- Aug 15, 2005
- 6,184
- 11,211
People don't like change. Generally we don't. The idea of changing job, moving house, or even a change to our daily routine scares people. I saw a survey a while ago that said most people have the same sandwich for lunch every day. We simply don't like change… except when it comes to football. As football fans we rejoice at the idea of a 'new era'. New signings, new shirt, new stadium, new manager – we go all weak at the knees in anticipation. Of course it could all go wrong. The new signings might be shit. The new stadium might have no decent pubs nearby and crap transport links. The new shirt might be made by Puma (or even Pony!). None of this occurs to the average football fan when we hear the word 'new'. Instead we just think 'new' means 'better'. Moreover, the positive buzz that accompanies any such change can often snowball and escalate among the fans. With everything going on at Spurs right now, the official website could announce we've signed Emile Heskey and Titus Bramble and the masses would probably celebrate. They would bring plenty of top flight experience to the club after all…
At Spurs right now there is a lot of change going on. Villas-Boas in, Sigurdsson in, Vertonghen in, new coaches, new shirts (as with every season!). There are even changes going on which aren't officially going on yet. Luka looks set for Madrid, his replacement is reportedly Moutinho, Adebayor looks set to become a permanent fixture at the Lane, and the pursuit of Hugo Lloris for a fee in excess of £10m suggests a new goalkeeper is another priority ahead of the new season.
The fans seem to be loving it. 'Exciting times' is the most common phrase I've seen on my twitter feed lately, and those who have been tweeting it are right; these are exciting times for Spurs fans, but I do feel we've been here before. In August 2004 we entered our first game of the season with a starting XI which boasted 9 changes from the team who started the last game of 2003/4, with much excited talk among the fans of a 'new era', even though very few of us knew anything about Timothee Atouba or Erik Edman. The season started well but it soon went very wrong and the man who had been employed to lead that particular 'false dawn', Jacques Santini, quickly departed. In 2008 there was a similar feeling of anticipation and excitement ahead of Juande Ramos' first full season in charge. We had spent heavily on new recruitments, with an emphasis on youth, and expectations among the fans were high. Lest we forget how that ended. 2 points, 8 games, and we still haven't sold Giovani Dos Santos.
So forgive me for exhaling an air of caution amidst the winds of change which currently blow through Tottenham, but there is a touch of déjà vu here. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with Villas-Boas' appointment as I've written before (very happy), and I agree with the signings/targets the club is making as we approach 2012/13. I am just all too aware that sometimes change doesn't equate to improvement or progress. In 2004 it did, eventually, but only after all parties admitted a mistake had been made and Martin Jol took up the reigns from Santini. In 2008 it equated only to the need for more change. I see fans on twitter hailing the arrivals of this player and that coach and how it signals a radical change in direction, and I find myself questioning, 'is it all necessary?!'.
While many outsiders disagree with the change of manager at the club, the majority are in agreement that the squad Villas-Boas inherits is one of the more talented already assembled in English football. Admittedly, of that squad, we are about to lose one its leading talents, Luka Modric, and there is some plausibility to the rumours that Van der Vaart could depart. If we lose those two, along with replacing Friedel between the posts with Lloris (or some other GK who possesses a greater ability than Hellboy to 'sweep up' behind the back 4 as is required by Villas-Boas' high line), insert Vertonghen at the heart of defence, and accommodate both Sigurdsson and Luka's replacement (be that Moutinho or whoever) in the 3 man midfield we are likely to play, that represents a whole new spine to our team. A team that should have finished third. A team that played attractive football. A team that, in short, wasn't broken but is in danger of being deconstructed and put back together again.
I'm not criticising Villas-Boas. Some of those changes to the spine of our team are a necessity. Big Brad did great last season, but while he could certainly do it for one more year, the club needs to look beyond that, and so if we can get Lloris or a 'keeper of similar international ability, we should definitely seize that opportunity. Vertonghen at centre-back? He's very talented and we need a replacement for King Ledley. Whilst we all love him, even the most ardent Ledley fan has to admit that it does our defence no favours to be chopping and changing every other game to accommodate the man's knees (By the way, I dabbled with the idea of typing kneeds and going for an easy pun. I resisted.). So, while we still have Steven Caulker and Michael Dawson no doubt chomping at the bit to start alongside Kaboul, the addition of a top class centre-back was a definite necessity.
In midfield there is clearly a need to fill whatever void Luka Modric is set to leave. Breaking our transfer record to bring in a like-for-like replacement in the form of Joao Moutinho would be something of an admission that the heart of our midfield was our greatest asset, and that we must endeavour to keep the dynamic of our midfield the same, even if we do change from a 2-man centre midfield to a midfield 3. Up front, ironically a new signing will represent one of the few areas of continuity for us if and when Adebayor is confirmed as a permanent addition in our striking ranks, but even here there will be significant changes afoot if Van der Vaart is allowed to depart. While there are legitimate questions over how Rafa would fit into a 4-3-3 system, since his arrival in 2010 he has been a regular source of goals, and goals are often the hardest thing to replace in a team, as we found in 2008 when we lost Berbatov and Keane and tried to replace them with Pav.
So it's hard to argue that many of the changes already made or expected shortly aren't needed, but such significant changes through the middle of the team places an equally great need for continuity out wide. There is no doubt that Kyle Walker and Gareth Bale will continue to operate in their respective wide positions, but if we are to experience a smooth and successful transition in the centre of defence and midfield, there is a case to be made that Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Aaron Lennon will be of equal importance, even though these are players who have had their critics among the Spurs faithful, and even more so among the media. As players who have divided the fans at times (since 2008 in Lennon's case, since birth in Benny's), it will be interesting to see what Villas-Boas makes of them. Their continued involvement and the attacking threat that quartet pose from out wide may enable us to paper over any cracks which appear through the spine as players, old and new, adjust to the new system and their new team-mates.
Yes these are exciting times, but the last time I felt this excited we had our worst ever start to a season and had to start again 8 games in. The changes we've made so far are exciting, but everyone at the club should be weary of making changes purely for the sake of it. The squad he inherits isn't as strong as the media often suggest, but perhaps Villas-Boas' first challenge is to step back and make sure his new regime doesn't try to fix some of those areas that weren't broken.
Taken straight from my blog: musingsofanangryfan.squarespace.com
The last one I did (on AVB's appointment) got a very positive response on twitter so thought I'd share the new one on here.
At Spurs right now there is a lot of change going on. Villas-Boas in, Sigurdsson in, Vertonghen in, new coaches, new shirts (as with every season!). There are even changes going on which aren't officially going on yet. Luka looks set for Madrid, his replacement is reportedly Moutinho, Adebayor looks set to become a permanent fixture at the Lane, and the pursuit of Hugo Lloris for a fee in excess of £10m suggests a new goalkeeper is another priority ahead of the new season.
The fans seem to be loving it. 'Exciting times' is the most common phrase I've seen on my twitter feed lately, and those who have been tweeting it are right; these are exciting times for Spurs fans, but I do feel we've been here before. In August 2004 we entered our first game of the season with a starting XI which boasted 9 changes from the team who started the last game of 2003/4, with much excited talk among the fans of a 'new era', even though very few of us knew anything about Timothee Atouba or Erik Edman. The season started well but it soon went very wrong and the man who had been employed to lead that particular 'false dawn', Jacques Santini, quickly departed. In 2008 there was a similar feeling of anticipation and excitement ahead of Juande Ramos' first full season in charge. We had spent heavily on new recruitments, with an emphasis on youth, and expectations among the fans were high. Lest we forget how that ended. 2 points, 8 games, and we still haven't sold Giovani Dos Santos.
So forgive me for exhaling an air of caution amidst the winds of change which currently blow through Tottenham, but there is a touch of déjà vu here. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy with Villas-Boas' appointment as I've written before (very happy), and I agree with the signings/targets the club is making as we approach 2012/13. I am just all too aware that sometimes change doesn't equate to improvement or progress. In 2004 it did, eventually, but only after all parties admitted a mistake had been made and Martin Jol took up the reigns from Santini. In 2008 it equated only to the need for more change. I see fans on twitter hailing the arrivals of this player and that coach and how it signals a radical change in direction, and I find myself questioning, 'is it all necessary?!'.
While many outsiders disagree with the change of manager at the club, the majority are in agreement that the squad Villas-Boas inherits is one of the more talented already assembled in English football. Admittedly, of that squad, we are about to lose one its leading talents, Luka Modric, and there is some plausibility to the rumours that Van der Vaart could depart. If we lose those two, along with replacing Friedel between the posts with Lloris (or some other GK who possesses a greater ability than Hellboy to 'sweep up' behind the back 4 as is required by Villas-Boas' high line), insert Vertonghen at the heart of defence, and accommodate both Sigurdsson and Luka's replacement (be that Moutinho or whoever) in the 3 man midfield we are likely to play, that represents a whole new spine to our team. A team that should have finished third. A team that played attractive football. A team that, in short, wasn't broken but is in danger of being deconstructed and put back together again.
I'm not criticising Villas-Boas. Some of those changes to the spine of our team are a necessity. Big Brad did great last season, but while he could certainly do it for one more year, the club needs to look beyond that, and so if we can get Lloris or a 'keeper of similar international ability, we should definitely seize that opportunity. Vertonghen at centre-back? He's very talented and we need a replacement for King Ledley. Whilst we all love him, even the most ardent Ledley fan has to admit that it does our defence no favours to be chopping and changing every other game to accommodate the man's knees (By the way, I dabbled with the idea of typing kneeds and going for an easy pun. I resisted.). So, while we still have Steven Caulker and Michael Dawson no doubt chomping at the bit to start alongside Kaboul, the addition of a top class centre-back was a definite necessity.
In midfield there is clearly a need to fill whatever void Luka Modric is set to leave. Breaking our transfer record to bring in a like-for-like replacement in the form of Joao Moutinho would be something of an admission that the heart of our midfield was our greatest asset, and that we must endeavour to keep the dynamic of our midfield the same, even if we do change from a 2-man centre midfield to a midfield 3. Up front, ironically a new signing will represent one of the few areas of continuity for us if and when Adebayor is confirmed as a permanent addition in our striking ranks, but even here there will be significant changes afoot if Van der Vaart is allowed to depart. While there are legitimate questions over how Rafa would fit into a 4-3-3 system, since his arrival in 2010 he has been a regular source of goals, and goals are often the hardest thing to replace in a team, as we found in 2008 when we lost Berbatov and Keane and tried to replace them with Pav.
So it's hard to argue that many of the changes already made or expected shortly aren't needed, but such significant changes through the middle of the team places an equally great need for continuity out wide. There is no doubt that Kyle Walker and Gareth Bale will continue to operate in their respective wide positions, but if we are to experience a smooth and successful transition in the centre of defence and midfield, there is a case to be made that Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Aaron Lennon will be of equal importance, even though these are players who have had their critics among the Spurs faithful, and even more so among the media. As players who have divided the fans at times (since 2008 in Lennon's case, since birth in Benny's), it will be interesting to see what Villas-Boas makes of them. Their continued involvement and the attacking threat that quartet pose from out wide may enable us to paper over any cracks which appear through the spine as players, old and new, adjust to the new system and their new team-mates.
Yes these are exciting times, but the last time I felt this excited we had our worst ever start to a season and had to start again 8 games in. The changes we've made so far are exciting, but everyone at the club should be weary of making changes purely for the sake of it. The squad he inherits isn't as strong as the media often suggest, but perhaps Villas-Boas' first challenge is to step back and make sure his new regime doesn't try to fix some of those areas that weren't broken.
Taken straight from my blog: musingsofanangryfan.squarespace.com
The last one I did (on AVB's appointment) got a very positive response on twitter so thought I'd share the new one on here.