Spurs news: Reflections so far

By Sunshine
August 31 2004

Four games, four goals, two clean sheets, two goals against, two wins, two draws, eight points and fourth place in the Premiership... Why am I not happy? Am I a typical Spurs fan who will always find fault? Is it because I’m too wary of past false starts?

Nope, I’m not happy because we’re not playing well and had we not had the rub of the green, could quite easily be here analysing a poor start to the season.

So, I must be unhappy? Well, err, no…I’m not unhappy, either. We’ve brought in more players than a frantic CM4 Manager would attempt, we’re fighting for every ball and we’ve a newfound resilience defensively (allied to a sizeable slice of luck, but it never hurt anyone to have the gods smiling upon them).

I suppose I’m a bit concerned and a bit optimistic, too.

I’m concerned because Spurs have profited from some excellent strikes by Defoe and Atouba for our points, whilst we still (despite massive rebuilding) don’t seem capable of linking the forward line to the rest of the team. Sooner or later, there will be games when our lads won’t be able to pull a rabbit out of the hat by nailing a wonderstrike. When that (inevitably) happens, we’ll struggle. I enjoy watching us score great goals, but I’d rather they came about as a team effort, rather than a moment of brilliance from a single individual. I’d like both, actually, but that’s besides the point.

I’m also optimistic, ever so slightly. We’ve looked difficult to beat and that is no mean feat for a team which has totally changed (except for the strikers) over the last couple of months. When I say totally, I mean it: King was at Spurs, but he was played in midfield almost all last season. Redknapp and Brown were here, too, but neither of them had been plying their trade out on the right (not consistently, at any rate).

All our new faces (and those still to come, hopefully) need time to get to know each other. Time can only make the understanding between players improve. What’s good about our squad is that with one notable exception, Naybet, the remainder of the ideal starting XI are 25 or under. There is plenty of potential and, for once, plenty of energy, grit and determination, especially in the middle of the park. For so long now, we’ve either been lame in midfield (Hoddle) or completely devoid of any flair or creativity (the post-Ginola Graham era).

We’re now a hard working side. Spurs are a hardworking side which is difficult to beat. No matter how many times I say it, it still sounds odd.

We’re still missing some flair and creativity and our midfield, down the flanks, needs improving. Once Davies returns, thing down the right will improve, but if the Manager doesn’t trust Ricketts, then we need a back up winger for the right.

Down the left, we’re still short of a flair player. I don’t mind an out-and-out winger (à la Reid) or a cultured wide midfielder (Emre from Inter would fit the bill), but we certainly need someone, since Atouba clearly (to me at least) isn’t a midfielder. Our Cameroon international is also relatively young, at 22, so we shouldn’t expect too much of him. Both Reid and Emre would be great and give us an alternative way of playing opponents, but I fear we’d be hard pressed to support that kind of investment, especially after having already spent quite a fair amount on other transfers (albeit every one of them at reasonable prices).

Edman and Pamarot to provide crunching tackles, King and Naybet to ensure stability, Davis to inject pace and strength, Mendes to add guile, Davies and a left winger to link the rest of the team to the attack, Kanouté to act as target man or Keane to supply the trickery and Defoe to act as the diamond cutting edge of the team….oh, and Robinson to keep the clean sheets.

I’m quite optimistic, though we’ve still a way to go. If the team do well this season, next summer should be a fantastic time to be a Spurs fan, as we plot our ascendancy in the Premiership.