It’s safe to say that ever since Pochettino left Spurs, we have not reached the same heights we had those many years ago. Although, there has been moments of brilliance we just have not reached the same heights we did as on the night of Amsterdam. Pochettino's high pressing football has since been replaced by a sluggish, boring and lacklustre football team that seems just to slowly stumble through the season every year. No more has been relevant in our centre backs.
Why did it work so well under Pochettino at the back?
For all we remember the high pressing style of football and fluid play of Pochettino, we often forget the solid back line that was the foundation for one of the greatest attacks in history. For example Toby and Jan over the 2016/17 season only conceded 26 goals. It was one of the greatest centre back partnerships in the Premier League history to rival the likes of Kompany and Otamendi. It was a breath taking solid defence that reflected a breath taking team.
Toby and Jan were the definition of steady and a force to be reckoned with as attackers used to be frightened of the Belgium duo. Vidic and Ferdinand are probably the best centre back duo in Premier League history, due to their diversity. By this I mean they were a mix of modern and old footballing routes, they could clear the ball into row Z and also play out as did Barcelona would or Madrid. It’s what’s differentiates them from Cahill and Terry who would struggle in this new atmosphere and environment as they lacked to a degree this skill of playing out from the back.
What else helped is that even though they were fairly injury free, we had some replacements that could step in and fill in for a couple of games. For all of my concerns and reservations I have about Sanchez and Dier, they can work well from the bench and as substitute’s.
Where did it start to go wrong?
As soon as Mourinho walked in, the vultures started to swerve over the club, it was the end of an era for the football club. Toby and Jan had grown old and were just too slow to keep up to the Premier League standard and needed replacements.
So levy had a very clear solution; buy two new centre backs that would fit in to Mourinho’s system. There was a lot of reports particularly with Sky Sports with Beijing Guoan footballer Kim Min-Jae, who, in Levy’s ultimate wisdom decided not to acquire, and a few years later he would go on and and win Napoli there first Scuddeto in 30 years. But the problem was not that we did not go and buy Kim Min-Jae specifically but the fact is we did not but anyone at all. Another player we were linked with at the start is Ruben Dias, a young Portuguese Benfican centre back, and was apparently Jose Mourinho'a first transfer target alongside Bruno Fernandes. However, again I must stress that the problem wasn’t we did not get this centre back, it’s the fact we got no centre backs at all under Jose, and why Jose was a complete disaster and tactically and fundamentally was wrong for the club but the one area in which he can not be blamed is he was not backed at the back.
When in doubt buy an Argentinian?
In trouble Levy decided just after he appointed Nuno Espirito Santos as new Tottenham boss to buy Serie A defender of the year Cristian Romero from Atalanta for about £50 million on a loan to buy option. Just like so much of Tottenham past we bought an Argentina player to sort our troubles. I would argue Romero has not disappointed, for all his ill-temperedness and sometimes lack of attention he has been solid at the back and shown potential. While not as good in his second season I think he is a good player and our third ever World Cup winner and will continue to serve the club whole heatedly for many years to come.
The same can not be said for if any of other centre backs. Dier is completely and utterly unsuited for first team football, he is slow, poor and a sorry excuse for a failed holding midfield who has had to move back to centre back due to not being able to pass the ball. Sanchez is one of those people you look at and go how did you make it where so others failed, he sometimes looks like he had just been introduced to the concept of defending and unlike Dier, is not even built like a centre back. Showing, weak forms of skill and poor decision making me long for the days of Vlad Chiriches and Federico Fazio. Rodon was bought but his lack of appearances and subsequent loan move makes him fairly irelavent in the long term. Finally, Lenglet who reports from sources such as Alasdair Gold may be staying at the club; are just not up to the type of football played in the Premier League, he was another cheap option when Levy did not want to fork out money for the likes of Bastoni and Kounde.
Admittedly, I would argue for all these footballer defects and s lack of character would still see them serve as good yet still fairly mediocre options on the bench just as they were under Pochettino. They are not first team and this is where the issue lies. But as much as I have complained, how can you fix a defence that had just conceded 63 goals in a single season?
How do you fix this defence?
Ange Postecoglou in my mind is the future of this club and was the smartest decision this club has made since probably Romero was brought in. His attacking football is our DNA and as reports have suggested is looking to get Romero back to the standard he was under Conte’s first season. Eventually, I think we will end up with the same back line as we had under Pochettino, but to do that we need to bring in players.
In my opinion the perfect candidate is Laporte who has been linked to spurs through TransferMarkt, Fabrizio Romano and Football Daily. The Man City left sided centre back would fit perfectly in Ange’s back 4 playing alongside Romero and would have the potential to rival the best partnership at the back in Europe. Laporte would be hungry to get his career back on track and would fit perfectly alongside Romero. He is good with his feet, and can play out from the back which is much more crucial in modern football and brings almost a sense of awe to our reputation at the back. By this I mean we would go from a laughing stock to a force to be reckoned with. He’s a player with very little drawback’s, possessing the strength and build of a typical English centre back, mixed with a splendid flare of Guardiola's brand of creativity and pragmatic approach. Obviously, if Levy is reading this another strength is he could be bought at a fairly reasonable price and at the end of the day that’s all that really matters.
Another option is Crystal Palace’s centre back Marc Guehi. As someone who is a Croydon Spurs fan I have a lot of Palace friends who all rave about their centre back partnership of Andersen and Guehi. Unfortunately, and unlike Palace supporters they are actually right and Palace do posses a very good centre back partnership. Reports from Sky Sports have linked us with Guehi and I think the young 24 year old again would be a good fit and has a lot of parallels to Carter-Vickers at centre back. Young, exciting and a steady presence that would compliment Romero’s let’s say unconventional temperament. My one problem would be, as having watched him, is sometimes he needs to be calm while on the ball, but that will come with time and I think would suit Tottenham tremendously.
My long shot option is a fairly unconventional choice is, Norwich centre back and Ireland international Omobamidele. As we go on you will see my love of this new young Irish team coming forward and how no one is talking about it, it’s young fresh and exciting and I will definitely be intrigued and interested in how they develop and can’t wait to see them hopefully come close to bringing some silverware to Dublin. I see Ireland as what Spurs should be; young, exciting and promising and none of this is replicated more than Omobamidele who I believe has the potential to turn into one of the best centre backs in the world and would be a huge asset to our football club and would send a signal we are returning back to our routes of buying young, talented footballers.
Finally there is Harry Maguire, Although I would argue Maguire is everything that Dier is not, he still in my opinion is a good backup, there is definitely a good player in there that has been shown at England and Leicester. Unfortunately, his bumbling mistakes, lack of grit and a pathetic presence that would not scare any winger or attacker in the league makes him another Lenglet signing and would be a wasted opportunity at this stage.
Spurs have always had a love hate relationship with defending in its history, while throughout our history we have produced some of the best attackers the world has ever seen and have been renowned for our breath taking, exciting and exceptional players up front, it's not been the same at the back; while Mabbutt and King are some of the best centre backs to ever grace the English game, our back line has always been a sore point at spurs, but now we have the potential to change our direction in the next ten years and to do this we need at least two new high end quality centre backs.
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