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The end of the season, not the end of the world

6 min read
by Sumeer Aggarwal
Eager beaver Sumeer rubs his crystal ball and previews next season before this season has even finished, officially finished that is.

I am going to do something unusual and preview next season. In itself that isn’t that unusual and you will find the interweb will be full of such previews. What is unusual is the timing. We still have three games to go this season; there is still an opportunity to match our record Premier League points haul and there will of course still be the inevitable summer merry-go-round. So I am going to confidently say this is the first preview of next season you are likely to read.

imagesWhy go to next season? Well this season has been analysed to death; lots of ifs, buts and maybes. It’s so, what’s the word? Well, last season I guess, or at least almost. Let’s look ahead and I think overall there is maybe (whisper it quietly) plenty of things to be positive about.

Let’s start at the obvious – the manager. Let me make it clear I don’t have anything against Sherwood but nor am I a fan. I don’t think it is ideal that he is a Gooner but we made that bed a long time ago and if we don’t like it then we should have never had him as a player and, more importantly, never employed him as the U21 coach. There has been plenty written about his managerial shortcomings and this article sums up where he needs to improve more eloquently than I can:  (it probably slightly underplays the need to improve tactics and scouting of the opposition).

Is he capable of this?

Only if he has someone more experienced to mentor him and someone he isn’t willing to undermine. I am not sure what the reaction would be if that scenario did play out but it doesn’t really matter since he has ruled himself out of such a position.

[linequote]things are not as bad as they are seem; we may finish 7th but that isn’t a somersault into the chasm of Premier League obscurity[/linequote]

So who comes in? You can read Twitter or any back page as well as I can. The only comment I’ll make is that if we were to get LVG then it would be a coup bigger than Birmingham’s whipping of Woolwich in the League Cup Final. There is of course risk involved but weighed up against that is the possibility of appointing a proven winner who can lay a foundation for years to come. I am not expectant but it would be amazing if it happened. Anyway, back to the point; whoever is in charge next year will have a pretty good base to work from.

Yes that’s right. I said it. It isn’t all that bad. I know things feel low at the moment and most of my weekends are a dangerous cocktail of anticipation, dejection, criticism and then cynicism. However things are not as bad as they are seem; we may finish 7th and that is undoubtedly a step backward but it is a not a massive backward somersault into the chasm of Premier League obscurity. We haven’t fallen that far and there are still plenty of building blocks for us to move forward again.

There seems to be general consensus that our summer spending spree has failed miserably but I think it’s too early to make a judgement yet. We have done what Spurs have always done (just on a larger scale); we overpay for young talent with potential. This isn’t amazing football insight and I am not claiming to be first or only person to notice this but it is worth repeating.

We brought 7 young players at probably inflated price (except for Soldado who was more experienced) since that is typically the type of player we can attract. I would love it if we could attract Messi but given our wage structure and our lack of regular Champions League football I don’t think that is ever going to be realistic. We might get lucky once in a while (Rafa being one great example) but it’s generally not going to be the norm to sign top quality proven talent.

[linequote]Let me make it clear I think it would be wildly optimistic for all 7 to end up being successes but there is enough there for us to hope that 4 -5 will do well[/linequote]

Have these players all performed consistently all season? No. Had we hoped for more? Yes. Does this give therefore mean we need to get rid of the lot of them? I don’t think so.

I have seen flashes from a number of our players to be hopeful that they can have a real impact next season. Eriksen’s record speaks for itself; Chiriches, Chadli and Paulinho have all shown positives, but not consistently enough; there is hope that Soldado might settle a bit more (and maybe we can also work out how to get the best of him); Capoue and Lamela have been injured too much for us to make a call. It’s not all been perfect but it isn’t the unmitigated disaster we are told about day in and day out. Let me make it clear I think it would be wildly optimistic for all 7 to end up being successes but there is enough there for us to hope that 4 -5 will do well.

If you add to this the return of Holtby and Carroll (I was also going to say Livermore but then realised the abuse I would open myself up to) to an already strong squad then things are not looking too bad. If we can keep Lloris and Vertonghen, ensure Kaboul and Sandro are kept fit, continue to get the best out of Ade and also bring on a couple of youngsters like Kane, Fryers and Bentaleb then things are actually mighty good.

All isn’t rosy and we certainly know there is a problem at left back. Rose has struggled this season and we don’t have an able deputy. Kyle Naughton has done ok as a back-up (on either side of the defence) but is ok good enough? These two areas seem like the most obvious holes to me but other than that I think we are pretty well covered.

[linequote] I have supported Spurs for 27 years and every year I think we can win the league. I am deluded. I know but I don’t care[/linequote]

In fact for me the issue is that we might have too many players and the problem will be keeping them all happy (which will be exacerbated if we don’t qualify for the Europa League). I think we will have to do some trimming and the outs are likely to cause an uproar (we all tend to rate players more highly when they are not playing for us); it’s hard to maintain a squad of this size/potential quality without Champions League football. The key is making sure we have the right quality in the first team.

Either way if you were a manager coming into Spurs you would generally be optimistic. It’s all set up for you. The only thing is whether it is set up to go beyond the 5th/6th finish. I think it’s quite right we (as a club and as fans) aim higher – I have supported Spurs for 27 years and every year I think we can win the league. I am deluded. I know but I don’t care. For us to actually achieve these aims will require a manager who can make the team more than a sum of its parts, maintain consistency and someone who also has a horseshoe or rabbit’s foot tattooed on his back. Maybe it’s improbable but it’s not impossible. OK maybe the horseshoe thing is impossible.

All I can now hope is that we finish the season on a high with four wins and let’s remember it’s not all doom and gloom, just cloudy and overcast right now. This may seem like pre-season optimism on steroids but it wouldn’t be supporting Tottenham if we didn’t believe the sun was just about to breakthrough. I have my sunglasses, shorts and flip-flops at the ready.

All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.

Sumeer Aggarwal

3 Comments

  1. John
    23/04/2014 @ 8:48 am

    Good article. I don’t think TS would now work alongside/under another manager – he’s had a taste of it & thinks he’s done well so I’d assume he’d go somewhere as No.1. Whether he’d take Sir Les & Steff with him is another matter.

    If LVG were to be the new man, it would be fantastic but I think that ship has sailed & no-one will now win big on betting where his next destination will be.

    All is not lost though as Carlo could be available & that’s not a bad ‘reserve’ to have. However, Moyes is & apparently Benitez will be available so I fully expect one of those (or TS) to get the job as they will all be cheaper options that Carlo.

    Same as AVB – it’ll cost us more to get rid of them than it does to hire them & I think they days of paying clubs compo for taking their manager have gone. For that reason I can’t see Ponchetta coming (thankfully). Laudrup as a cheaper option – no thanks either.

    My fear is that Carlo & LVG don’t hang around for too long. The days of being at a club for years have gone but I’d prefer to have someone stay at least until the tea is cold.

    Having watched Simeone last night, it would be interesting to see him in the Prem too.

    The bonus could be that we don’t qualify for the Europa League & therefore getting back to playing on a Sat.

    Of course, any new man could look at the Chairman & negative atmosphere around the lane during a game & be put off …. But they are two different stories for another time …….

  2. Eoin
    23/04/2014 @ 9:35 am

    This is the second optimistic article on Tottenham I have read in the last two days…..
    I am starting to get excited now……. What you are saying is ‘We are going to win the league next season’?

  3. Keith Andrew
    23/04/2014 @ 1:53 pm

    This assumes that we can retain the players we want and that is not guaranteed. If we are to have a new manager, and that is still not certain, then the sooner this is concluded the better so that they can sort out who goes,if anyone, and who they might want to bring in. We all know where the problem positions are in the team and these are priorities, but the World Cup will not help only delay decisions. But we have to remain positive for next season. COYS

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