Spurs half term report

It is when u consider we have 2 strikers and a winger that aren't deemed good enough to play, 1 war horse player that spent 6 years pirouetting on the halfway line and passing sideways that can't play more than a game a week, another CM who has 2 ledley king knees , the Argentinian battering ram that spends more time on the treatment table than on the bench etc
Also factor in Sonny is off as well.
The squad is paper thin beyond the 1st 11 who we are gambling on staying fit, sharp and injury free.

 

2 perspectives - cup half full or half empty ?
Half full -

1. Financials : in the last 5 years our income has come within 10 million of the Arse. We are doing better than them (PL 3 vs 5, CL vs Europa, semis in League Cup). Our net spend is low, but that is because we have to service the stadium debt. Its a situation we will need to live with - a part of growing revenue long term - Arsenal is just coming out of that period (witness signing of Lacazette, Auba, Guendouzi, Torreira, etc). But we are on an upward trajectory - and the importance of finishing in top 4 to get CL revenue cannot be over-stated.
2. Our attack : when fresh and fit (recovered from WC fatigue) together, i.e. DESK, was fluid, creative, aesthetically pleasing, and got lots of goals (viz. vs Everton). Bad luck again - mostly DESK has not been fresh and fit together. On the positive side, we signed Alli, Son and Kane to long term contracts and are still trying to get Sen. But the financials kick in again - what can we do if Real Madrid decides Sen (rather than Hazard) is the new Modric and spend more than 100 million on him. They are higher than us in riches and trophies, and Ericson is only human.
3. Character : As for the old charge of bottling - simply not true. We have won many league games on a last minute gasp - most recently Winks versus Fulham. We have come from behind to win/draw games to get into CL knockout (including versus Barca at Camp Nou). Even the latest setbacks - losing to ManU in the EPL and to Chelsea in the League Cup on penalties - the team fought like the devil till the end. de Gea had 11 saves (and Kane and Alli led in unforgiveable misses) in 1 case, and the much maligned Llorente hauled us to penalties - at which point it was a lottery, not Dier and Moura's day there. (incidentally, just to buttress the other point - Kepa is the most expensive goalkeeper in the world, de Gea is probably the best in the EPL).
4. Academy : And we have got lots of youngsters coming through. Eyoma, Foyth, KwP, Skipp, Winks, Amos, Marsh and hopefully Oakley-Boothe, Parrot, Sterling, Maghoma among others in time to come. This is always good news and forms the backbone of successful sides - viz. class of '92 of ManU (the likes of Giggs, Beckham, Scholes) or Iniesta, Messi, Xabi in Madrid - NOT drawing comparisons on quality - just establishing the principle that this is the way to go.

Half empty -

1. Competition in EPL : On the back of mega-spending, our rivals in the top 6 are tough competition. Most of my following Spurs we have been mid-league in EPL except the last few years under Poch/Levy. While we have made Top 5 into Top 6, something still aspirational for (say) Leicester, West Ham and Everton, we are well behind the Manchester giants, and comfortably behind Chelsea and Liverpool, even as we closed gap on Arsenal. Basis cold logic we will have done well if we can stay in CL/top 4 of EPL. A cup silverware will be welcome. The other thing is that the other clubs in PL are able to hold on to at least some of their talents in a better way than the past. Example - Jamie Vardy would have been a great backup for Kane, but Leicester is able to hold him - not because they won the EPL and Vardy is their mascot, but because EPL revenues allow them to pay Vardy enough to make him stay on. Ditto Sessegnon for Fulham, or Wilson for Bournemouth, or even Grealish for Aston Villa. Only a splurge at the level of ManU, City, Pool or Chelsea can prise out some of that talent.
2. Scouting : While we have got lucky with Kane and Winks from the Academy and Alli and Sen as great bargain buys in the past, it is good to track 2 other clubs. How does Ajax get a Davinson Sanchez and sell to us at 44million, rather than we spotting Sanchez ? How do they get a David Nevez and not us ? How do Dortmund get Paco Alcacer, and damningly, Jadon Sancho for 8million ? How did Southampton get Virgil van Dyke ? We also have not done deals like Ben Chilwell, Robertson, Maguire. There is a clear scope for improvement here, and this has nothing to do with money or the lack of it. Critical, as given lack of financial clout compared to the other top clubs financially, we need to be smarter here.
3. Lack of silverware - Unfortunate as it is, the lack of silverware will keep haunting Poch, the players, the fans, and even new player signings. As things stand our best bets are the Cups, not EPL or CL, and with injuries, not happening this year either.
4. Goal scorer crisis - Bad timing blowing this Season : Kane, Alli are out till March and Son away doing national team duty in Feb means we run the risk of crashing out of League Cup (already happened via Penalty Lottery) and more unfortunately in CL versus Dortmund. We will also come under pressure in EPL for top 4 despite the 7 point cushion - question is where will the goals come from. Take away Neymar/Mbappe/Cavani and PSG will not be so potent (ditto on Salah/Sadio/Firmino for Pool or Rashford/Martial/Lukaku for ManU, etc. Failure of Giroud and Alvaro Morata got Chelea down after a bright start)
5. Our DM, problems of Squad Depth and Fitness : Leicester City won the PL when miraculously none of their players got injured. If we had had a year where Dembele and Wanyama were fit (and even Amos), with Winks (and 1 more for the future, Skipp) coming on as well as he has this season (even as Dier has been disappointing), our defence would have conceded less. Our problem has been we have started conceding more compared to last 3 seasons, as DM screen weakened compared to previous years. Should we have invested ? Yes, of course. But could we have got Frenkie de Jong ? No. We can spend more but so can the others - we are still at a disadvantage to the other top clubs - we can't outbid Barca or Pool or PSG or ManU for world class talents like de Jong or van Dyke or Mbappe or Pogba (as examples). We can't buy Pulisic and not use him like Chelsea or spend 60 million on a RB (our Kyle Walker to City) or spend 69million for a backup midfielder (Riyadh Mahrez) or a crazy amount on players and not play them in 1st team (variously Ousmane Dembele, Malcom, Martial, Jesus, Asensio, Isco, Jaime Rodriguez, Keita, Silva, Gundogan, etc come to mind).