With seven players brought in over the summer transfer window, expectations were always going to be high around White Hart Lane. Those expectations are raised further when you add that the transfer record was broken three times: for Paulinho, for Roberto Soldado and for Erik Lamela. Then you have the not-to-be-sniffed-at talents of Vlad Chiriches, Nacer Chadli, Etienne Capoue and Christian Eriksen. On top of that, you have returning loanees Danny Rose and Andros Townsend - both of whom had performed well last season and have done relatively well thus far in Lilywhite, too. Additionally, you have the return from long term injury for Younes Kaboul and Sandro, as well as the hope that a summer's rest has served Mousa Dembélé well. Finally, the departure of Gareth Bale has freed up space in the team for Lewis Holtby and Gylfi Sigurdsson to play in their more natural positions.
That's a lot of players I've named. Fourteen players, as it happens. Fourteen players who we, in early September, had reason to believe would improve Tottenham Hotspur and would play the kind of football that entertains and electrifies, but also wins games and maybe even trophies.
Certain players have come back and done well: Dembélé, Sigurddson, Sandro and Holtby have all made strong claims for first team football. Other players have come in with an immediate impact: Townsend, Rose, Paulinho and Eriksen can count themselves amongst these. Others are taking longer to impress: Soldado has come in for criticism because he hasn't scored a goal from open play, while Chadli makes many Spurs fans scratch their heads at how his stats are that good when they're certain he's been a passenger in the game. Erik Lamela may yet be the biggest flop we have bought - in keeping with being our record signing (never forget Bentley).
Except that words like 'flop' probably need to wait until Christmas before they're broken out. Fans are getting at Soldado for scoring no goals from open play ignoring that he involves other players, distracts defenders with his movement and has the class of Berbatov with the energy of Aaron Lennon. People are showing signs of frustration at Chadli because he plays on the left and doesn't have the pace of Bale. The truth is that certain players will take a little time to show why we bought them. The same Lewis Holtby who has four assists in the last two games he's played was criticised for being all energy and no brain last year. The same Gylfi Sigurdsson who was roundly derided for the majority of the last season has two goals in two games against Chelsea.
We are suddenly a club that has a wealth of options on the pitch. Only at left-back and in goal do we not have a suitable, like-for-like replacement who is only a small step down in quality. But in order to get our players to be all they can be for Spurs, we have to show patience as they find their way. Which would you rather have? A team which ekes out 1-0 or 2-1 wins before a collapse midway through the season because nobody bedded in properly, or one which draws a few games they should've won now to win game after game this season and the next?
The best part is that we may not have to choose. We've started well despite our misfiring players (he said, tongue very much in cheek) and, given how the season is unfolding for the incumbent top three, it seems that the sky may be the limit. Audere est facere - well, doing is daring, too. We are the living embodiment our motto; on the pitch and off it, we are showing ambition, verve and foresight.
The rarely-mentioned truth, however, is that not all of these players will be successes. We have likely misspent some money this summer because some players aren't right for the system, or will become injury worries or will simply never settle. But that we have these options right now and the strongest squad that many - myself included - have seen in their Spurs-supporting lifetime shouldn't be wasted because we want Soldado to make the net bulge with another meaningless goal against Tbilisi or Norwich. We could show how much we want this team to succeed by backing them. My own opinion is that our role in this is to support the team we love do as well as we can.
This year presents a unique opportunity; the teams around us flounder as they attempt to settle themselves. Mourinho's return to Chelsea has, so far, been less than emphatic. Pelligrini struggles to pick a starting XI on form when politics plays such a big part. And when Moyes was brought to Manchester United, many critics stated that Ferguson was given three years of grace before his first major victory; as yet, it is unclear whether Moyes will be afforded the same luxury.
So the stage is set for a showdown between the South-of-the-Thames Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur. We have the strongest squad and the best manager we've had in a long time. They are arguably at their weakest, papering over the cracks with an undoubtedly-world-class midfielder, while leaving their defence, goalkeeping and striking options threadbare. Do we dare to dream that we could finish above them, at the summit of the table? And can we trust in our manager to make the right decisions with the options available not just for success this season, but for glory in the years to come?
Well, y'know. Audere est Facere.
Edit: the author would like to apologise for neglecting to mention Zeki Fryers.
That's a lot of players I've named. Fourteen players, as it happens. Fourteen players who we, in early September, had reason to believe would improve Tottenham Hotspur and would play the kind of football that entertains and electrifies, but also wins games and maybe even trophies.
Certain players have come back and done well: Dembélé, Sigurddson, Sandro and Holtby have all made strong claims for first team football. Other players have come in with an immediate impact: Townsend, Rose, Paulinho and Eriksen can count themselves amongst these. Others are taking longer to impress: Soldado has come in for criticism because he hasn't scored a goal from open play, while Chadli makes many Spurs fans scratch their heads at how his stats are that good when they're certain he's been a passenger in the game. Erik Lamela may yet be the biggest flop we have bought - in keeping with being our record signing (never forget Bentley).
Except that words like 'flop' probably need to wait until Christmas before they're broken out. Fans are getting at Soldado for scoring no goals from open play ignoring that he involves other players, distracts defenders with his movement and has the class of Berbatov with the energy of Aaron Lennon. People are showing signs of frustration at Chadli because he plays on the left and doesn't have the pace of Bale. The truth is that certain players will take a little time to show why we bought them. The same Lewis Holtby who has four assists in the last two games he's played was criticised for being all energy and no brain last year. The same Gylfi Sigurdsson who was roundly derided for the majority of the last season has two goals in two games against Chelsea.
We are suddenly a club that has a wealth of options on the pitch. Only at left-back and in goal do we not have a suitable, like-for-like replacement who is only a small step down in quality. But in order to get our players to be all they can be for Spurs, we have to show patience as they find their way. Which would you rather have? A team which ekes out 1-0 or 2-1 wins before a collapse midway through the season because nobody bedded in properly, or one which draws a few games they should've won now to win game after game this season and the next?
The best part is that we may not have to choose. We've started well despite our misfiring players (he said, tongue very much in cheek) and, given how the season is unfolding for the incumbent top three, it seems that the sky may be the limit. Audere est facere - well, doing is daring, too. We are the living embodiment our motto; on the pitch and off it, we are showing ambition, verve and foresight.
The rarely-mentioned truth, however, is that not all of these players will be successes. We have likely misspent some money this summer because some players aren't right for the system, or will become injury worries or will simply never settle. But that we have these options right now and the strongest squad that many - myself included - have seen in their Spurs-supporting lifetime shouldn't be wasted because we want Soldado to make the net bulge with another meaningless goal against Tbilisi or Norwich. We could show how much we want this team to succeed by backing them. My own opinion is that our role in this is to support the team we love do as well as we can.
This year presents a unique opportunity; the teams around us flounder as they attempt to settle themselves. Mourinho's return to Chelsea has, so far, been less than emphatic. Pelligrini struggles to pick a starting XI on form when politics plays such a big part. And when Moyes was brought to Manchester United, many critics stated that Ferguson was given three years of grace before his first major victory; as yet, it is unclear whether Moyes will be afforded the same luxury.
So the stage is set for a showdown between the South-of-the-Thames Wanderers and Tottenham Hotspur. We have the strongest squad and the best manager we've had in a long time. They are arguably at their weakest, papering over the cracks with an undoubtedly-world-class midfielder, while leaving their defence, goalkeeping and striking options threadbare. Do we dare to dream that we could finish above them, at the summit of the table? And can we trust in our manager to make the right decisions with the options available not just for success this season, but for glory in the years to come?
Well, y'know. Audere est Facere.
Edit: the author would like to apologise for neglecting to mention Zeki Fryers.
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