Now we must aim high…

[davidmatzdorf]

I'm not saying that we can challenge for the top next season , I'll leave that to Man City's owners .

This thread is about aiming perhaps unrealistically high over the short-term rather than the medium term which appears to be what you are aluding to as the problem .

I don't think Pav will ever be World Class and believe Spurs need a tall striker who can act as a target man and hold up the ball - an uninjured Ashton would be ideal but that really is in the realms of fantasy .

There is no point in having such a good back 4 + Lennon + Modric , Keane/Defoe if we don't have the strike force to go with it .

We basically agree, then. I thought you were suggesting that we should be spending £40m+ on remodelling the squad this Summer to buy those emblematic (and perennially just over the horizon) "2 or 3 players to make us into CL contenders".

Just as I think BAE should have his bad habits coached out of him, as he has shown he has the talent and application to make a good Premiership LB, I think Pav should have coached into him the hold-up skills that a man with his physique should be able to develop.

My hobby-horse this Spring is going to be persuading people not to treat players as fixed objects who are either "shite" and need to be replaced or "world-class" and need to be kept at all costs. They're people. They can learn. We need to coach the squad we have, not keep trying to buy a new one. If that means we finish (say) 7th/8th next season, 5th/6th the season after and then... ??? ...then our longer term future will be all the better for it. Otherwise, we will keep being the team in the Premiership with the biggest gap between individual talent and collective lack of achievement. Because that's exactly what we are, at present.

 

[JimmyG2]

Lets build it not buy it. Lets develop what we have, add to the coaching staff not the playing staff and I mean the full time coaching stff not the lads brought in as comfort blanket.
Do we still have a skills coach? Do we have a sports psychologist?
Replacements only for a couple of years and keep Harry. He has his limitations but like the players he can grow into the role.
I said in an earlier column that something good was happening in the squad in terms of belief and that we can make some progress. This is the first week since the start of the season that I have been free of relegation worries. By progress I mean top seven not Champions League.
Lets hold on to what we have got,players and manager and develop from what is looking like a good run in,so far.

 

[eViL]

I think NOT getting into Europe this year will be KEY to a good League finish next year.

 

[provence]

I think NOT getting into Europe this year will be KEY to a good League finish next year.

I totally disagree. If we really wish to compete at the very top, we have to be able to perform both midweek and weekend on a regular basis.

There is no need to qualify for the Champions League if we cannot cope with the demands. Suggesting this 'light diet' for pampered players will not help. There is a reason that we have seen virtually no change in the top four these past too many years.

They get used to performing under the highest pressure...end they are able to attract the best players to maintain the highest quality squad.

We need the Europa League as a stepping stone for greater achievement next season.

 

[eViL]

But you'll never have the squad to compete on 4 fronts without a Champion's League quality squad. For that you need Champion's League Quality players, but without the Champion's League, that'll never happen.

Why do you think the Big Four are ALWAYS top four?

Get real.

 

[billnick]

But you'll never have the squad to compete on 4 fronts without a Champion's League quality squad. For that you need Champion's League Quality players, but without the Champion's League, that'll never happen.

Why do you think the Big Four are ALWAYS top four?

Get real.

I agree - but I think that our current team could cope in the Champions League. OK, we're not semi-final material but our biggest failing - ie receiving a pass - is not punished so greatly by European teams, especially the Champions League level teams, who don't really on endless running and heart to win. Witness our record against the top four compared to against the rest of the league.

So yes, no European football next year (providing we can retain our players in that case) should only help a push for the CL placings. Once there, competing in the matches shouldn't be a problem. And we will be able to cope with that many games for the simple reason that our European campaign would hopefully not be stymied by the registration of a pitifully small squad of players.

 

[ultimateloner]

Our player quality is similiar to all the teams that we should supposedly compete against - Villa, MC, Everton, Newcastle etc. All bar the top 4.

We have as good a chance as they do in the league.

The main difference last year was Berba - the only player in the Prem who deserves CL but isn't in it.

The year before the other teams weren't as strong.

 

[SpursMadDave]

Cant understand why people think Bent & Pav are not good enough....

Pav has got 13 goals from 24 starts (7 subs)

Bent has got 15 goals from 23 starts (14 subs)

Neither is particularly shabby.....

 

[pierreb]

I agree with everyone who says that we should not buy lots of players but develop what we have, but I think we will finally buy Downing and a target man

 

[YidoCraig]

Coys.