Rio Ferdinand has urged Tottenham to overhaul their squad with an “injection” of new talent in the summer transfer market.
The Manchester United legend and high-profile pundit claimed Spurs were a better side two years ago and they have subsequently stagnated, despite Tuesday night’s win over Borussia Dortmund and qualification for the Champions League quarter-finals.
Speaking on BT Sport 2’s live coverage of Spurs’ clash against Dortmund on Tuesday, Ferdinand said: “I preferred watching Spurs two years ago, if I’m honest.
“They was more creativity, more freedom – they had [Mousa] Dembele, the two wing-backs [Danny] Rose and [Kyle] Walker were flying machines, controlling sides of the pitch on their own.
“Yeah, they’ve got names and good players on the bench. There’s been no injection in that changing room. They need people to come in and inject some new life.
“All of a sudden, players think, ‘I’ve got to impress him’. People’s levels then go up. Every year, you’ve got to do that so levels keep going up. Otherwise, you get stagnation.”
"I preferred watching Spurs two years ago, if I'm honest."
"They need people to come in and inject some new life."@rioferdy5 and Harry Redknapp outline why they believe Spurs have stagnated in recent times… pic.twitter.com/u5VANSMsb6
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 5, 2019
OPINION
Spurs’ fans are on cloud nine today after qualification for the Champions League last eight – and rightly so – but Ferdinand is correct in his assertion the team has not actually improved over the last two seasons. Sure, they have not got that much worse and Mauricio Pochettino and his squad deserve immense credit for continuing to punch above their weight after consecutive fallow transfer windows. It would be a major surprise if the north Londoners do not secure a fourth consecutive top-four league finish, irrespective of how far they progress in Europe’s premier competition. That said, Spurs do not play with the fluency or consistent excellence of their 2016-17 campaign, when they accumulated a club Premier League-high of 86 points and finished second to an excellent Chelsea side. New players are needed, and some familiar old faces may need to leave, for Pochettino’s team to challenge for next season’s title.