Rose said what his Spurs team-mates must be thinking
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR are on the cusp of something very special. Much as I love them, you have to be honest about their history and remember that they are a club who have won the League title only twice.
That’s fewer than Huddersfield Town.
And it will have been 57 years since that last title by the end of this season, meaning even I can’t (really) remember it.
So what has happened in the last two seasons, in finishing third and then second and challenging for the title for the first time since the 1980s, has been truly tantalising. For some Spurs fans, this is something they have never seen before. The excitement has been palpable.
And that’s why people are beginning to express their frustration at what hasn’t happened this summer. And it’s also why Danny Rose will not have walked into an angry dressing-room on Thursday morning, following his now infamous comments about signings and salaries at Tottenham.
In fact, deep down his team-mates will be thinking, ‘Well done, Danny. You’ve put your head above the parapet but you’re only saying what we’re all thinking.’
We can all agree that the timing was wrong, coming at the start of the season and after six months of injury. Few would argue with the sentiment.
To be clear, you have to give enormous credit to Daniel Levy for rebuilding the infrastructure of the club. The training ground came first, but at the same time they remodelled the academy and youth development under John McDermott.
On top of that, he’s got a superb young manager who has nurtured an excellent young team. In fact, the starting XI is among the top two or three in the Premier League. But it really is a case of ‘What now?’ The last few years have been marvellous, though, of course, there hasn’t been a trophy.
Now Tottenham have this transition season at Wembley, which they have to embrace before moving into what will be one of Europe’s iconic stadiums.
The question is what kind of team will there be to play in it? Will it be a team to win the Premier League, to sustain a Champions League run into the spring? Or will it revert to what was becoming the norm for Spurs – a good bet for the top six?
There is a moment to be seized here and I had hoped it would be grasped in the spring and that leading players then might have considered Tottenham as a future project. I spoke about Kylian Mbappe and Isco.
Of course, it’s too late for those kind of players. And, the danger is that whoever Tottenham sign now, it might smack of desperation. But what Rose pointed out in his interview – and it’s instructive to remember that he has been watching the team for six months and so, perhaps, has a different perspective – is that Tottenham don’t have the depth to kick on. The squad I see, which has done so well, is good enough for the top six. But what is exasperating for the fans is that they sense they are on the cusp of a third title, with a few additions.
I think the players know it, too. They feel there might be something special. And, given the camaraderie, I expect they would love to stay to achieve it.
But once you begin to doubt that the club’s owners think the same, things can fall apart quickly. And it won’t be a small undercurrent of discontent, it will be a groundswell of dismay. They’ve seen the club sell Kyle Walker. If they don’t see that money reinvested, as well as additional money spent, confidence will go.
They will know about the salaries being paid by West Ham, Watford and Palace. All have signings who are thought to be on more than £100,000 a week. Clubs that were involved in relegation battles last season.
At some point the goals Tottenham aspire to have to be backed with ambition and cash.