Here is a little piece I wrote, if you'll excuse the self-indulgence.
Those Who Do Not Know History's Mistakes Are Doomed To Repeat Them
Following the close of the transfer window, the general consensus amongst Spurs fans is that the club has, as ever, fallen short. The criticism reads that the Chairman has failed to back the manager and a Champions League place (now) a pipedream. The Supporters' Trust has asked for a
"credible explanation from THFC’s Board to address the genuine concerns of supporters". Well, I might not be on the Board, but the answer is very simple – the club has learned its lesson.
Ever since the catastrophic summer of 2013, Spurs have been in recovery. Seven players with immediate first team ambitions were brought into the squad, with the vast majority of people shouting 'too many, too soon'. The squad was left bloated, unbalanced and the Board played a dangerous game, overseeing a seismic shift from British to foreign players. It all failed spectacularly. There was no discernible plan and the squad a shambles.
This summer, the club has been the antithesis - clinical and systematic. The spending has addressed the two weakest areas of the squad – the defence and the lack of pace - and quite remarkably, all the dross has been weeded out for good value. That is impressive.
Toby Alderweireld has come in as first choice and Kieran Trippier and Kevin Wimmer as squad players. The three can only be an improvement on the woefully inadequate Younes Kaboul and Vlad Chiriches. The upshot of the signings also being that they have allowed Eric Dier to move into the central midfield, offering a level of steal that Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb simply can't. One would expect a marked improvement in the defence. The Board has done its job here.
Likewise, Son Heung-min and Clinton Njie will bring some much needed pace to the team, with the former expected to be first choice, and the less experienced latter given more leeway. The dynamism the two are thought to offer will be a welcome departure from the effective but labouring Nacer Chadli and wasteful Erik Lamela. It has been a crying shame to watch the brilliance of Harry Kane's link up play and Christian Eriksen's creativity stifled with no players running ahead of them. Things become very interesting when tempo is aligned with ingenuity. Moreover, with both new signings able, to some extent, play up front, the fears of solely relying on Harry Kane should be allayed somewhat.
The squad is by no means perfect, with an experienced defensive midfielder and genuine striker cover both needed, but there has been some serious progression. For the first time in two years, it feels like Tottenham are moving forward with a clear plan of how the team is going to play and who they need to implement it. Eighteen players have departed, none of whom were first team players, with five arrivals, two of whom expected to be first team players. This is what measured improvement looks like.
If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, the Tottenham Supporters' Trust, with their clamour for more signings, need to sit down, take a moment and reassess.
