Rock'n'Roll
Where Do We Go Now?
A phrase that is repeated by Axl Rose during the last 80 seconds of the iconic “Sweet Child O’Mine”, as Slash works his magic on the guitar to ensure the song’s place in rock lore. As the story goes, it was a late addition to the song after the frontman rhetorically sang the line to himself as an honest question of how to finish the track. A moment of uncertainty and introspection that ultimately led to a historic moment of genius. As a Spurs fan, it is something I find myself muttering under my breath at the conclusion of any gutting result. It is something that I imagine Conte asks himself after his side refuses to show up for the first half.
Dove andiamo? Dove andiamo adesso?
To determine where we go from here, we must first look at where we came from. Under Antonio Conte last season we went from 9th place to 4th place, taking a Champions League spot away from our fiercest rivals. Our defensive record was immense, conceding only one goal a game on average in arguably the toughest league in the world. We ended the season optimistic about the summer transfer window and an entire offseason with our elite manager.
Fast forward to present times; club morale is at an all-time low, fans feel disconnected from a club they love so dearly, there is obvious tension between board and manager, and the players have lost the energy they showed the season prior. Standings-wise we are only one spot lower, sitting in 5th, but it feels much worse. We are conceding almost 2 goals per game (1.9) in our last ten matches against Premier League opposition and we need not speak of the historically terrible streak of conceding first we recently endured.
The silver lining is that we still have the second half of the season to make things right. Several things need to be done to ensure that we have a positive second half. First and foremost, the answer to our problems is not sacking Conte. A managerial transition is the last thing we need at the moment. Not only would it lead to more unrest throughout the club, it would also leave us in tactical purgatory when the new manager ultimately chooses a play style other than the 3-4-3 system that has become part of our squad’s DNA.
If not “Conte out”, then what? “ENIC out”? “Levy out”? Those are not solutions either. As much as most of us would love new owners with deeper pockets, it never comes without strings. The strings are usually the questionable origins of these deep pockets or the human rights stance of the foreign investors. Although only a possible minority owner, those same strings would apply to the rumoured Qatari money. There is a time and a place to sack a manager and/or usher in new ownership. I do not think the middle of a one month transfer window is that time.
Ah, the January transfer window… remember her? Two weeks left to bolster a constantly depleted squad with aspirations of top four and maybe even a trophy. This is where our focus needs to be and things need to start happening now. Looking at last year’s window it may be tempting to draw some hope from the last minute signings of Bentancur and Kulusevski. However, those deadline day deals often do not make it through the door before midnight, so Paratici and Levy need to act fast. Everyone has heard the names flying around Twitter of who we are “monitoring”, “interested in”, and “inquiring about”. We all have notifications turned on for Fabrizio Romano, Alasdair Gold, and every other trustworthy transfer news source. I wouldn’t dare state here and now certain names that would make our team contenders again, but we probably could all agree on the positions of these unnamed players.
Right wing-back stands out as the obvious one to me. Conte’s system requires creativity and production in the final third from his wing-backs. Royal has shown that he is an adequate defender, but is completely inept entering the final third. Doherty has shown some strokes of brilliance going forward, but is not consistent enough. Spence appears to have the talent to go forward and create, but no matter how many times the couch coaches scream at the tele, Conte refuses to give him meaningful minutes. We have two weeks left to get one right wing-back off the books and bring one in that can contribute to the attack and most importantly one that Conte will actually play.
A left-footed centre-back is another piece missing from the Spurs puzzle. This is a cornerstone of any football formation, whether it is playing on the left side of a back three or the left centre-back role in a traditional back four. Our current system relies on a solid defence that can also contribute to attack by playing out from the back. Realistically, the quality is not there when you consider our options of Davies or Llenglet. Davies saw a brief resurgence when Conte took over, but he’s just not quite at the standard of the team we are trying to become. Llenglet is a similar story, granted he’s shown slightly more class, and only here until the end of the season. We need a centre-back for the future that will outlast Conte and his system; someone that can be paired with Romero as Dier gets phased out of the club.
Last but not least, we are in dire need of another attacking option. This could come in the form of another winger or striker that can push for a starting spot while getting substantial minutes in cup games and lesser Premier League fixtures. However, I’d be more excited about a creative midfielder that could unlock low blocks from a central position. This would probably require a shift to a 3-5-2 formation, which has seen some success in the past. It would appease those griping about losing the battle in the midfield, while also leading to some innovative attacking sequences. Even if Conte refuses to change formation to begin matches, this new signing could be used off the bench to offer something different to a system that has become quite trite.
Where do we go now?
We go to Lisbon, Milan, Birmingham, or wherever is needed to sign proven players that will instantly make us better. We claim to be a big club, but refuse to spend the money required to earn such a title. We built the best stadium in the world, but remain a glorified concert venue that hosts a football team on the side.
Where do we go now?
We go onward through these tough times to a second half of a season that could still produce silverware. Yes, Champions League is unlikely but the FA Cup is there for the taking. We go on hoping that in this time of uncertainty, somewhere behind the scenes our players have a stroke of inspiration that leads to moments of brilliance on the pitch that can reinvigorate a spiralling season.
That is where we go.
All views and opinions expressed in this article are the views and opinions of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of The Fighting Cock. We offer a platform for fans to commit their views to text and voice their thoughts. Football is a passionate game and as long as the views stay within the parameters of what is acceptable, we encourage people to write, get involved and share their thoughts on the mighty Tottenham Hotspur.
4 Comments
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18/01/2023 @ 10:56 pm
So the manager is absolved of ANY blame.
You completely ignored the main reason Tottenham fans are edgy.
It’s the football…the style or lack thereof.
We are second best against EVERY opponent,not just the top teams ALL teams!
The fear of making a mistake or not adhering to the “formation” has the players walking on eggshells.
I really dislike when people such as yourself in an influential position try to cover up the real facts.
The facts are….we have a manager who has been at the club for over a year and cannot get the best out of his squad.
Almost every opponent we play we are better than in most positions…yet get outplayed. Explain that away or blame the board.
A good manager or coach gets the best out if what he has.
We play the same negative style every game…it doesn’t work,yet we continue in this way.
Explain to us so we can understand why we get outplayed by EVERYONE.
18/01/2023 @ 11:55 pm
Tough times these are. True.
However, the reason for all these is simple: Conte is not a Spurs fan. He has zero passion for the club. Definitely not enough to cool his pride enough to play Spence or use a midfield trio.
We go on hoping.✊
19/01/2023 @ 12:18 am
Enjoyed this. A balanced article,.good to read. But the elephant in the room is surely Conte – his unwillingness to go beyond ego and do what’s best for the team, his willingness to not give young players a fair chance, and to put management in the firing line before himself every time.
We are playing atrociously and I’ve lost all hope that Conte has it in him to turn this around. Sadly, as much as I agree it’s not a good time to lose a manager… We have reached the point now where I don’t think there’s an alternative. Conte is bringing us down – all the evidence points to him wanting out. I’m also not convinced he has the skillset to work with the more limited budgets that are the reality at spurs.
The fans have backed him and now he’s not backing us. And for that, it’s time to leave our club so we can find someone that wants the job
19/01/2023 @ 1:15 am
Your most obvious observation is that we need (and have done since the CL Final nearly 4 years ago) a ‘creative’ midfielder! A playmaker. A central attacking midfielder who can genuinely feed Son, Richarlison and, of course, Kane (one of the finest forwards in the world who merely feeds off the scraps at Spurs now, generated by long balls, opponents’ errors, deflections and his own individual creative brilliance)! If ever Kane needed players like Dele Ali (the 2016 to 2019 version) and Eriksen (before he decided to harm both himself and our club by winding down his contract/form long before the CL Final, thus costing us big-time on the pitch, ending all hopes of his Barca and RM aspirations, and ensuring we only got a ridiculously low transfer fee from Inter) to bring out our only world class player’s best again, then it is NOW, before it’s too late and he burns out or leaves.
The key central and attacking midfield areas should have been addressed before Eriksen left! With Son reverting to headless chicken mode again, after a couple of consistently excellent seasons, who does Kane have to supply him? .. apart from endless unimaginative DM players and the ‘occasional’ brilliance from elsewhere? Certainly no one consistently pulling the strings in midfield! Yes, I know Kulu and Bents are good players, but neither one is the consistent and central attacking playmaker we’ve needed for so long. Even Conte’s dependence on wing backs is laughably ironic. When we DID have players in those positions that were of high quality (Walker, Tripps, Rose, Davies) Poch didn’t base our system on them, because we had such great quality elsewhere. Doherty, Emerson, Sessegnon were never going to take us to that next level (Sess was a better player at 17 than he is now) and Perisic is just that yard too slow now. So honestly? If that’s Conte’s default reliance (tactics/system) it’s based on quicksand, and is awful to watch (even when we win).
So yes, of course we need a right wing back, and a left sided CD, but in copying Mourinho’s nervous ‘defend at all costs’ tactics in the 2020/21 season, Conte has made a grave error. The only difference between then and now, is where we scored early and then sat back inviting the opposition onto us for the rest of the game (with poor results) we now start meekly and then look to fight back late (with mixed results).
But like Mourinho, Conte has put continual pressure on our reasonable, but hardly great, defence, by not exploiting our talents at the other end of the pitch. The fear factor instilled by both, which Poch never displayed, and despite not (unluckily) winning a trophy over his five years, wasn’t the football we played at least exciting?! And yes, I know we’ve had rotten luck with key injuries, but with ineffective wing backs trying to compensate for our midfield getting overrun for the majority of games, and starving Kane and other forwards!? ..Well, It’s a tragic watch, because the fear of conceding (er, which we do regularly anyway) is the opposite of our mantra of Glory ..ie simply going out with confidence and scoring more goals than the other lot!