Why Tottenham Hotspur are under-performing
Posted by DavidM in Tottenham | 4 December 2007
At the start of this season, same as last season, I expected to see Tottenham easing into the 5th spot and challenging for 4th.
Yet after being so close to taking the fourth position from their North London rivals, Arsenal, in 2005 and claiming 5th spot last year - though eight points behind 4th place Arsenal - Spurs are fighting off relegation this season.
With only two wins in the Premiership Spurs are a point above the relegation places. Seven losses (four at home) and six draws points to a pretty poor start by any big team's standards.
But why are they in this position? They've got a squad of good players and a manager with a strong pedigree. Ramos may be new but usually that gives a team a short-term boost.
Any team that can boast Berbatov, Keane, Defoe and Bent up front should be able to score goals. And Tottenham do. They've scored 2 or more goals in 6 of their 15 Premiership matches, scoring four goals in three of them. And they're averaging 2.6 goals per game across the 5 UEFA cup matches played so far.
In midfield they have Huddlestone, Jenas, Routledge and others and in defence a selection including the excellent youngster Bale, Chimbonda, Dawson and Ledley King. They may not be the biggest international names but they are all rated.
Yet they've only kept two clean sheets in the Premiership and one in the UEFA cup. In 8 league games they've conceded two or more goals. This could be down to the defenders' injury list - currently King, Assou-Ekotto, Gardner and Rocha all out and Bale now out for a second spell.
There were signs of similar problems last season. Looking at the league table, although Spurs finished 5th and scored 57 goals they conceded 54 - around double that of the four teams above them and more than the 4 teams immediately behind them.
It's clear that Spurs' strong attacking options aren't going to win them any medals unless they can sort the defence out. With the Janury transfer window looming it's clear where Ramos' priorities should lie.
Comments
we can't defend properly and don't get enough cover from our centre mids
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