In the transfer market Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City operate at the uppermost level, the upper tier. It is quite clear that Tottenham Hotspur, whilst attempting to work on this level, have found themselves in the back row with a restricted view.
To trade at the top you need money and Champions League football and if you don’t have the latter then you need a lot of the former. Despite their best efforts, Tottenham have neither. Unfortunately this means that the calibre of their transfer targets has dropped.
You can still pick up excellent players but there is always a catch. The most common catch in Tottenham’s case is that these players are old. Consider some of Tottenham’s recent targets: William Gallas is now 34, Brad Freidel is 165 (40), Craig Bellamy 32 and Scott Parker 30. These players may once have been at the tip of the market but those years are some way behind them now, in particular the first 3.
If Tottenham’s targets are not old, then they have a problem at their previous club. (Sometimes they are both old and troubled!) Rafael Van der Vaart was surplus to requirements at Real Madrid, Bellamy and Adebayor are both irreparably out of favour at Manchester City and ‘Mr West Ham’ Scott Parker would now much rather be out of the Championship and operating under the controversial new nickname Mr Tottenham Hotspur.
The lack of Champions league football prevents Tottenham from signing stars who are at the top of the game already, but the lack of money prevents Tottenham even investing in average players in their prime unlike the moneyball movements of League rivals Liverpool who are also operating from this restricted tier of the market, except with a bottomless pit of money to work with.
Liverpool are buying players from the same tier, but the difference is these players are in their prime or likely to improve. Carroll, Downing, Adam, Henderson and Enrique do not require Champions League football now and would not demand it, but they have the potential to improve and mature whilst attempting to qualify. (Only Suarez really looks like a player of the utmost quality.) Liverpool have not done particularly astute business but at least they seem to have a plan. Tottenham Hotspur seem to be chasing the old and unhappy and with every new signing the future seems to look less clear, just slightly more chaotic.
Of course Tottenham fans can point to the signing of Sandro and the promising youth players now getting a run in the Europa League to suggest that there is young talent in the squad but the fact that Tottenham are struggling to keep up in the transfer market has never been clearer than now.
Written by Philip Wroe for FootballFancast.com.
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Wow, what a revelation.
Agreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
So much for “wheeler-dealer” Harry.
He’s a good lad, signed him before, great in the dressing room.
For God sake sign someone new, and good, please.
It’s not just about money or champion’s league football it’s also about what you want. Harry wants tried and tested Premier League players and doesn’t need to think of the future as he’ll be with England. The best recent players have been brought in by Levy (Sandro VDV) not him and the ones before by Comolli (Bale, Hudd, Modric) and Levy doesn’t want to pay top dollar for Harry favourites when he’s got one foot in the exit door. The players were there and willing Suarez was a possibility in January, Damaiao, Diarra this window. Spurs just didn’t have the joint thinking to see it through.
The author clearly misunderstands both Liverpool’s finances and the meaning of the phrase ‘moneyball’.
GIOVANI DOS SANTOS….YOUNG AND TALENTED….WHAT A WASTE!!!
Harry doesn’t have a scouting network in place. Nor does he know the european leagues well. He has always gone for the above standard and circumstance of player wherever he has been manager so to suggest its spurs would be wrong. Its Redknapps way. Unfortunately us spurs fans have to sit back and watch him try and sign these players!
Breaks my heart to say it , But i could’nt agree more . Sort it out upstairs or we are gunner be in proper trouble .
Surely that is the same with all teams, unless they are lucky enough to have boat loads of money, however Spurs still have a younger squad than Chelsea, So what was the point you were trying to make again ?????
Whilst Levy has done a great job over a number of years for Spurs, I think that this transfer window he’s lost the plot. He’s now going to end up without the real players that Spurs wanted (and needed) but will suddenly offload a number of players at teh last minute who would have funded those 1st choice players. I applaud his stand against the whinging Modric, but still am sceptical wnough to believe that all Levy was really doing was trying to up the price. I think he’s done a disservice to Spurs this time, and Harry himslef looks disenchanted that he hasn’t got one of his preferred signings.
Yeah, like Diarra, Muntari, Cole ad infinitum (no, not an Italian player).
completely agree jay, redknapp is not willing to look at the european market let alone south america. he only put sandro in the team because of necessity with suspensions and injuries. that said the news just through is that crouch is actually going so please spurs tell us you’ve signed damaiao, or maybe gyan, even balotelli would cheer me up at this stage.
if not, please harry give the youth a run, you’ve got the europa league so you don’t need to keep the “non-rotation” policy and that young lad coulibaly looks pretty decent
I completely disagree. Man united are starting there team with a goalie in his 20’s a back four that’s an average of 23 and an overall young unproven side. Its all about team ethic and control. Scott parker being a dominant voice and should be given captiancy when he walks in. Friedel great goalie no injurys in 10 years (touch wood) and if I can react like that at 40 I’d be very lucky! Redknapp has got it key dominant experienced voices. As with gallas name one bad performance he put in last season! Believe me have faith he knows what he’s doing. With crouch going who knows we could have rossi at the lodge as we speak In redknapp we trust! Yid army!
Trust in Harry? In that case there is some housing going in Portsmouth cheap. No affordable housing though.
What a load of shite… I can’t believe i even read this rubbish.
Danny, doesn’t Man U’s example prove the opposite buy good young players and mould a team not old heads to knock the youngsters a rung down the ladder. Friedel great, Gallas a necessity given Ledley’s situation but Sandro was the buy of last year.
I’m certain one potential target that Spurs did not pursue will come back and haunt us. That is Bryan Ruiz, he obviously wasn’t old enough for Harry he’s only 26 and a proven goal scoring track record.
Most definitely lost the plot!!
IMO, Before Harry, we had a structure – a very good one (that Liverpool have recently adopted) and that was a Dir of \football role, with the manager doing only managing. We got rid of that in order to bring in Harry and what u c now is a result of that and other circumstances. Like what someone said above, why would Levy spend millions of pounds of our clubs money buying players for a manager who ain’t going to be arounbd in a years time (either england or end of contract)? Its not as if he is buying young, technically gifted players with a sell on value – he is buying oldies, mostly past their best, becuase Harry only cares and thinks of himself, and himself only. Almost every club he has been at he has nearly bankrupted them (although he was given permission). I am grateful for him for what he has done for my club that i have supported for the past 30 years, but the season in which he got us into 4th, i believe several other managers would have done the same thing as most players were already at the club. allot of his decisions was basic common-sense decisions.
But i back Levy and i reckon he is holding back until after Harry leaves, then serious money will go into signings (with most probably the structure returning).
It really pisses me off that every kisses Harry’s arse and pertain all good signings to him, when he has little involvement in transfers.
If u are looking to find out why we are a mess, look no further than the manager!!! as he was the reason why we abandoned the structure that liverpool are now benefiting from