You should try looking for the positives. It is rather obvious that all our players will perform worse against the bigger teams because they have better players. Eriksen gets less space and time and our runners are better marked so he doesn't look as good. This isn't 'going missing'. Poch has created a team ethic which means our team exceeds that expected from the group of individuals. That means we do better than we ought to but it is still very hard when we come up against a team with better individuals.
None of these players need to get better - their form from 2017/18 season will do us nicely over the next few years. What we should be worried about is a decline. If Alli stays at the level of the season just finished and Kane is permanently affected by injuries, that would be unfortunate. On Eriksen I think future form is not our concern..
He isn't the best player in the world for sure so he isn't going to pummel the best teams. But I think he is easily in the top 10 in his position which means he is almost impossible for us to improve on. No team has the best 25 players in the world in their squad so all teams can theoretically improve. But realistically we've only got three or four players in our best team who can be upgraded enough to make a difference and Eriksen isn't one of them. We are currently about the 3rd best team in the UK and about 10th best in Europe. That's amazing from where we were 10 years ago and I've enjoyed watching every step on the way.
Top 5 for me. And to be honest you'd probably struggle to even name four better, as number ten/ eight playmakers go, Kevin de Bruyne is the only one I'd happily swap Eriksen for right now. If David Silva and Modric were younger I'd say them too. I wouldn't swap Eriksen for Ozil or James Rodriguez, albeit if we lose Eriksen to Madrid, I'd prefer a deal to get someone like Rodriguez or Isco in return as that's the second best available option to keeping Eriksen.
Completely agree. Hazard could possibly play that position too. The problem with improving our squad is that almost everyone is in the top 25 in their own position and almost all the ones above them already play for a competitor. I honestly doubt whether there are more than 20 players we actually have a chance of signing that would unambiguously make us better. And there will be competition from a dozen other clubs for each of those.
Good shout, forgot about Hazard as a ten. Your second point is similar to how I've tried analysing the first XI in the Prem. I've often said that if we want to maintain or improve on having a top four side, we need to ensure that players in their positions are amongst the best four (or best eight when it comes CBs and CMs seeing as there's generally two of them per XI). That's why CM and RB are the biggest concerns for me as they're the areas where I think we lack a player who'd be regarded as one of the best in their position, thankfully it never hindered us to the point of dropping below a top four side this season but it's something that needs addressing for next season.
Eriksen might do alot of little things like run alot...stats might be looking great and better than most ACMs...maybe he might be a better player in a team full of leaders but at our club where we have none...his lack of leadership for one of our senior players sticks out too much for me...I don't like his languid personna...comes across as a boring sod with zero fire in his belly. Since he's proved his worth with stats and yet still he hasnt been part of a team to guide us to trophies...then maybe a new mindset is needed to drive us forward because obviously stats aren't the problem are they? The bit that lost us the CL final is what's lacking...fire in the belly. Alli the same...I was excited once...now I'm not...I haven't made it up...he's regressed. I said it a while ago...clothes brands and women...that's where his eyes seem...a few years ago...he was a hungry man trying to get onto another level...a season of great praise and he thought he's made it Get rid of them all if they don't have the right hunger and mentality to push us past certain stages ENIC has presented us with a great stadium...they have also presented us with an era which has suffered the longest trophy drought since the 40's. I take from the stadium that ENIC are great for business...I take from the other damning fact that so long as we got the CL cash cow...they doesn't really care about how much we improve what goes on on the pitch...or prove me wrong.
By equal measure though, this is the most competitive it's been for trophies. And with have oil-rich clubs like City, who are winning domestic trebles because they have such quality in depth for both their starting and second string XIs, it makes you realise that it is not an easy feat. When you break it down, you kind of understand just how uphill a task it is to get silverware. For the Premier League, you are competing against Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and United, who have all benefited from being historically rich and successful clubs or having wealthy owners in recent years that have injected money into the club. City have now set the bar so high that you need to be near perfect to win the title. The fact Liverpool got 97 points and could not win the league says it all. Champions League is extremely difficult. Manchester City, Liverpool, Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Atletico Madrid, PSG...overcoming these teams regularly, who respectfully, most of them have more pedigree and resources in the competition than Spurs do, makes it even more tricky. For the FA Cup, I know it's a cliche, but you can get knocked out by anyone. You are either competing against a top Premier League side or you are up against a lower-league side, playing like their lives depend on it for a rare opportunity to showcase their talents to the world. Teams who would relish KO'ing a 'giant' with a boisterous atmosphere. Cupsets happen for a reason. League Cup is low down on most teams' priority lists, and truthfully I don't know how much Spurs fans would care about winning it, but Man City seem to have a real affinity with that competition. So again, you're having to overcome a team of that calibre, where most PL sides write it off to play their youth. I'm not saying this to make excuses, but honestly Spurlock, unless it's the Champions League or Premier League, any of the other trophies aren't an indication of progression at a club if you win them. We won 3 FA Cups in 4 years under Wenger, yet that didn't stop us from calling for his head every damn season for his final 7-8 years . As a fan, they are nice to win in the short-term, but if your league form suffers as a result, it really isn't worth it in the long-run because of the hit it takes on your finances, which then affects sponsorships, the type of players you attract, whether you can retain top players... And it's a shame football has come to that, but it is the truth. Cash is king. It's all about money.
I’m trying to think of ways to counter it though...doesn’t mean we throw in the towel. As far as we are from being right up there..we are not that far away either...it’s down to ENIC and their ambition. I’m not saying I want a league cup...it’s worthless and football only has itself to blame for such an opinion...can’t blame clubs for dismissing these trophies when they lack everything you look for in a trophy. Spurs have proven what can be achieved...how about what can be achieved with some financial backing...there’s an idea for a top 4 club to embrace...spend some decent ****in money.
Also, it's not like you've not been close... Under Poch, you reached a League Cup final, reached League Cup semi-final, FA Cup semi-finalists twice and Champions League finalists this season. You were beaten by Chelsea in both the League Cup final and this year's semi-final, you lost to them and United in the FA Cup semis and you lost to Liverpool in the Champions League final. All of whom are top sides with great players. Not like you got overturned by Accrington Stanley or some garbage like that!
I agree you're not far away as I've basically said in my post above, but what I'm saying is it isn't the be all and end all if you don't win the big trophies considering the level of competition you're facing. For what it's worth, I think you will spend some decent money this Summer because of the CL income, commercial deals and it looks like you'll be selling Eriksen too, so that is a lot of money to play with.
All true....and yet Spurs and Ajax made a CL semi-final of the CL and we made the final. We're growing at a massive rate. In under a decade, we've trebled our income and we're not done yet. Ultimately, you get behind your club and try and drive improvement with positive support or call for change and agitate against the current regime. There are no magic wands for this club. It's hard work and belief or failure....
The increase in revenue has gone hand in hand with success on the field though. Not winning trophies, but consistently in the top 4 and therefore the CL every year raises the club's profile and attracts investment, sponsorship, commercial revenues (shirt sales etc) and earns prize money. Top 4 ensures access to massive income streams. Drop down to being 7th and 8th again and the income will drop massively. Even with a great new stadium. The extra income is huge. 'Arry deserves credit for making you competitive at the top end of the PL and then Poch for taking it to the next level without being very well supported in the transfer market. Whoever was behind the development of Kane and the signings of Alli, Eriksen, Vertonghen, Alderweireld & Son for comparatively little money are geniuses. With Arsenal and Utd in disarray and needing to spend vast sums to be competitive, Spurs look set to stay in the top few places next season and thereby keep the progression going.
The club have managed to keep numerous plates spinning at the same time... develop the stadium; develop the training ground; massively improve the academy; regularly recruiting players at an undervalue; improve PL placings and qualify for the CL consistently; retain the majority of a talented squad; manage wages within a necessarily really tight budget; get into the CL knockout phases and ultimately, the final; hugely improve sponsorships and partnerships. It is a ridiculous achievement to have brought all of that home within the same decade and not to have been blown off course. Many will decry Joe Lewis and Daniel Levy for not blowing £1 billion on players and wages. What they've done is create something far greater than that, but because the press only want to write about Pep's genius, it escapes most. However, there are those who work in the football business who know what they're on about and appreciate the miracle... https://www.football.london/tottenham-hotspur-fc/news/latest-tottenham-news-levy-pochettino-16344235 https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/daniel-levy-is-he-tottenham-hotspurs-star-man-6jh2x8vdg
