Having spent big in the summer transfer window leading up to the 2013/14 season, there were big expectations from Tottenham Hotspur supporters that have failed to be achieved. Some optimistic Tottenham Hotspur fans believed their side were capable of winning the league, as a top four spot seemed almost certain with Spurs recruiting Paulinho, Roberto Soldado, Nacer Chadli, Etienne Capoue, Christian Eriksen, Vlad Chiriches and Erik Lamela with the money from the sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid for a world record fee.
However, after a fairly promising start to the campaign, Spurs defensive lapses condemned them to humiliating home defeats by West Ham United (3-0) and Liverpool (5-0) and also a demoralising display away to Manchester City resulting in a 6-0 defeat. Andre Villas-Boas had soon come under increasing pressure as his side struggled to keep pace with the top four in the league and significantly the heavy defeat at home to Liverpool proved the final straw for the Spurs hierarchy. “The club can announce that agreement has been reached with head coach Andre Villas-Boas for the termination of his services,” was released by Spurs in the wake of the defeat.
Initially, Tim Sherwood took temporary charge after the sacking of Villas-Boas, opting to play a 4-4-2 formation away to the Barclays Premier League in form side Southampton; showing confidence in long suffering striker Emmanuel Adeybayor who started up front alongside summer signing Roberto Soldado. Many Spurs fans were delighted to see this as previous boss Villas-Boas played quite a defensive style and was also very tactical in his approach to games resulting in Spurs scoring just 15 goals in 16 top-flight matches.
Sherwood’s enthusiasm, passion and determination to succeed in the managerial industry was clear to see from day one. His decision to play Emmanuel Adeybayor most definitely payed off with the Togolese striker scoring a brace in an impressive 3-2 win. Victory for Spurs boosted Sherwood’s hopes of getting the manager’s job on a longterm basis, after making clear his interest in replacing Villas-Boas earlier in the week leading up to the game.
Less than 24 hours after the Southampton game, Tottenham named Sherwood as their new head coach, handing him an 18-month contract. The job of Spurs boss was always going to be a difficult challenge for Sherwood as the fans of Tottenham Hotspur have always demanded the very best from their side and expectations have failed to be met in previous seasons.
With one simple objective: get Tottenham Champions League football, Tim Sherwood had it all to do if his side was to finish top four in the Barclay’s Premier League table.
A majestic, morale boosting 2-1 win at Old Trafford for only the second time in 23 years was the perfect start to 2014 for Sherwood and his men. A hugely impressive result for the new head coach who was now unbeaten in all four of his Premier League games in charge after wins against Stoke and Southampton and a draw at home to West Brom.
Four days after their memorable win at Old Trafford, Tim Sherwood and his men traveled across North London to face rivals Arsenal in the third round of the FA Cup. Spurs started the game well with young Nabil Bentaleb controlling the midfield early on. But Arsenal came back into the game and their current superiority over their North London rivals was becoming evident as Santi Cazorla’s powerful finish put the hosts ahead in the 31st minute.
Spurs created few openings during the first half and struggled to break Arsenal down. Sherwood continued his bold ploy of playing two out and out strikers in Emmanuel Adebayor and Roberto Soldado which left Spurs light in numbers in the midfield areas. Arsenal spotted this weakness and exploited it well and just after the hour mark Thomas Rosicky doubled the hosts lead courtesy of of a calamitous mistake from Spurs left back Danny Rose. After six games in the space of 17 days, the Spurs players looked physically fatigued, and lacked a real insurgence of pace. Arsenal held out to complete a comfortable win in the North London derby and secured their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup.
During mid-February, Spurs recorded a splendid 4-0 win away to Newcastle United, producing an excellent display to the delight of the traveling faithful who made the long trip up North. Tim Sherwood’s side showed they were really capable of producing the best and a top four finish seemed possible if Spurs were able to maintain consistency until the end of the season. However, March proved to be a disappointing month with Spurs suffering back to back defeats against Chelsea (4-0), Benfica (3-1) and Arsenal (1-0) before producing a spirited display away from home to Benfica where Spurs we’re leading 2-1 with five minutes to go yet another defensive error resulted in a penalty and the game in Portugal finished 2-2 on the night and 5-3 on aggregate which saw Spurs exit the Europa League. A poor month for Sherwood’s side was completed with a 4-0 hammering to Liverpool, who capitalised on shocking Spurs defensive lapses yet again.
Now in April, with only three games remaining, Spurs sit 6th in the Barclays Premier League table on 63 points, three points behind Everton in 5th place and four points behind Arsenal in 4th. But taking into account the fact both Arsenal and Everton have one game in hand on Tottenham, a top four finish for Spurs this season seems unlikely and many Spurs fans despite their disappointment believe that this is a fair reflection as their side have failed to record a win over any top four side this season which simply isn’t good enough.
Tim Sherwood has claimed the ‘silence is deafening’ regarding his long-term Tottenham Hotspur future, insisting he does not want to become an assistant manager. There have been constant rumours that Sherwood will be replaced in the summer which perhaps may have affected the teams performances. Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal has been linked with a summer takeover however nothing has been finalised.
If Spurs are to record a Champions League spot in the 2014/15 campaign, they need to address their defensive weaknesses and solve them urgently because this season it has cost them on so many occasions and some would say is the main reason why they have failed to secure Champions League football.
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