Tottenham not good enough for top four

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino watched on as his team produced an inept performance in a goalless draw at Burnley on Sunday

Tottenham have been a team in and around the top four of the Premier League for a while now under various bosses.

The only boss who has actually guided Spurs to a top four position in the Premier League era was Harry Redknapp.

Yesterday’s tame 0-0 draw at relegation-threatened Burnley was less than inspiring for Spurs fans.

The draw left the side from north London with little of making the top four this season, as they are now seven points behind fourth-place Manchester City, who also have a game in hand.

Lacklustre

Yesterday’s performance at Turf Moor was very lacklustre and it almost felt like the Spurs players were already on the beach with their feet up on a sun lounger.

There was just very little energy, creativity or urgency considering that they are still just in the race for the Champions League spots. The performance almost looked like they had given up on this season and was ready to go on their holidays.

Credit

To their credit Burnley pressed and harried the Spurs players when in possession. I think everybody associated with the Clarets realise that they do not have the best players in the top-flight, but what they lack in technical ability they make-up for in work rate.

Sean Dyche’s team are well organised and have picked-up some massive results against teams near the top of the table this season. If they do get relegated this season then at least they will go down with their heads held high.

Squandered

Anyway back to Tottenham. They squandered a lot of money in the last few years in an attempt to strengthen their squad. The world record fee they received from the sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid was wasted on a poor splurge by previous regimes.

The likes of Erik Lamela, Paulinho and Roberto Soldado cost a lot of money, but have delivered less than a postman on strike.

Current boss Mauricio Pochettino has spent very little money, because it seems like he has not had much made available to him to strengthen his squad. No doubt the Argentine would not have wanted to inherit some of the players he has, but he has and he has had to deal with it.

The only players who have arrived in the last few transfer windows who have been a success are Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen and Belgium winger Nacer Chadli, who has only just starting showing up in a Spurs shirt this season.

However, the pair can blow hot and cold. Eriksen can be sublime at times and opposition teams often struggle to deal with him, on other occasions though he can go missing. Maybe the underwhelming performances of his teammates do not help his consistency.

Chadli enjoyed a purple patch earlier this season. The 25-year-old has scored eight Premier League goals this season and also collected six assists. For most midfielders that is a decent return, but he has slightly gone off the boil in recent months.

Chadli has netted just once in his last ten Premier League appearances and has no assists in that period. The relative consistent form of earlier in the season now seems a thing of the past.

Boss

Spurs boss Pochettino is a boss with a clear football philosophy and style of play. It was relatively successful at Southampton and earned him the chance to manage Spurs. It turns out it was not much of a step-up, as the Saints are currently below Spurs in the table by just one point.

For me Pochettino and Spurs were a match man in heaven, a boss who likes to play passing football and a club who traditionally like their team to play in a similar vein.

I do believe that the Argentine has the managerial potential to be successful at Spurs, but he needs the right players to turn Spurs into a team capable of challenging for the top four once again.

The Argentinian could be very busy this summer, as his current squad is not good enough and there seems to be too much deadwood at the club.

Expectations

In the last few seasons Tottenham have been expected to challenge for the top four in the Premier League. However, unfortunately for the club from north London the teams around them have been better, stronger or luckier.

The expectations amongst the Tottenham fans are high, but until they bring in the right players they are going to remain on the outside of the top four looking in.

What needs to change for Spurs to become a top four team?