Is Baldini The Builder For Spurs?

Article by e-Spurs Correspondent Brent Weber

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So much focus right now is on our manager position. Should Sherwood stay as manager? Should LVG or DeBoer be brought in to right the ship? There is no doubt that Spurs fans have every right to be concerned and interested in the manager position. However, we should not forget about the Technical Director position. Baldini was brought in (at request of AVB ironically) to build Spurs into a consistent Champions League quality club and in my opinion is off to a poor start.

In the summer, AVB and Baldini essentially reconstructed the squad. Out went Huddlestone, Dempsey, Gallas, Caulker, Parker, and Gareth Bale. In came Paulinho, Chadli, Capoue, Chiriches, Lamela, Eriksen, and Soldado. Townsend and Rose returned from successful loan spells. Kaboul and Sandro were returning from injury and looked ready to contribute. Heading into the season, we were a much deeper, more talented squad than previous years despite losing our marquee player. Looking at our squad now, despite all that transfer activity, our team is eerily similar to last season’s squad and coincidentally we are achieving similar results.

In my opinion, our best starting XI is Lloris, Walker, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Rose, Sandro, Dembele, Lennon, Townsend, Eriksen, and Ade (4-2-3-1). There are good arguments to be made for Chiriches, due to Kaboul fitness issues, and Paulinho, but I think Spurs fans would be happy with the XI above.

The alarming fact is that only one of our summer signings is in this starting XI. Besides Eriksen, who is fantastic, the remaining summer transfers have failed to make a significant impact or be consistent starters on this squad.

Eriksen has easily been the most impressive of the new signings and is a top class player. Hopefully we can hold on to him for several seasons. He is a true creator and a tremendous playmaker. In my opinion, he is one of our top 3 players and I could make a good argument that he is our best player. It amazes me that he is not the first name on the team sheet for every match.

Paulinho and Chiriches have had decent first seasons and I think they will be good players for us in the long run. Both have struggled with injuries and both have been inconsistent at times. They will only improve with a productive off-season and a full BPL season under their belt. Both of these players were solid transfer acquisitions.

Chadli has failed to make an impact and push for steady first team action. Although he is physically gifted and appears to have potential, he isn’t producing consistently. Capoue started the season off very well, but injuries and lack of playing time have slowed his progression. Capoue will struggle to get consistent match time behind Sandro, who is our best defensive midfielder. Only time will tell if they will be successful or sold. I don’t think we signed these two players to be squad rotation players and right now, that is the role they look to be filling.

The biggest disappointments have been Lamela and Soldado. We spent over 50 million pounds on these two. Soldado was brought in to be our striker savior. He was the key goal scorer that we had been missing for several seasons. Lamela was the flashy winger with tremendous skill brought in to fill the attacking role left by Bale. Although many believe Lamela has potential, I can’t remember any player going through such struggles to adjust. He was struggling to make an impact before his “injuries” and I don’t think he will be fit early enough to see the pitch again this season. Despite his goal on Sunday, Soldado has just not produced. I’m not sure the club is willing to keep these two around for another season based on their wages and decreased value.

Although AVB was involved in transfers, Baldini is the technical director and equally, if not fully, responsible for these signings. Based on the current performance of the new players, he has a 50% success rate. Eriksen, Paulinho, and Chiriches have been solid. The verdict is still out on Chadli and Capoue but they look to be squad players at best. Lamela and Soldado have thus far been very expensive mistakes.

The season is far from over. We are still in contention for a top 4 spot. The new players still have time and matches to improve, show their value, and ultimately change my opinion. Nothing would make me happier than these guys turning it up a notch, going on an amazing run, finishing in the top 4, and proving me completely wrong!

Regardless of our finish, regardless whether Sherwood is our manager next season, I’m just not sure that Baldini is the right person to build our club for long term success. He has an impressive resume and helped bring good talent to Roma. However, his transfer business with Spurs has been questionable. Serie A and the BPL are very different leagues and it appears he is struggling to adjust to the league like many of our transfers.

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