Three positions Spurs must recruit for
Looking at team selections this season gives us an idea of the positions we need to look at during the summer transfer window. Three stand out as being more critical than the rest.
Toby Alderweireld, Eric Dier and Harry Kane have been trojans this season and will be needing backup next season when we have the UEFA Champions League to contend with, barring accidents.
It is important to buy the right player at the right price than any player simply to have numbers, a stance Mauricio Pochettino has made clear to fans during the last window. Paul Mitchell and Rob Mackenzie have done a brilliant job of identifying players thus far. Yes, of course, there will be those who can't make the step up or who perhaps can't grasp the importance of mentality, but recruitment has been on a different planet to previous seasons.
Kevin Wimmer, a centre-back most Spurs fans had never heard of stood in brilliantly for Jan Vertonghen to give us three solid centre-backs to call upon. This summer that needs to be added to, will that be through a purchase or will it be through the promotion of Cameron Carter-Vickers. There are those who watch the Development Squad who know more, but I suspect perhaps FA Cup ties and Carling Cup ties may see his introduction.
Do we still need another centre-back though? If Toby Alderweireld were to get injured we don't really have a right-sided centre-back to slot into his place. You could move Eric Dier there but then you take him out of a position he has been doing so well in all season. Why would you want to do that? The idea is to minimise a loss, moving Dier would maximise it surely. Why change parts you don't need to?
Dier himself has been indispensable as a defensive midfielder and while Mousa Dembele has shown he can step in the role he is better operating as the more advanced of the two. Ryan mason plays the more advanced role and Tom Carroll isn't the defensive rock we will be needing against Champion League sides, again he is at his best creatively. A defensive minded defensive midfielder looks to be a necessity still.
Up front, Harry Kane has once again done the business and he continues to impress. We have been chasing Saido Berahino and he will be cheaper than the crazy figures of last summer. He enters the last year of his contract and still seems to be our number one target, more importantly, he seems to want to come to Spurs, although you can argue whether he has gone about it in the right way.
Clinton Njie will have a summer to improve as others did last summer. A full pre-season and tie to work on the movement and understanding our game needs will hopefully see him progress in the same manner a player like Erik Lamela has this season. Do we yet know where Pochettino sees him playing? He has played wide and centrally, although his finishing dies look to need improving.
The pull of the Champions League will give us more options and a better bargaining position, however, we must focus on getting mental winners to fill these positions.
I advocated changing our transfer strategy and focussing on greater mental assessment of potential players, suggesting we should employ sports psychologists to assess each and every prospect in an effort to become world leaders.
It was a manner in which we could steal a march on bigger clubs without the expense. That in whatever form certainly seems to have been added to our portfolio and this summer will be another test of our recruitment abilities.
Will we go up a notch of player or will we still look for untapped potential Mauricio Pochettino and his team can develop? We will have to wait and see the answer.
Toby Alderweireld, Eric Dier and Harry Kane have been trojans this season and will be needing backup next season when we have the UEFA Champions League to contend with, barring accidents.
It is important to buy the right player at the right price than any player simply to have numbers, a stance Mauricio Pochettino has made clear to fans during the last window. Paul Mitchell and Rob Mackenzie have done a brilliant job of identifying players thus far. Yes, of course, there will be those who can't make the step up or who perhaps can't grasp the importance of mentality, but recruitment has been on a different planet to previous seasons.
Kevin Wimmer, a centre-back most Spurs fans had never heard of stood in brilliantly for Jan Vertonghen to give us three solid centre-backs to call upon. This summer that needs to be added to, will that be through a purchase or will it be through the promotion of Cameron Carter-Vickers. There are those who watch the Development Squad who know more, but I suspect perhaps FA Cup ties and Carling Cup ties may see his introduction.
Do we still need another centre-back though? If Toby Alderweireld were to get injured we don't really have a right-sided centre-back to slot into his place. You could move Eric Dier there but then you take him out of a position he has been doing so well in all season. Why would you want to do that? The idea is to minimise a loss, moving Dier would maximise it surely. Why change parts you don't need to?
Dier himself has been indispensable as a defensive midfielder and while Mousa Dembele has shown he can step in the role he is better operating as the more advanced of the two. Ryan mason plays the more advanced role and Tom Carroll isn't the defensive rock we will be needing against Champion League sides, again he is at his best creatively. A defensive minded defensive midfielder looks to be a necessity still.
Up front, Harry Kane has once again done the business and he continues to impress. We have been chasing Saido Berahino and he will be cheaper than the crazy figures of last summer. He enters the last year of his contract and still seems to be our number one target, more importantly, he seems to want to come to Spurs, although you can argue whether he has gone about it in the right way.
Clinton Njie will have a summer to improve as others did last summer. A full pre-season and tie to work on the movement and understanding our game needs will hopefully see him progress in the same manner a player like Erik Lamela has this season. Do we yet know where Pochettino sees him playing? He has played wide and centrally, although his finishing dies look to need improving.
The pull of the Champions League will give us more options and a better bargaining position, however, we must focus on getting mental winners to fill these positions.
I advocated changing our transfer strategy and focussing on greater mental assessment of potential players, suggesting we should employ sports psychologists to assess each and every prospect in an effort to become world leaders.
It was a manner in which we could steal a march on bigger clubs without the expense. That in whatever form certainly seems to have been added to our portfolio and this summer will be another test of our recruitment abilities.
Will we go up a notch of player or will we still look for untapped potential Mauricio Pochettino and his team can develop? We will have to wait and see the answer.
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