By Danny Mackay ⋅ May 14, 2007 ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Tottenham

Sir Alex Ferguson has joked that Mourinho spent £50million to buy United the title. He referred to the signings of Shevchenko, Ballack and others while he signed Carrick and called it a day. And if Spurs want to step up we should learn that lesson.

Check any chat page and fans will discuss a collective wish list of around 100 players. Very few would declare themselves satisfied and hope for no signings. But to an extent that’s what Spurs should do.

The first team and squad combined to finish fifth this season. That suggests the first team and squad is pretty good. It suggests that whoever we have playing in any particular position must be up to scratch, and that whoever covers them does so fairly well.

We finished ahead of sides who played far fewer games this season, and that had far fewer injuries. So on that front all is well. But clearly we didn’t finish higher, and so attentions rightly turn to a better season next year.

But who would have predicted fifth after our first game of the season? Or even our first few weeks? The side was poor, there was no cohesion, and things went very badly very quickly.

The only position we have not bought in the last couple of years, besides the left wing of course, is stability

Against Bolton on the first game we were slaughtered. On paper we had a good side, but on the pitch we had a collection of players unable to work together. There was no movement, the Defence lost position, and we could not retain possession.

That was the pattern for the first few weeks. Players like Zokora and Berbatov struggled to fit the side, and the side struggled to accommodate them. They also struggled with the nature of English football, which perhaps explains how Chimbonda bucked the trend to hit the ground running.

And on this season’s record avoiding that bad start would put us above Arsenal. They may have finished eight points above us, but that gap was nine at the end of October. For the rest of the season we bettered them by a point, played more games in all competitions, and suffered numerous more injuries.

So this season must act as a launch pad. Not because we can identify weaknesses, but because we can see our strength.

So we should trust in the team we have. We should start next season with no debuts. Those we sign should join the fray gradually and one at a time. And they should be few in number and preferably from England.

Because the only position we have not bought in the last couple of years, besides the left wing of course, is stability. And if he can win the title for the Red Devils, perhaps he can lift us to fourth.

Who should Spurs purchase in the summer? Share your views by leaving a comment below.

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