The Tottenham Hotspur is a team who has immense potential and talent available at their fingertips, but has never quite been able to reach what their players, coaches, and fans desperately want. They have owned 2 of the best players in the world in the past few seasons, in central midfield Luka Modric, and winger Gareth Bale, but were unable to convince either to stay, much because of the lack of Champions League soccer, which consequently led to the sale of both to Real Madrid in consecutive seasons. Feeling hard done by the loss of such talent, owner Daniel Levy used the stacks of money received from the players to fund a record 2013 transfer season for Spurs, in which talent such as Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela, Roberto Soldado, and many others, were brought on board. With such promising potential, the fans felt certain that they would make a run for the top of the table, or at least a coveted Champions League spot, but to no avail. They finished a decent 6th in the 2013-2014 campaign, accepting a place in the Europa League, the Champions League’s little brother. Respectable, but not what the Spurs faithful wanted, or expected.
Tottenham Failure to Launch (2013-14)
The 2013-2014 campaign began with 1-0 wins. The offense looked lacklustre, but the Michael Dawson led defense held down the fort. Things were not great, but a win is still a win and they found themselves near the top of the table. Suddenly though, disaster. A thorough dismantling by Manchester City in the fall saw a shell shocked Spurs lose 6-0, and things seemed only to get worse after that. 1-5 to Liverpool abruptly followed, as well as some bad results to West Ham, who joyously celebrated “the treble,” as they beat Spurs for the third time in one season. What went wrong for the North London side?
For starters, captain and centreback Michael Dawson was injured alongside Jan Vertonghen, the Belgian superstar, thus paving the way for Vlad Chiriches and Younes Kaboul to step into the side as the new centerback pairing. This spelled troubled for the Lillywhites, as Kaboul had not played in around a year due to injury, and Chiriches was a player who had never played at a level anywhere near the Premier League. For certain sides such as Liverpool and Manchester City, who score in bunches, this would not have been as big a problem, as they can attack so that bit more readily that their strike force can serve as their first line of defence, but for a side like Tottenham, who tended to only score 1 or 2 goals a game, this was a disaster. Kaboul dives into rash tackles and can get himself thrown out of games, and Chiriches, he clearly was not ready for this level yet. Turnovers at the back, most of which caused by unnecessary dribbling, something he could probably get away with in Romania, led to many needless goals being conceded. The two fullbacks in Kyle Walker (who was also injured for a period) and Danny Rose, were constant threats getting down the flanks and whipping in crosses, but are shaky when it comes to defending, usually because they don’t do enough of it. This series of unfortunate events led to a string of bad results and a distinct lack of confidence, this was effectively the catalyst that led to the sacking of Portuguese manager Andre Villas Boas.
Then there were the strikers. Andre Villas Boas seemed keen throughout his entire tenure at White Hart Lane to play Roberto Soldado as the lone man in his common-place 4-2-3-1 system. Game after game Soldado failed to prove a potent threat in-front of goal, but game after game Villas Boas continued to play him. Soldado, the record $28 million signing, finished a torrid season with 6 Premier League goals, 4 of which were penalties. Martin Skrtle of Liverpool scored more from open play than that… as a centreback! Really poor stuff, especially from that specific position. When Tim Sherwood was appointed as manager the situation drastically improved, for he finally gave Adebayor the chance he was looking for, and he did not disappoint. Adebayor racked up goals and was the best player on the pitch in many games, he was lethal in the area, something Soldado was not. Sherwood preferred a conventional 4-4-2, and as the season came to a close, Harry Kane was paired with Ade, and Kane scored 3 goals from open play in his first 3 games. Very promising stuff from the youngster and that is a pairing that new manager Mauricio Pochettino will hopefully continue to exploit.
Now onto the midfield. Christian Eriksen was a shining star amongst this madness. Finally given his chance to play on a regular basis about half way through the season, at one point racked up 6 points (goals/assists), through 4 games. Incredible stats from the Dane. His centermidfield help came in the shape of Brazilian Paulinho, who was fantastic at the start of the the campaign, but slowly faded as the season progressed. Tottenham will need more out of him if they want to make a push for the top-4. The other central midfield role was rotated between Dembele, Sandro and Bentaleb. Each of them have their ups and downs, but Sandro gives a more defensive option and solidifies the back four, so he is who I would place as the holding midfield player. If Paulinho does not step it up, I would consider permanently placing Holtby there alongside Sandro, as he is a creative player, and has a sharp footballing brain, as he was trained by the “German Machine.” Another option is Capoue, who might be sold in the current transfer window. On the wings there was Townsend and Lennon, both pacy wingers, but they will need to provide a better end product if they are to be effective.
Now the question all the fans have been waiting for. What about Erik Lamela?! The youngster was sensational at Roma, but was never given a chance at Tottenham. If Spurs do not give him regular playing time early in the next campaign it’s likely that he will want to leave White Hart Lane and that would be such a waste. The man has the potential to be a game changer and he will only get better, as he has shown in this pre-season. This player has the potential to be a star in England, and Spurs will need that.
All in all, Tottenham’s last campaign was disappointing to say the least. When you spend over $100 million on talent, everyone expects you to win and that is something that Tottenham simply did not do enough of. I think that Tottenham definitely have the talent to give any of their rivals a stern examination and if I were them, I would line up in a 3-5-2 (5-3-2). Lloris (GK); Dawson (CB), Vertonghen (LCB), Davies (RCB) new signing from Swansea; Holtby (CDM), Sandro (CDM); Lamela (LM), Eriksen (CAM), Walker (RM); Adebayor (ST), Kane (ST). In this formation, I think Spurs can flourish. However, if past seasons are anything to go on, Spurs will fall into 5th or 6th again, thus keeping up the ever-important accomplishment of a spot in the Europa League…
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