FanPost

How good are Tottenham going to be this season? Or am I just being blindly optimistic?


This is the first article i have written this season and it couldn't have come at a better time, still literally buzzing over the way we effortlessly over came a Norwich side who, in previous years have proven their worth as a premiership team against us. The season officially started over a month ago, but i feel our season only really got underway yesterday at the Lane. The first two games showed somewhat of a lacklustre performance by the team, the name of a certain Welshman still on everybody's lips proving a major distraction to AVB's new project. Im sure nobody needs reminding the outcome of our next game, lets just say a certain team also 'claiming' North London as their own came and parked the bus at their own stadium, but lets not go into that. On the same day as we lost to our biggest rivals our talisman and undeniably world class left winger left us, things couldn't be looking more bleak right? Wrong. There was a sense of optimism so rare in Tottenham supporters that many didn't actually know what they were feeling. A complete overhaul of the squad was to blame for this, 7 new players were signed in a fashion unknown to Tottenham; Baldini, AVB and Levy went out and took the summer transfer window by its bollocks, leaving contracts and and £50 pound notes in their wake. They set out to build a new, balanced team, one able to compete on all fronts and they didn't disappoint. With £106 million pounds being spent, two former loanees crept back to the lane, seemingly unnoticed. Well, that was until they both started the season with determination and skills most of us fans thought they were incapable of. Andros Townsend returned from his short spell at 'Arry's QPR, who were unfortunately relegated, taking the honour out of the player of the season award he picked up after only a few months at the club. He has taken us all by surprise by coming into a team full of superstars and claiming the RF position as his own. His display in the Europa league silenced his critics as he was the best player on the pitch hands down. His one critique is quite clearly his desire to shoot as soon as he sees the goal, which can be a little frustrating especially when Walker has just galloped 70 yards up the pitch to make an overlapping run. However it shows a great desire and ambition, something of an unmissable quality in a player wearing the Tottenham jersey. Danny Rose has also re-joined the rank, again after experiencing a very successful loan spell, at Sunderland. Left back was something of a tricky position for AVB, clearly BAE wasn't trusted by the manager and so que the media reporting that we wanted to buy Fabio Coentroa. I've always thought of Danny Rose as a player that hadn't reached his potential at Spurs, so was delighted when he was finally given the chance to prove his worth for us. He hasn't disappointed either, you can see he wants nothing less than to win, a fiery character that can beat a man with his sublime pace and can actually provide a decent ball into the box, like he did against Norwich to set up the first goal.

In previous transfer windows we might have been contempt with the return of two very good players like Townsend and Rose, but this year things are just a little different at White Hart Lane. Roberto Soldado is the third highest scoring player in La Liga over the past four seasons, only second to two of the greatest footballers to ever grace the earth; Messi and Ronaldo. This statistic speaks for its self really, in Soldado we have acquired a man that literally lives to score goals, and the preferred formation of AVB of late, a 4-2-3-1, fits Soldado perfectly with him being the focal point of our attack. With the likes of Walker, Rose, Townsend, Lennon, Sigurdson and Lamela racing down the flanks whipping balls into the box it his hard to see Soldado not firing in 15-20 goals this season something he is fully accustomed to doing. Thats not to mention the fact a number 10 like Eriksen or Holtby could be slipping through balls for him to chase behind defenders countless times this season. As a striker there can be no better feeling than having someone with the composure and class as Eriksen sat behind you, literally waiting for you to peel of from a defender before picking you out with acute accuracy, lets just hope he performes the way he did at Ajax, and if the Norwich game is anything to go by he'll have no troubles.

Next to a position i think AVB has excelled in with regard to transfer dealings; the CDM position. The more natural four to play in this position are Sandro, Capoue, Paulinho and Dembele, all capable of single handled running the midfield and dictating matches. It will be a very coveted spot this season, all four are top players in my opinion, it is just about finding that balance between them and finding the best pairing. Paulinho is already something of a crowd favourite and its not hard to see why, playing with a smile on his face and bringing an air of class and skill with him opposed to just brute force, Dembele is a similar sort of player, able to effortlessly saunt past a player and surge up the pitch. Capoue and Sandro are more bullish players, never shy of a crunching challenge and both are class in their ability to break up play. Capoue had made a fine start to the campaign before being stretchered of against Arsenal but he is expected to return in the coming weeks and i see him being a key player for us this season.

Our defence over the past years has been at best questionable, even with the likes of Ledley King commanding the line. As a Spurs fan it was almost acceptable that teams would score weak goals against us, but that seems to be a thing of the past. Vertonghon was a standout figure last season, and i expect the same from him this year, surging runs forward, sound at the back, an all round quality defender. Kaboul was sorely missed last year through injury, Dawson, a man i never know whether to laugh at or admire for his passion, has stepped up and tried to claim his position but its hard not to see Younes walking back into the team once fully fit. Chiriches is another new signing, arriving in North London with a lot less hype, however one that does look a class act in the sometimes deceiving clips i have seen on youtube of him. Lets hope he is as good as AVB obviously thinks he is.

In between the sticks we seem to have acquired one of the hottest talents the continent has to offer as Hugo Lloris the French international had a sublime first season as a lily-white. He seems to be the perfect fit into the system we play with the back four often adapting a very high line. He can play as somewhat of a sweeper behind the defence, often making intelligent dashes from his goal to retrieve the ball or to counter an overhead pass beyond our defence as he did at Arsenal to deny Walcott.

The last player i want to talk of is our new wonder kid from Argentina, Erik Lamela, signing for a club record he comes with immense promise and capability at just 21 years of age. He may take a little longer to settle than our other acquisitions as he dosen't speak a word of English but i have no reservations that he will become a world class player at the lane, capable of having fans on the edge of their seats just as a certain Welsh Winger did before him.

The last point i want to touch upon is the fact we now have a subs bench packed with talent, with the only exception maybe left back we now have two, in some cases three, players battling for every position on the pitch, something most managers can only dream of. The difference this year is that the players on the bench are still top class players, take Siggy for example, he would most likely be exempt from peoples strongest XI, but yet he can score two goals and win us a match. Lennon, who was long regarded as one of our 'better' players who would start nearly every game will now struggle to cement his place, but he is still an effective player who i feel has never reached his full potential.

The most beautiful thing about this new look spurs side is that not only do we have a well balanced strong team, mostly all of the players at Tottenham are young and are still developing. We have bought mostly young Internationals, who all look very promising. If they all stay at Tottenham and mature together we could see a serious title challenge being mounted in the next few seasons. That is why my friends i believe the future is very, very bright at Tottenham Hotspur. As fans our only duty now is to get behind the team even if results don't come straight away, this is a project in the development stage. When its completed you'll know, COYS!!!!

Leave a comment below - cheers for reading :)

via www.newsnow.co.uk


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