Summer contemplations

As the season rolls down to a conclusion, even with a very important 3 games left for Spurs, my thoughts are moving towards our summer transfer activity. There have been deficiencies in our squad this year that will need to be addressed as soon as possible.

Each season it is getting harder and harder to stay competetive with the elite, and for the last 8 years or so, apart from the blip we suffered under the guidance of Juande Ramos, Tottenham have remained competetive.

We cannot at the moment compete financially with Chelsea and Mancehster City, nor can we match the prestige of Manchester United. In the transfer market our like for like competitors are Liverpool and Arsenal. That will always be our handicap in the current environment.

In analysing our last few seasons, there has been a rather common occurence. Just take a look at this season. We have beaten Manchester United, Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool. We have also lost to Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton and Liverpool. That is something that is acceptable, if they were our only losses for the season. It is the other three losses that are a little harder to swallow. The home losses to Wigan and Fulham and away to Newcastle are typical of almost any Tottenham season.

The nature of this season has meant that if Spurs fail to win at Cheslea would make it unlikely that Tottenham will finish in the top 4 this seasn, even with victories in the final two games, leaving Spurs with at least 71 points, which would have meant top 4 in almost any other season.

So where have we gone wrong? Well I was never one for believing in the importance of the so called six pointers. However, this season more than every they have been important. We all love to see exciting, attractive, enterprising play, however we need to think about the big picture and perhaps Spurs need to learn to contain as much as to attack. Had Tottenham managed to avoid defeat this season against Chelsea, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Everton, not only would Spurs be 5 points better off, we would also be in a more comfortable position now. In fact the table would look like this: Manchester United 85, manchester City 70, Tottenham 70, Chelsea 66, Arsenal 65.

But the big games are just  one side of the equation. On the other side is what seems to be our perrenial problem of overcoming the teams in or around the relegation zone. This is a problem that has existed for many years now. The following teams have taken points from Spurs this season: Wigan, Fulham, Norwich, QPR, Newcastle and Stoke. That is 19 points dropped, which if combined with the losses against our rivals at the top, would have put Spurs top of the table.

It is easy to annalyse  in such a way, but games are not won and lost by statistics. Football is played by humans not by numbers. The real problem we have is breaking down the opposition. Looking at the game against Southampton, their tactics were to close down and stifle us and not allowing Bale any time on the ball. This was not a parking the bus exercise but by winning the midfield battle. Spurs were unable to use their pace to their advantage and given the recent lack of width it is not suprising their was not a great amount of scoring opportunities.

I believe Spurs have the best options in central midfield with all players available, however there is a real lack of creative outlet. Bale has been superb this season, however we desperately need an alternative outlet otherwose if the opposition mark Bale out of the game there is no alternative. Holtby and Siggurdson have been very good this season, but I don't think they are necessarily the players unlock a defence.

There has also been a lack of goalscoring presence up front. Adebayor has been woeful this season and although Defoe has spent some time injured this season, his return has exactly sparked a goal scoring frenzy. I expect his better days are behind him, however I think Defoe is still a valuable asset for the club.

My wishlist for the summer, and might I add it should occur as early as possible, would be for two new strikers. I like the sound of Damiao, we need a regular goalscorer and someone who can get involved in the game unlike our current front men. I would also love to see Bentieke given a run at Spurs. Amongst midfield players I would love Tom Ince coming to spurs, he is a wide midfielder who scores goals. He would give us options in the final third.

Of players in the squad we should be looking for offers for or letting go would be: Adebayor, Livermore, Gallas, Naughton, Bentley and Gomes. I am hoping that Danny Rose, Andros Townsend and Tom Carroll will be involved in the first team next season.

I don't belive our defence needs additions, however we should always be on the lookout for good youngsters who can come in and put pressure on our current options.

All in all priority must be our strikeforce and alternative options for Bale.