Billy looks forward to the forth coming season and for the first time in years isn't anxious about what is to come. Do you share his optimism or lack of it?
An odd breed of optimism
I’m confident that next season for Tottenham Hotspur will be a good season. For the first time in four seasons I have zero hope that we will finish in the Top 4.
Both those seemingly contradictory statements are true. With pre-season under way and the World Cup nearly over I am genuinely enthusiastic about what Spurs’ season will bring.
Mauricio Pochettino’s attacking philosophy will hopefully bring some entertainment back to White Hart Lane. At the same time I cannot feasibly see a season that sees us finish above two of Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United and Woolwich.
Under Mauricio Pochettino Southampton galvanised a promising set of footballers into a team which were one of the most entertaining sides in the league. Pochettino had his side playing as if they’d run through walls to win each tackle, combining athleticism with technicality, pace with physicality. The St Mary’s crowd responded to this with consistently positive, ferocious support.
[linequote] I believe that White Hart Lane will be spared the capitulations and embarrassments of last season[/linequote]
There is nothing about the previous paragraph which resembles the management, football and support at White Hart Lane in the past two seasons. I believe that next season this will change.
I believe that Pochettino will be able to instil his attacking ideas to the Spurs squad. I believe that next season will have players showing desire and playing attractive football. I believe that White Hart Lane will be spared the capitulations and embarrassments of last season and will be restored to a ground that teams loathe coming to.
In the previous four seasons I’ve always held some hope that we would finish in the top four. At various points Liverpool have been on the wane, Chelsea under shambolic management, Manchester City still establishing as a force, Manchester United ended a dynasty and Woolwich have struggled with injuries. The same really cannot be said this season. City, United, Chelsea, Woolwich and Liverpool now all have good managers, good squads and/or signs of investing in quality players.
That one of these clubs may have a poor season is not unreasonable. Louis Van Gaal may not be able to completely transform a squad lacking quality in a number of areas. Liverpool may struggle to cope with European football and losing Suarez. Woolwich may finally succumb to the lack of depth that has been evident for several seasons.
That one of these may happen would be hopeful but for Spurs to achieve a top four finish then we will need to finish above two of these sides. This hope seems vanishingly small and unrealistic.
[linequote]it shouldn’t be forgotten that last year we were seen at the time as having had a very good transfer window[/linequote]
Last summer with instability in other clubs and the funds we generated from the sale of Gareth Bale we could compete with these clubs in the transfer market. Whilst it is fun to laugh at Liverpool fans saying that Spurs should ‘Get your own scouts!!!’ there was a truth to us competing for similar targets and Spurs ultimately landing the player.
Although our Magnificent Seven may be derided by many at the end of the season it shouldn’t be forgotten that we were seen at the time as having had a very good transfer window.
Realistically we now find ourselves having slipped behind these clubs. Whereas last year Project Tottenham looked realistically like it could be going places the subsequent season, and rise of Liverpool, has pushed us down the pecking order.
Other clubs appear busy in the transfer market already with major signings. Manchester United have signed Ander Herrera and Luke Shaw, Chelsea sealed deals for Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa and Liverpool have signed Adam Lallana and look set to add Lazor Markovic and Dejan Lovren. Woolwich look in pole position to sign Alexis Sanchez and Manchester United may yet sign Arturo Vidal. Meanwhile Spurs business has so far seen us fail in negotiations to sign Ben Davies.
[linequote]the current squad and in particular S Club 7 who joined last summer, will be significantly better than last season by virtue of a year’s experience[/linequote]
The line of thought for many is that the current squad and in particular S Club 7 who joined last summer, will be significantly better than last season by virtue of a year’s experience. Whilst this may be true I do not believe that this improvement will be anywhere near enough to overthrow the five teams in pole place to finish above us.
I share the optimism that Erik Lamela may realise some of his potential with a return to fitness and an Argentinian arm round his shoulder but with most the teams set to add at least one top player and Spurs looking unlikely to add one, we will struggle to end with a higher finish than last season.
In a now infamous video a Tottenham fan sang that ‘Top Four’s our everything’ but for me this isn’t the case. If next season brings players who show they care for the club, football which is enjoyable to watch and our team clapped off more times than they are booed it would be genuine progress from the past couple of seasons.
The fans and Daniel Levy need to begin this season knowing that top four is a remote possibility and not finishing there should not be seen as failure. A successful season can come from a club providing enjoyable experiences not just from league finishes.
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.
16 Comments
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08/07/2014 @ 6:38 pm
Agree with much of what you say but it will not matter as we will qualify for Champions League by winning Europa League instead, enjoy.
08/07/2014 @ 6:48 pm
Im not optimistic at all Levy always fails in the transfer market and I don’t see that changing this summer. We won’t sign the players we need and we will keep the dog shit like paulinho hoping he will come good
08/07/2014 @ 7:06 pm
You as a supporter are similar to your opinion of Paulinho
08/07/2014 @ 8:55 pm
How do you come to that conclusion? You don’t know me! blindly supporting the team kissing the arses of all at the club makes you a better fan does it?
Football is about opinions if you think spurs will do well good I hope your right but I have seen it all before every window we fail to sign top players and our scouts continue to deliver rubbish!
08/07/2014 @ 6:55 pm
Great article. I work for a well known football magazine. One of our reporters spoke to the poch shortly after he was appointed. Our reporter said from what poch implied, we will be seeing a lot of lamela, Soldado and Capoue this year. Ade and paulinho – not so much.
08/07/2014 @ 7:20 pm
I completely agree with this. I do like Paulinho, but he seems to be a jack of all trades, master of none. He doesn’t finish as well as he should, he doesn’t pass as well as he should, he doesn’t tackle as well as he should and he’s not as quick as I first thought. Dembele is a great dribbler, he doesn’t pass quick enough but he is great on the ball and has a decent shot. Sandro is great at tackling and heading but he’s not as mobile as he once was and his passing is limited. So who’s left?
Capoue is probably the best passer of the lot. He is also defensive minded. He can dribble but he normally picks a pass. THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED. He can be the Schneiderlin of our team.
08/07/2014 @ 8:59 pm
I do like poch but he will fail like the others unless he is backed with a couple of top attacking talent as well as a centre back and left back
08/07/2014 @ 7:16 pm
Very good analysis Billy.
It’s still early days and I think we’ll ultimately do the Davies deal. If Lukaku doesn’t want to come (and there’s also the obstacle of CFC – when did we last conduct a successful transfer with them? it must be pre-the Oligarch!), we ought to look to Remy or Chicharito. What news of Coulibaly by the way? Wasn’t he supposed to be special?
If we bring in Lascelles from Forest, that will suffice as far as the back line is concerned. Three players is all we need, I think there’s a general consensus on that.
Where do you stand on Paulinho? He seems to me to be neither one thing nor the other. I have no idea how he gets anywhere near the Brazil first team.
In Poch we trust. Cheers.
08/07/2014 @ 7:45 pm
Paulinho ,Soldado and Lamella ………three players at one time considered to be world class have all failed at the same club at the same time. Why?…….are we just unlucky or just piss poor at recruiting players? Only Paulinho made it to the World Cup and his performances leave a lot to be desired. Perhaps thought should be given to recruiting top championship players like Stones of Everton . He did not cost much and was unfortunate not to get a run in the England team. Holtby cost peanuts but to me showed more spirit and energy than anyone in the team.
08/07/2014 @ 8:11 pm
If we can get Davies at LB and Lascelles in CB (both very sensible signings), we will add required depth in back line to stabilize things in front of Lloris. The only other addition we need is a striker – one of Lukaku/Bony/Remy would do. If we can get good money for either Ade or Soldado, then that would go a long way towards funding these acquisitions. I think then, we have a good chance of finishing 5th and making a better showing in the Europa League. I am not convinced that Liverpool will have such an easy time replacing Suarez’s goals and LVG has a notoriously complicated footballing system which will take a while to drill into his players do expect a slow start there. But all in all agree with the thrust of your article/blog.
09/07/2014 @ 1:59 pm
I think it’s time to shelve the Premier League. Seriously: As the piece points out, we need the ‘Champion’s League Clubs’ to fail, as City did when we first got in under Redknap; as Chelsea did the second. And now there’s Liverpool to consider.
I believe the Europa League is the most realistic path to the Champion’s League (money).
Think about it: to finish 4th we (more or less) need to perform well against the Top Four teams. Only let’s include Man Utd too, as their current absence from the Top Four is an anomaly. So say five teams, each played twice: 10 games against ‘Top Sides’.
How many ‘Top Sides’ would we face to win the Europa League?
Imagine we beat Benfica last season, our run to the final would have been: Benfica x 2 > AZ Alkmaar x2 > Juventus x 2 > Seville in final. So that’s Benfica x 2 and Juve x 2 as ‘Top Sides’, comparable to the Prem’s Top Four/Five. FOUR matches. That’s far fewer than the 10 needed to reach 4th.
Just saying, the Prem is so top-heavy and financially unequal that I genuinely think Europa is the best way in. And we win a cup for it: no trophies for finishing fourth.
09/07/2014 @ 4:03 pm
You should always have hope. I don’t think we’ll be top4, but I have hope, it’s part of being Spurs….
…
‘It is better to fail aiming high than to succeed aiming low. And we of Spurs have set our sights very high, so high in fact that even failure will have in it an echo of glory.’
10/07/2014 @ 1:29 am
IT’S BEEN 6 YEARS SINCE CUNTINGHAM FUCKSPURS LAST WON A TROPHY……TICK TOCK
http://sincespurslastwonatrophy.co.uk/
10/07/2014 @ 1:36 pm
I was wondering how long it would be before some Arsenal fans started doing this.
10/07/2014 @ 3:35 pm
Obviously a Gooner idiot and his childishly pathetic, though utterly predictable, play on our name. No – we haven’t won much in recent years but ’til Les Arses won the FA Cup against a world class Hull side , neither had they. Oh .. I forgot they didn’t really rate the Cup. They do now though, ‘cos anything else is far out of their slimy reach. Get back South of the river to where you originally were, stay there and ultimately rot.
10/07/2014 @ 10:39 am
The only other addition we need is a striker – one of Lukaku/Bony/Remy would do. If we can get good money for either Ade or Soldado, then that would go a long way towards funding these acquisitions. I think then, we have a good chance of finishing 5th and making a better showing in the Europa League. Thanks for sharing.