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Football News: Is Daniel Levy The Problem At Spurs

Is Daniel Levy The Problem At Spurs
Image from: standard.co.uk

This coming season is a big one for Tottenham Hotspur, with the top four again out of their reach last season, and the main rivals for that fourth spot, Liverpool and Manchester United both strengthening even before the transfer window fully opens, Spurs are going to have to invest wisely to finally break into the top four on a regular basis. They can not even rely on Arsenal to slip back into reach, as these days Arsene Wenger is actually spending money, and the almost certain addition of Petr Cech from Chelsea will strengthen their hand considerably.

The first thing that the White Hart Lane club need to do is improve their attacking options, as they would be unwise to rely on Harry Kane being able to have another season as good as last one, even a slight knock could disrupt him for months. That only leaves Christian Eriksen as a regular goalscorer, with his form dropping off alarmingly towards the end of the season, Mauricio Pochettino would be a brave man to go into the season with just those two as his main attacking threat.

Even more worrying, there is the defensive issues, with both goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and centre back Jan Vertonghen looking to move on to pastures new, the club desperately needs to rebuild there. So far the only addition has been a right back, Keiron Trippier from Burnley, which will at least mean the promising Eric Dier is no longer required to cover there when Kyle Walker picks up his inevitable injuries.

 

In fact, the more you look at the Spurs squad, the more worrying it becomes, especially considering the huge injection of cash it received to strengthen when Gareth Bale was sold for ridiculous money to Real Madrid. Daniel Levy is normally held up as a shrewd operator in the transfer market, but, other than the huge amount he managed to get in return for Bale, there has been little evidence of his shrewdness in recent years.

It is not just because the money has been spent on the wrong players, but because the North London side have consistently overpaid for players, even before the sale of Bale, in the last few seasons. When you have spent so much, to then be reliant on two players in central midfield who clearly are not ready for their roles, is little short of criminal.

 

While Ryan Mason and Nabil Bentaleb are promising young players, they are still only at the promising stage and need careful managing to enable them to reach their potential, regular first team football is good, but they need an experienced head to guide them. There is also the issue of inconsistency, which might require them being pulled out of the team to recover their form, but who will replace them when that happened?

Paulinho has struggled badly, Etienne Capoue has been unable to establish himself, so that is yet another area of the team in desperate need of strengthening. It is not until you really exam the Spurs squad that you realise just how well Pochettino did to get the team even within shouting distance of a top four slot last season.

 

With the misfiring Roberto Soldado and poor attitude of the woefully inconsistent Emanuel Adebayor as the alternatives to Harry Kane as a central striker, the choice of Ben Davies or Danny Rose at left back and having had no specialist right back for large chunks of the season, Pochettino has probably done about as well as he could have last season. Now he needs the backing of Levy to move the club forward, or he will end up the next manager pushed out of Spurs due to the failings of Daniel Levy.

Written by Tris Burke June 28 2015 07:59:47