- Jan 7, 2007
- 3,616
- 3,393
Rewind 12 months and you would be forgiven for failing to realize the difference between Spurs then and today. Despite a managerial upheavel and a wave of transfer speculation the same problems remain.
Luka Modric's future is still undecided. Last year it was Chelsea, this time it is Real Madrid. The player is banished from the first team squad and almost certainly will not start the opening game of the season despite being fit.
Modric's absence from central midfield is a blow to the manager, Andre Villas-Boas, that is compounded by Parker's injury and Sandro's absence from training for the last month. The top three options are realistically unavailable leaving a second string under belly to Tottenham's likely starting XI on Saturday. A weak central midfield started last seasons campaign.
A lack of options in midfield is echoed upfront. While last year Defoe and Pavlyuchenko vied for a starting berth this time it is Defoe and Kane. Adebayor has come and gone since then but may return. Questions are rightly being asked as to why. The club has been on the lookout for a striker for 24 months and has failed to secure one permanently. If a manager is expected to deliver Champions League football than the club should have a transfer policy to match.
Unfortunately this policy is lacking. Again Tottenham go into the beginning of the season with an incomplete squad. The issues surrounding it are only likely to be resolved once three premier league matches have already been played. Spurs made a slow start last year before picking up dramatically once the summer business was completed. However, the club may not be able to recover from a pedestrian kick-off with a new manager under pressure to banish his demons from Chelsea.
While the club clearly has vision and ambition it is failing to act in accordance with it. The same mistakes are apparent now as they were 12 months ago. Equally the club has not moved on from the Modric saga or indeed found a new striker. If the club continues to repeat it's past actions then it will achieve the same results. The club failed to qualify last season for the Champions League and it will fail again until the hierarchy learn that to improve it must review its past policy and seek to fine tune it.
Luka Modric's future is still undecided. Last year it was Chelsea, this time it is Real Madrid. The player is banished from the first team squad and almost certainly will not start the opening game of the season despite being fit.
Modric's absence from central midfield is a blow to the manager, Andre Villas-Boas, that is compounded by Parker's injury and Sandro's absence from training for the last month. The top three options are realistically unavailable leaving a second string under belly to Tottenham's likely starting XI on Saturday. A weak central midfield started last seasons campaign.
A lack of options in midfield is echoed upfront. While last year Defoe and Pavlyuchenko vied for a starting berth this time it is Defoe and Kane. Adebayor has come and gone since then but may return. Questions are rightly being asked as to why. The club has been on the lookout for a striker for 24 months and has failed to secure one permanently. If a manager is expected to deliver Champions League football than the club should have a transfer policy to match.
Unfortunately this policy is lacking. Again Tottenham go into the beginning of the season with an incomplete squad. The issues surrounding it are only likely to be resolved once three premier league matches have already been played. Spurs made a slow start last year before picking up dramatically once the summer business was completed. However, the club may not be able to recover from a pedestrian kick-off with a new manager under pressure to banish his demons from Chelsea.
While the club clearly has vision and ambition it is failing to act in accordance with it. The same mistakes are apparent now as they were 12 months ago. Equally the club has not moved on from the Modric saga or indeed found a new striker. If the club continues to repeat it's past actions then it will achieve the same results. The club failed to qualify last season for the Champions League and it will fail again until the hierarchy learn that to improve it must review its past policy and seek to fine tune it.