Benitez, not De Boer, should follow these men if Tim leaves
TOTTENHAM Hotspur. When I was growing up, they were one of the established big five clubs in the country, a side you associated with glamour and excitement.
I remember the stylish team of Glenn Hoddle and Ossie Ardiles winning the UEFA Cup in 1984 and pushing Everton all the way in the title race 12 months later. As they were once Double winners and the first English team to lift a European trophy in 1963, their history could only be admired.
But here we are today and Tottenham’s glorious moments have hardly been updated. During the Barclays Premier League era, they have only won two League Cups and, rather than be known for the quality of their football, they are becoming notorious for the way they dispense with managers.
Only one Tottenham team have come close to matching the consistency of the team from the mid- 1980s. That was Harry Redknapp’s squad from a couple of years ago that finished in the top four twice in three seasons and reached the Champions League quarter-finals.
Under Redknapp, White Hart Lane was the most difficult stadium in the country for Liverpool to visit. It has always been a proper ground with a great atmosphere but the pace with which Harry’s team played was frightening to defend against. Like many who went before, however, he was sacked.
Judging from the pointed comments Tim Sherwood has made on a number of subjects in recent weeks — and the deafening silence that has come from chairman Daniel Levy in return — he will be the next Tottenham manager who finds his time is up.
Regardless of the fact Tottenham have played with Champions League consistency over the last 20 games or that they could set a new club record for points gained in a Premier League campaign if they beat West Ham and Aston Villa, a, Levy will start the proc- ess all over again.
I find it difficult to understand. Why must they change all the time? Since I made my Liverpool debut in January 1997, Tottenham have had 10 0 different managers, as well as three men placed in care-caretaker charge.
Some think Sherwood is being harshly treated, given the win percentage he has and his willingness to give young players opportunities, but I found the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas to be just as brutal.
Why give him £100million to spend on players, then get shot of him four months later without them having had a chance to settle in? He had enjoyed a solid first season in charge and should have been allowed to let his signings bed in before judgments were made.
It should be remembered that, if Tottenham had beaten Liverpool in whatwh proved to be Villas-Boas’s final game last December, they wwould have gone level on points with my old club — and who is to say what lift they would have got from such a win? There is no doubt the sale of Gareth Bale hurt. We know Levy loves to play poker in the transfert market and the fees he commands when selling are excellent but isn’t there more to football than just trying to get the best possible deal?
Seeing Bale and Luka Modric lining up for Real Madrid in the Champions League final will only intensify the frustrations of supporters. Do they feel shortchanged? Yes, Levy got almost £ 120million for the pair but couldn’t he have got tough as Liverpool owner John W Henry did with Luis Suarez?
Rather than negotiating with Madrid, shouldn’t Levy have been negotiating with both players and their agents to stay? Given how Bale has progressed this season, he could have had an impact for Tottenham like Suarez has had for Liverpool. The trend of Tottenham cashing in, though, is not new. They have had top players including Dimitar Berbatov, Robbie Keane, Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe, but all have had their price. If you are going to sell your best talent, why should you be a winning team?
LEVY,
it should be pointed out, hasn’t been bad for Tottenham. He has overseen the building of their new training ground, one of the best in Europe, has ambitions for them to move into a new stadium and their average finishing position has improved in the last decade.
Yet there is a notion that Spurs must play a certain way. That is admirable and explains why they are pursuing Ajax’s Frank de Boer. They are going back to the Dutch model and have also tried Spanish, Portuguese and French managers, most of whom had no Premier League experience.
If they want to go for a foreign manager again, why not go for someone who knows our league and a history of winning trophies? Personally, I think they should look at Rafa Benitez. He would love to work in England again but perhaps his pragmatic style of play wouldn’t be accepted.
Yet he has a winning mentality, has had success at two big Premier League clubs already and has a rich European pedigree.
For all their heritage, Tottenham are a team you don’t tend to take seriously when discussing who will be in line for silverware.
For as long as I can remember, regardless of their style and flair, they have been seen by the outside world as a soft touch.
If that doesn’t change, those stories from the 1960s about the great push-and-run team that Bill Nicholson managed and Danny Blanchflower captained will still be airing 20 years from now.