Spurs Set for Another Blunder

By Zain Alvi | 29th June 2009

Spurs Set for Another Blunder | read this item

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roman-pavlyuchenko The Tottenham faithful often wonder why their team cannot break into the top four in the Premier League. Before the Martin Jol era, they were told that they needed a great coach. After the arrival of Jol, it was believed that the squad needed bolstering. Once that was done, things got going – until blunders became the norm again at White Hart Lane.

Till this date, nobody has a clear idea regarding the reason for Jol’s absolutely ridiculous sacking. He was a fantastic coach and brought together a group of players who played like a team on a weekly basis. With his departure, the Tottenham administration began making a series of infamous decisions that has left the club in the middle of nowhere.

It all started with the high-profile appointment of cup specialist Juande Ramos as the head coach around two years ago. In the aftermath of this appointment, Tottenham struggled to salvage anything out of a Premier League campaign that had been reduced to a battle for survival. Despite winning the Carling Cup that year, Spurs knew their desire to break into the top four of the league was unrealistic under the unconventional leadership of Ramos.

While releasing him was a step in the right direction, the sale of Robbie Keane and Jermaine Defoe certainly wasn’t. The fact that Spurs bought both of them back within a year of their sale underlines the confusion that prevails at the higher level of administration at the club. This is precisely why even a great coach like Harry Redknapp often seems in trouble in a bid to lift the team. The latest victim of the chaotic culture at the club is Russian striker Roman Pavlyuchenko.

The extremely talented striker suffered tremendously when he was assigned a role as the club’s main striker at the very beginning of his spell in North London. Considering that he was already tired from an overlapping Russian season as well as last summer’s Euro 2008, Pavlyuchenko certainly did not deserve to be thrown into the mix of things in a league as tough as the Premiership.

Despite the gamut of obstacles he had to battle (fatigue, a completely different pace), Pavlyuchenko settled in timely enough to score a vital match-winner against Liverpool in a game that held enormous importance for a Tottenham side that was seriously battling relegation at that point. Soon after, the Russian began scoring for the club on a consistent basis, finishing the season off with the stunning accomplishment of scoring in all but one of Tottenham’s cup games over the course of the entire season.

Yet, Roman is unlucky to often be judged for his initial troubles at White Hart Lane as well as his alleged lack of creativity with the ball. I clearly disagree with any such criticism, because by constantly speculating over a sale of Pavlyuchenko, Spurs are once again kicking logic in the head. One of football’s most important strategies is a sense of continuity when things are looking up. In the post-Martin Jol era, Tottenham are by far playing their best football with the likes of Roman Pavlyuchenko taking charge of things. Therefore, selling the Russian due to a couple of weaknesses in his game is just plain absurd.

As an Arsenal fan, maybe I can get most of Tottenham’s attention by asking them to learn from our system. While Arsene Wenger needs to learn his own lessons about investing in more experienced and established stars, there is no questioning his ability to retain faith in young players even during their most troubled spells. It is due to this very sense of continuity in the system that despite major weaknesses in the Arsenal squad, the Gunners remain far superior to their North London rivals.

Should Tottenham keep Pav at White Hart Lane? Have your say below!