Money for nothing
It is almost over. The transfer window, known as “silly season” in most punditry booths, is about to close for the next three months.
An audible sigh of relief can be heard from Roberto Martinez’s office at Goodison Park as he slams down the phone in protest at Chelsea’s latest multimillion-pound bid to lure John Stones to London.
For Tottenham Hotspur supporters, though, transfer windows can seem like a permanent state of purgatory.
The curse of Gareth Bale has lurked over White Hart Lane for the past two years. With coffers bulging at the seams from the Welshman’s world-record transfer to Real Madrid in 2013, Spurs indulged in seven players to replace one. In came Paulinho, Christian Eriksen, Roberto Soldado, Nacer Chadli, Etienne Capoue, Vlad Chiriches and Erik Lamela.
All, with the exception of Eriksen, failed miserably. The Dane, Chadli and Lamela have been retained while the others have been sold at a considerable loss.
So with that harsh lesson fresh in the mind, Spurs have replaced star names with more solid citizens. Kieran Trippier, Dele Alli, Clinton N’jie, Toby Alderweireld and Kevin Wimmer have been brought in for a fraction of the price of the septenary who preceded them. Add to that the £22 million (Dh124.4m) signing of South Korean forward Son Heung-min from Bayer Leverkusen and coach Mauricio Pochettino has reinforced a squad that will again have the added congestion of Europa League fixtures this campaign.
However, with the exception of midfielder Alli, who was voted the best young player in all three English divisions below the Premier League last season, and Alderweireld, an upgrade on the error-prone Federico Fazio at the heart of Spurs' porous defence, it is hard to argue those brought in have dramatically improved the squad.
Son may be a headline writer’s dream, but Spurs fans will demand the striker hits the ground running to alleviate the pressure on Harry Kane, with last season’s top scorer having failed to find the net in Spurs’ opening four league fixtures.
The latest stalemate came in Saturday’s draw against Everton. N’Jie and Son must have struggled to stay awake while watching from the White Hart Lane directors’ box, with excitement at a premium on the pitch. There was barely a murmur as their images were projected on to the big screen, but Spurs fans raised the decibel levels when a product of their youth team made an appearance midway through the second half.
Alex Pritchard is a young midfielder from whom great things are expected. Perhaps more introspection instead of big cash injections should drive the club’s future recruitment strategy.
Communication is key
Louis van Gaal was, understandably, not pleased after watching his side throw away a lead against Swansea City to suffer yet another defeat in south Wales.
During his post-match comments, he mentioned how his players failed to react to Swansea’s tactical change after replacing winger Wayne Routledge with central midfielder Ki Sung-yueng before the hour mark.
“They changed the shape and we had to be compact. We forgot that maybe because we are too dominant. We have to learn from that,” Van Gaal said, implying that his players should have taken the initiative.
Manchester United were ahead through Juan Mata's goal, and Ki's introduction certainly altered the dynamic. He and Jonjo Shelvey asserted themselves by taking out the United midfield with quick, first-time passes.
But just one thing, Louis: If you think your players should have changed their formation, why not simply tell them during play?
sluckings@thenational.ae
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