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14th April
2008 - Is Ramos the ‘Cup’ Manager Spurs Needed? As Spurs produced yet another abject performance against
another mediocre team, the euphoria and heady days of January and February
and the success at Wembley seem a long way off. A team which defeated Arsenal 5-1, which
was seconds away from inflicting a deserved defeat on Champions-elect and
Champions League semi-finalists Manchester United, that deservedly won the
Carling Cup against Chelsea, that thumped West Ham United by four goals and
even managed an eight goal thriller against Chelsea is now scraping around
relieved to get a point at home against Middlesbrough, having lost the
previous home game against Newcastle United. We are led to believe that these players are playing for
their futures at For the last two seasons Spurs have been the best of the
rest, outside the ‘top 4’.
At the moment they look as if they might even struggle to be the best
of the bottom half of the Premier League. We all know that it doesn’t really matter as far as
this season is concerned - it became much of a wash-out last August with two
early defeats and the Jol saga, so we’re fortunate that something has
been salvaged with the impressive results mentioned earlier and a piece of
silverware collected to guarantee next season’s European football. However, after the exciting finish to the
previous two seasons and the earlier performances, the current situation sees
the season ending on a low with a long summer ahead. A positive finish to the season does much
for the morale and enthusiasm of the supporters even if it doesn’t do
anything for the players. Well, what have we got in Ramos? Perhaps we’ve got what we needed a
‘Cup’ manager for a ‘Cup’ team. Tottenham throughout their 125 year
history, with their record of fifteen Cup wins from nineteen final
appearances, have always been regarded as the Cup specialists, able to raise
their game for the important games in the domestic cups or in Europe but
struggled with the ordinary routineness of the league programme. They have struggled to maintain that Cup
reputation in the past two decades but perhaps they are about to reclaim it
under the guidance of the Cup specialist manager, Juande Ramos. With Sevilla Ramos won five Cups including successive UEFA
Cups, the European Super Cup, the Spanish Cup and Spanish Super Cup which
included victories over both |
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Ramos has shown at Tottenham that he can lift the players
and prepare them for the ‘big’ games in the Cup and against the
‘top’ sides but since then there has been a lack of consistency
and some very poor displays in the league. What have we lost in Martin Jol? He managed in his two full seasons to bring
to Tottenham something that has been missing for many years. The same players managed to play with a
consistency that produced results in the mundane ‘bread and
butter’ routine of the league.
However, he fell short against the top sides and in the crucial games
at the latter end of the Cup competitions. When clubs play in a way that they are required to
continually raise their game for vital matches, it is difficult to maintain
that level of commitment and endeavour over a sustained period and
that’s where the Spurs’ season has fallen away this year. These final games are a learning process
for the new manager – he’s finding out about the players and also
discovering that there a no easy games in English football. Hopefully, with a summer of preparation Ramos will get it
right for both league and Cup because a few impressive Cup displays are soon
forgotten as a long season unfolds. A
few short weeks ago we thought the good times were back at At the start of the current season the players at
Tottenham were regarded as being good enough to take the club into the
‘top 4’ and Champions League football. However, nine months on, they plainly are not
up to that task and many are being regarded as surplus to requirement. Perhaps, with it being so difficult to
break the domination of the top sides in Premier League and as they show less
interest in the Cup competitions, Spurs need to concentrate on Cup football
and focus on adding to their Carling Cup success and in Ramos they might just
have the manager who would be able to do achieve it. |
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TOPSPURS
COLUMNISTS |
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THE LATEST TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR NEWS
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29th February 2008 -
Tottenham’s Carling Cup Success Founded on Belief in the ‘ It’s little over four months ago that Juande Ramos
took over the helm at White Hart Lane for a Carling Cup tie against
Blackpool. In that time he has turned
an ailing Spurs team, totally lacking in confidence, into a team that was
able to defeat the Carling Cup holders at Wembley. We all know the ‘Tottenham way’ but this was a
victory very much based on the ‘Ramos way’. There was much criticism about the way Martin Jol’s
departure was handled by Spurs and everyone admits that it could have been
handled better. However, as Ledley
King lifted the Carling Cup on Sunday, Daniel Levy and his directors must
have felt certain satisfaction and justification in the decision they took to
appoint Ramos. In his time in charge Jol had lifted Spurs out of
mid-table mediocrity and to a certain level which has now given Ramos the
opportunity to take the team a stage further. The seeds for Sunday’s victory were sown, not in the
past weeks or days, but at Was it at approximately, 7.52pm on Thursday, 12th
April that Levy and the Board of Spurs were first attracted to the
Spaniard’s managerial talents?
That night However, totally unexpectedly Ramos didn’t bring his
team to defend their one goal advantage, he sent out his Sevilla side on the
offensive. Spurs were caught cold and
within seven minutes were two goals down.
Every Spurs fan was deflated and while the team recovered in the
second half to earn a draw, they were never in a position to seriously
threaten Sevilla’s progress to the next round and eventually a second
UEFA Cup victory. For the third time
in the season Spurs had been knocked out in the latter stages of the Cup
competition, having been in a strong position. It was with similar impressive style that Spurs started
out against But even when that early play didn’t lead to a goal,
Ramos showed against Tottenham deservedly won the game and have received
considerable acclamation for their achievement. Fans are looking forward with optimism to
more success in the future, starting with a UEFA Cup win in May. Sceptics say that Spurs have been there before and look
where it got them. In 1999 George
Graham was appointed after sacked Christian Gross was sacked and he won the
Worthington Cup within months of taking over and was unlucky not to take
Spurs back to Wembley in that season’s FA Cup. To many, at the time, it looked as if that
was going to be the start of something good but it all turned sour. Graham was never popular due to his Arsenal
history and his style of play never appealed to the Spurs faithful. In addition the Spurs team of that time was
composed of many players who had had the best days of their career. This time it’s different. The Spurs fans have
quickly accepted Ramos and Gus Poyet, their style of play and appreciation of
the game is akin to the ‘Tottenham way’ and the current players
at Tottenham are eager for success and realise that they have a manager who
can bring it to the club. The manager has brought in his own backroom staff and they
have worked to build the confidence of the players. They are determined to
instil good habits into the players both on and off the field and they have
them working as a team for each other. In the short period of time that they have been in charge
there has been considerable improvement in the play of several of the
players. Steed Malbranque has worked
tirelessly in every game, Aaron Lennon has shown that not only can he be a
threat going forward but that he can help in defence covering and supporting
his full back while Jenas has at last started to use his obvious talent
throughout the game and against top class opposition. Others have shown increased confidence and
a willingness to play for the team while the new signings have added to the
quality in defence. Spurs have finally broken that hoodoo of the ‘top
4’ teams and hopefully they can now set about claiming more trophies
and their place in that elite group.
The top clubs have in recent years been concerned about a Spurs’
revival and have done everything in their power to unsettle them because they
know how great a threat Tottenham could be to them. At this time they realise that that under
Juande Ramos there is serious potential for Spurs to unsettle the cartel at
the top of English football. 20th January 2008 - Spurs Fans Salute Robbie
Keane Deep into injury time as Spurs hang on against a
determined However, go back a few weeks to the last game of 2007 -
six goals against Reading and the club’s leading scorer for the
calendar year of 2007 doesn’t get on the score sheet, in fact, he
misses a penalty at 4 – 4 but sees Jermain Defoe save his blushes as he
heads in the rebound. He is then
substituted as the team wins 6-4. That sums up the enigma that is Robbie Keane. Love him or loathe him, as some Spurs fans
do, you have to acknowledge that he has an instinct for goals and frequently goals
of the spectacular variety. He has been described as a scorer of great goals rather
than a great goal scorer and while there is an element of truth in that he
has over the past couple of seasons added greater consistency to his game and
the ability to be in the right place to knock in simple, goal-poacher’s
type of goal as well. Robbie Keane joined Tottenham in August, 2002 from Leeds
United for £7 million as his former club slipped into financial ruin. Only turned 22 years of age, Keane had also
played for Wolves, Keane made his debut in a 3-2 home win over West Ham
United and scored his first goal for the club in an away win at Keane has developed his game to become creator as well as
goal scorer and has developed a great understanding with Dimitar Berbatov as
shown on numerous occasions, including by the cross that led to the Bulgarian
scoring the first goal against Until recently, Keane had been so reliable and consistent
when taking a penalty. His record shows 14 successful strikes from seventeen
penalties. He was so calm and showed
such composure, able to focus on the task and exclude all distractions from
the opposition. He had previously only
missed one penalty for Spurs, saved by Spurs now reserve keeper, Ben Alnwick,
when he was playing for Keane has shown great commitment to Spurs and has been the
leading scorer for a number of seasons and even when omitted from the team,
he has battled back into contention and shown a willingness to play from the
substitutes’ bench. Able to play
a variety of roles he has also combined well with other strike partners,
Teddy Sheringham, Fredi Kanoute and Defoe. For the early part of last season, manager Martin Jol
rotated Keane and Defoe with Berbatov but eventually sided with Keane who
could provide greater support to midfield as he often came to collect the
ball before moving forward in attack.
On occasions this was a fault in his play as when Spurs were under
pressure Keane came further and further back leaving Berbatov isolated and
Spurs brought more pressure on themselves. Keane has many memorable goals – hat-tricks against
Wolves and Everton, his juggling goal against Blackburn Rovers and the super
strikes against Fulham in the Cup and in Martin Jol showed great faith in Keane, making him
vice-captain, and he has accepted the responsibility as he did when appointed
captain for the Last calendar year, 2007, Robbie Keane scored 31 goals in
all competitions, 19 of which were in the Premier League from 32 appearances,
keeping him ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo (18 goals from 31 appearances) and
other strikers including Benni McCarthy, Carlos Tevez, Yukubu, Nicolas Anelka
and Didier Drogba. Last year started slowly for Keane who didn’t start
a game in January and his first League goals didn’t come until late
February when he scored two against Bolton Wanderers but was then sent off
before half-time for handling the ball on the line following a corner. In his final seven League games of the
season he scored nine goals and after a slow start to this season he scored
another ten, bringing his total to nineteen. To date, Keane is the fifteenth player to have scored one
hundred or more goals for Spurs. That elite group is headed by Jimmy Greaves
and includes Teddy Sheringham, Martin Chivers, Alan Gilzean and Glenn Hoddle,
all Spurs ‘Legends’. Given
his age and continued good form and avoiding injury, Keane could very quickly
move well up that list. Hopefully, Robbie Keane will continue to head Spurs’
goal scoring lists as the club move forward to claim some long awaited
silverware in the coming seasons. ‘There’s
Only One Robbie Keane!’ (Check out all Keano’s goals for
Spurs http://www.topspurs.com/thfc-keano.htm)
3rd January 2008 - Spurs’ Defensive
Woes Continue The defensive woes that blighted Martin Jol’s final
months as manager continue to derail the Juande Ramos/Gus Poyet revival at
Tottenham. Spurs have never been a defensively minded club in the
search of success at any costs. They
have always preferred to concentrate on attacking play and winning with
style. The only Spurs’ manager
who countenanced defensive play was George Graham and by tightening up
Spurs’ defence and their approach to playing, he won the Worthington
Cup in 1999 in one of the most boring Cup Finals at Wembley but then it was
against Martin O’Neill’s Tight defensive play was the way of football on the
continent and in the early days of European competitions the Italian and
Spanish clubs came to the away tie with a ten-man defence and set out their
stall determined not to concede a goal and prepared to use any method
necessary, legitimate or otherwise, to achieve that aim. Injuries to key defenders have badly affected Spurs this
season and Juande Ramos has had to use a number of permutations at the back
since taking over. He has also used every
conceivable tactical manoeuvre to try and win games for Spurs, succeeding as
evidenced in a number of games and particularly in the win over Earlier in the season, shortly after Ramos was appointed I
highlighted the short-comings of Spurs’ defensive play and detailed the
goals that they had conceded from individual errors, free-kicks and
corners. Initially, on taking over the
problem seemed to have been addressed but in recent games it has reared its
ugly head once more and cost Spurs dearly.
Incredibly, of the past ten goals Spurs have conceded, eight have been
from free-kicks or corners. A very
worrying statistic and every manager in the land will know it and realise
that at a set play all they need to do is play a long ball to the centre of
the Spurs defence and there will be goals aplenty.. Spurs’ Defensive Woes (up-dated) Everton (h) Lost 1-3 - conceded a goal from a free-kick within the first minute (identical to last season) – that made two goals conceded in two minutes over the first two games. - goalkeeper and defender collide leaving opportunity to score - deflection off wall from long range free-kick Fulham (a) Draw 3-3* – conceded from a corner - shot deflected, looped over goalkeeper - failed to clear a long throw in and overhead kick from edge of area in injury time Arsenal (h) Lost 1-3* – scored from a free-kick (similar to last season) - long range shot on the break - last minute goal but game was already beyond Spurs. Aston Villa (h) Draw 4-4* – goalkeeper drops the ball from simple cross from corner, clearance sliced to defender who scored an equaliser - failed to clear a centre and ball ricocheted to defender for his second goal - failed to deal with long clearance and shot from edge of area - shot from long range free-kick - last minute equaliser from long cross - conceded from a corner - failed to clear ball creating opportunity for an
unchallenged strike from edge of area - injury time free-kick half cleared and strike
unchallenged from edge of box West Ham United (a) Draw 1-1 – individual
error by Kaboul Long range shot in injury time Arsenal (a) Lost 1-2 – conceded from corner for second goal Fulham (h) Won 5-1 – conceded from corner Reading (h) Won 6-4 – conceded from a free-kick and two corners - fourth goal conceded on the break Aston Villa (a) Lost 1-2 – conceded from two corners through poor marking (* Games in which
Spurs had been leading and dropped points) To overcome this problem, Spurs need to find an
experienced, commanding central defender who understands defensive play and
can organise those around him. The
play of Richard Dunne for Previously, I have questioned who was responsible for
defensive coaching at the club – the same position needs to be
considered. I greatly admire the
theory put across by Alan Hansen on Match of the Day and in his newspaper
column. He is well versed in defensive
play from his time at
Until Spurs resolve this major problem, they will neither
challenge for 30th December 2007 - Ramos – Tactical
Genius or Lucky Manager? Finding his team a goal down early in the second half,
Juande Ramos took off central defender Ledley King and replaced him with
striker Jermain Defoe. For the next
ten minutes More inept defending from a corner, that was three goals
conceded from set-pieces, and Spurs were behind again. Almost immediately
Berbatov completed his hat-trick to keep Spurs alive in the game, a lovely
goal from a corner when he got between two defenders and turned and passed
the ball into the net. More mayhem in the Spurs defence as Was it going to be another 4 – 4 draw like the Villa
game? No – Defoe scored from the
rebound after Robbie Keane, previously so composed and assured with
penalties, missed his second penalty in a week. Up steps the manager to remove Keane and replace him with
Teemu Tainio and resort to a back four defensive formation again. Berbatov scored his fourth to make victory
secure and Spurs moved ahead of The players showed admirable fighting qualities and
endeavour to come back in a game that at one point looked lost as the defence
struggled with any Reading attack and especially their set piece play from
free-kicks and corners. Ledley King looked bemused when taken off and many fans
were equally confused. It makes sense
to treat King carefully as he returns from injury but taking off the
club’s best defender when a goal down looked foolhardy and the next twenty
minutes of defensive frailties only added to that opinion. However, Spurs striking qualities and
Dimitar Berbatov kept Spurs going to eventually achieve victory. Ramos has shown in earlier games that he is willing to
make substitutions in an effort to turn a game around and it worked to admirable
effect against Are such moves the ideas of a tactical genius or is he a
lucky manager? Whatever your views, Juande Ramos is a brave manager
– he has been prepared to make changes in an effort to win games rather
than settle for a draw. Such dramatic
changes won’t be successful every week so Ramos and Gus Poyet will be
only too aware that their first priority must be to strengthen and steady the
defence. The transfer window will give
them the opportunity to add to that area and from a sound defensive base
Ramos will hope that Spurs’ attacking options will continue to flourish 24
December 2007 - ‘I Blame David Pleat’ On
local radio and television there’s a comedy show called ‘The
Blame Game’ – members of the audience ask the panel who they
blame for some current or topical event. Tonight’s
question is: “Who do you blame for Spurs being a ‘nearly’
team – nearly good enough to defeat Arsenal or any other top side,
nearly good enough to win a trophy, but not quite?” Personally,
I blame David Pleat – not for his time as Director of Football or for
his numerous spells as Caretaker manager but for his time back in 1986-87
when as manager he introduced the concept of the ‘nearly’ team to
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