What are the risks Poch is talking about?

In many ways the debate about silverware, whether Spurs need to reach another level, Levy’s wage structure, or even if we are doomed to become another Arsenal, perpetually disappointed at a spanking new ground, just ended. Because Poch said so.

His post-game comments after the Leicester game told us, the world, the players, the media, and certainly Daniel Levy and Joe Lewis “This is our moment. If the game is about glory, well glory this. We need to take big risks in order to win trophies”. He laid the proper ambition of the club squarely at the Chairman’s feet and certainly implied, whatever discussions have occurred behind closed doors, that reaching for that ambition is the price of his staying at N17. Unless we get luck via a Betchain Bonus Code!

So let’s take a hard look at the risks the manager may be imploring his bosses to take. In in doing so, think about the chances of his getting any satisfaction, or whether any girl reaciton will be all-too-familiar and sadly limited.

Start with the existing roster. Many supporters and analysts have assumed that pretty much all of the following are about to exit stage left: Vorm, Sissoko, Llorente, Aldeweireld, Dembele and Rose. Which, if any, of those six might Poch be asking the hierarchy to keep? He’s got a younger substitute goalkeeper at the ready. Llorente’s experiment failed. Sissoko is simply a squad player. Surely Poch noticed, as we all have, the decline in Dembele’s performance as the year went on. And as for Toby, well there he was anchoring a defence yesterday that was shredded. Surely rust is playing a role, but the truth is the man hasn’t been the same since the injury. Spurs will want to collect on his value now, rather than risk seeing it fritter away over another season of unhappiness as the lower transfer fee level approaches.

But Danny Rose is different. First, his injury was more serious and required a longer absence than his fellow defender. Only now does he seem to be approacing the dynamic form of 2015-16. Second, he supplies something that no one else does– pace. it has been lacking this season with Walker and Rose absent and has hurt the team when opponents pack in a defence and bottle up the middle. Third, he is still relatively yoiung– can’t another season or two of quality be coaxed out of him? Unless one believes Kyle Walker-Peters can shift wings, we don;’t really have an equivalent or a balance alongside Davies at the ready. So Potential Risk #1 is to set the noise aside– much of which Rose created– and keep a special talent.

The other risks with the current side involve wages. I don’t think it is Harry Kane per se, for as long as he can chase records and is convinced the talent level is high enough to chase trophies, he will be rewarded well enough to stay. Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli are different matters and their futures might be linked to Kane’s. They are where Levy has to break or at least bend the existing wage structure– to make a statement that our best players are not for sale– that while Walker and Aldeweireld’s absence may hurt, the team can go on. If we lose the two other most dynamic front line players, however, all bets are off. So Potential Risk #2 is to pay Eriksen and Alli something much closer to their market value.

But I think Poch wants an even bigger splash. I think he wants a world class talent. Somebody still in his prime who is a difference-maker. Who has played at the biggest stage and can instantly take this squad to another level. Someone like you-know-who. Or Neymar. Someone who will cost plenty but whose arrival will send shockwaves about the club’s ambitions. Who will help take ticket sales and merchandise revenue to a record level. Who may just bring the real trophies– a league title or a Champions League title– that Poch covets. There are other alternatives (Martial, Malcolm). Perfectly good players. One would think a sale of Alderweireld and a few others could bring two or three pretty good players in return. A center or wingback. A forward with pace. A box to box midfielder. Good players to add depth, but more of the same.

Poch doesn’t want more of the same. He wants a big move. Bale. Neymar. Maybe even Eden Hazard. He will go to Levy and Lewis his week and say, in effect, “if not now, when? If not with me, who then?”

He might fail. He might leave. He might succeed in the short run, but then fail. But don’t sell him short. He might already know that his superiors are prepared to take these risks. Or that they are likely not, and he has chosen this moment– before the new ground opens– to exit. In any even the next few weeks may tell the tale of just where this project is headed.