Even as a Liverpool fan, I have a major soft spot for Tottenham Hotspur. Even us Big 4 supporters would like to see English football shaken up a little though of course not at the expense of our own clubs.
For so long it seems, Tottenham was the team that was going to do it, to prove that the Big 4 weren’t invincible. Now, they’re barely above the drop zone. We all know Spurs are playing horribly, and the most popular gossip topic is how long it will be until Martin Jol is finally fired.
I agree that Jol has to go—there’s no confidence left in him, and Spurs need someone more skilled tactically to get to the next level—and I also agree that they could use a new goalie (though Robinson’s not that bad). There’s another player, however, that Tottenham needs to replace. And Spurs fans aren’t going to like it.
Now, it would never have gotten to this point if the 16.5 million pounds spent on Darren Bent this summer had been spent, instead of on Spurs’ strongest position , on one (or more) of their three very weak positions (both central midfield spots and LM). Instead,White Hart Lane can boast of having four Big 4 quality strikers (all would at least be regular subs for the best teams) but only one midfielder of true quality (Lennon, and even he’s overrated).
To all those people that say that Spurs’ problems aren’t related to the quality of their players, I have to disagree. They certainly have the fifth most talent in the league, but the difference between fourth and fifth is pretty huge. The main issue for Tottenham right now is that they have neither steel nor creativity in the center of midfield. Even the infamous left side—where left back Bale has been excellent—isn’t nearly as big a problem.
I can’t believe Jenas has 16 England caps. He’s not terrible, but he’s a mid-table attacking midfielder at best, not close to Champion’s League quality. Tom Huddlestone is too passive though he may still have a bright future. Didier Zokora just isn’t very good. Kevin-Prince Boateng never gets to play, so no one knows how good he is. Same with Adel Taraabt. Teemu Tainio is the only one of their CMs that I really like. He’s not better than the others, but he brings more of the qualities that Spurs need at the moment, and with his versatility, anyone would be glad to have him in their squad.
Right now, Spurs should be playing Bale at LM, Tainio as a holding player, and either Malbranque (who’s better in the center) or Robbie Keane just behind the two strikers—Berbatov and Bent/Keane. But that team still isn’t good enough. We’ve spent the last six months wondering whether Spurs would keep Dimitar Berbatov happy enough to stay at White Hart Lane. Now it’s time to sell him no matter what he wants.
The prospect of him at Man Utd terrifies me, but wherever he goes, it’s the right thing for Spurs to do. His value will never be higher, and considering that ownership probably won’t be excited to spend another 40M next summer after Spurs’ inevitable mid-table finish (I’m guessing 8th), they’ll need to sell players to buy new ones. Berba should bring in about 25M, as long as he plays well this year. Combine that with the sale of Jenas for about 8M, and Zokora for 5-6M and now they’re in business.
With that money, they could buy Matty Taylor (5-8M), Stephen Appiah (5-8M), Rafael Van der Vaart (10-15m) and either a young big man or save the money and promote another striker from within their ranks (I’ve heard they have some talented forwards on the youth team). Taylor and Bale would be an excellent interchangeable LB/LM partnership on the left flank, Appiah would give them the steel and power in midfield they so desperately need and Van der Vaart would give them creativity, invention and support to the strikers.
Maybe Van der Vaart wouldn’t want to come to a team not playing Champion’s League football, but it’s not like he’s playing with a bunch of world beaters at the moment for HSV. Oh, and if Sven doesn’t think he needs Andres Isaakson any more with Kasper Schmiechal doing so well, maybe he could be acquired for 5 or 6M too….surely Robbo would bring in that much. And if not him, then maybe Jaaskelainen? That would leave them with a lineup that looked like this:
Isaakson
Chimbonda Dawson King Bale
Appiah
Lennon Taylor
Van der Vaart
Keane Bent
Subs: Cerny, Defoe, Malbranque, Kaboul, Lee, Tainio Others of note: Boateng, Huddlestone, Gardner, Rocha, Taraabt, Assou-Ekotto This may all have to wait ’til the summer of course—not least because it leaves Man U without a striker to open the door for a Liverpool title. 🙂
It will be hard to sell to the fans, but it needs to be done. And with a new manager, this looks like clearly the fifth best team in England to me, with a chance (with some luck) to do more.
Its not championship manager mate, so many ifs and buts. why should we sell berbatov our best player now?? 25m? u having a laugh?? we would want much more if he goes at the end of season then were looking at 40m, why on earth agree a sale now?! as for the other transfers get of the PC and watch real football
spend huge amount of money to buy bent is a mistake,becoz spurs hv defoe as subsitution adi,spurs no nid spend huge amount to buy another subsitute!use 16.5m buy a quality midfield player is an better option than buy a striker who stay in substitute….it no a good news tat jenas has been sign an extension contact and defoe REFUSE to sign it…AND spurs hv to act quickly to sign player like sneijer or taylor which link wit spurs,it funny tat spurs didnt feel tat bent is overprice but when they wan to buy a midfield,they will feel they are overprice!!petrov has go to man c and boateng deal is delay until 3week plus is all becoz of tis altitude!!!buy a new player but didnt gv the new player a chance to ply also a main prob…adel and boateng has potential to replace jenas and zokora but they hv no chance at all!! so,there a different btw wenger wit jol~
Ha ha ha…. You’re joking right?
No? You’re not joking? Let me guess…. you’re either a) an Arsenal fan or b) a rugby fan, either way you have no clue about football.
Please follow my instructions below:
1) Move your mouse to the start icon in the bottom left hand corner.
2)Click Start
3)Move your mouse up the menu to “Settings”
4)Move your mouse across and click “Control Panel”
5)Double click on the icon marked “Add/Remove Programs”
6)Look for “Championship Manager 2007/08”
7)Click “Uninstall”
Now….. You have your life back, please use your brain in a more constructive manner.
Never have I heard such drivel. John Motson eat your heart out.
I totally, totally, totally in fact completely agree, we’d never be able to keep him at the club at this rate anyway, complete b*llox against the arse again, due to sh*thouse midfield, Appiah & Van Der Vaart are exactly what’s required & I’m putting your name on the shortlist of next Tottenham managers, Yours Sincerely, D.Levy.
Cut out the pointless drivel mate. Inevitable midtable finish? You probably said that last year when we had 4 points from 6 games aswell. I believe we finished 5th again that season and only 8 points behind Lierpool. How does selling your best players get you to the next level and how does sacking your manager who has been given £40m of new talent barely a month into the season benefit the club? Spurs aren’t “playing horribly”. Our worst display this season was against Sunderland on the first day and since then we have attacked well and dominated games. The fact that we a) cant take the numerous chances we are creating and b) finish off teams when we are on top, is the sign of a young and inexperienced side. Which is what we have. Our defence is pretty woeful in truth, in that i accept. If we were playing bad football with bad players id be inclined to agree but we’re not.
Although I wholehartedly disagree with the idea of a club selling its best player, everything else in the article is spot on and a good read. Your midfield is a problem area and I think will cost you a top 5 place. Spending the money on bent was utterly stupid and the fact is because of that you lot are in a position where you desperetly need to raise funds to be able to compete and its got to come from somewhere…….
Also to the Spurs fans critisizing the writer, at the end of the day these players are more likely to be at spurs next year than a manager like Ramos and Capello is.
PS good shout with Appiah who is an absolute badboy!
MDH how do you know so much about spurs’ financial situation? OR ARE YOU JUST SPECULATING? Good article though. It explains our on pitch problems almost perfectly
Actually that money part came out a bit wrong (i guess a bit of bias creeping up subconciously as I was writing). I have no doubt spurs are doing well financially. I meant to say that for totenham to really move up to where they weant to be theyll have to spend alot of money. And given that Jol Kicked off about arsenal having more money than spurs recently then its likely that there isnt enough for a massive spree
Fair enough mate, i agree spending that sort of money on Bent was a bit foolish, but the price was unfortunately set as soon as West Ham agreed a fee with Charlton. That money could have been spent where we really need it. Midfield to improve our starting line up. Instead we have a slightly better squad but our first eleven is no better than last year.
Not a bad article at all. Clearly knows that Spurs biggest problem lies in our really bad midfield. Jenas has been poor but Jol really likes him. Jol should know that if that he is not brave then he will get fired anyway.
yo~i will like to c if jol(although i support him)go and another manager come in will sell jenas to get the fund to buy a quality midfield~jol go jenas go~i really dislike jenas when c him ply~no speed,uncreative,def no well,passing no well,goalscoring for a midfiled is no good enough,dribbing and acceleration badly,cant hold and control the ball,slowly to deliver the ball in front,free kick and corner also bad,i wonder y jol like him so much.last year while him injured,totenham get a straight win in the mid season,so can say tat jol hv make a mistake while choosing starting line-up……..
Van Der Vaart? To Spurs? You have to be really stupid to think that would happen! He’s going to Valencia at Christmas I’d say.
I’ve been a Spurs fan for 36 years, but always have time for Liverpool. This guy’s spot on, and full respect for his Tottenham knowledge.
kevin prince boateng should really be given a chance to play in the first team. jenas has been really disappointing in my opinion. taraabt looked exciting when he came on, he might be able to solve our problem on the left.
I thought it was a very good article we have either got to play BENT/DEFOE with BERBATOV not Keane at any price I think it is about time he moved on to another in his long line of clubs. I have seen Prince Boateng on 3 occasions and I would at least put him on the bench in the next game, also Robbo is not good enough it just shows the quality England hve(or have not) in goal when he is number 1 at the moment my midfield would be (under sufference) Lennon Huddlestone Zakora & Bale that is a mixture of skill pace & toughness I know a lot of fans will disagree but we all have our own opinions. Hopefully Jol will play Defoe on Thursday in the EUFA Cup and he scores a hatfull but I suppose he will play his favourite 3 keane, jenas & robbo + 8 others
Although i think his views are way off the mark, i am impressed by his knowledge of the squad!
Tainio our best midfielder?? Seriously?? I dont have anything against him i just dont see how he fits in sometimes, he rushes around chasing the ball and can leave too many spaces for the opposition to play around us. Jenas, now in my opinion he is a waste of space!!! I do like to see the odd 30 yard rocket but he does not work hard enough all round to warrant a regular place, especially a regular place in a team that is not performing at all well at the moment.
Bent, they jury is still out on this signing.
No way in the world do you sell your best player just to consolidate your position as an also ran!! To move forward you build a team round players such as berbatov, aswell as dawson, king,lennon and also bale in my opinion.
I must admit i have always fully supported Jol 100%, but with his persistence with jenas and his lack of adventure when it comes to the wealth of young attacking talent coming through, i am losing faith. Dont get me wrong come next wednesday i will be there in full voice, but still too many nagging doubts are appearing…..
I hate to criticize another team but i think the author’s right in that Spurs midfield just isn’t strong enough, i’ve never rated Jenas and Zakora hasn’t really performed as well as i thought he would. Lennon has got potentially and i think Spurs are missing his pace on the flanks but he just hasn’t been consistent enough, though he has time on his hands.
Spurs already have three very good strikers and the addition of Bent over strengthening the midfield really looks to have backfired. That said i don’t think its a good idea to sell Berbatov, i can’t see him dropping in value anytime soon, as long as they make sure his contract has two or more years to run.
Bale on the other hand looks to be well worth the money spent on him, i think he made a very good choice in joining a team that would guarantee him plenty of games
We are weak in ONE central midfield position and that’s the holding slot. We get a decent holding player and we’re knocking at the door of the top 4.
Bale (although really a left back) seems like a natural and top drawer left winger. Lennon on the right, Jenas in the attacking CM slot – he’d rip teams apart if he was allowed to do what he’s ‘supposed’ to do and wasn’t forever running back to try and cover whoever his inept CM partner happens to be at the time (ala Saturday just gone).
We miss Carrick. It’s that simple. NONE of our so-called replacements are good enough and we’ve looked shakey since he left. We’ve gone from one of the best defensive teams in the league to one of the worst.
Yes, it’s certainly fair to classify this as a “FM” type of article. I’m certainly having some fun here, and it was fun to write. However, I still don’t think Spurs are going anywhere with Berba.
Let me explain a few things I should have spent more time on in the article:
Berbatov is great, but he’s not a player like Gerrard, Fabregas, Ronaldo or even Lampard that really takes a game by the scruff of the neck and wins it for you. Except for the Bolton game (I think) where Keane got the red card, I’ve never seen him be really dominant. Him, by himself doesn’t get you to the next level. Furthermore, he’s not going to wait around forever when he could go to any number of CL teams. He’s 26 now (I think) and look at Henry, he turned 29 and was worth less than Bent! His value WILL go down (maybe not in real pounds but in the value of that money to buy other players at least). Spurs don’t have the talent now to be a top four squad, and Berba won’t be around by the time they do (if ever). It’s ,more important for them to try to become the fifth best team in England again than try to match the unrealistic goal of really matching the Big 4 on a consistent basis.
Also, while Spurs had a bad start to last season and still got to fifth place, you have to consider that their main contenders, Everton, Blackburn, Portsmouth, Newcastle, Villa and Man City have all gotten at least a little better if not a lot. It’s quite a hill to climb even to get to the eight spot I predicted (are they really that much better than three out of Portsmouth, Newcastle, Villa and Man City?)
There’s always the possibility that ownership continues to put a ton of money into the team, and Berbatov doesn’t need to be sold to fix the problem areas. That would be for the best, but something tells me Berba isn’t going to be interested in waiting around to find out.
This Liverpool fan speaks a lot of sense. I am a BMJ supporter. The CM is the real problem for Spurs. Jenas just does not cut it at this level, not for us to break into the top four. He often goes missing and is a lightweight in the tackle. He can have moments of pure brilliance but unfortunately they are vary rare. Jol seems very loyal to Jenas. I think this could cost him his job. Be brave martin. Give Prince Kevin a game in the middle.
Good article, always interesting to hear other clubs supporters views/perception of ours.
I agree with most of what was said and would like to add the following:
1) Berbatov will leave next summer if we don’t make CL (unlikely), regardless if we’d like to sell him or not
2) Bent was bought in as a long term replacement for Berba
3) The intention was to recoup some of the Bent cash by selling Defoe but none of the clubs sniffing round interested him
4) Our 2 CM positions (Zokora/Hudd & Jenas) do not compare to any of the top 4, infact are embarassingly poor. This needs to be addressed, Appiah and vDV are good shouts
5) Bale is a LB, though doing a great job at LM. We missed out on Petrov
6) We have great individual defenders but if the midfield offer no protection we’ll continue to be exposed.
Has anyone noticed how many ‘wonder’ goals we concede (this season and last), I have to put it down to the oppostion midfield having so much time/space (and Robbo who gets beaten from afar with ease).
Hah, thats better, perhaps I’ll forward my CV onto Levy!
K9 yid …..how can you still think Jol is any good when he has constantly picked Jenas time after time over two years when the kid has been so poor game after game after game!
A situation that he is now reapeating with Robison….the best thing that could happen to Robo is that Cerny gets his starting place…he was great in our pre-season and a great keeper!….It’s not like Jol does not have any alternatives…it’s a good squad…he just lacks the guts to make any hard decisions…..Morinho would never let out of form players start…he even pulls them off the park after 20 mins if they are shite! But look what he did for the form of Joe Cole and Wright-Philips….they came back better players.
Why has it STILL not dawned on Jol?….bet he starts jenas in the next six games…regardless of how he plays.
Also why did Jol buy Boateng?… has he got some secret plan?…no he just gets to when he has to write out the team sheet and bottles every week and HOPES…that Jenas and Robinson will “play better this week”
Jol is just not good enough mate….lets hope that Levy does not sit on his hands too long….I think he must just be trying to find someone that actually might want the job but that is proving difficult….the longer he waits the more difficult it will be to get anyone of any calibre.
Comon Levy…Save Our Spurs!
Sorry…forgot to mention that I did enjoy your article…although not ageering 100% was well thought out…ta
Oh and Taffa….spot on…very very spot on…get that CV in please mate! If you do get the job make sure they get rid ou Houghton as well please!
For me darren Bent is a big disappointment. cannot score even one to one with keeper
Nah i disagree…did you watch the match against Arsenal? That weekend i watched the man u, liverpool and arsenal match. And by far the most quality game was the tottenham v arsenal match. when they have the first team (i say this because their match vs sunderland was shit) they are quality.
If they sell berbatov they’re going to be screwed. Yes theres no doubt that selling berbatov will give them more funds…but look what happened with carrick? they STILL have a huge gap in their center mid.
Mate – taarabt is going to be quality. He will be a first-team regular within two seasons. Just watch.
I think it is a reasonable article . If Tainio could stay fit I would rather he play the holding midfield player than anyone else in the club but he can not stay fit . No idea how good KPB is and wonder if Jol buys these youngsters to win the reserve league as they never play in the first team . Berabtov is going to leave that is why Bent was purchased because the club know Berbatov will leave next summer . I think Charlton robbed us for Bent 7 million would have been a fair price – I think Defoe is far better than Bent . We spend , spend , spend but buy badly – I said on a number of websites at the start of the season that the top 4 are light years ahead of us and we will do well this year to be the best of the rest . At present with the turmoil at the club top 8 would be a result . My one hope was for a good Cup run and if we can get the balance of the team right I still think a run in the Cups is possible but the league forget it – just boring – top 4 will be the same and 6 clubs chase 5th and 6th .
If we really wish to push onto those final steps for a champions league space, we need to sort out our midfield. Jenas is shocking and couldn’t play in a pub team, Huddlestone has a bright future, bring in KP Boateng. Bale looks quality down the left as will lennon will on the right when fully fit
MU buy Berbatov or Anelka!