The Spurs Half Term Report

It’s half term and you have just had parents evening. You sit in your classroom listening to the teacher tell your parents that your grades are decent, but you could do better.

Fourth place, above Liverpool, Chelsea and United. Third top goal scorers in the Premier League and through to the last 16 of the Champions League.

On the face of it, we would have taken it heading into the World Cup. As ever with Spurs, stats aren’t a barometer of success.

First half performances have generally been poor, giving us a mountain to climb in the second half of games.

While that may be possible against lower and mid table clubs, you just can’t afford to do it against the ‘big six’ and in derbies. We simply haven’t shown up in these games.

This of course has been exacerbated by several unfortunate events. The death of Gian Piero Ventrone hit Antonio Conte and the players hard.

After the Brighton game in October, Conte made a heartfelt speech about what Gian Piero meant to him. He was obviously more than just a member of staff. He was a friend and a mentor to many at the club.

Those of you who have lost a significant part of their lives will know that grief can affect everything you do. It also takes time to get over.

On the pitch, it hasn’t helped that our wing backs are unsuited to a system that is dependent on them. While we built a larger squad in the summer transfer window, we failed to sign quality players in key areas.

Now, I have walked along Copacabana beach and watched the average Brazilian play. I also fondly remember the great 2002 World Cup winning squad. At times it’s hard to believe Emerson Royal is from the same country.

Spurs have form for this. How in a country of 214 million people have we ended up with Emerson, Gilberto and Paulinho down the years? My apologies to Sandro and Richarlison.

To be fair to Emerson, it is the manager who keeps putting him in a situation where he is getting targeted by the opposition and his own supporters.

It has been frustrating that Djed Spence – an exciting young player when I have seen him – has barely had an opportunity to show what he can do.

Whether this is down to Conte feeling that Emerson is the best we have remains to be seen. However, I suspect it is down to stubbornness having already disclosed that signing Spence was a club decision.

Son Heung Min’s drop in form, combined with injuries to Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison has undoubtably influenced our ability to create opportunities.

Our inability to do so has at times left Harry Kane isolated and our midfield overrun. This in turn has heaped pressure on a creaking defense that suffer from a lack of concentration at the best of times.

Christian Romero’s lack of fitness is a concern. If you believe the conspiracy theorists, this is down to saving himself for the World Cup. The irony being that he is another bad performance away from an early return to Hotspur Way.

I don’t really believe this of course. However, there’s no doubt that Spurs are a better team with him in the side.

I also don’t think it’s a coincidence that Eric Dier’s form has dropped off a cliff once he’d been asked to be the main man in the back three.

The current style of play has been designed to protect these frailties, but it just simply hasn’t worked, particularly in the last month before the break.

This has led to unrest in the fanbase. Further exacerbated by the fear that evil is once again stirring in the land of Mordor.

I’m not sure that the booing helps the team at times but who am I to criticize a fanbase that regularly pay £60 a ticket to watch us consistently shoot ourselves in the foot?

If you believe in ‘Spurs DNA’ then I get you want to watch the team play the style the club have been accustomed to down the years.

Personally, I’m not against Conte’s counter attacking style. Our ability to break forward quickly saw us dismantle teams towards the end of last season. We have just got to cut the mistakes that have plagued our season.

Now, if you’re reading this piece and thinking I’m one of those supporters that moan the whole way through the match, then please know I think there’s plenty to look forward to after the restart.

On paper, the second half of the season should be kinder to us than the first. We play four of the ‘big six’ at home. With Kulusevski rested and returning from injury, we should see more positive performances and results.

We must of course pray that our players come back from the World Cup in one piece. With any hope Richarlison and Son can play themselves into form.

Then we have the January transfer window. Fabio Paratici certainly earned his salary last year when he was able to sign Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentacur on cut price deals from Juventus.

It was the kind of shrewd business that propelled us up the table and into the Champions League. Don’t get me wrong I love big money signings, but they must be able to walk into the first team and fit into Conte’s system.

We simply can’t afford to get deals wrong like we did with Giovanni Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombélé, to name a few.

Perhaps our best signing last summer was a set piece coach. Gianni Vio has finally made Spurs a threat from corners and free kicks. It is an area we have been ineffective for years.

I don’t think Paratici will fix every problem position in January but upgrades at centre back and wing back would improve the first team massively.

We must also think about a long-term successor to Hugo Lloris. The French captain has been brilliant for us down the years. He should have the respect of every fan when you consider he has given us a decade of service.

However, there is a sense that he is now rapidly declining and perhaps it is time to find a younger, more consistent shot stopper who is also comfortable with the ball at his feet.

So as ever with Spurs, we range from the sublime to the ordinary. We remain optimistic for the rest of the season but wary that disaster is never far away.

Although it may seem that I have been critical of the manager in this piece, you can’t argue with the improvements we have seen in the last 12 months.

He has challenged ENIC with uncomfortable truths, urged the supporters to get behind the team when things aren’t going well and his methods have got the best out of many of our talented players.

For the most part, Conte has acted like the experienced educator that he is. The heights we reach in this next period will be dependent on what kind of club we want to be.

Signor Conte sees the potential. We must see it in ourselves.