The future of Spurs

[Metalhead]

there is palpable excitement around the homegrown players on the way up like Skipp, Cirkin, Scarlett. It’s a numbers game, you invest in top youth players and you have good chances of hitting big.

I agree. Don't want to get too excited but there's definitely reasons to be positive about this crop.

 

[stormfly]

I just want to win things.

Yep, this is where I’m at now. I can’t believe we got so close and now we’re going back to a project manager to start the process again. We need to hope we win the lottery again and unearth another Kane over the next 5 years.

 

[beats1]

yes but bought before they played meaningful senior marches. They were bought as youth players.

Rose played in the academy and was an academy player for 3 years. Walker went straight to the first team and out on loan

 

[shelfboy68]

Don't talk logic to those that can't see the progress we make under Poch. They would prefer we carried on fighting to get in Europa League and hope we got good money for our top players.

We are struggling to qualify for Europa League next season so that is progress for you.

 

[BuckeyeSpurs11]

We are struggling to qualify for Europa League next season so that is progress for you.

which is why the manager is about to go and 4/5 players likely following him on his way out

 

[Snarfalicious]

First thing we need is an identity. That comes with a manager that can instill an ethos, one the players buy into fully. We haven't had that since the peak of Pochettino but it was felt from the players to the fans. It's what we saw with Liverpool and are seeing/have seen with City. Every good, stable club has it and the hard part is making it last.

The recruitment setup needs an overhaul/rework, without a doubt. Covid probably screws us more than just about any other club as the stadium opening was suppose to signal a wave of increased revenue. We got a taste of it but it was just as quickly pulled away. Recruitment has to be on point given the current financial circumstances. There is value out there, but it is likely going to take us getting involved in some markets that maybe we hadn't previously, or haven't in awhile. Not every 5m signing is going to be Dele Alli, but there are deals out there. As for an answer, I'm honestly not sure what the answer is here. A Campos-type signing sounds awesome but I just don't see that happening. At the very least, I'd like for us to look elsewhere than the Jorge Mendes Shop.

All this being said, the first piece of the puzzle for me is Nagelsmann. He's got an identifiable style of play, I think he will connect with our players, the fans will largely give him more time as he won't come with the preconceived notions that Mourinho did (which was always going to put him in a lot of fans' bad graces). He's also shown a willingness to blend youth and experience which will fit our squad makeup well. I'd be really curious how he would approach our youth setup since (I don't believe) there have been many promotions from their actual youth setup at RB Leipzig. They tend to buy within/pluck from other academies. That's the big question mark for me with him, to be honest. We've got an established youth setup that we absolutely need to start producing, so it'd be interesting to see how he may view that as a supply line given the wayyyy better resources here.

 

[SecretLemonadeDrinker]

Let's face it we don't really challenge for titles do we.

Apart from those times we do.

 

[rossdapep]

First thing we need is an identity. That comes with a manager that can instill an ethos, one the players buy into fully. We haven't had that since the peak of Pochettino but it was felt from the players to the fans. It's what we saw with Liverpool and are seeing/have seen with City. Every good, stable club has it and the hard part is making it last.

The recruitment setup needs an overhaul/rework, without a doubt. Covid probably screws us more than just about any other club as the stadium opening was suppose to signal a wave of increased revenue. We got a taste of it but it was just as quickly pulled away. Recruitment has to be on point given the current financial circumstances. There is value out there, but it is likely going to take us getting involved in some markets that maybe we hadn't previously, or haven't in awhile. Not every 5m signing is going to be Dele Alli, but there are deals out there. As for an answer, I'm honestly not sure what the answer is here. A Campos-type signing sounds awesome but I just don't see that happening. At the very least, I'd like for us to look elsewhere than the Jorge Mendes Shop.

All this being said, the first piece of the puzzle for me is Nagelsmann. He's got an identifiable style of play, I think he will connect with our players, the fans will largely give him more time as he won't come with the preconceived notions that Mourinho did (which was always going to put him in a lot of fans' bad graces). He's also shown a willingness to blend youth and experience which will fit our squad makeup well. I'd be really curious how he would approach our youth setup since (I don't believe) there have been many promotions from their actual youth setup at RB Leipzig. They tend to buy within/pluck from other academies. That's the big question mark for me with him, to be honest. We've got an established youth setup that we absolutely need to start producing, so it'd be interesting to see how he may view that as a supply line given the wayyyy better resources here.

Yeah it's time to tap into the youth again.

The future of Tottenham for me is to always employ a coach who fits with the ethos.

If we had a sporting director this would certainly happen as they do tend to go for coaches of a similar mould.

For example, Ajax, Dortmund, Bayern, Barca would never employ someone like Jose or Allegri because they are far removed from their ethos and principles. Whenever we get an appointment right, it's because it's a coach who is brave and has the ethos and principles the club share (although I guess Levy and ENIC don't share that ethos so much).

So if we are to make headway on winning titles, we need to stick to a formula and not rip the house down if an appointment is unsuccessful.

We always need to be in a situation in which should the coach fail or go stale, like Poch, the club and squad are set up to respond to a different voice with similar principles and ensure that youth is always on hand to step up and be given a chance.

I admit what I am saying sounds easier said than done, but if we keep yo yoing from one type of coach to another we'll likely have periods like this where we feel pretty hopeless.

I know a lot of people assume that having a coach that is more progressive means we won't have trophies but we will be a pleasure to watch, and whilst it'll always be harder to do that under ENIC, I do believe that if we had a situation similar to what Poch created and did push the boat out we'd be very capable of winning.

We've just got two problems with that.

1. Getting back up there again.
2. Relying on Levy on to strike while the iron is hot.

Arguably, I'd like number two of those options to be done by someone else.

Every thing is in place except for the footballing structure to help us win.

 

[shelfboy68]

Apart from those times we do.

But we really didn't we was never close enough to cause a ripple.

 

[Mornstar]

The future is white, as in bland, uneventful and colourless....much like our "glorious" past

 

[spids]

Forget managers and players. The future of our club will be shaped by the stadium (and the chairman). Covid came with incredibly bad timing. When things return to normal (it’ll take a few years to to recover from pandemic costs), the new stadium will generate a lot of money. That money will eventually end up in the first team. But we will need another ‘Poch style’ project manager to harness our current younger players (Tanganga, Rodon, Cirkin, Skipp, Scarlett etc.) in the next few tough years.

Short term - keep Son and Kane
Mid term - project manager to harness youth
Long term - stadium revenue

 

[Stamford]

Apart from those times we do.

There hasnt been a title challenge in my lifetime.

 

[spids]

There hasnt been a title challenge in my lifetime.

Wow - you type really well for a three year old.

 

[Stamford]

Wow - you type really well for a three year old.

Haha. honestly those Poch title challengers that people go on about we were miles off the pace. Personally don't see those as title challenges

 

[SecretLemonadeDrinker]

Wow - you type really well for a three year old.

Ha! Exactly my thought!

 

[buckley]

I have just read that Simon Jordan has said " its not Jose thats the problem and spurs are Seriel losers " or words to that effect .
I have never heard such rubbish all teams are losers until they win something .
Man City were in the wilderness since the seventies until they won the lottery with their new owners .
You could take the view that we are so close to winning because of the finals and semi finals we have been in and this series losers is a load of nonsense . You could take any football league club and spend billions of pounds and make them " seriel winners "
Whether people like it or not it is money that makes you winners and align that with a great manager and you will become serial winners .
It does not take a genius to work out that during the poch years if the club invested lets say £150 million each season we as a club would be now labelled by the likes of Simon Jordon " seriel winners "

 

[spids]

Haha. honestly those Poch title challengers that people go on about we were miles off the pace. Personally don't see those as title challenges

I know we eventually lost by 7 points (2017) and 11 points (2016), but we were very much in a title challenge until Easter. We also only conceded 60 goals across 76 premier league games (only 26 goals conceded in 38 games in 2017), and were also the highest scorers in 2017. We were the best team in the country across those two seasons, but fell short with a lack of experience in both the team and the dugout. But they were title challenges and they were incredibly enjoyable years with great football and some massive matches. Drawing 2-2 away at Juve, beating Real Madrid 3-1 at Wembley, smashing Dortmund 3-0 at Wembley, drawing away at Barcelona. We were very much at the top table of football. And the fans, the manager and the players were all as one. Giddy times. That last season at WHL was incredible.

 

[Stamford]

I know we eventually lost by 7 points (2017) and 11 points (2016), but we were very much in a title challenge until Easter. We also only conceded 60 goals across 76 premier league games (only 26 goals conceded in 38 games in 2017), and were also the highest scorers in 2017. We were the best team in the country across those two seasons, but fell short with a lack of experience in both the team and the dugout. But they were title challenges and they were incredibly enjoyable years with great football and some massive matches. Drawing 2-2 away at Juve, beating Real Madrid 3-1 at Wembley, smashing Dortmund 3-0 at Wembley, drawing away at Barcelona. We were very much at the top table of football. And the fans, the manager and the players were all as one. Giddy times. That last season at WHL was incredible.

I definitely enjoyed it and fell in love with that team. I genuinely only thought we would win the league once and that was when we went to I think Stoke away and Kane scored early on. I just never truly believed and Chelsea in that season were just too far ahead to get really excited

 

[spids]

I definitely enjoyed it and fell in love with that team. I genuinely only thought we would win the league once and that was when we went to I think Stoke away and Kane scored early on. I just never truly believed and Chelsea in that season were just too far ahead to get really excited

That seems to be the problem for all concerned. I remember Rose seeming astounded that Lamela actually thought we could in it. Maybe explains why Lamela is one of the few players who brings everything, every game, whether he starts or comes off the bench. People can argue that he is not good enough / fast enough / does not score enough, but you cannot question his mentality and intensity. Other than Kane I cannot think of many others who bring that same level of consistent intensity to the team. The Man United team that dominated, for every Beckham or Ronaldo, they had a Evans and a May, an Irwin and a Park, a Butt and a Phil Neville. They were all winners for every minute of every season. Their entire club had a winning mentality.

 

[SecretLemonadeDrinker]

Haha. honestly those Poch title challengers that people go on about we were miles off the pace. Personally don't see those as title challenges

That's either a bizarrely revisionist perspective or you set an absurdly high bar for what constitutes a title challenge!

When we beat Stoke 4-0 at the Britannia stadium in April 2016, it took us to 68 points - 5 points below Leicester with four games remaining and with a far better goal difference. Still very much in the hunt. For a long time, ever since it became obvious that Spurs were Leicester's only real challengers, we had been 5 points behind having played the same number of games. But they always got to play first. Every. Single. Weekend.

Whether that was deliberate on the part of Sky or the PL or whoever, we will never know. But it conferred on them a huge advantage. It meant that they always had the opportunity to open up an 8 point gap before we got to play our game. Not once were we afforded the opportunity to close the gap to 2 points to see how they coped with that added pressure. Just one slip up by them and we would have been within a whisker.

As it was, with just about everything going their way (wins against the run of play, generous officiating, generous fixture scheduling) along with a great spirit, Leicester kept winning week after week. Credit to them. But the fact that we were the ones eventually to crack doesn't in any way render our title challenge any less of a challenge.

There is no scientific measure for what constitutes a title challenge. It can only ever be measured by what it feels like (which is necessarily unscientific). And I don't know of a single Spurs fan other than you who didn't feel that we were challenging for the title that season. We were close. Very, very close.