The Drawing Board

So we won the Carling Cup. A season that begun with such ignominy and looked to be destined for mediocrity has brought about a Wembley final victory and a place in Europe next season. And there’s still three months to go. Tottenham’s deserved success in the cup final the other weeks led to many a pundit praising Juande Ramos for his almost instant transformation of Spurs and the deliverance of a trophy is something not many recent Spurs coaches can claim to offer.

But one week after that marvellous day at Wembley, Spurs came crashing back to Earth (or St Andrews) as they suffered a 4-1 thrashing at relegation threatened Birmingham. A cup hangover maybe? Almost definitely and while Spurs fans were rightfully angry with their side’s performance, many accepted that it was likely just a horrible blip and that normal service would be resumed.

That Thursday, Spurs delivered another insipid performance and lost 1-0 at home to PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of their UEFA cup tie. It was a performance lacking the normal zip and verve that Spurs had previously shown, not just in Europe, but in the recent domestic games too. Spurs looked wary, like a team who thought that their season was over already and that they were playing for nothing. In short, the motivation was not there. Had Spurs lost their hunger for the whole season? Would they now allow themselves to get rolled over week in week out?

Ramos is an extremely tactically astute boss and he was not about to let that happen. Spurs came out on Sunday and hammered their local rivals West Ham 4-0, with the ever brilliant Dimitar Berbatov at the fore, once again. A great performance and the fans were satisfied again.
But despite their showing, one cannot help but look to next season when it come to Spurs. After all they are supposed to be building for an eventual crack at the top four, even though we say it every season. So, lets look to the future then. What is it that Spurs need to be where they wanted to be this season?

Well, a new goalkeeper would help. Robinson, however much of a fans favourite he is, has to be replaced. He is a liability, as is Radek Cerny. Picking a new goalkeeper is tough, though. A number of names have been mentioned such as Igor Akinfeev, Sebastien Frey and Artur Boruc and, to be honest, they’d all be good enough until they make a mistake. Longevity is a key thing for a goalkeeper so we can’t really judge them until they’ve a had a while here.

The back four picks itself. Alan Hutton is a seriously class act at right back, far better and more professional than Chimbonda, who made it all about him and never the team. Ledley King, provided he stays reasonably fit, is a rock and should partner either Michael Dawson or Johnathan Woodgate. Gareth Bale completes the line-up at the back.

Into the midfield and it gets a bit trickier. Aaron Lennon has gone backwards. He is not the player than ran at defences and put in a terrific ball nine times out of ten. He gets the ball and either loses it or does something predictable. Having said that, I still think he could develop into something brilliant. But right now he isn’t performing. I think we need to sign someone to give him a bit of competition and just make him think a little bit about his game and what he is doing.

Jermaine Jenas will hopefully continue to develop under Ramos and should he do that he is guaranteed a place alongside Tom Huddlestone. Huddlestone has also come on leaps and bounds under Ramos and I feel he is better than Didier Zokora. Huddlestone has the ability to play any kind of pass and he is noticeable quicker now. Zokora is not a bad player to have a round and would hopefully push hard to get back in the team. Jamie O’Hara is also progressing nicely.

But on the left is where Spurs have always had problems. Steed Malbranque just does not cut it with me. He may score the odd crucial goal but he is not the player we want if we are serious about stepping up a gear. I have longed for Morten Gamst Pedersen to be snapped up. He is a quality player with a lethal delivery and a natural left footer. Pedersen would add much needed width and with the left footed Bale behind him, we would be laden with attacking riches down the left.

The front two do not need to be questioned. However, should one of them get injured then Darren Bent would take their place and we would have no more strikers. I’m not happy at the idea of only three frontline attackers and I feel we need to sign a fourth to get a bit of depth. However, the last thing Spurs need is the Jermain Defoe problem again so this player would have to be someone who is happy to play second, maybe third fiddle but also want to get better so he can break into the team. Defoe never wanted to improve, he just wanted to play.

Next season could be a good one for Tottenham but they will need to learn from both the mistakes of this year and last. A good start is mandatory. And consistency is vital if they are to finally push on from the potential they have shown over the last three years. But before we get all excited about next year, shall we finish this season first?

They came to praise Caesar, not to bury him

It’s the 63rd minute of the Spurs-Getafe game. It’s 1-1, they’re not playing particularly well, but I still feel we could score soon. But the game isn’t what people are focusing on. At half time, rumours started spreading concerning the fact that this was to be Martin Jol’s last game in charge and that Juande Ramos would be replacing him after the game. It has been neither confirmed nor denied but the general feeling is that the big man is gone.

It’s now the 66nd minute. Berbatov just missed a header. Why would they do this now? During a game? It’s torture on the fans. But what hits me most, apart from the appalling timing of this, is the sadness of Jol’s imminent departure. Imagine being told that the second half of a game is to be your last 45 minutes at a club you have been synonimous with over the last three years? I’m behind Jol still and most fans also are. It’s so sad that he is about to leave given what he has produced for the club. And it’s what he could still give as well that makes him leaving such a sad thing.

69 minutes. Getafe have just taken the lead. If tonight could get any worse, then please let me know now. Keane is coming on, he has to play a blinder if we're to have any chance. The optimist in me says that if anyone is to replace Jol then they could do a lot worse than Ramos. He’s a promising coach, who did a great job with Sevilla and he could do wonders with Tottenham. But, one tends to look at the past rather than the future at times like this. Jol’s departure is utterly depressing. It represents the end of yet another promising few years where Spurs delivered so so much and got so so close. But yet they have, for reasons many, conspired to throw it away.

It was all there for the taking. Champions League football. A trophy or two. Maybe even a shot at the title in a year or so. In Berbatov, they had one of the best players in the world. Lennon, Keane, Zokora, Dawson. They were all quality players, performing regularly and to a high standard. Now, Berbatov is uninterested. Dawson is error prone. Robinson is turning into an awful keeper. It has gone well and truly pear shaped.

77 minutes. They have to do something now. This is one of the most melodramatic and emotional bits of football I have ever seen. Berbatov, Defoe and Kaboul all just should have scored. I have to finish this soon otherwise I’m going to start swearing.

If Jol is to leave in the next 10 minutes, it will be an incredibly disappointing end to such a good and promising era at Spurs. The fans loved him, the players loved him, everything was brilliant. Until now. Farewell Martin. You are clearly being pushed out of the job you have performed so well in. And I doubt we will see another like you for a while.

When It's Over

With an extremely large lump in my throat, I sit here and contemplate England’s defeat. This latest debacle has hit hard, even though we should be used to it. England have not qualified for Euro 2008. For the first time in my living memory, there will be no major tournament for us to fail heroically. No opportunites for a player to miss a crucial penalty. No emergance of one talent who gets all our hopes up for a few months. England have nothing to look forward to.

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic’s assertion that Croatia are ‘simply, a better team than England’ is an intruiging one. Croatia have beaten England twice over the last year. Therefore they must be better than us. English football has plumbed to the depths in which we are inferior to Croatia. The truth is, the potential is still there. Just like it was after Euro 2004. And the 2006 World Cup. Yet, England lack the tactics, the mentality and the coach to acheive the very best results. McClaren did so many things wrong during his reign, yet it was hard to not fell a touch of sympathy. The man has made some poor decisions but the players have let him donw in the extreme.

So, as I’m sure millions of people will be asking today, where did it go so dramatically wrong for England? Well, the 2-0 reverse in Croatia is most definately a turning point. McClaren got it worng there with his formation and tactics - it seemed as if he was being pressured into playing a ridiculous 3-5-2 formation with substandard players like Michael Carrick and Scott Parker in midfield. It was set up all wrong and you can blame Robinson all you want, but the truth is he was our best player in a game where we were outplayed, out-thought, and overrun in all departments. This was followed up by the dire 0-0 draw in Israel and the turgid 3-0 win in Andorra, a game in which the half time score was 0-0. McClaren had lost the fans and he hadn’t even reached double figures in terms of games.

Progress was made, slightly, with the return of Michael Owen, England’s only garantueed goal scorer. He scored in the wins over Estonia, Israel and Russia, a game in which he was electric. Suddenly, England had their hopes up. Gareth Barry brought a kind of balance in midfield, that was so lacking with Frank Lampard in the team. For a few games Emile Heskey provided Owen with the support he needed and was widely credited. Micah Richards finally brought some pace down the right even if he was playing in defence. Everything seemed right and a draw in Russia would practically secure qualification.

McClaren called it ‘4 minutes of madness’. England played well in Moscow on a pitch far more suited to the home team and led through Wayne Rooney’s excellant goal. By the end of the game, England’s hopes were in tatters as a dodgy penalty and a tame tap in gave Russia a fortunate win. England needed a miracle. Suddenly, McClaren was unpopular again. Being England manager, it seemed, was a slippery slope.

Israel pulled off a surprise by beating Russia and suddenly, the feelgood factor was back. England needed a regulation draw over Croatia at Wembley and all was secure. Then McClaren tinkered. He abandoned the 4-4-2 that had served England so well in recent games. He forgot the fact when Peter Crouch plays, England’s football becomes one dimensional and predictable. McClaren played a bold 4-5-1 formation with the inexperienced Scott Carson in goal, an extremely weak defence and Peter Crouch up front by himself. Hardly the bold formation needed to win a crucial game of football. England imploded on a wet and miserable night and although they fought back bravely to 2-2, there was a predictablility about Croatia’s winner. And, when it was over, England were out.

It is still hard to believe, a day later. McClaren has been sacked and rightfully so. English football lies in ruins, with no-one knowing what to expect next.

My own personal preferance would be anyone from Martin O’Neill, Jose Mourinho or Luis Felipe Scolari to take on the role next. I’d also like a complete reshuffle of how theings are run and organised. New regimes, new coachs, new players. Ashley Young, James Milner, David Bentley, these types of players. England have to build for 2010, they need to get the old guard out and get the new fresh players in. Lampard, Beckham, Campbell, Neville, these types of players shouldn’t really be persevered with.

Dark days are ahead, and there are few positives. It’s fairly safe to say that no-one really comes out of this sad, sad state of affairs with a positive reputation.

The One and Future King

The man is so good, he leaves fans speechless at his ability. The way he effortlessly controls a travelling football, the elegance in the way he turns, the quick and powerful he moves with the ball and the beauty and accuracy with which he scores - Dimitar Berbatov is an unbelievable talent. I’m not a person who is ever lost for words, but Berbatov renders me in such a way. He is, put simply, brilliant. Perhaps it’s the team he plays for that enhances his aesthetic qualities. Tottenham sometimes struggle. There are no other players in the Spurs side to match Berbatov on his day. Perhaps if Berbatov was at Man Utd then he wouldn’t look as good as he does in the Spurs team. To claim this, however, is severely clutching at straws.

Berbatov’s four strikes in the disgusting glut of goals at White Hart Lane in December against Reading showed us all what we had come to realise but had doubted this season. You can say what you like about his attitude or his body language. Frankly, when he plays like this, who cares? Yes, he may want to leave to go to a bigger club. Yes, he may be a tad uncooperative. But, having watched him, can any manager in the world say they would not want him in their side? Lets look at the front two of the top four clubs in England. First up, Man Utd have Tevez and Rooney, two supremely gifted players, who I would say Berbatov is on a par with. Back those up with Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the three best players in the world right now and you have a formidable strike force. Still, Berbatov would get into the Man Utd side, even if just to make up numbers. Arsenal have Adebayor and Robin van Persie. Both are good, if not great, players. Berbatov is better than both. He is also better than Shevchenko at Chelsea and Kuyt or Crouch at Liverpool. Berbatov would get into any Premier League side in a heartbeat, with the slight exception of Man Utd.

Yet, speaking as a neutral and not a Spurs fan, it would be a shame to see him leave Tottenham in January, should the predators come calling. Berbatov is a rare jewel - a world class player, outside the top four. You can argue till the end of the world that Berbatov is too good for Spurs, that he will leave to win the trophies he deserves. But, at the end of the day, not many people would want to see him strengthening the already intimidating strike forces of the big four, thus widening the gap between them and the rest of the Premier League. You just have to hope that Berbatov is not among the generation of greedy footballers who will hold a club to ransom and then leave anyway, ala Michael Carrick and Ashley Cole. These types of players are the ones who are loved by their fans and who express an affection for the club… before a better offer comes in and suddenly they ‘just can’t refuse it’. With any luck, Berbatov may realise that he is absolutely adored at Tottenham and that with his help, they could be a good side again come the end of this season or the next one.

Or he could leave. Join Man Utd and be rotated alongside their other strikers. Fade slightly as he not allowed to make the same kind of impression that he made week in week out at Tottenham. Rest assured, Berbatov’s career will not necessarily progress for the better should he join a bigger club. It could stagnate, like the fortunes of the aforementioned Michael Carrick. Carrick was never a player of Berbatov’s class, but he was at a very high level and left Spurs just as they, and he, were on the verge of possible success. Promising England star, the rock of the Tottenham midfield, Carrick was riding on the crest of a wave. A big money move to Man Utd now sees him behind the likes of Frank Lampard, Owen Hargreaves and Gareth Barry in the queue for an England place. He has faded. It may come from the fact that Utd have better midfielders than him such as Scholes, Hargreaves, Anderson, and Giggs. Carrick could have done so much at Spurs but he went for the money and it hasn’t necessarily payed off 100%. Sure there was a title win but look at him as a player. I fear for Berbatov and can only hope he isn’t receiving the same advice given to Carrick at that time.

If Berbatov is to stay at Spurs for at least the end of this season, then all credit to him. He could be a legend at Spurs, if he really wants to be and it would be a victory for the Premier League, if a team like Spurs were able to beat the top four. Berbatov’s future aside, let us all stand and admire. His performance today illustrated why he is worthy of many a standing ovation. He is a player who not only brings the crowd to their feet, he leaves them gasping with astonishment. How many players can we say do that everyday in modern football?