Ahead of the trip to White Hart Lane on Sunday, LFW caught up with our regular Spurs contributor Michael Pickard, news editor at the Times and Independent local papers up in North London, for the low-down on his team.
At the start of last season, with seven new additions, hopes were high of top four and finishing above Arsenal, why didn’t it happen?
Despite the loss of Gareth Bale, it was impossible not to be swept along in the wave of excitement and optimism that came with signing seven new players last summer. However, as the season began, it quickly became apparent just how big a part Bale had played in helping us to finish fifth in Andre Villas Boas’ first season. Then when our new signings failed to hit the ground running — or, in the case of Erik Lamela, disappeared from the face of the earth altogether - some heavy defeats to our top four rivals saw the end of the manager. Whether he should have been given more time is a discussion for the pub, but sacking him without a clear replacement and then waiting several days to name Tim Sherwood as head coach smacked of uncertainty and a lack of leadership from the board, which sadly characterised the rest of the season.
Despite his 18-month contact, only Sherwood’s biggest fans would have thought with any certainty that he would still be in place for the start of this season and this feeling seemed to resonate through the squad. Admittedly, his record was strong in the Premier League and a sixth place finish kept us in Europe, but crashing out of both domestic cups and the Europa League didn’t do him any favours, while the performances weren’t much to write home about and he was let go before the World Cup.
Was sacking Villas Boas the right thing to do? Where did he go wrong?
Sacking Villas Boas may have been the right thing to do, but with no obvious replacement and Tim Sherwood only taking over for the rest of the season, hindsight suggests the wiser decision may have been to keep him in post. Losing your best player is never easy, especially while integrating seven new squad members, and some heavy defeats meant his support was crumbling beneath him. In addition, the team wasn’t playing particularly well, even in victory, and all these elements led to his demise.
What did you make of Tim Sherwood’s six months in charge?
To give him some credit, he reunited a squad that had splintered when Villas Boas pushed Emmanuel Adebayor out into the cold. He brought some promising youth players into the first team and also said publicly what many fans were thinking, particularly after the capitulation at Chelsea. Early wins at Southampton and later at Old Trafford helped heal the wounds from cup exits to West Ham and Arsenal. But despite generally positive results, performances never sparkled and his reign always seemed unlikely to last beyond the end of the season. And as he became more outspoken, you could feel the team starting to drift away from him as everyone waited for the inevitable axe to fall.
And the appointment of Mauricio Pochettino?
Southampton were undeniably impressive last season under Pochettino and, despite the relative lack of notable candidates, it’s a strong appointment. With the Saints he showed he was able to bring a team together, improve the regulars and bring through youth players and that’s what Spurs need — someone to gel a set of individually talented players and give some of the youngsters some match time. His attractive, high pressing style of play is already evident, while his affinity with fellow Spanish-speakers Roberto Soldado and Erik Lamela could prove invaluable to get the best out of them. The biggest question mark is not him but how much time he will have to build a team in his image before the chairman falls out of love with his latest hire.
What did you make of your summer transfer business? Do you expect more incomings and outgoings before the window closes and if so who? Who would you like to sign and can we have Lewis Holtby please?
After last season's shopping spree and another new manager arriving at the club, the lack of transfers has been refreshing. That said, that doesn't mean there aren't gaps in the squad and at Spurs, there's always likely to be a new arrival until the transfer window closes. Ben Davies is a good signing and provides competition at left back for Danny Rose, who struggled last season. Michel Vorm is an interesting signing, not for joining us but for leaving a first team spot at Swansea to be Hugo Lloris' number two. However, he is a good back-up for Lloris with Brad Friedel presumably easing into retirement. It would be nice to have another centre-back, while Morgan Schneiderlin would be a welcome signing in defensive midfield. I'd hate to see Lewis Holtby leave as I think he has a lot of promise and would benefit from a run in the team. But after being loaned out last season and with a bloated squad, QPR could certainly try their luck with a cheeky bid.
Who were the top performers last year?
Despite finishing sixth, it was a disappointing season with few notable performers. Hugo Lloris was outstanding and the fact he's signed a new contract is as good as a new signing. Of the new boys, Christian Eriksen impressed and should hopefully push on this season to become one of the side's central figures.
Where is the current team/squad particularly weak?
Despite the signing of Davies, the defence still looks the weakest part of the team without a settled centre-back pairing, although Eric Dier impressed on his debut and Jan Vertonghen, arguably the best in the position, is set to return after being rested against West Ham. Emmanuel Adebayor, Roberto Soldado and Harry Kane look set to battle for the striker's position without any of them particularly convincing.
Given the money spent, turnover of managers, constant near misses with the top four, what’s the general opinion of the job Daniel Levy is doing?
From a business point of view, there can't be much disagreement with the way he's running the club — one of the world's best training facilities, money-spinning sponsorship deals, new stadium plans — and the fact he fights over every pound of a transfer fee. On the footballing side, many fans appear to be running out of patience, not only with the number of people taking charge but also the fact that each appointment seems to herald a new playing style, and with it new personnel coming and going, which means often it seems as if there's no direction from the top about what kind of club we should be. In Pochettino, hopefully we have someone who will instil an attractive, attacking style of play — the 'traditional' Spurs way — so that, even if silverware continues to elude us, we can enjoy watching the side more than in recent months.
A criticism we often level at Spurs, and Tim Sherwood seemed to agree at times last year, is they seem to hoard young talent in their youth and reserve set up but never give it a chance in the first team. Loads of talented youngsters who only ever get to play their football out on loan, much like Chelsea. Fair?
It's certainly a fair comment, although I'm not sure it's a level comparison with the quality of players Chelsea seem to have out on loan. There are certainly plenty of players coming through the ranks and while some do get a handful of first team appearances in between loans, ultimately they're deemed not good enough to hold down a first team place and are shipped out. Nabil Bentaleb and Harry Kane are now first-team squad players, although perhaps still not good enough to hold down a regular starting place. Tom Carroll showed a lot of promise so it will be interesting to see how his season unfolds, with another loan move mooted. The main question is why are more of our academy not making the step up to the first team, and what can be done to change that. Answers on a postcard please.
Hopes and fears for this season?
My hopes are for a top four challenge, and a cup run would be nice. With Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal all strengthening, Louis Van Gaal turning over the squad at Old Trafford, and Everton hoping to replicate last season's fifth place, we must take some points from them all to remain in contention. My fears would be early cup exits and losing touch with the top four, and so enduring another listless run until May.
Short, medium and long term aims for the club?
Our short term aim should be to build a squad playing attractive, attacking football, bringing some fun and optimism back to White Hart Lane, which Pochettino's appointment certainly seems to herald. Medium-term, we need a trophy, any one will do. Long-term, we need to be challenging regularly for the Champions League places, although while Daniel Levy still has hold of the purse strings, this may prove futile against bigger spenders.
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