Charles Richards ponders Spurs' position within the Premier League. Are we where we should be? Can we improve on last season? Are we ambitious enough?
Should Spurs be happy with fifth?
This summer has been a continuation of the sensible, drama-free Tottenham 2.0 that has emerged since Mauricio Pochettino arrived. Instead of flinging money about at random, the club has slowly gotten rid of some of the deadwood that has accumulated and secured some decent fees in the process, while gradually rebuilding the squad starting from the woeful defence. It has been patient, methodical and most un-Spursy.
However, as good a signing as Toby Alderweireld is, I can’t see how Spurs are any closer to the Top 4. In fact, it seems the gap has never been bigger, and I don’t see how Spurs or Liverpool or any other potential challengers are going to come close to bridging it.
Chelsea look awesomely strong. Man City are adding Raheem Sterling and possibly Kevin De Bruyne to an already powerful line-up that underachieved last year and will surely rebound. Man Utd have finally addressed their midfield shortage, may well keep David De Gea for another season, and must have a top striker lined up if they’ve let Robin Van Persie go. Woolwich finally have a top-class keeper, and aside from a bit of quality in central midfield, have as good a squad as anyone.
[linequote]As Toby Alderweireld is, I can’t see how Spurs are any closer to the Top 4. In fact, it seems the gap has never been bigger[/linequote]
I know Liverpool fans are all excited by some of their signings, but for a second season in a row they’ve contrived to lose their best player (this time to a direct rival!) when they didn’t really need to. As almost every example shows, when you lose your best players, you get worse — it’s why big clubs are prepared to shell out tens of millions, because the players who can make them better are so rare and so valuable.
I felt this way last season, but to a lesser extent. Sure, Chelsea and Man City looked too strong. But United seemed vulnerable, and Woolwich had real weaknesses in their squad. It felt, if things broke the right way, Spurs may have had a chance of squeezing into 4th, But this year, I just don’t see it at all. Do any Spurs fans really think a 4th place finish is actually going to happen?
I suspect the best avenue for Champions League football would be the Europa League, but it is such a massive and exhausting tournament that there always feels a randomness about who emerges as a finalist (hello, Dnipro).
[linequote]Would it be better for a club like Spurs to accept that 5th is actually pretty good?[/linequote]
Champions League dominance has served to make fifth place seem like a position of failure, but to me, for Spurs another season in fifth should be a success. Look at our wage bill, net transfer spend, revenues and number of minutes given to homegrown players.
Is that unambitious? Or would it be better for a club like Spurs to accept that 5th is actually pretty good, the way things are shaping up in the Premier League, and plan for that, rather than keep on shooting for the moon each season and getting frustrated when we inevitably miss?
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.
21 Comments
Would you like to write for The Fighting Cock?
15/07/2015 @ 4:07 pm
Supporters who think that Spurs is an average club could be happy with fifth place.
Those who believe that Spurs are a top club shouldn’t.
The only reason Spurs can’t compete seriously for titles and trophies is that such a thing isn’t at all among the priorities of the owners of the club who are aiming primary to achieve certain commercial only targets on the cheap.
As we have witnessed during the last 14 (!) years of their ownership of the club, they have no ambition at all to set as a primary target winning a trophy.
23/07/2015 @ 11:24 am
Stupid Spurs fan. Of course we all want top 4 but look at the facts. The four clubs with the biggest revenue tend to finish in the top 4. There is a reason for that. It’s like me saying ”I want to buy a mansion” but then only being able to afford a smaller house. It’s not a lack of ambition me wanting a big house….
15/07/2015 @ 4:35 pm
we spurs fans dont expect or demand top 4, but we do expect to be very close to getting it, which we are capable of, just look at last season, we had the worse defence in the league, and where did we finish 5th, we will be stronger this year, and our defence is going to be better, so i expect a lot more points, but i hope that england loses 4th place, which could happen, and then we will see one of the top 4, who must have, like it is their god given right, a place in the overrated champions league, it will be great seeing one of them panicking, and all their fans moaning, and then they become one of the chasing pack, and without that money and cl to get the stars, they will go backwards, and lose the stars also, yes it would make our task even harder, but it would be worth it, and the team that is going to fail is arsenal, and that would be great, wouldnt it, they would no longer have that advantage any more, and we will devour them.
C O Y S
21/07/2015 @ 1:53 pm
You’ve mentioned a problem that very few people seem to be aware of: that the 4th CL spot for England is seriously under threat, and even third place only guarantees a spot in the playoff round.
But whether that will lead to a level playing field is unlikely. Arse are sitting on a huge cash mountain. Manure clearly out-spent us last season in spite of dropping out of the CL and Manc’s and Cheatski are aprt of a vanity project where money is no object.
In case you want to ask about FFP, you should bear in mind, that Abramabitch in order to get round the last breach of this by Cheatski, was allowed to buy more shares in a club that he already owns 100%.
15/07/2015 @ 4:38 pm
Impossible to say as we don’t know our squad yet for next season. But 5th last season could be considered a success. If we can keep hold of our best players and add a good striker or 2 and a top quality defensive midfielder then we could challenge for the top 4 . Still not convinced by man united as they are yet to sign a quality cb or striker. Window is still early so you can’t judge until 2nd september
15/07/2015 @ 5:07 pm
spurs fans should lose the blinkers for one miniute. Yes to us, our team is the biggest and greatest but in todays football its all about bank balance and revenue. The truth is we cant compete with the top 4, its an impossible dream until we get the new ground and hopefully a cash injection. those who say we should cant face reality and are blinded by the loyalty to the club. Nothing wrong with that in itself but to everyone else, 5th is the best we can do in the league. Add a cup to it and we’ve had a great season.
15/07/2015 @ 5:14 pm
We are not being held back by “lack of ambition” but we simply dont have the financial muscle of the current Top 4. When we did finish 4th it was due to a favourable set of circumstances…..chelsea were without Mourinho and had avram grant and de matteo in charge: arsenal were still paying off their stadium; liverpool were midtable: man city had expensive players but not a team. We had King Modric Bale and Rafa vdv. Plus some decent players like defoe. We took advantage of other teams weaknesses even when we were failing to beat the top 4. Maybe it will happen again but it wont come from signing £40m players on £12m a year wages as that is out of our range at present. As it is with Newcastle Everton Villa Southampton and West Ham…..our main competitors for 5th in terms of
resources. The fact we easily top that mini-league, and Liverpool too, is a helluva achievement. 4th would be great….lets go for it…..but lets not describe 5th as a failure. In fact? Gove me 5th and the FA Cup!
21/07/2015 @ 2:02 pm
It’s all about the money. How many people are aware that since the start of the PL, the team that has conceded most points to Spurs has been Mancs. Had Mansour not arrived on the scene, we would have been in the CL five out of the last six years, and if we had access to the revenue, this would have given us (up to £100 mill on the bottom line), we might still have Bale and Modric with us.
There are plenty who blame Levy for our “failure”, but I blame Mansour. Given all the circumstances, 5th is a hell of an achievement.
15/07/2015 @ 5:47 pm
The article misses the point. We have a new young manager and a new young squad and where we finish (as long as it is top half) is more or less irrelevant. The top 4 teams last season, had the top 4 wage bills, Liverpool have the 5th highest and we have the 6th highest, and finishing positions correlate to wage bill. For us to consistently break into the top 4 positions, we will have to have a top 4 wage bill and the only way that is going to happen is if we can generate the finances to support it. What we need is a world class training center (check!). What we need is new stadium that is much bigger than White Hart Lane (check!). What we need is outside revenue streams that will bolster the books (NFL check!).
Where we finish for the next few seasons, is insignificant to the building of the stadium and the future sponsorship deals. We have a manager that is maximizing the potential of youth players which will save tens of millions in buying players and will generate huge transfer fees when inevitably sold.
We are on the right path, we are building for the future while others with large wallets are using massive funds to maintain their status. It will only take one or two of them to implode and we will be in a position to exploit the top of the table for years to come.
21/07/2015 @ 2:10 pm
I wish I had your faith in Pochettino. It was clear to most of us that Kane should have been continued as a first choice player, yet MoPo only gave him the chance when it became clear that Ade and Soldado were not up to the job. And that is not the only time I have questioned his judgement.
I would love to be wrong, but I am yet to be convinced that MoPo is any good as a manager. Look at Soton after he left. They sold many of their star players, and still did better without him, than with him.
15/07/2015 @ 7:44 pm
Nobody should be happy/satisfied with anything less than top spot otherwise complacency sets in and then you go backwards.
Having said this if Spurs continue to stick with a nucleus of young home produced, and British players, and look like they deserve to be competing for a top 4 finnish I will not be too unhappy.
How many expensive foreign players did Alex Ferguson have when UTD were at their peak ? , nowhere as near as many as the likes of last seasons top 4 . So top place can be achieved without spending obscene amounts of money on footballing mercenaries.
23/07/2015 @ 11:31 am
Errr, Dwight Yorke (13m), van Nistelrooy (20m), Veron (28), Anderson (18m), Ferdinand (29m), Berbatov (30m)…..
16/07/2015 @ 5:36 am
Here is the facts of the matter, while there are no rules to stop oil barons spending their pocket money on average clubs like chelsea and city, then we cant get in, YET, but with our new stadium, and stateside nfl links, meaning loads more cash, we can compete with them really strong, bloody hell guys, with the money these sugar daddys have spent on chelsea and city, if someone comes into norwich, and starts spending like that, then they will win the league, city and chelsea have achieved nothing, any team could be a top 4 team, with this no hold bars spending, where would chelsea and city be without this spending, well chelsea would be midtable and no more, and city would be relegation and championship, possibly lower, MONEY TALKS.
I want some sense to come back to football, a wage cap of 50,000 maximum, and a transfer cap of 50 million, now all the big paid players will be coughing in their corn flakes, oh woe how can i manage on a measly 50,000 a wk, well try 500 a wk, then moan, and all the extra cash goes to the area, grass roots, so in other words the football clubs would be regenerating their community, it makes total sense, except to the greedy, oh yes, this is the question i am always asked, well the players would go abroad for bigger wages, if they have no rules, i say , so what, let them leave, the stars go, and then we make the new stars, they have to start somewhere, and all teams would have the same limits, so lots of academy players coming through, going head to head with other young potential stars, and no more top clubs stealing up and coming stars, just because they pay more, which they cant do now there are rules, it would be better than watching mercenaries, and bring some loyalty back to the game.
C O Y S
21/07/2015 @ 2:16 pm
Problem is that the caps you talk about would all be illegal under EU law.
Personally, though I sympathise with your aims, I would love to see wages be performance related, with bonuses for wins etc. I know at least one wage thief that would deservedly starve to death if this had already been in place.
22/07/2015 @ 4:06 pm
Caps wouldn’t be illegal. It’s a lazy argument. A cap could be constructed such that:
(a) Clubs could still pay ridiculous amounts to individuals, and
(b) Clubs could only register 25 (or say 30) players under an overall salary cap.
So clubs could pay players as much as they wanted, but they could play all of those players.
The problem with a salary cap is that it needs to be in place in all of the EU for it to work (pointless imposing on on the UK alone) – we would lose the best players to other leagues.
22/07/2015 @ 5:27 pm
Take my word for it. It would be illegal because it would lead to price-fixing which itself is outlawed under EU law.
The only way it could possibly come about is for ALL the parties to agree to it and then apply for what is known as a “block exemption” to the EU. An exemption can only be granted if it can be shown that there is no disadvantage to the public interest or the operation of the Internal free market. I can see the owners agreeing, but I can’t see the players, their unions or their agents agreeing.
16/07/2015 @ 2:50 pm
It doesn’t matter whether you think we should compete for top four or whether we have no right to be amongst it due to finances……..To dare is to do.
17/07/2015 @ 6:41 am
right i always hear from top 4 fans, we dont fear spurs, they are no threat, so if they dont fear us why do they, when ffp rules were taking hold, get their lawyers to stop this audacity, and when people mention salary cap, so that all teams can afford the best players, no they wont have that either, because they know without their advantage, more huge spending with no limits, they would not be guaranteed top 4, and they are scared to fail, and lose their place to us, so yes they are scared of spurs, and they will do everything to keep us at bay, they dont want competition, THEY FEAR TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR and they cant say otherwise.
look at man utd last season, in trouble, struggling badly, and then they go and spend 250m on players, and they save their season, only 6 points ahead of us, without that spending, man utd would not have made top 4, so it is a complete advantage, and without it, they are there to be had, and they know it, and fear it.
17/07/2015 @ 7:38 am
And if they dont fear us, then take us on an even spending field, so players can choose whats the best club for them and not just the huge money, but they wont do that, that is called scared for the challenge, and that is what sport should be all about, challenge to win, not be given it without fear of failure, like i said before top 4 achieved nothing, they are not beating the whole division for title, its just them 4, a mini league unto themselves, playing their fantasy football league, and i hope pl lose 4th place, (which we dont deserve) and one of them come back to the chasing pack.
20/07/2015 @ 9:12 pm
We lost to everage teams at home…that’s the main problem…we lost more than just six points you mention to ManU gap.
23/07/2015 @ 2:46 pm
“It’s better to fail aiming high than to succeed aiming low,” so no, we should not be happy with fifth place. It’s the exact opposite of our identity, to aim low and be satisfied. That isn’t to say finishing fifth last season (or any season when the outlook is bleak at the start) shouldn’t be considered a success, but there’s a difference between considering something to be a success and being satisfied with it. As long as Tottenham is Tottenham, we should not be satisfied with fifth.