Tottenham, Time to Excel..

Special thanks to JC, the discussion gave me insights for this post. Cheers mate..

The Spurs team or Harry Redknapp's boys as I like to call them, are a bunch who have underachieved despite having a lot in them. This blog post is a reminder of where Spurs have been heading despite all the talent oozing out and with a man at helm who dreams to be England's coach soon..(England are in shit and Harry certainly won't be able to clean it up)

Right from the days I followed football, that was about 8 years ago, Spurs have always been an exciting team to watch in both the positive and negative sense.Be their 3-3 fightback against Arsenal in 2011, or the 'so close yet so far' comeback against Inter Milan scoring 3 goals after going 4 goals down in the 1st half or their demolition of AC Milan in both the legs of the Champions League. However also exciting are games like the one against Manchester United in 2009 where despite being 2 goals up in the 1st half , Spurs cowardly lost the game by conceding 5 in the later half of the game. A game involving Spurs is never incomplete without any drama. And surely bring lots of heart aches to the fans, which they would like to avoid.

Let's begin digging deep.. Where are the guys hiding.. I put my hand in the Spurs defence and I get the opposition's favourite player.. 'Blooper Gomes'.. Well, what was his name.. "Heurelho Gomes" a Brazilian, has been one of their main players and to be fair, never have Brazilians been great goal keepers. But Gomes has done his reputation more harm by being butter fingered on numerous occasions. As good a goalkeeper he has tried to be, the worse he has been by letting the ball sneak past him on several times thus letting the opposition sneak through to victory. Persisting with 'Blooper Gomes' has been a costly mistake by Redknapp and for this here's a ..

Tottenham have had 6 strikers in the past 5 years with Berba and Bent having moved on to greener pastures where they have settled well into their roles scoring consistently. But at Tottenham and specially under Redknapp strikers are like rolling stone, not sure if they will start the next game on the field or on the bench. Bent is not a legend at White Hart lane but will forever be remembered for the famous quote by Harry Redknapp, who said, after the striker had fluffed a simple chance against Portsmouth: "Even my Mrs. could have scored that." Here a  for the indecent comment from a top manager..Pauyluchencko, Robbie Keane and Peter Crouch are not safe at Spurs either and their exit looks imminent. Harry scouts a lot of strikers but never the one's who will guarantee him success in the long run. A 20+ goal scoring striker is certainly going to solve their woes but will they be able to get one? Redknapp's British policy is certainly not driving away fan's fears of sitting out of the Top 4 and the Champions league.

Certainly not a good thing when you have your best players leaving to rival clubs in the premier league, the balance, the stability is all shaken up and rebuilding is never an easy process.. The most recent ones which come to mind are Berba and Carrick's departure to United. And the latest rumours of Modric to Chelsea or ManU strengthens the fact that Tottenham's resilience to hold on to their best players is lacking big time. Getting players like 28 year old Pienaar and 40 year old Friedel shows nothing less than Tottenham's lack of transfer imagination. Their only signing which was appreciated and was for one, a bargain, Rafael Van Der Vart. He has been the backbone of Spur's last season and without his presence on the pitch the team has only struggled.

The man in picture, Luka Modric has been an integral part of Spur's achievement in  qualifying for the Champions league for the first time eventually bowing out of the tournament at the quarter final stage. Starting in a defensive midfield position he eventually moved up to play as an attacking midfield, a role he enjoyed and was effective. His style of play has been appreciated by not just the players and staff at Spurs but also at other clubs. Increased visibility has led to poachers in the form of Chelsea and Manchester United. It would be hard for Spurs to hold onto their prized asset for long and it's only time before the 24 year old lad yearns to play champions League football. Spurs have to make it or break it for hold onto Modric for the real battle is only when you have your best around. Without him, Spurs will be starting all over again and  the fans at White Hart Lane would be praying that the Croat sticks with them.

Another man who has been instrumental in Tottenham's magic spell has been Gareth "Superman" Bale. This young man who at 21 has emerged as one of the sought after players is key to Tottenham's success. Playing at left back, he was destined to become a winger, some one whose crosses are a delight for every striker waiting in the box. He exposed himself to the world with his exhibition display against Inter scoring 3 on the night even though Spurs lost 4-3. Thus was known to the world "Superman" Bale, whose game certainly has improved since then pushing Spurs towards the brink of Champions league qualification. Bale recently extended his contract tying him to the club for another 4 years, but a sane person will realize that no longer are contracts considered to be holy. With interest from Barca and Inter , Spurs have to be on their guard to clinch on to Bale if they want to have any chances of qualifying for the Champions league next season and challenge for the premier league title.

I have only mentioned 2 players who have evinced interest from bigger clubs and have been crucial in playing a part in Tottenham's good run . Compared to their London rivals Tottenham's trophy cabinet has been barren for a long time except for the league cup win in 2008. Pace on the pitch has been Spur's strength and if they sell off Modric and Bale, that for one is a step back. Below is a compilation of how the combination of Modric and RVDV is crucial in propelling Spurs to a success.

The Spur's Quadrilateral : The games should be focused around Rafael VD Vart, being the centre of the quadrilateral, Modric starting all of it. Modric has all the freedom of deciding how to play the game, making him an important piece in the game. Obviously with Bale and Palacious lurking on the wings (I would prefer someone else for Palacious, Lennon doesn't show character ofcourse which is why he is omitted here) Modric has to get it exactly right as to how he wants to play and he has been right most of the time. Rafael VD Vart in between the quadrilateral has a responsibility to support 5 players around him and also at times play the game all by himself. Bale's position on the left wing is indispensable as he has proved and had made the left side of the field all of his own as he can double up as a left back without any hiccups.The strikers aren't really world class to match up to Spurs ambitions of playing in the Champions League. Defoe , Crouch , Paulu are all on the same scale and it's for harry redknapp to ditch his wife's ego and go get a striker who can propel the ship to the podium. The position in front of net has been a pain for a Spurs fan and unlike others Harry is washing his hands of it. 40 yr old Brad Friedel is not even a short term solution and doesn't Harry know that he is no SAF and Freidel is no Van Der Saar. Until and unless they get a 'No-Blooper' GK, problems will continue to arise.

Tottenham's transfer policy has been one of the most confusing and irritating one's I have ever seen. Rafael Van Der Vart at £8 million was the best buy Tottenham have ever made in recent times. That's it, end of story. I haven't seen them go a step ahead and make a buy that would have atleast won them a small battle. The recall of Keane and Defoe after being sold to Liverpool and Portsmouth respectively shows that Tottenham's ideology revolves around a small set of players. And the sale of Berba and Carrick to Manchester United didn't make matters any better. And now with rumours of Modric's exit and Bale in the near future it will only make a Spur's fan doubt if they can ever keep hold onto players who are looking to play in Europe and want to win titles( I don't even wanna mention that Spurs haven't qualified for Europe in the upcoming season). The day Tottenham start to win big, the exodus is bound to end.

Spur's fans would hate the trio to break apart

A good manger, a better sets of players and a great fan base build a team. But in the last decade trophies have mattered a lot and players have had big ambition arriving at a new club. Time for Tottenham to live up to those expectations!!