The defence is the priority not a striker
There seems to be a difference of opinion to what Mauricio Pochettino and the club see as the priority and what a certain supporters perceive to be the priority.
At the initial meeting between Daniel Levy, Franco Baldini and Mauricio Pochettino the defence was afforded number one priority, principally the left-back and centre-back areas. There was plenty more that needed fixing, our number two goalkeeper was 43 and undoubtedly in his last season, there was no adequate cover at right-back, the ball was not moved from defence to attack quick enough, left midfield offered little in defence and we had a group of purchases who, to be blunt, failed.
Tim Sherwood managed to get Christian Eriksen playing for a couple of months at the end of the season and such was the dearth of anything to cheer, people forgot the rest of the season and he received the Player of the Year award.
Erik Lamela hardly played, Roberto Soldado lost his confidence, Nacer Chadli showed brief flashes, Paulinho was surprisingly poor in front of goal goal, Vlad Chiriches didn't adapt to the Premier League and Etienne Capoue would get in the side then get injured.
It was important therefore that having made a £100 million investment the new head coach got a return for the money spent, he had to get them performing. Of lesser importance, but still needing to be addressed, were the left side of midfield and central striker role.
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The left-back, right-back, goalkeeping positions have been addressed as has partially the centre-back issue and the defensive midfield area to move the ball forward quicker and more creatively.
Chelsea made 4 defensive errors last season, Everton made 6, Arsenal made 10, Tottenham 33.
Not the priority?
Of those 33 defensive errors, over 8 times more than Chelsea, 21 led directly to a goal being conceded.
Not the priority?
To win games, that means the striker and his attacking colleagues must score 21 goals simply to cancel out what we let in at the other end, a waste of 21 goals really. Reduce the number you concede and the goals you score have a greater value, they'll be winning you three points instead of just clawing back one.
Sorting the defence is absolutely essential and the top priority, otherwise we are wasting our time looking for a striker, his goals wouldn't actually make the difference they should. Liverpool reminded us of that. A new striker scoring for us wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference.
What is the point in any half decent striker coming to Spurs if all his efforts are just wasted at the other end. The club isn't an attractive proposition, we don't have Champions League football and until we sort our defending out we never will, regardless of who we have up front, Ronaldo and Messi included.
Pochettino has had 1 window in which has has brought in 6 players and 3 games, personally I think he deserves a little more time to sort out the mess AVB has put us in. Chelsea fans were right when they said he'll mess your club up.
Calling for heads now is a tad premature.
At the initial meeting between Daniel Levy, Franco Baldini and Mauricio Pochettino the defence was afforded number one priority, principally the left-back and centre-back areas. There was plenty more that needed fixing, our number two goalkeeper was 43 and undoubtedly in his last season, there was no adequate cover at right-back, the ball was not moved from defence to attack quick enough, left midfield offered little in defence and we had a group of purchases who, to be blunt, failed.
Tim Sherwood managed to get Christian Eriksen playing for a couple of months at the end of the season and such was the dearth of anything to cheer, people forgot the rest of the season and he received the Player of the Year award.
Erik Lamela hardly played, Roberto Soldado lost his confidence, Nacer Chadli showed brief flashes, Paulinho was surprisingly poor in front of goal goal, Vlad Chiriches didn't adapt to the Premier League and Etienne Capoue would get in the side then get injured.
It was important therefore that having made a £100 million investment the new head coach got a return for the money spent, he had to get them performing. Of lesser importance, but still needing to be addressed, were the left side of midfield and central striker role.
Recent Articles:
Sunderland v Spurs
Alex Pritchard boy to man
The old newspaper trick still working I see
Lokomotiv Moscow's Niasse reveals Spurs have scouts watching him
The farcical press sharpen their knives again
Tottenham News Shorts - Issue 60
Spurs keeper Archer stars in final game for Scotland U21's
Pochettino assures Archer he has a future at Spurs
The left-back, right-back, goalkeeping positions have been addressed as has partially the centre-back issue and the defensive midfield area to move the ball forward quicker and more creatively.
Chelsea made 4 defensive errors last season, Everton made 6, Arsenal made 10, Tottenham 33.
Not the priority?
Of those 33 defensive errors, over 8 times more than Chelsea, 21 led directly to a goal being conceded.
Not the priority?
To win games, that means the striker and his attacking colleagues must score 21 goals simply to cancel out what we let in at the other end, a waste of 21 goals really. Reduce the number you concede and the goals you score have a greater value, they'll be winning you three points instead of just clawing back one.
Sorting the defence is absolutely essential and the top priority, otherwise we are wasting our time looking for a striker, his goals wouldn't actually make the difference they should. Liverpool reminded us of that. A new striker scoring for us wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference.
What is the point in any half decent striker coming to Spurs if all his efforts are just wasted at the other end. The club isn't an attractive proposition, we don't have Champions League football and until we sort our defending out we never will, regardless of who we have up front, Ronaldo and Messi included.
Pochettino has had 1 window in which has has brought in 6 players and 3 games, personally I think he deserves a little more time to sort out the mess AVB has put us in. Chelsea fans were right when they said he'll mess your club up.
Calling for heads now is a tad premature.
2 comments
AVB took over a spurs squad largely full of duds. We'd lost modric, he got the team playing some decent football and taking some big scalps that couldnt be scalped in redknapps final season.
If you compare the squad when AVB took over to the one we have now, there is no comparison. Spurs are a big team in the making. When he took over we were an average team were a team with 2 outward bound superstars...
Not only that but it has since became clear that AVB had been all for signing Moutinho, Willian and James Rodriguez so you cant say AVB hand picked all of these players.