Spurs article: In perspective

By Sunshine
February 24 2004

Spurs have just drawn 4 all with Leicester at home, after having been 3-1 up at half time, with the opposition down to ten men at 3-2 and with Defoe managing to score an equaliser a handful of minutes before the final whistle.

To say that the fans were upset at the result would be something of an understatement. Initial reactions varied from resigned disgust and a sense of déjà vu (at the inept defensive display, if not the result itself) to outright rage.

Spurs’ recent performances have resulted in comments by the media ranging from plaudits for their entertainment value, real rollercoaster rides, to the club being little more than a laughing stock.

Whilst the results against Man City, Leicester and, to a certain extent, even Portsmouth at home could hardly be expected to be greeted with enthusiasm, ditto the away loss to Fulham, the negative reactions which have taken centre stage are not all warranted.

Perhaps it is time to put things into some kind of perspective: A few short weeks ago, most Spurs fans had a sickly feeling in their stomachs: A grand total of 18 points translated to one of the three relegation spots and it was not down to a temporary loss of form, but the bitter fruit of going almost half a season with a flawed squad, further impoverished by long-term injuries to key players.

The situation was so desperate that the Supporter’s Trust felt it necessary to contact Levy and make public the promise of “major changes” to the club, understood to mean the influx of new, quality players during the January Transfer Window.

Since then, two additions have been made (Brown, a first division player, for a sum in the region of £500k and Defoe, a very promising youngster also from first division ) and Davies has made a triumphant return from injury.

Even more importantly (crucially, it could be said), Spurs have gained 16 league points from a possible 21, lifting them 11 clear of the relegation fight, a road to ruin which seemed very much on the cards when the Champagne corks were popping on New Year’s Eve.

The position now is far less alarming, since the mediocrity of 85% of the Premiership means that 34 points at this stage of the campaign is enough to guarantee mid-table security, within sight of a UEFA Cup placing.

Sacking Pleat and pulling out all the stops to wrench a saviour (Manager) from another club no longer appears to be a priority. In fact, many of those baying for blood at the start of the year and criticising the Board for not purchasing half a dozen new players are now saying that it was a wise move by the club to wait for the right Manager to become available.

Isn’t hindsight a wonderful thing?

Speaking of which, hands up those of us who didn’t want Kanouté to join Spurs? Come on, be honest. African Cup of Nations issue aside, Kanouté has probably been the club’s most impressive player and his goals have certainly been instrumental in gaining most of the points tally before he left. With Keane not being an out and out goal scorer (recent performances excepted), the importance of King Kan (a nickname which would have been laughed at in early August) is not lost on many. Indeed, he is the first name on the team sheet for a lot of fans.

Postiga is proving to be quite a conundrum: Everyone wants him to be a success and he is being afforded a very generous portion of patience by all quarters, but despite his match winning strike against Liverpool, the seed of doubt that he’ll never become a star performer at The Lane has crept into the minds of most people. Again, hands up those who partied on hearing of his capture (once the papers had told us who he was), but who would now find a hatful of better ways to spend £6.25m (even if it is over the duration of his contract)?

Defoe, on the other hand, already seems a certainty: 4 goals in three games, quick on his feet, quick with his feet and even more with his speed of thought. Add this to a powerful shot and buckets of self confidence and it all leads, if you happen to agree with it, to one conclusion: Postiga should be shipped out were an offer to come in which meant that we didn’t lose a penny on the deal.

If Postiga is considered a conundrum, then the midfield is the Gordian knot that Alexander the Great was faced with untying (the legend had it that whoever undid the knot would rule all of Asia: Alexander took out his sword, hacked through it and the rest is history, as they say). Many fans advocated the same approach when Hoddle finally received his P45 and Pleat was installed as caretaker. That is the beauty of being a fan: We can rant and rave without being responsible for the consequences. Pleat couldn’t. He had to work with the material available to him and, from the height of his knowledge of the game, realised that he had to make selections which many wouldn’t understand. Of course, the lack of a magic wand meant that the initial period of moderate success was branded a fluke and the subsequent exposure of the flaws in the squad of fit players resulted in the inevitable string of poor results and hysterical calls for the caretaker Manager’s head.

Fortunately, wise Mr Pleat was….wise enough to proceed with the beliefs that a lifetime in football had bestowed upon him. With King (played as a holding, ball-winning midfielder) and Davies (the impish, mark 1 version, as opposed to the ‘faded’, later edition) returning from injury, Dalmat and Anderton both found form (with Dalmat losing it again just as rapidly). Confession time again: How many of us thought Anderton would ever be of use to the cause again and how many had written off the Frenchman as an overweight, lazy luxury, but then wouldn’t have dared dropping him once his form took a turn for the worse? Don’t bother answering, the noise would be deafening.

Not content with getting the existing midfield to perform, two further pieces of the jigsaw were found and added: Jackson (of limited pace and even more limited experience, but notable left peg) and Brown (box to box, Nationwide psychopath). Jackson probably passed one of the worst nights of his life after his costly mistake against Leicester, but he is young and should learn from it, whilst Brown can be pleased with his first ever goal in a lilywhite shirt.

The result of Pleat’s efforts, patience and persistence is a midfield which is dynamic and always threatens to score, though does not possess enough quality or composure to alleviate the pressure on the back four. Nevertheless, positive results were bound to come (not Rocket Science, is it?).

Come the summer, thankfully Poyet retires, Anderton and Acimovic (perhaps even earlier) should find new homes and Redknapp should finally approach a new campaign with a decent pre-season under his belt. Ideally, three midfielders should join the ranks: One for the left and two for the centre. We could do worse than try again to get a work permit for Bobby Convey (or, alternatively, Reid) to give the left flank some ‘ooomph!’ (I would have written ‘va va voom’, but it didn’t seem appropriate), then luring Davis and Van Bommel for the central berths: Sounds expensive, but if we do have money to spend (as looks likely), then it should be feasible.

A strong defence is the foundation of sustained success, which is probably why Spurs have, since I can remember (which stretches back to the late ‘60s), been so inconsistent.

Last summer, the club concentrated its efforts on the strike force. This January, that ‘force’, together with the midfield, was tweaked. Come the summer, it will be time to finish addressing the midfield (as outlined above) and sort out the defence. At present, there are too many question marks hanging over this unit: Will Carr stay or will he be sold? Has Richards become too slow and too cumbersome, or will a much needed operation to his Achilles tendon give us back the powerhouse that carried the defence 12/18 months ago? Is it really wise, long-term, to persist with playing Taricco out of position on the left (even though he is doing a sterling job)? Is Gardner the player we saw in January or will he revert to the ‘giraffe-mode’ we’ve all witnessed too often for our liking? Is Doherty the ‘rock’ that has stepped in since the forfeit of Richards, or is he the much-maligned piece of deadwood that had become the butt of so many sour jokes amongst the Spurs faithful, jokes which will intensify after his personal disaster against Leicester? Will King return to defence should another holding midfielder be signed by the club and will he have improved in that, his chosen position, or will he be just as lackadaisical as he was before plugging the gap in midfield?

On the goalkeeping front, Keller seems to have gained some assertiveness and finally learnt the language. That shouldn’t be enough, mind you, to save him from the chop come the next opportunity in the transfer market. Perhaps not the best in the business, but young Robinson would be more than capable of replacing the ageing American.

Regarding the defence, the burning question is: Are we confident that the defenders currently on our books will be up to the job next year and, in Carr’s case, still be around?

Whilst Gardner has undoubted potential, it has become clear that he isn’t the type to marshal the defence. He needs to be paired to a commanding centre back and whilst Doherty is an adequate back up, but nothing more, Richards is proving unreliable (injuries and form) and Mabizela doesn’t seem to have done enough to earn himself a run in the side, though he certainly appears to be made of the right stuff and would possibly be the perfect foil for Gardner or King at the back. Faced with these uncertainties, it would be advisable to sign a quality centre back at a reasonable cost (Dawson, anyone? Ferrari, from Parma, perhaps? Not Laursen, heaven forbid: The same people calling for him to come to The Lane were keen on landing Roche Junior last summer).

The full back situation is unbalanced, to say the least: The squad has a wealth of talent on the right-hand side and not a single, recognised, senior left back to speak of. Our best player (Carr) has his future hanging in the balance, his understudy (Taricco) is, as has been said, playing on the left, then there are the youngsters who are coming through (Marney and Kelly) and what looks like an excellent prospect (Ifil) making his mark in the reserves. Over on the left, nothing. Taricco fills in and Jackson, a midfielder, can also cover the position in an emergency, though his lack of pace would see him exposed against good opposition. Ziege can’t, unfortunately, be counted upon.

It is strikingly obvious that a quality left back needs to be purchased. Whilst I was not impressed with Konchesky at left midfield, he did enough during his loan at Spurs to convince me that he could be the long-term solution for the left back slot.

It is also just as obvious that losing Carr, should he make it impossible for the club to renew his contract, would not constitute that much of a body blow. In fact, the sum we’d receive for the Irishman this next summer would come in very handy, considering the cost of assembling a squad capable of competing for a top six berth.

Come next term, then, there is no reason why Spurs should not be in a position to be a major force in the Premiership, thanks also to the sterling work being carried out by Pleat.

It is time to disassociate the word ‘success’ from the colour red in North London.

Red can go back to its traditional meaning: Stop!



Sunshine

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