Spurs just about survived, now who should stay and who should go?

And breath. Finally Spurs are safe from the threat of relegation after making supporters sweat until the final moments of the final game. It feels so cathartic, especially as everything now resets. We begin next season level with everyone else. It almost feels like cheating.

Big changes are clearly necessary, but who should stay and who should go?

The Board

Spurs problems begins at the top. Vinai Venkatesham should be the first to fall on his sword. The amateurish decisions, from the failure to take the initiative when Frank was clearly not performing, to the Tudor debacle, were a lesson in how not to run a football club. Vinai has to go.

Recruitment

Second out the door should be Lange. While we have recruited some promising young players, squad building has been appalling. The balance of the team from the overindexing on youthful potential, to the lack of balance in midfield has shown a lack of high level planning. The fact that we failed to address these problems in January, in the middle of an injury crisis was at best negligent. He is a good scout, not a director of football.

Players

We clearly need more technical ability, especially in midfield. Despite the return of James Maddison, we need younger creative midfielders, to replace the surplass of hard working box-to-box players.

Depending on who we can sign and who the manager feels fits his system, we will clearly need wholesale changes. This is as much about balance as any individual but I would definitely look to move on:

  • Dragusin – zero technical ability, why did we sign him?
  • Bissouma – checked out a while ago.
  • Muani – showed nothing on loan, and was replaced by a defender in the final game.
  • Palhinha – full of effort and scored some key goals but his lack of technical ability will hold us back.
  • Richarlison – still scores goals, but the injuries have taken a toll.
  • Sarr – we just have too many similar midfielders.
  • Vicario – Kinsky’s excellent end of season performances showed up the Italian’s flaws with the ball and at crosses.

On top of this It remains to be seen what happens to our two starting centre backs, we need a backup to Kudus, a reliable starter up front, and we need to swap one or two more of our midfield options for different profiles.

Despite all this, I think we have the key appointment right. Roberto De Zerbi’s impact saved us from relegation. I think he has the personality and philosophy to turn Spurs around, he has certainly earned the right to try.

Who do you think should stay and who should be immediately shown the door?

Please Daniel Levy, do whatever it takes…

It’s quite a while since I have posted here, but the current crisis at Spurs has moved me to put pen to paper (well metaphorically speaking). It feels like this could be a key point in Tottenham’s future, a moment where two very different timelines diverge.

In one timeline, Levy appoints Antonio Conte, or more probably a lesser equivalent. Maybe this will work in the short term and it should certainly be a lot more fun than life under Nuno. But it feels like another vanity choice, not so dissimilar from his obsession to appoint Mourinho, if very different in footballing style.

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Was Levy right to replace Poch with Mourinho?

Another season is over, and this was a strange one in more ways than one.

The biggest news for Tottenham supporters was the sad demise of Mauricio Pochettino. I have been watching Spurs for more than 30 years and his tenure will go down as my favourite time to be a Spurs fan. There were many high points but the 2-1 come from behind win over Arsenal at the old White Hart Lane stands out, with two goals from a young Harry Kane. The atmosphere made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Taking my dad to see us beat Real Madrid in the Champions League will go down as a close second.

It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had Levy backed Pochettino over the squad but that would have necessitated a time consuming and costly rebuild, something that only the Alex Fergusons of this world get the chance to try.

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