Can Tottenham Hotspur Finish Fourth?
Spurs Hope to Challenge for a Champions League Place this Season
Nov 4, 2009
Can Tottenham finish in the top four this season? Sitting at present in fifth place the prognosis looks reasonably healthy. However, Spurs have lost their way of late, succumbing to heavy defeats against the leading lights of the division. If they are to challenge for a champions league place they will have to recapture their early season form.
The Spurs Squad is Filled with Quality
Spurs this season look to have a balanced squad. Manager Harry Redknapp, having bought astutely in the summer, appears to have assembled a potent blend of attacking flair and defensive solidity. To finish in the top four and guarantee Champions League football Tottenham have spent heavily over the past eighteen months; purchasing players such as Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe, Wilson Palacios, Luka Modric, Peter Crouch and Roman Pavluchenko.
However, a great squad on paper guarantees you nothing, as Spurs fans have learned to their cost over the years. Redknapp’s challenge this term is to mould the disparate parts of his expensively assembled team into a unit capable of taking on the very best.
The Spurs Midfield is Capable of Challenging the Top Four in the Premership
Spurs clearly possess strength in depth in midfield. Tom Huddlestone flaunts a diverse range of passing, while he is ably supported by the combative Wilson Palacios, who has provided the midfield enforcer Redknapp believes Spurs have lacked for years. However, the jewel in Tottenham’s midfield crown is undoubtedly the outrageously gifted playmaker Luka Modric. The Croatian had won rave reviews in helping Spurs race to four straight league wins at the start of the season. His absence, through a stress fracture, has cost Tottenham greatly, as his flair, passing and general influence have been badly missed. Spurs have struggled mightily in his absence.
In Modric's absence winger Aaron Lennon has stepped up a gear this season adding goals to his repertoire and some much needed consistency to his crossing. However, even here storm clouds darken what should be a cloudless forecast. Lennon raised Redknapp’s hackles in limping off against Stoke after the manager had made his allotted substitutions, leaving his colleagues to flounder with ten men, eventually losing the match. It remains to be seen if this is minor spat or indicative of some more serious training ground malaise.
Up front Spurs boast an embarrassment of riches, with Keane, Defoe, Pavluchenko and the newly signed Peter Crouch vying for two starting places. Pavluchenko aside the strikers have hit the ground running, making hay whenever the light of Redknapp’s approval has shone on them. Defoe in particular has streaked out of the blocks with six league goals. One might surmise that Tottenham possess enough potency in front of goal to secure the coveted fourth spot.
Problems at Spurs
However, all is not rosy in the Spurs garden. Despite Redknapp’s diplomatic rotation of the forwards Roman Pavluchenko is clearly not happy. Signed for 14 million pounds just over a year ago he has quickly been relegated to the status of forgotten man. Restricted in the main to League Cup duty and fitful substitute appearances, he is beginning to become more vocal in his desire for a move away.
David Bentley must appreciate how the Russian feels. Shunted around the side after his 17 million pound move last year he is now firmly ensconced in Lennon’s shadow. His recent start against Arsenal aside, Redknapp appears to have lost faith in the former Blackburn winger.
In goal Huerelho Gomes has finally started to prove his doubters wrong, after a season mixing costly errors with implausibly athletic saves. Critics though continue to highlight his mercurial unpredictability, claiming he is still worth a costly mistake per game on average. Many supporters remain unconvinced that he is the top class goalkeeper all aspiring sides require.
Tottenham Injury Worries
Perversely Tottenham’s greatest strength on paper may prove to be their most pressing long-term liability. In Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate they possess two of the most athletic, experienced and technically accomplished defenders in the league. However, the two are almost perpetually sidelined by injury and rarely, if ever, line up together.
Unthinkable as it may once have seemed there may come a point when Redknapp eventually tires of indulging his star defenders, opting instead to plump for a new and more reliable partnership. If Spurs are to finish fourth Woodgate and King may have to play through a considerable amount of pain this season.
Spurs Results this Season
Spurs have looked little short of sensational in shellacking the lesser lights of the division. Burnley and Hull were both swept aside 5-1, while the team have made customarily smooth progress in the League Cup, dispatching Doncaster, Preston and Everton, while notching 12 goals in the process. However, against Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal Spurs have been brought crashing down to earth. Three defeats, nine goals conceded and only one scored perhaps best highlight Spurs’ current status in the league hierarchy.
Redknapp has had to deal with injuries and questionable calls in all three of the aforementioned matches, yet Spurs supporters might have hoped for better against the sides they so ardently wish to overhaul. Spurs were competitive against United and very unlucky against Chelsea, a game in which Ricardo Carvalho should have been sent off while the scores were tied. Missing Defoe, Lennon and Modric, they were abject against Arsenal last Saturday. Conceding one of the most comical goals of the season as Fabregas waltzed through to score Arsenal’s second and game killing goal a mere eleven seconds after the restart following Van Persie’s opener.
Fourth Place May Have to Wait for Next Season
Spurs have clearly improved as a side over the last year. Redknapp has instilled belief and organisational solidity into a team of talented individuals. However, the soft centre all too obviously remains. Until Spurs can truly step up to the plate against the very top sides they are fated to remain as perennial also-rans, at least for one more season.
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