- Jan 26, 2019
- 385
- 786
Matic is well past it mate.The problem with this team is not talent. Player for player, this is certainly the most talented Tottenham team of the last 25 years. The fact that we can field the team we did today with Son, Sissoko, Winks, and Davies unavailable and then still be able to bring on Lucas, Sanchez, and Lamela shows how much quality we have. Of the players who play regularly, really only Aurier isn’t talented enough.
The other popular argument is that we don’t have players with enough character or mental strength, I don’t buy that for a second. The core of this team has had 4 straight top 4 league finishes, made a UCL final with and extremely banged up squad, and won games at the Ethiad, Emirates, Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge, Bernebau, Westfelanstadion, Cruyff Arena, and we dug our crucial draws at the San Siro, Juventus, and Camp Nou. Further, we have the World Cup winning captain, England Captain, our CBs are number 1 and 6 for caps in the history of Belgium, the 5x Asian footballer of the year, we had the most players in the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup, and overall our squad has over 1000 international caps for the likes of France, Belgium, England, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, etc. Our players have undisputedly had significant team and individual success for both Tottenham and country.
What’s wrong with this team is that it has been assembled in a haphazard fashion and is so damn imbalanced and our “transfer committee” has totally fucked it in terms of squad building. Ndombele, Winks, Sissoko, Skipp, and maybe even Lo Celso are all number #8s who should have a holding player next to them, it was clear last year and remains clear today. Our only two natural holding players are Dier and Wanyama who are absolutely crocked.
Fullback is equally shocking in terms of squad building and strategy. We sell Trippier (our first choice RB, regardless of his performances last year) and then decide Aurier, KWP, Foyth, and sometimes Sanchez should play RB? Genuinely vexed by this one, Aurier has been a nightmare and who at the club even rates KWP, it certainly hasn’t been any of our managers. Then LB, we’re apparently trying to sell Rose all summer to the point where he’s left out of the squad in preseason and then at the Watford training ground on deadline day and then we just expect him to come back and play like nothing happened? Then you’re relying on perpetually injured Davies, aging Vertonghen, and Sessengnon who it is unclear if the club even thinks is a fullback. Shocking transfer/teambuilding strategy.
You look at our two most successful teams in recent history:
2011/2012: (4-2-3-1) Friedel; Walker, Kaboul, King, BAE; Parker, Modric; Lennon, VDV, Bale; Adebayor
2016/2017: (3-5-2) Lloris; Dier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen; Walker, Wanyama, Dembele, Eriksen, Rose; Kane, Alli
These teams picked themselves, all players had a clear role, and everyone was playing in their best position. We didn’t have the depth we do now, but the first team was cogent and excellent. So different from how we are now.
You compare that to today’s lineup. Vertonghen at this point in his career isn’t a LB, Ndombele isn’t a DM, Eriksen isn’t a deeper lying midfielder, Lo Celso shouldn’t play on that wing, and Aurier just isn’t good. It’s the same in other games, Winks and Sissoko can’t play together, and Dier isn’t good enough.
I felt bad for Pochettino earlier this season and I feel bad for Mourinho now, the blame for our underperformance is on those who have assembled this team (impossible to decipher at this club). This summer we totally failed to bring in the right players to balance the midfield (no CDM, too many 8s), totally botched the fullback situation, and retained way too much deadwood and players with contract issues (Rose, Eriksen, Wanyama, Toby, Vertonghen).
If we want to make top 4 this season I’d keep playing Sessegnon at LB, bring Matic in as a short term solution at DM before addressing it long term in the summer, and then try to pay over the top for a RB like Aarons, Ferguson, or anyone really. None of this fits our transfer strategy of only buying the perfect player but we need to face the fact that we’ve fucked ourselves and try to put out some fires.