argument that maybe we shouldn’t have brought in so many new faces but in hindsight I think it had to happen. We had many players from previous regimes that were deadwood and totally stagnant. The likes of Jermaine Jenas, Tom Huddlestone and Clint Dempsey weren’t going to inspire us forwards and it would have always been better for them to flourish at other clubs rather than stay and become bitter with new players and onward progression. Back to my point, we’ve built a new team spirit over the past fortnight with players stepping up and facing their responsibilities and showing hunger for the cause and finding their own space in our squad. If anything we need to bring in some genuine up and coming prospects in a few positions but I wouldn’t recommend any high profile signings unless it was the dream marquee signing that we couldn’t refuse. Looking at our first eleven I’d state their case on why they should be here to stay:

Hugo Lloris stays without question. He is one of the best keepers in Europe. If anyone does come in we should buy a quality young keeper who can learn the trade from Lloris and ready himself for action over the next couple of years. On the field starting with Kyle Walker, he needs competition but I think he could have it in Naughton. I’ve said on so many occasions that Naughton may not be the best right back the world has ever seen but he can come in and do a job to prevent Walker from burn out which I believe him to suffer from occasionally from too many games. Vlad Chiriches is the emerging force in our defence where every game he looks better. He is picking up the pace and undoubtedly will form one half of our future central defensive partnership with Jan Vertonghen, who we should be looking to tie down before the vultures circle especially if he has a good World Cup. Younnes Kaboul and Michael Dawson make up the rest as a quartet who can provide defensive depth for the coming months. Looking at the two, Kaboul is one of my personal favourites because I have seen his development during his two spells at the club and he will fight to be two of three great centre backs at the club. He will always have a spot because when he is fit and sharp he is a colossus. Dawson on the other hand, I love his bravery and his bulldog spirit but I do not think those qualities are enough for him to be considered a starter when everyone is fit but he does have moments where I admit he has been invaluable.

Danny Rose is my first sticking point. Rose has not been a natural left back as we all know. I can’t see Benoit Assou-Ekotto coming back while AVB is in the hot seat so what do we do? I’m looking at Ashley Cole who was also a natural winger before Wenger converted him early in his first team career at Arsenal. It took him a couple of years but bias aside we witnessed the emergence of a great full back. That’s my dilemma with Rose, I feel we should either replace him with two left backs or we back him whole heartedly. Rose is raw at times but this is his first season under our spotlight and he has the hunger to learn. Another thing has been how much were actually missing him while he is injured. Personally I think we should stick with him and coach him into the role, I would loan in an experienced left back to fill in and allow Danny to sit out a few and reflect and study the position from the side lines. If Rose is to develop from the potential he’s been showing he has to play games and tactically be protected.

From a midfield perspective that’s where the biggest turnaround in spirit has been shown. Paulinho has made the biggest change for me. After the mauling the other week I felt he should have been so ashamed of himself having showed no fight at all but in the following games he has shown pride in himself and the project by putting in some fighting performances. All he has to do is to play to this level of effort and he will rake in the plaudits in the coming months. Dembele has been another one, he is now showing what he is made of and it’s great to see him bombing forward but considering his ability he should be showing it much more. He is the most gifted player we have and it’s looking like AVB has given him more freedom in his play to cause havoc further up field. He was one of those players who I was referring to when I was talking about standing up and being counted. He should give Eriksen a huge problem for the fight for that number ten shirt.

My other major talking point is Holtby. He embodies the love for the club in his actions and enthusiasm along with Walker and Sandro. They do look like players who love being here. While not a natural number ten I think he can be a perfect central midfielder. I’ve also fought his case as being the creative central midfielder we need. We’ve got some big boys in our side most six foot plus so having a small terrier in there is no problem, Parker was small as was Modric. Give Holtby a run as a deep lying creator and he should become a general. It is a hard position to make your own for a youngster and he would make a few mistakes but when I look at him play I ask myself whether he has the mentality to boss the midfield and every time I see him play I am sure he does. With his determination and current form bringing in another playmaker would destroy him so I think unless it’s a World beater coming in, central midfield should be left alone. Continuity should be the focus on our midfield, its slowly coming together with Lennon becoming a senior member of the squad in terms of attitude, Townsend looking more mature during this period of being a resting substitute and Chadli starting to bed in well with the comfort of having his countrymen in the side.

With the names above in our squad along with the squad players like Sigurdsson there is actually no reason for panic at all and they should be able to play well and allow us to give Erik Lamela a few more months to find his feet. Up front Defoe is looking the most confident at present until Soldado shows his true form with AVB having recently tweaked his tactics to show more pace and width. We also have Adebayor who is looking like he can put his troubles with AVB to one side and be the target man when we need one.

It’s important to remember that this is a season of transition. Our aims of being a top four club come June is still within our reach. Things are starting to look up again, the defence is solid, midfield have been working harder and for the past four matches we’ve scored two goals per game rather than the solitary goal or even no goals at all so if we keep the squad near enough the same without too many major changes it will help the old and new faces to integrate into the forward moving team we are.

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