WE MUST ALL HOPE SPURS WAY SUCCEEDS
Some of those responsible for guiding england deep into next summer’s World Cup did not think twice yesterday when asked about the philosophy Daniel Levy had just outlined in New York.
The Tottenham chairman observed mauricio Pochettino is a ‘coach who very much believes in the academy’. Levy added: ‘So unless we find a player who makes a difference, we would rather give one of our academy players a chance.’
one of Gareth Southgate’s staff observed: ‘If Levy didn’t have that policy, Dele Alli, Harry Kane and eric Dier would never have emerged. The philosophy shines out.’
Levy’s remarks were competing for attention with the latest thrusts in a summer of £850m transfer spending. manchester City stand at £200m and Chelsea are ready to smash through £250m. Tottenham’s US tour has been a different story — of midfielder Tashan oakley-Boothe becoming the first player born in the 21st century to play for the club and Kane urging the next generation to seize their chance.
Pochettino and his players carry the title hopes this season of those who look for evidence that intelligence, patience and nuance have a place in football that even the commercial juggernaut cannot destroy. Part of all of us should want Tottenham to flourish.
Reality, of course, is always more complicated than that. There is an immaculate symmetry about Spurs replacing Kyle Walker — for whom City are paying £50m plus £3m addons — with Kieran Trippier, a castoff from City’s academy. But the consequences of Walker’s £130,000a-week deal go deeper for Levy than the strength of his team’s defence.
Walker has doubled his wages — and though others of that tightly knit group of Spurs and england team-mates who he has grown up with may wish him all the best, they will look at what he is earning and question themselves.
Levy’s strategy has seen him offer modest pay rises with contract renewals virtually every year. He gives them just enough and they are generally tempted to stay. Alli is on his third contract in as many years.
But players are wise to wage inflation and the english contingent won’t accept Tottenham’s £100,000a-week glass ceiling for much longer. Alli may well be looking elsewhere after the World Cup. Dier may look with more certainty to manchester. Kane may not want to stay forever. modest money is unsustainable.
Spurs could maybe live with a stampede for the gates if they had a ready- made next generation and, though Harry Winks, 21, is considered the next big thing, the rest are works in progress. midfielder Josh onomah, 20, has been much talked about but Pochettino does not seem convinced.
ONomAH,right back Kyle Walker-Peters and centre half Cameron CarterVickers have had mixed fortunes on tour. Striker Kazaiah Sterling and oakley-Boothe have a way to go.
Pochettino’s inclination to give young players a chance comes with the rider that he likes such individuals to be ready to go, and not too great a gamble. The selective use of Winks — three league starts last season — shows that this coach’s courage with youngsters is measured. He likes to work with a 15-man squad.
It is why, for all that Levy says about Tottenham going with what they hold, the Argentine desperately wants to bring in players. Pochettino feels that making a better fist of the Champions League demands a deeper squad. He feels that a season playing at Wembley may be challenging.
Porto wing back Ricardo Pereira has been pursued, though progress has been torturous. everton’s Ross Barkley is a target, but his wages are a problem in Spurs’ pay structure.
Kane, on £100,000 a week, is their highest-paid star.
Wages have also been a deterrent to getting monaco’s Thomas Lemar. City’s Kelechi Iheanacho was looked at as part of the Walker deal. even everton’s 34-year-old Phil Jagielka has been spoken of as defensive cover. This uninspiring list reveals that Tottenham risk dropping into the growing chasm between big and lesser spenders in a league which is only getting bigger. And that they need to hold their english generation together.
Going out and winning the league may allow them to do that. The prospect of beginning the 2018-19 season as champions, in a new stadium, with the next ranks of academy talent on the way, may just persuade Alli, Kane and Dier to stay. Yes, more than ever a Spurs title is something to wish for.