New blood needed?

The transfer window is open. Quite possibly the most exciting time for any enthusiastic football fan. You might see your favourite players leave, you may see some of your favourite players join your club and if you’re lucky you may see your rivals get weaker as they lose all of their key players. As a Tottenham fan, we’ve felt all of these emotions. We’ve seen the likes of Bale, Modric, Van der vaart and even Berbatov leave our club. All highly regarded players and masters of their respective positions. We’ve seen new talent join and make a lasting impression. such as Eriksen, Alderwiereld, Alli, Son and quite possibly one of the best goalkeepers to pull on that beautiful jersey, captain Hugo Lloris. Quite ironically, the best player over the last 3 seasons for us, wasn’t purchased, he was produced. Of course I’m talking about Harry Kane. local lad and a hard working player with the stats to back it up. its hard to slate this mega talent. 23 years young and with 78 goals in 113 appearances, dare I say it the man to break that shearer record?

With all that said we still haven’t cracked the code. Under Pochettino we’ve seen a rapid improvement in our clubs ranking. For the first time in 21 years we finished above Arsenal. We have come so close the clinching that premier league title 2 seasons running, but we’ve never tasted trophy winning success. We boast the best defensive record in the premier league for the last 2 seasons. With Harry Kane leading the line, we have a back to back golden boot winner scoring 54 goals over the last 2 seasons. Our odds for the title this year look promising. So what’s missing?

Consistency. It’s no secret that consistency is vital if you’re looking to win that premier league title. A simple look at last year’s record in the league and straight away the problem becomes so obvious. Draws. Far too many draws. 8 to be exact. Doesn’t seem like many but it is 5 more draws than the league winners Chelsea had. In mine and many other Tottenham faithful’s opinions, we need more depth. This window has seen us lose Kyle Walker to title contending Manchester City. We may have got a handsome fee of £50m for him, however that doesn’t excuse the fact that we have strengthened one of our rivals. I have the upmost confidence that Tripper can fill those boots left behind by Walker but this is where depth comes into play.

Who covers Tripper? The most impressive thing about Tottenham is the youth. No doubt that our youngsters breaking though are some of the best in the country. In that RB position, we have Kyle Walker-Peters breaking though. He’s a top prospect in his own right. Showing plenty of promise in our youth squads and representing England at 3 different age levels. It’s clear that he is highly thought of. He played recently in our pre-season game against Paris Saint Germain and although he showed what he can do in both attack and defence, he also showed his inexperience. He was very eager to join the attack at every opportunity but sometimes too eager and as a result left us open to the counter. It’s clear that he still has lots to learn and minor tweaks to make. However he’s at the best club under the best manager for giving youth a say.

A different approach?

One of the key things missing from our squad is a tricky forward with pace to burn. In those games when you need someone to come on and breathe a new life into the team. Be creative and direct. Pacey and skilful. Who you gonna call? Sissoko! That’s the sad reality. When it’s one of those games. where you just need some extra life. you look to our bench and see a struggling Janssen, Sissoko or even a rare sighting of Nkoudou (who I think has plenty of promise) it’s clear we need something different. We went after Wilfried Zaha, and it didn’t work out. We were linked to Thomas Lemar and that trail went cold. What do we need? We experimented with Clinton Njie, and it’s safe to say that failed and now we have Nkoudou. Don’t get me wrong I think Nkoudou has bags of ability and potential but we need someone ready made. We need the full package. If it were up to me I would try everything in my power to get the signature of Ross Barkley. Yes I know what you’re thinking. Barkley isn’t a winger? Barkley doesn’t have blistering pace? Both of those statements would be true. The way we set up, Alli and Eriksen play As LF and RF in behind Kane. On paper that’s what it looks like. However on the pitch they interchange and play more centrally and let our full backs play was wide as they want, almost as wingers. With Barkley you have a player with so much talent and ability under the wrong coach. It’s no secret that Ronald Koeman isn’t the biggest fan of Barkley. It’s hard to not gaze into the future and see what Pochettino could create. He isn’t blistering, but he isn’t slow. With the ability to use both feet, great dribbling, strength and aggression Barkley reminds me of a young Wayne Rooney.

Youth shining through?

Like stated before youth is a big part of our club and the mangers philosophy. Pochettino loves a good youngster (however bad that may sound its true). Pochettino is willing to give a chance to any player willing to work for it. We’ve seen debuts of Carter-Vickers, Winks, Onomah, Shashoua and the crown jewel of our youth products Marcus Edwards. Carter-Vickers as I’m sure you know plays CB and if given more opportunities to play alongside Alderwiereld and Vertonghen his game will only improve. Harry Winks last year showed everyone what he’s all about.  With a brilliant footballing brain, a great range of passing, and stamina to burn it’s hard not to compare Winks to a certain Scott Parker. Winks has brilliant ability and will only improve with more and more game time. It’s clear that he is liked by the manager and trusted to play in big games but my pick for the “One to watch” for next season is Josh Onomah. if you managed to catch some of the u20 world cup you’ll know that we have a special, special talent on our hands. Watching him play for us over the last few seasons in his cameos I was left wondering why he had so much praise heaped upon his shoulders. He was always clumsy on the ball, out of position and somewhat underwhelming. However its clear to see that having had 1 season out of the spotlight and given time to train with the first team and improve on his game. He’s developed massively. He’s changed position and now plays as a CM. He’s come out and said that his role model is Moussa Dembele and watching him play in the u20 world cup its clear to see that he’s been modelling his game around Dembele’s. He’s certainly added some muscle as-well was maturity to himself. He commanded the England midfield and bossed every game he was in. His performances were highlighted and praised by many, and England went on to win the u20 world cup. I hope he and many others are given a chance to strut their stuff next season.

I hope Pochettino makes some additions to the side where needed and maybe this season we can go one better, and add some silverware to our hungry trophy cabinet. COYS.