09 Aug, 2005

"Pre-Season"

I don't think a close season at Tottenham would be the same without some major upheaval at the top.
Frank Arnesen's decision to defect to Chelsea was met with mixed views with some choosing to brand him a traitor while others are very grateful of his part in the revolution that is taking place at our club. I felt Tottenham handled the situation very well and did the right thing in seeking compensation as we have seen how weak the Premier League have been over issues before. It will be interesting to see who Spurs choose to replace Frank and with Jol hinting an Englishman will take on the role; it will be interesting to see who takes on the role.
The Transfer activity was slightly less active than last year however we still bought in 5-6 new faces to our squad. Huddleston joins on the back of rave reviews as does Lennon who both had good season in the Championship last year. Stalteri joins from Bremen and gives us a wealth of experience in the back line which was lacking at the second part of last season when Naybet never seem to recover from his Ramadan fast and failed to reproduce his early season form. Tainio joins us from Auxerre and is a bit of an unknown quantity but has performed well in pre-season and looks a useful addition to the squad; where his best position is we are yet to find out. Our last 2 signings are probably the most influential for the club in Wayne Routledge and Edgar Davids. Routledge gives us that width we were crying out for last season. He is very tricky and has bundles of pace which will be affective especially on the counter attack next year. Davids brings prestige back to our club, the signing has made the football world take note of us again. He brings aggression and bite into the midfield and will bring out the best in all those around him. I hope his presence in midfield will stick a big two fingers up at those fans at the Lane who use to praise Freund and thought he had a relevance in the Spurs X1. Davids arrival also bought about a heavy debate on our message board with most people praising his arrival while others felt he was past it and a has been; no doubt that particular person will be telling his mates at the Lane what a great signing he was when the season starts. Fickleness has always been common among Spurs fans...some are worst than others.
We have managed to go through the whole pre-season unbeaten which is the first time since 1990 I believe, so lets hope it is a good sign for things to come. Although I have questioned the quality of opposition winning is a habit and should stand us in good stead for the coming season. Everything seems optimistic for the new season but I still feel we are 12months away from challenging Europe as I don't feel the squad is right or experienced enough yet. We haven't won away from home in the league since Boxing Day and I felt we failed to win certain games as we didn't that extra bit of quality on the pitch or the player who can come off the bench and change the game. I hope Jol can get in one or two more before the transfer window closes to improve our chances.
There is no doubting that this season is a big one for our England stars with Robbo, King, Defoe, Carrick and maybe Routledge all vying to be on the plane to Germany 2006 - Let's hope they do us proud this season and all make it.

Prediction for this season - Premier League: 8th - Carling: Semis - FA: 1/4 final