Damning.

I made one of the biggest decisions in my short-lived technological life to present. I voided into the unknown and swapped my unintentional life-loyalty of Windows for a Macbook Pro. I've never been one that's scratched further than the surface in regards to technology. I don't keep my finger on the pulse at the best of times in regards to innovation, it doesn't reflect my greatest interests in life.

But I ventured into the unknown. Sure, it was a little difficult at first but I'm starting to understand the basics. Over time I'm sure I'll grow to be more comfortable, more natural in my approach in utilising a Mac. Transitioning from one way of thinking, one approach, to another is naturally difficult. Don't we just know it. At Spurs we're lacking those basics. The foundations looked there after pre-season. The win over QPR reiterated this. The patches of pressing solidified this perception. But that's all it was at the time, perception.

Eriksen made a note to the Danish press that Pochettino has changed his system in the short-term with the hope of instant results. A damning issue if correct. It largely reflects arguably our managers own concerns of his position which will do little to breathe confidence into the playing staff. Our results have reflected this. A manager appointed for his pragmatic and exciting approach to football matches belittled into becoming his own enemy.

A fearful mentality at Tottenham Hotspur. That cutting edge of belief always missing. A mere soundbite of "What happens if we don't make it..." rather than "we will make it" removed with the conveyor belt of endless manager sackings. We're too quick to shy away and it is just this fearful mentality that reflects the frail nature and polystyrene spine of Tottenham Hotspur from top to bottom at all levels.

We're lightweight on the pitch. Regardless of the prospective intelligence of our playing staff, you cannot both shy away and revamp over 100 years of English culture. Power, aggression. Paramount at one level or another. Its' non-existence telling of our sour position in the Premier League. A position only not classified as 'disastarous' because of the disappointment form of our rivals. Worrying.

We're lightweight off of it as well. Our scouting network just as embarrassing as our performances on the pitch. Bitterness from Comolli regarding our scouting network? It didn't seem so. The links with Pochettino's former scout Paul Mitchell as well as the further employment of former chief scout Ian Bloomfield suggests there was a gaping flaw in the now-seeming previous 'regime' (can we call it that?) of trusting one man duly unaccustomed to Premier League football with over £100m of a transfer kitty. Quite possibly the strongest two fingers up to Baldini he'd have likely ever seen but an also quite probable indirect further set-back in the confidence of those we did recruit. "The bloke that signed us has been told he's done a terrible job". It wouldn't fill me with confidence if I ever heard that.

Signs. In pre-season it's all we seek out. How we set-up, a style in how we approach fixtures, an identity. We carried one through for all of 5 minutes of the Premier League for it then to diminish. I jump back to what I mentioned earlier on about Pochettino altering his system in the short-term in the hope of immediate gain. In truth we have seen glimpses, but blink and you'll miss them. It fits an all too typical narrative but we look sideways. We try and play it safe in possession and actively encourage the opposition to harass us.

Does this reflect the nerves in the side that Adebayor came out so publicly to talk about? Arguably. But we've struggled to facilitate and engineer a set style for the most-part of the season. It's not that we're failing to successfully undertake an obvious style but that we are failing to even attempt one. Then we fail to have the players to lead by example and grab the game by the lower regions. What does it say about our first XI that 3 players have come through from the academy over the last 12 months and 2 started the last game? That those players are exceptional or that our current crop are just poor? I'm deliberately opening this can of worms. Mason & Kane have looked good when playing but I'd argue the answer to the above is a mis-match of both aspects. For arguments sake, I've actually been happy to see Bentaleb, Mason and Kane involved in the first team of late.

It's easy to argue we have the wrong players in the wrong system, but it's natural to expect more. Sometimes it becomes difficult to tell if we've a set of rough gems or dirty stones. Talented, raw players or overpriced imports? Maybe it's too early. We've seen what Eriksen can offer and Chadli has grown into a more forward role, but we've failed to see what anyone else has to offer. We're sitting in a posh restaurant and have so far been given a plate of cheesy chips in a greasy cardboard box. It's natural to have expected more.

We're paying the expensive price for flaws throughout the hierarchy at Spurs. The lack of scouting network has presented us with a wealth of problems in which we have well and truly dug our own grave. It's easy to say hindsight has shown the players may not have been right but the conditions in which we went about seeking out these players were clearly far from ideal. All we can do now is do what we do best. Hope, pray, then cry.

Regards
Ben

Early Days

We've reached, endured and survived our first international break of the season. It provided a great platform in which to reflect on our relatively promising start to the season. Three largely differing performances could easily reflect inconsistency but, in truth, highlight how we're still piecing together the Pochettino puzzle. We're sat on a learning curve, embracing structure.

Early signs have presented promise and reason for quiet optimism. There seems to be a greater sense of unity in the side, a hunger to go for the throat. Against Liverpool we were choked out the game after missing the opportunity to go in on level terms. We bowed down at 2-0 and our inadequacies reminded us that we are in the early stages of a hopeful long-term project for success rather than an attempt at a 'quick fix' (if they even exist).

Our ideology this summer was that of building a stronger squad rather than a team littered with individual talents. I like to think our signings represent greater quality than the sum of their individual talents. We've purchased players because of their style and type to fill in the gaps. They arrive with no weighted price-tag allowing them to steer clear of the media spotlight. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, of course, but the mistake we made last year was signing Soldado based on his numbers rather than his style. A square peg in a round hole. He's not young enough to develop his game & still looks horribly starved of confidence.

In Vorm we've signed a keeper better suited to the game Pochettino is clearly trying to install. The space between Friedel & our back four under AVB's high line (especially in cup competitions) left a consistent worry we were playing a keeper not suited to our game and thus at a detriment to the side. This would naturally have proved a worry for the defence. In Ben Davies we've signed a defender that has more quality in operating as a wing-back. His defensive work, based on last season, clearly surpassed the failings that we'd had to endure in Danny Rose every week. Davies' move has also seemed to reinvigorate Rose whom had probably his best game for a long time against QPR.

Reading between the lines of breaking down Fazio as a footballer, my perception is that of the lovechild of Vertonghen and Kaboul. Technically good with the ball at his feet, he's also a mountain in the air. The perception that quick defenders are the holy grail of a successful high-pressing game are a myth. The best defenders in the world aren't renowned speed-kings . Positioning and spatial awareness are far more valuable assets.

Stambouli is allegedly in the mould of Schneiderlin. A raw gem, albeit a little rough around the edges. According to the press he represents great value and when have they ever wrongly over-hyped a player? Aside from this I feel our chances of developing younger more 'promising' players are far more prosperous with Pochettino and his coaching team overlooking this development than I ever would under Sherwood or Redknapp. AVB is another debate.

Pre-summer, our most pressing areas to add to were arguably left back and centre back. On paper, we've done this with relative success. Abraham Maslow theorised that human motivation can be listed in a 'hierarchy of needs'. This theory identified that the 'basic needs' (such as living) must be met before more complex needs are required (such as self-actualization). We arguably fulfilled our basic needs of a left-back and centre-back, before suddenly demanding a more complex need in a striker as the window wore on.

We have three forwards but play just one in our current system. It's clear that we showed an interest in Jay Rodriguez of Southampton but with his injury naturally showing cause for concern, we decided against making a move. Talks of a January move make far more logical sense as it provides us with 4 months worth of assessment. During this period, we have to show some faith that our £26m striker can provide the return we've been crying out for for 12 months. We have to also hope that Adebayor can hit the heights consistently that we know he can and Harry Kane can continue showing promise whenever he plays in the lilywhite.

If these 3 forwards can't produce the goods then the January window will provide us with a golden opportunity in which to fulfil this renewed 'basic need'. A striker would've been a nice touch to finalize the window but the money evidently wasn't there to bring in the type of forward we'd have wanted.

It's easy to forget that we brought in Pochettino to exploit the talents of the individuals in the squad and mould them into a football team. The signs have been there. Its early days, but hopefully the finished image of the Pochettino puzzle will be that of sheer beauty.

We survived.

West Ham on the opening day. I've seen prettier sites checking the bottom of my shoe to see if I'd just stepped in dog shit. I wrote a piece detailing how, although pre-season results shouldn't be given an inch of your time (and they shouldn't), the style and system in which we approach these games inherently should. This game seemingly worked try and go out of its' way to contradict literally every word I wrote.

Although, that wasn't quite what was top of my mind when I was watching us play at West Ham. I couldn't help but imagining the dangerously unsettling comparisons between our performance across the 90 minutes and the regular drivel we had to endure under Sherwood. The notable thing that we did manage to avoid was an all too typical collapse at the first sniff of danger. The game almost reminded me of the Cardiff away fixture last season. We flattered to deceive for much of it before a new boy popped up and scored a late winner.

That first sniff of danger was our back four. Hands up at the end of last season who'd have predicted Naughton & Rose would be starting our first Premier League of the new season. Neither did I. Kaboul, sadly, is not the player he was in 2011/2012 & the wildcard that is Eric Dier could be hit or miss.

I must've watched this game with my hands over my eyes because up until Naughton saw red, I've been informed that we were doing admirably up until this point. I remember us being slack in possession and moving the ball at a snail pace. We looked a minor shadow of ourselves system wise that we saw more or less in every pre-season fixture. It wasn't the fact that we even put into practice this fresh approach and West Ham stifled it, it was more that we lacked the confidence to try and put it into practice in the first place.

We'd seen a far more pragmatic side that were more direct in their passing style but we struggled to get out of our final third at times on Saturday. We lacked that extra midfield option when the defence had the ball or lacked that option in the final third when Bentaleb came deep to collect that first pass. Maybe pushing Capoue back into CB affected this but we struggled even at 11 vs. 11.

We've big hopes for Lamela this year but I feel giving him this seemingly free role almost stifles Eriksen's effectiveness in the final third. Lamela consistently picked up the ball but struggled to know his next move when receiving and often tried too hard to impress. He'd miss the more simple-yet-effective ball more often than not and looked a little lost positionally when out of possession. I maintain that giving him a permanent role right would allow him to work on his game as well as a role that would exploit the best of Erik as well as the system we're trying to implement. This would further allow Eriksen to adopt a more permanent role centrally and allow him to flourish where he is arguably his most dangerous.

Maybe the system needs time. In fact, there's no doubt it does. One player that slotted like he'd been at the club for years was Eric Dier. His positioning, no-nonsense attitude and versatility were exceptional. Considering his debut was arguably made all the more difficult as he was forced to shift over to RB when Naughton did see red, he performed admirably in his first outing.

It's always satisfying to pick up three points on the opening day but I think it's understandable to expect the more pragmatic approach we'd seen in pre-season to be adopted more regularly as time proceeds. We've still to welcome back a host of players from the World Cup as well as a couple of weeks left of this window. The signals have definitely been quietly optimistic, but it's clear that time is still the most valuable thing Pochettino needs at his disposal.

Regards,
Ben

Diluted expectation.

It's been an uncharacteristically low-key and rather reserved summer. We more or less wrapped up our managerial appointment early and saved ourselves a shadow fewer and a 'saga' less than we've known to expect of latter years. We should probably thank the World Cup for this. The fact it's essentially prevented Neil Ashton from inking poison on to the back pages of the Mail has certainly ensured my enthusiasm for the tournament has remained consistent.

Although come next week and we can only expect the usual pathogens to breed more bollocks on to toilet paper and bleed the eyes of the unfortunate reader. We're fully aware of the vicious circle we fall into every summer. Is it a sign of improvement that these calibre of players are happy to join Tottenham Hotspur or that these players are more wiling to use us as a stepping stone to then fuck off into the sunset? Probably the latter.

But Pochettino's short tenure at Spurs thus far has taught me that we don't need to have our manager bleating the same soundbites of league titles and Champions League qualification for me to feel a sense of warmth and quiet optimism towards him, subjectively speaking. I almost feel as though our greatest ever optimum opportunity in which to establish ourselves firmly within the seemingly intimidating presence of the top 4 has essentially been and gone. I don't see this as a negative though.

Our expectations in recent years have poisoned the atmosphere at White Hart Lane. It becomes more of a chore to enjoy a game and this, possibly, may be the first season in many in which expectation is more aspiration. Content at top 6 is bluntly realistic. The competition for the Champions League and its' riches via Premier League qualification seems more than an arms lengths out of reach. Our arguably more modest and realistic goals for the forthcoming season may ease the previous burden of weighted expectation and allow us to thrive in a more structured environment.

So where do our main priorities lie? The recent survey sent out by THST (that you should definitely fill out here if you haven't yet) asks fans where their personal priorities lie for this season. I felt torn on this one. On a previous question I'd answered that I felt '"dissatisfied" at the atmosphere at White Hart Lane at present and, in reality, a good league run would help to an extent to cure this - but only in the short-term. In Fact, I placed the FA Cup and Europa League above the Premier League in preference. Have I contradicted myself? Arguably, but I hate how we seemingly can't have a fairly average run in the league anymore and still have White Hart Lane as a fortress as we did in the past.

Pochettino's appointment excites me. Not because I think we'll be world leaders under him though. We've craved structure and preparation prior to fixtures. We certainly didn't utilize our squad to the full last season under a manager that struggled to know how to implement them best. Hopefully we'll bring more attractive football back to White Hart Lane and with this a snowball effect of injected enthusiasm into the fans that could roar the side on in the league and cups.

A combination of more modest expectations behind a manager that will pay more thorough attention to detail could (again) be a mix we've desperately required. We've finally reached a point in time in which 'how long' our manager will be given has slowly been swept under the carpet, well - for now. For the moment we seem content to sit back and just see what happens, maybe we could enjoy the company of our football team again.

Regards,
Ben - You can follow me on Twitter here

Sherwood's Master Plan.

Fresh off of consecutive wins at Old Trafford we arguably approached the Emirates with a false sense of confidence and a not so much a 'renewed' but a brief 'revitalisation' of the limited optimism that had dragged us through the season so far. Possibly unwanted. We'd just about scrubbed away the expectation. The brief strangle hold of financial net spend and squad settling issues keeping us from scenarios involving dark rooms and brandy. It's our defence mechanism. A mechanism I sincerely hope we lack next season.

I'm not knocking it, it's fact. Tottenham Hotspur: forever the 'next season' team. Not quite the soundbite notoriously heard at Anfield at the start of every season but you get the gist, it's frustrating. With Bale leaving and 7 players unknown to the Premier League, this year was always going to have atleast an element of settlement required. With AVB gone who knows how long it'll be before we can have a season with little change.

Confidence at your own peril. The DNA of Tottenham never changes, you never know what you'll get with us. The Enemy at their place on the back of Christmas was probably one fixture too much for us. The same 11 feeling the effects of 6 games in 17 days. Feet up and cotton wool were probably needed for the week preceding the win at Old Trafford, they deserved it.

Sherwood, not wanting to alter a short-term winning formula and a lack of options, was limited in selection and picked the strongest available names - bar arguably Bentaleb. Fatigue likely ripe within. We could see the car-crash on the horizon. Yet we remained hopeful. Somehow, someone would step up and become a hero. Contrary to our boss, we were overrun in midfield. Dembele given the job of three at the worst of times. Dropping Soldado and putting Capoue in alongside Dembele and Bentaleb would've given the protection the back four needed. What was more worrying was we could foresee this although our manager seemingly couldn't.

When in possession we were pressed high up the pitch, as expected. Walcott making up extra numbers in midfield. Arsenal were relentless without the ball. Again though, as expected. Sitting deep to counteract Walcott's pace made sense although as a result we couldn't press the ball as often as we may have liked. Eriksen was forced to stay out left far often than he'd have liked and we didn't set up as we should've done until after Rosicky had capitalised on our second defensive error of the night. Given, we sought to make the change before that blunder.

But it is how it is. Neither side were at their strongest. It's frustrating, of course it is. We made individual errors but, if anything, this game should encourage us to operate a different system. The short term under Sherwood made us far more unpredictable, as did 4-4-2, but it's so quickly sussed out & an easy system to play against with a rampant midfield. The space in front of the back 4 left Dawson and Chiriches with little protection but also fewer options to play the ball when in possession.

Hindsights a wonderful thing. It's perfection. We always question our decisions to lavish any hope on a performance at the Emirates worthy of 3 points. It's the hope that keeps us sane, but it's the same hope that can push you over the edge. You appreciate the smaller things in life and turn your back on football momentarily after a defeat.

Soldado reportedly came off with a knock. He's remained a regular fixture in the side despite the recent flurry of fixtures. He's looked better without quite turning it on just yet. If When he's not scoring he's contributing. There's a real ball of fire in him, but we're seeing just a flame so far. The tip of the iceberg. Time obviously not on his side but it's more promising than it was 4 months ago. But this knock may provide us the opportunity to tamper and test the 4-2-3-1 that Sherwood finished the Arsenal game with, albeit with different personnel.

Sherwood: When you lose the ball you are always going to be out of shape - otherwise you are going to be a rigid, boring team". You understand his point but that statement is incredibly naive. Eriksen's recent growth in confidence has allowed him more expression on the pitch. Taking away those final shackles pinning him to cover left midfield will grant him the freedom he so desperately craves in that number 10 role. With Dembele & Sandro sitting in behind him offering support in possession, we could still play with the same flair but have the stability we've arguably lacked under Sherwood. Ie. we could keep our shape though operate it a little deeper when not in possession.

Regardless of how this season turns out, you still get the impression we lack a long-term plan. Sherwood's steered the ship back on course in the Premier League but we look every part as likely to steer it back off it again. We've one competition left in which to compete for silverware and I hope we give it a go (again that word 'hope'). A fully fit squad will allow us to. But that's a feat rarely found but desperately craved in football.

Regards,
Ben

Change is good.

Those of you that actively follow me on Twitter or read my piece for Spurs Stat Man here would understand that I held immediate concerns and strong apprehension amongst Sherwood's full-time appointment. In the short-term he was the only real viable option and Levy had dug himself into a hole without an apparent long-term direction for the football club. I welcomed the introduction of Adebayor alongside Soldado although I strongly felt/still feel that the 4-4-2 previously being employed was not exploiting the talent that we have at our disposal.

The game against West Brom highlighted this. We were far too easy to play against and didn't look organised in midfield as well as being clueless in the final third. Although, against an admittedly poor Stoke side, we looked a fresh outfit. Sherwood's reaction as well as his acknowledgement to change the side and employ a more flexible system against Stoke was a strong positive to see.

 Dembele and Paulinho took turns to sit and advance, closing up any space Stoke had in the middle of the pitch and facilitating our attacks. In truth, this is where we exploit the best of Dembele and it's surprising that we don't see him scoring more goals than he does. Hopefully this license to drive from midfield as he did so well last year will enable us to be more clinical in the final third than we have been in general this season. The attributes are there, we just need him operating in his strongest areas of the pitch.

We're slowly seeing more of Eriksen as the season progresses and it's becoming easier to forget that the Dane is just 21. This side tended to drift away from the 4-4-2 operated against West Brom and Eriksen was given license to tuck in behind Soldado and to operate centrally. With Adebayor dropping in to an advance midfield role as we know he can so well, it was a pleasure to see him and Eriksen on the ball and feeding in others. Two players that fully appreciate the lack of shackles bounded around their ankles. The general consensus was that we were far more organised against Stoke, something we distinctly lacked against West Brom, and hopefully this is another building block to implementing a system and a regular first XI.

What brought about more confidence was the interview Dembele gave regarding Sherwood post-Stoke.

"He's not been with us long, but he's made some adjustments and he's talked with us a lot." - This suggesting Sherwood is still open to the idea of implementing a different system to suit the players who welcome the communication and the open-mindedness.

"He gives us confidence to play our own game and to attack while remaining organised." - In truth, the players seem to struggle with self-belief towards the end of AVB's reign and it's positive to see that the confidence is being restored. It'll be the reaction after a defeat from here on in that will be the biggest test. Also to note that Dembele has mentioned about the organisation whilst attacking, something distinctly missing against West Brom but evident against Stoke.

"We're playing in a very attacking way, but he makes sure we're organised. You can't all attack at once, so he explains it to us and we train that way." - More emphasises on the organisation of the side which will be given a huge test at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

It's frustrating to see us continually in a transition although it's positive to see an open and confident response to an unsettling two or so weeks at the club. Sherwood has sought to lay down the organisation in the side and the next step will be selecting a consistent XI and arguably finding how to best exploit Eric Lamela.

I'd be tempted to label our set-up against Stoke as a 4-2-3-1 with Adebayor dropping in the front three behind Soldado. His free role in the team makes it difficult for him to be picked up by defenders and also supports the midfielders in attack. Soldado's movement still lacks a real cutting edge but he's made notable improvements in the last two weeks under Sherwood and hopefully we'll see the best of him in 2014.

United and Arsenal will be two real tests for Sherwood that have arguably come slightly prematurely. He's stabilised the train and we no longer look to be falling off the rails. Although we've experienced some very poor performances under his brief time in charge and hopefully these have been addressed. Sherwood knows he's little to lose during his time in charge of the club and this was reflected in our last outing against Stoke as we played with far more confidence and conviction as well as looking far more settled and organised than we have done for a few months.

We'll need both discipline and ruthlessness if we're to get a sniff of a point on Wednesday. We've the personnel to over-power their midfield and create the chances although have looked a little suspect at the back at times. Grabbing the chances we do get by the lower regions and smothering United will be key but I predict a very open game.

It's hard to see how this side will approach the tougher fixtures that await us. The arguably reduced expectation can only be seen as a positive.

Regards,
Ben - you can follow me on Twitter here