Ramos losing the plot?

The disastrous start to the season at White Hart Lane has got Juande Ramos worried. He is worried because they have only got one point and he is worried because he thinks it might take a few more games to turn his team’s fortunes around.

Ramos told the BBC, “We need to improve, little by little. It could be ten, twelve or fifteen games. No limit. Yes, I am worried because we need points. We have a good squad and, I’m sure in the future, we’ll be better.”

Tonight’s Uefa Cup game against Wisla Krakow has taken on a greater significance as Ramos tries to recover from Tottenham’s worst start to a season for thirty-four years.
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Ramos suggested that a flurry of activity on transfer deadline day had unsettled his squad. On that day, Corluka and Pavlyuchenko were signed and Dimitar Berbatov finally left for Manchester United.

It is the transfer of Dimitar Berbatov that is the subject of the strangest of quotes from Ramos. He said, “The worst thing for us was losing Berbatov at the last moment and we didn’t have time to sign a new player. But business is business. It was impossible.”

Is it conceivable that Ramos was the only person on the planet who didn’t know he was going to lose the Bulgarian striker!? They signed Pavlyuchenko who is a striker anyway. Ramos had plenty of time to try to replace Robbie Keane and even Jermaine Defoe, but simply didn’t do so. It wasn’t through a lack of money or support because big signings came in like Luka Modric, Giovani dos Santos and David Bentley. His failure to replace the strikers he lost has already cost Tottenham and could cost him even more in the long run.

The fact that the players that have been bought in have so far failed to impress is an issue that Ramos must be concerned about. He is putting on a confident front which, of course, he has to. He went on to say,

“To only have one point is a difficult situation to be in. I’d say to the supporters that they need to have confidence in the team. We have a good squad and, I’m sure in the future, we’ll be better. I don’t know about top four, but anything is possible. There are 34 matches left to play. The fans, myself, the club – we want the best performances quickly, but we need to be patient. This process takes time.”

He also spoke about the strength of the squad he currently has and made an astonishing admission. “I think in some positions we are better than last year, in others we are worse. The squad is the squad. For me, the big problem is adaptation and the need for time.”

For a manager, who as far as I know is responsible for trying to take a club forward, to say that in some positions his team is worse than it was last year seems to be an extraordinary statement. It is surely an admission that he has spectacularly failed in what he is meant to achieve.

He has also sought to protect his colleague Damien Comolli who has responsibility for much of the transfer business and has been coming under some severe criticism. Ramos said, “Everyone is together in the club. The decisions are made together. Not one person is responsible. Whether it is winning or losing, we do things together.”

Tottenham must take the opportunity to put their season back on track tonight in the Uefa Cup. Failure to do so will lead to Ramos coming under increasing pressure from the fans and, no doubt, the board. They showed last season with sacking of Ramos’ predecessor Martin Jol, that their level of patience is not great.

Juande Ramos also said that it is easier to win cups than it is to win the league. Obviously we all know that but he felt the need to say it prior to tonight’s cup game. I hope the comment doesn’t backfire on him.

“I never think about losing. In my head, that’s not possible. In football, you can win or lose. But I’m not thinking about losing. We want to win all the matches, but it’s harder in 38 league games to finish above Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool. In the cups, you can win five or six matches and win a trophy, so that is easier.”

I don’t think anyone expected Tottenham to finish above Chelsea, Manchester United or Liverpool but I do think that Tottenham fans were right to expect to see their team challenging for a top six finish right from the start of the season. More than that, I think they had a right to expect their team line-up to be at least as strong as it was last season and not to hear their manager say that they are less strong in some areas.

I like Juande Ramos and hope he succeeds but there are signs that things may be coming apart. A 5-0 win tonight might go some way towards putting them back together.