Spurs have to start thinking like a big club

WHEN Kyle Walker joined Manchester City in the summer, the talk was that Tottenham had pulled off a great bit of business, that £54million was an excellent deal for a 27-year-old right back. With Tottenham now trailing Pep Guardiola’s side by 11 points in the title race, it is increasingly looking like a bad decision. Spurs have now lost their last two away trips to Manchester United and Arsenal without scoring a single goal. Their right backs in these games, Serge Aurier and Kieran Trippier, failed to create a single chance. Tottenham’s attacking full backs in Walker and Danny Rose have been such a big feature of their game in the last couple of years. Trippier and Ben Davies are very good players who have done well this season but they do not offer the same attacking threat. Spurs may have one of the best young squads in the country but the club’s mentality has not changed since I played for them 13 years ago. Chelsea were hammered for letting Nemanja Matic join a direct rival in Manchester United but when Walker went to City, it was seen as a shrewd move for Tottenham. Regardless of whether Mauricio Pochettino and Rose have fallen out, Tottenham cannot afford to lose another star wing back. This summer, Europe’s biggest clubs in Europe will be circling to buy Harry Kane and Dele Alli. If Rose is allowed to leave, it gives his team-mates a reason to move elsewhere, too. Walker’s former team-mates will know how much money he is on at the Etihad and there is a danger that this promising team will be broken apart. Pochettino, too, will wonder what he can achieve at Tottenham if their best players are sold. Pochettino’s away record against Spurs’ top-six rivals now reads one win in 17. That is not good enough. Unless Spurs can adopt a big-club mentality, they cannot be considered title contenders.