Article by Jon RuskinCheck out our Facebook Page!
Rumours are circulating around White Hart Lane about a possible take over bid. Another twist in the new stadium saga has seen numerous reports appearing saying that Spurs will soon have a new owner as Mr Lewis looks set to say his goodbyes to the famous old club. Thus far, Levy and ENIC seem to have prioritised balancing the books in order to allow for the huge expenditure a new stadium will require, however, following a crushing home defeat to Liverpool, and a toothless performance against Sunderland that saw us twice squander the lead, as well as 70+% possession, I think the immediate attention needs to shift from who will be in charge off the pitch, to who will be in charge on it.
The summer saw the departure of Michael Dawson. Mr Tottenham. Whether people rated him as one of the best English centre backs of his generation, or a plucky, solid, old fashioned yet flawed defender is a debate that will run for some time. However, one thing that is not in question is that when he was on the pitch, he was in charge. We had a recognised leader, a man to turn to, even with obviously mixed results given some of last seasons defeats, who could encourage, organise and motivate. This season however, as talented as the squad is, it appears as though we lack a talisman, a man to take either the team or the game by the scruff of the neck and get us over the finish line. Too many players are yet to settle themselves, before being handed responsibility like that. Too many players will be rotated. Too many players lack the necessary experience. And, arguably, too many players lack the character.
Hugo Lloris is a proven captain at international level, however there is a school of thought that the goalkeeper is too far away from play for long periods of games to truly have an influence on it. In many ways, we'd be expecting Lloris to lead by example more than anything else. Younes Kaboul has recently been made club captain, however his performances since being sidelined for nearly a year have too often been cause for concern rather than captain material for many of the White Hart Lane faithful. Adebayor has a wealth of experience in comparison to most Premier League players, let alone the Spurs squad, however, too often he's found wanting to be relied upon. Aaron Lennon is the longest serving player we have, but it appears he will be used sparingly by Pochettino. And outside of those four, who do we look to when we really need it?
As bitter-sweet as his record breaking departure was, Gareth Bale was a player we could, and did rely on. His performances from February to May in his last season with us, were both breathtaking and necessary. We, inevitably, missed out on a Champions League spot on the last day, but without the goals and performances of Bale, we would not have been close in the first place. Big shoes to fill for the 'magnificent' seven brought in following his departure, however only Eriksen came close to emulating those performances, and it was all too little too late for our season by then. I for one was hoping to see a huge development in some of the players we invested so heavily in that summer this season, and whilst improvement has been noted in Lamela especially, it's been subtle rather than explosive, and it remains to be seen that he will be the man we can turn to when the chips are down.
That's not to say we are the only team in the league or in Europe to have this problem. Liverpool seem to be going through a similar 'transitional' period as they adjust to life post Suarez. And there are still 13 or 14 other teams in the league that would swap their squads for ours in a heartbeat, but after 5 crushing defeats last season, a whimpering performance against Liverpool this term, and failure to kill Sunderland off when it seemed almost impossible not to, character must be questioned within our squad. Gone are the days of players ability outweighing the managers expertise, and him just saying 'go out there and play' – such was life under Mr Redknapp in my opinion – Pochettino has two huge tasks on his hands. Firstly, he needs to get the players playing in this formation at the absolute top of their game. A flat back four, with full backs who have license to roam due to two deeper midfielders put in place to snuff out danger 40 yards from goal rather than 4, and a constantly rotating front four looking to run opposition defences ragged, are tactics that will take any side not used to playing them time to settle in to. I personally like the way we've been set up, however if it's not clicking by Christmas, a plan B will be dearly needed – something AVB was lacking. But Pochettino's biggest test will be installing character back into the side. A side without a long standing captain, or a regular goal scorer. A side nearly full of players who are in the last chance saloon in terms of having time to 'settle' or 'adapt' to the English game. A side littered with players who would (well, should) have had nightmares about last seasons trips to Manchester City and Chelsea.
It's early in the season. Things could be far worse, and I'm certainly splitting hairs over two results that were by no means forgone conclusions before we stepped out onto the pitch. But the warning signs are there, and if we are to succeed this season – however you wish to define a successful season – these issues need to be addressed now.
Mr Pochettino, it's over to you.
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It WASN'T a toothless performance against Sunderland. Don't be so silly? Did you watch the game? I doubt it. Spurs hit the woodwork twice. Sunderland got lucky. That happens!
ReplyDeleteCompletely agree with the above comment. They had one shot on goal and scored 2! If you had seen our performances so far this season you would realise there is a lot to be positive about. Plus he's only been in charge a couple of months!
ReplyDeleteCharacter is absolutely the missing ingredient, but whilst the result against Sunderland was unlucky, it was due to a lack of a go to man in midfield to control the tempo in the last few minutes. Why on earth at 2-1 are we back peddling in the last few minutes? We should simply be passing, passing, passing to tire out those Sunderland players chasing the ball, not giving a sniff. If we had 70% possession when we were trying to score, we should of had over 90% when trying to see the game out... But I believe Poch will sort that out.
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