Tottenham’s approach is so refreshing. It’s time to end ‘Spursy’ jibes
TOTTENHAM are flat, there’s no doubt about that now and this little spell of theirs couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Barring an incredible swing in goal difference, they will have got away with it in terms of a top- four finish in the Premier League.
But in their Champions League semi-final second leg against Ajax tomorrow they will have to come up with a performance far better than anything they have produced of late if they are to overturn the 1-0 deficit.
Five of their last six matches have ended in defeat and if I’ve heard it once I’ve heard it 1,000 times during that spell that, “It’s classic Spurs, they’re bottling it”.
But woe betide anyone thinking that way, because being ‘ Spursy’ these days means something very different to what it meant even five or six years ago. Now I’d use the phrase to describe a club which manages its budgets, doesn’t break the bank and is still able to be very competitive.
And while people will say, “Yes, but they have much greater resources than Ajax”, they don’t have anything like the resources of their Premier League rivals.
What we’ve seen at Spurs in recent weeks hasn’t been just about the 2018- 19 campaign, but about a three- year cycle in which pretty much the same players have been used.
At Manchester
City, Pep Guardiola has 24 or 25 players who are the highest quality and the same goes for a high percentage of Jurgen Klopp’s at Liverpool, too.
But Mauricio Pochettino doesn’t have that luxury at Spurs, where he has 14 or 15 to call on at best.
That’s why I wouldn’t compare them to any of the biggest clubs in Europe – not City, Manchester United, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Paris Saint- Germain, Bayern Munich or Juventus.
The real shame is that there aren’t more clubs in the top leagues across the continent doing what Tottenham are doing, because if there was, then they’d be much more exciting.
Top threes and top fours would be far more interchangeable and that would only be a good thing. The problem for Spurs now isn’t tactical, they just need the cavalry to arrive for back-up and the cavalry isn’t there. Pochettino (left) will address that in the summer and the word is that Kieran Trippier and Serge Aurier will be among those sold as he freshens up his squad.
But certainly in Trippier’s case, I’m not sure how much I’d meddle with the first XI because I don’t think that’s where the problem is.
What they need is quality back- up, players who will push Hugo Lloris, Jan Vertonghen, Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son or who will replace them when they are injured or suffering a dip in form.
It’s about making sure the quantity matches the quality now for Tottenham.
But more pressing is getting a result against Ajax and I hope they do it.
Because that would send a strong message that teams can still compete in an oldschool way rather than spending tens of millions every time there’s a problem.