Ladies and gentlemen, the clock is ticking and reality (not idle fantasy) is calling. The time has come to identify the problems that stopped us from breaking into the top 4. Have they been addressed?
One way of evaluating this is to look at our player acquisitions. What HAS our summer purchases done for us and our prospective outlook for this season? Have we made the necessary moves to make 4th?
Darren Bent
As some of you readers may know, I am a pretty big Darren Bent fan and I fully felt that his purchase was necessary despite the large sum we paid. Darren Bent is definitely a player that will add some serious value and momentum in our quest for top 4.
Naturally some of you may ask….
“Why? We scored goals last season; it was hardly a department in which we struggled”
Good question. To an extent goals were not really an issue for us last season, something else was, which I shall get to later in this long article, but these goals didn’t come constantly over the course of the entire season. They came after an almost sudden belief our players had in themselves and their abilities, most notable factors included
- The 4 nil win at Fulham
- Berbatov settling into the premiership and displaying top class form.
- The emergence of a more settled midfield with Zokora, Jenas , Tainio and Lennon
…..yet no Berbatov means our overall performance can drop drastically, team cohesion could be lost. Bent provides an easier transition in case of the need to drop or rest Berbatov ever arises. Not to mention that his partnership with Berbatov might actually prove to be more fruitful than Berbatov / Keane. Reason being is that the roles for both these players are more defined than with Keane and Berbatov, yet both are amply able to switch roles, something that would be key in taking the physical pressure of Berbatov.
Bent becomes an insurance policy on our goal department, goals which are needed to make top 4.
There are a whole host of other reasons, for those reasons please see the “Why Darren Bent “article on the home page of Glory-Glory.
As for the rest of the purchases, it gets slightly trickier and less obvious from here on…………………..
Kaboul
How does he help the drive to a place in the top 4?
He would need to be either at the very least as good as Dawson or King. Can people be certain of this? Time will tell. He certainly does have the physical attributes to succeed here, now all that is left is to know if he has what it takes in between the ears to make a serious impact on our team. However reports seem to point to him being a bench player. Is this caution to blood him into the team? Or could it be he isn’t as good as our first team pairing?
The Top 4 answer we would be looking for is the first possibility ……..caution.
At least that way our CB pairing in the FIRST 11 improves through his selection or genuine competition for places. But I won’t make light of the advantages of having a player near the quality of Dawson and King as they too also provide the same transition in performance levels at the back as Bent provides at the front. It could be the difference to maintaining a high performance level through the season at the back.
Bale
What does he add that improves our chances of a top 4 finish?
Some people seem to have this notion that you need a left foot to be successful on the left. I personally think that this couldn’t be farther from the truth. You do however, in my honest personal opinion, need to be able to deliver the ball from the outside left and in this aspect bale would be an improvement on lee (a player that I rate very much). However Bale’s delivery from the left adds what exactly? Goals and assists to the team stats? Perhaps, but like we mentioned earlier, the team never really suffered this last season once we found our feet. The key comes down to the big question…….
“How good is Gareth bale at defending to premiership standard?”
It’s difficult to judge Bale seeing there isn’t much experience against premiership opposition and against Man City in the cup he was made to look….ordinary. Bale is undeniably a talented and technical player, he’s also big (another improvement on lee, who despite his small size manages to operate the entire left side on his own when exposed), but the department which he must at least maintain in order to keep the top 4 push truly alive is to be able to defend as well as lee can. That is an absolute minimum (not to mention the ability to cover the entire left side without compromising himself or the team in either the attacking or defending departments) and the honest answer is that we don’t know if he can but we sure as hell will hope and pray and encourage him to do so.
Taarabt
I was delighted to hear that Taarabt signed for us just as much, if not more, as I was to hear about Bent. I personally feel that he is another player that adds a dimension of quality that we didn’t have last season, he can provide the outside left option and also the creative presence in the hole. His ability is very capable of allowing us a smoother transition into top 4, but the truth is that he is another youngster that isn’t tried and tested in the premiership for a prolonged period of time and as such falls into the realm of yet another squad player with a question mark to his contribution to our top 4 gate crash.
Danny Rose or Berchiche
If these players have a sizeable impact on our quest for top 4 I will be very impressed, or really worried cause it would mean that all other left options have failed or didn’t pass the mustard. Let’s move on from these two acquisitions because quite frankly I don’t see them featuring in the first team a lot if at all this season
The Prince…..?
Jol said Kevin prince Boateng is an attacking player that was bought to replace Ghaly. Does this ring alarm bells? Ghaly was a played out of position, used as a squad player and as such Prince Boateng might destined for the same fate. Personally I feel that Boateng is yet another player with the ability to play a wide range of positions (much like Taarabt), but also he could be a player that could raise Jenas’ game by being in direct competition with him for the position of box to box CM. For this purchase to be top 4 worthy he would have to displace someone from the starting 11 or cause someone from the starting 11 to raise their game or at the very least maintain the standard of the game our first 11 normally play at, which is once again top 5 or top 6
Do they maintain the level that we have become accustomed too? Or do they improve upon it?
So far it seems that the players ability wise (aside from Zidane junior) maintain a top 5 level, a simple basic assumptive deduction brought about by their place on the squad at this moment in time. Nothing wrong with this, I would be happy with another top 5 finish in what is fast becoming the hardest most competitive and most entertaining league in the world, but I cannot describe the feeling I would have if our team finished in the top 4.
However these players don’t seem to improve the first 11, they do seem to be gifted enough to maintain the level we are at.
Have the Deficiencies of last season been addressed?
Do we have more options to switch up our game? Thank the lord cause the answer for this one is YES. With the inclusion of Taarabt and Bale we have an outside left option both at fullback and left mid. This is definitely a step forward because we really didn’t have that option utilised last season, BAE might have offered something had he decided that he was allowed to pass the half way line from time to time (a behaviour that I can only guess would have been ordered by JOL). The option to utilise the outside left as well as a presence in the hole gives us an extra cutting edge.
There was however an even bigger problem, (no not the glaringly obvious lack of a determined, confident and composed ball playing centre midfield. We aren’t running for the league title yet and we seemed to be able to create through the middle in the 2nd half of last season by playing as a team), defending seemed to be a skill lost to us.
Have we done anything to change our defensive problems?
No we haven’t, at least none for me personally that would significantly raise the first 11 defensive performances. We still have a problem with our defending at this time seeing as the first 11 hasn’t changed , so the midfield , personnel wise based on last seasons performances, still doesn’t help secure the defence. Barring player developments from the midfield on the defensive end, I still expect for teams to be able to pass the ball right to the front of our defensive backline with the midfield back tracking to come to support slightly late.
Something interesting is that everyone we have bought is approximately 5”11 and above….could these players we bought address the size situation we had during set pieces? Needless to say the midfield needs to defend better; our purchases haven’t seemed to target this problem. It’s not written in stone that we will still be porous through the midfield and who is to say that the resilience and bottle we had when we were with Davids and Carrick will be there in the coming season or not.
Is the differential between the fringe players what separates us from 4th?
Assuming the players have all got standard top 5 ability….is the differential between the fringe players and the first 11 what separates us from 5th (which if you have noticed by now we seem to be consolidating) and 4th? Basically is squad depth of true quality what the management see as the way forward into top 4? The purchases would make a lot more sense. This way we may have the top 4 teams dropping points when they have to rely on their fringe players whereas we would be still maintaining a constant momentum that would allow us to overtake them (Liverpool or arsenal that is).
Let’s face it, compared to the top 4 teams our first 11 is not good enough for fourth unless there is significant improvement from their average performance from the entire of last season. That midfield spine once again doesn’t seem to match up. One thing is for sure if the management really want to make 4th then they must have serious belief in most of the current team. That is the only way the purchases can be explained if they were targeted to truly help us break into the Champions League, that and the value they place on continuity and growing as a team to produce a free flowing settled side.
Any distractions?
Cup games and Europe could hinder our chances for top 4, especially if it gets in the way of team training and preparation (no one can answer this for sure outside of the Tottenham Staff, not even those with the three initials…..).
Winning silverware could be paramount, which would explain the big and better squad .Top 4 might not be at the forefront of the management’s mind (I don’t believe that for a second). So what are our intentions on all fronts? Will we sacrifice one or two cups for the sake of the league?
Does all this money mean that we are challenging for 4th?
Short answer is NO. Only that your account gets deducted. The assumption that it will is naïve to say the least and doesn’t take into account the human error in judgement of purchases. The thought is born from a desire to progress from where you were and not to stay still. Maybe it’s cause the natural transition from 5th 2 seasons in a row would be to challenge for 4th in the 3rd season. The money however will NOT guarantee this IMO.
So what was the 40 million and these players for?
- Are we instead consolidating 5th and thereby putting an impenetrable platform for which we can focus our attentions of then achieving 4th and winning silverware and attacking on all front better?
- Genuinely going for Top 4?
An alternative possibility is that the 40 million was for:-
- The Future: - We have young squad; we went out there and actively paid money to buy into an even younger average age in the squad. Is it not plausible that we are looking to the future as opposed to a quick fix? There can be arguments made that we should focus on getting there NOW while others appear to be in transition. Well guess what, WE are also in transition as well. Better to get there with a solid foundation and stay there than to be present for one year and fall at the waist side having to pour tons of money to get back.
-
- Longevity: - The squad is not only looking to the future, it is seemingly geared for a lasting future. A future that seemingly goes beyond the near sight objective of making the Champions League this year, but seems primed to unveil talents from the academy that could really take the premiership and the world by storm half a decade from now. Is this not possible?
- The ability to grow together: - this applies to both the current senior team and those that may be part of our club for potentially the next decade. Having a settled and adapted side is actually one of the biggest factors to long lasting success, no one can guarantee that this approach will work, but it is refreshing to know that vision on this scale may be at the club. The age range and talent seem to be correct, though there isn’t a player that can be pointed to with the necessary experience here to maybe guide them as such, who’s to say that there won’t be in the near future. Alternatively these young hungry and talented players could all get the experience themselves to become a formidable force (assuming they don’t leave )
- To challenge on ALL fronts with better quality for a period greater than a mere 9 months. After all we did reach the quarter finals of 2 cups and the semi finals in another. A better quality squad might take us two steps further.
- To consolidate 5th and therefore provide a platform we can use to truly challenge the top 4 this season, not just for now but also in the future.
- Protecting our future should players leave or retire: - it is not unheard of to lose your best players. It is always wise to prepare for these outcomes. Why not get the replacements in early before they fulfil their promise so they may reach that plateau with your club instead of another club with ridiculous sums of money
That is an alternative explanation as to what the 40 million went towards, that is what the purchases potentially signalled, and that is something we should consider as a possibility should we ever question where the money went to and why.
Lets have faith and lets be patient.