3 ways Tottenham Hotspur can challenge for the title
From being a mid-table team to title contenders, Tottenham Hotspur has surely come a long way. They have nurtured young talent from their academy like Harry Kane and also made shrewd business to get the likes of Christian Eriksen from Ajax, Dele Alli from MK Dons. Also, the acquisition of many talented players for bargain prices has made them the team they are now.
But they still aren't perfect and if they don't win anything, the crop of players at their disposal will surely move on. Let's take a look at how Tottenham can challenge for the title with a few tweaks in their strategy.
3. Change their wage structure
This past transfer window, Tottenham made zero signings, spending nothing. It could be argued that the construction of their new stadium which cost them around £800 million, has put them in a financially vulnerable position. If Daniel Levy wants for them to compete in the highest levels, he needs to fork out some cash for buying the stars which can make them a European superpower.
Some of their most important players like Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen earn a meagre £50k and £75k per week. To put that in contrast, Manchester City's Leroy Sane, who is the same age as Dele and also played lesser minutes than him, earns £90k a week.
If Daniel Levy doesn't fix his wage structure, it is only a matter of time before they start losing their players to clubs who pay much more than what Spurs offer them.
2. Find a Moussa Dembele Replacement
Moussa Dembele has been the dominant figure in midfield bullying the opposition players and playing intelligent passes and tackles. Now 31, he has started slowing down and showed that he cannot play 2 games in 6 days. After a dominant display against Manchester United, his woeful performance against Watford led them to concede 2 goals, both his fault.
Tottenham should have been in the market for his replacement, with players like Thiago Alcantara and Jorginho who are perfect for controlling the game from midfield. Their own academy graduate Harry Winks is also back from his injury which would mean he gets more game time and can help in the absence of Dembele.
1. Play 3 at the back
A tally of 9 points in 4 games puts them only one point behind Manchester City right now, but 23 away from Pep's side by the end of last season proves they aren't competing right now. Last season Spurs conceded 36 goals, the 3rd best in the league, but 10 more than Manchester City. The phrase goes that "attack wins you games, defense wins you titles". Since April they have allowed Lloris to face 67 shots on goal.
Although they won against Manchester United convincingly, they let them take 23 shots, the highest in Pochettino's reign. Having conceded 18 shots against City in April and 18 to Newcastle and Leicester in May, we can see that the trend is getting worse.
If Pochettino continues with a back 4, it limits the attacking output of Ben Davies and Kieran Tripper, whereas a back 3 would help them stabilize their defense at the same time get more attacking output from their fullbacks