Tottenham: Match Against Blackburn Will Show Spurs as Contender or Pretender

The reason Tottenham isn't in the Champions League this year can be tied to one thing—the team's dismal performance against the bottom rung of the teams in the Premiership last year.

Last season, the six worst teams in the league were Blackburn, Wigan Athletic, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Blackpool and West Ham United. That's 12 games against teams that either suffered relegation or were within four points of doing so.

It shouldn't have been 12 wins in 12 games, but it should have been better than it was last year.

Out of a possible 36 points, Tottenham only managed to capture 17 of them. That's just not acceptable. They missed out on this year's Champions League by seven points to Arsenal (which has to make any Spurs fan sick). With a couple more wins against the six worst teams, they could be playing in Champions League and the Gunners could be flunking out of Europa.

This Sunday, Blackburn will (most likely) provide one of this season's 12 games against teams that will finish in the bottom-six. If Tottenham wants to get back to the Champions League, it starts this weekend.

But what went wrong last season and how can Tottenham hope to fix it this season? Let's take a look back at last year's games against the league's worst teams and see what could have been done to secure more points.

Spurs Against No. 20 West Ham United

In what was one of the more disappointing memories of the club's 2010/2011 campaign, Tottenham managed only one point in two meetings against West Ham United.

On September 25th, the Hammers shut out Spurs 1-0 in a game that saw Tottenham take 20 shots on goal, but had only four on target.

West Ham United then came to White Hart Lane on March 19th and drew 0-0 with a Tottenham team that held the ball more than 60 percent of the time.

Both games were frustrating for Spurs fans to watch for a number of reasons.

First, Hammers finished dead last in the Premiership last season, giving up 70 goals and managing only seven wins. One of those seven wins was against the Spurs.

Second, Tottenham was the only team not to score a goal against West Ham United. Ouch.

Third, the team had plenty of chances, but their efficiency rate at getting shots on goal was terrible. For both games combined there were 51 shots by Spurs players, but only 14 were on target.

Tottenham needs to learn how to be more patient against the terrible teams. Sure, they'll take less shots but more will be on target.

Spurs Against No. 19 Blackpool

Just as disappointing as their performance against West Ham United, in two meetings against Blackpool last season, Tottenham managed only one point.

On February 22nd, Seasiders was set to host a Spurs team that was coming off a thrilling 1-0 win against AC Milan in the Champions League. Redknapp decided to use a number of starters against the Italian champions, they were depleted on defense and in the midfield and Tottenham lost 3-1 to a Blackpool team that took full advantage.

On May 7th, the Spurs needed Jermain Defoe to score a late equalizer to avoid two losses to Blackpool.

It was the game that sealed Heurelho Gomes' fate on the bench for Tottenham and moved Redknapp in the direction of seeking the services of Brad Friedel.

With a roster that has been upgraded at every position, I don't see the problems that befell Tottenham last season happening again. They can compete in Europa with their reserves and can now beat teams as weak as Blackpool on only a few days rest. Look at what they did against Arsenal just three days after beating Shamrock Rovers in the Europa League.

Spurs Against No. 18 Birmingham

Birmingham was one of the few weak teams that Tottenham handled like they should have, capturing four points against the Blues.

On December 4th, Tottenham drew 1-1 with Birmingham just three days before their Champions League matchup with Twente. Redknapp went heavy on defense for the game and used only one substitute so as to keep his team healthy for Twente.

On May 22nd, in the last match of the season, Tottenham relegated Birmingham on the foot of Roman Pavlyuchenko's two second-half goals, winning 2-1.

Tottenham held the ball for an average of 60 percent of the time in both matches against Birmingham. If there's one thing that can be learned it's that better teams can take their time. Tottenham needs to know it can control the game as long as they want to against teams with significantly weaker rosters.

Spurs Against No. 17 Wolverhampton

Tottenham got four points out of their two meetings with Wolverhampton as well, but not without conceding four goals against one of the weakest offenses in the league.

On September 18th, Tottenham got the final result that was expected but not in the way many thought they would. The Wolves, who scored only 46 goals last season (fourth-worst in the league), led the game until the Spurs realized they were playing...well...the Wolves and scored three goals in the last 14 minutes and won 3-1.

Then, on March 6th, with a Champions League matchup just three days later, Tottenham conceded three goals to the anemic Wolves offense and finished with a 3-3 draw at Molineux Stadium.

Again, Tottenham has vastly upgraded their goalkeeping and defense, so I don't see the club conceding nearly as many goals. And with Adebayor and Defoe pairing as well as any two forwards in the league, I don't see it taking 76 minutes to get on the board against Blackburn (or any of the bottom-tier teams in the Premiership).

Spurs Against No. 16 Wigan Athletic

If one was wondering why Redknapp was so insistent on going after strikers during the transfer window, all one has to do is look at Tottenham's two matches against Wigan Athletic and things will become very clear. In two matchups against the Latics, the Spurs managed only one point, being held without a goal in both games.

On August 22nd, Wigan Athletic came to White Hart Lane and stunned Tottenham 1-0. The team was sloppy and managed only three shots on goal against a Latics team that surrendered 61 goals in 2010/2011, fifth-most in the league.

But it could just be early-season rust needing to be shaken off, right?

Wrong.

Late in the season, on April 2, Tottenham traveled to DW Stadium and was blanked once again 0-0, managing only four shots on goal.

Tottenham recognized their offensive deficiencies and realized that zero goals against a Wigan Athletic team that was fighting off relegation until the last weekend was unacceptable. They went after Adebayor this summer, got rid of Peter Crouch and changed Gareth Bale into more of an attacking player.

Now, against a Blackburn team that has given up 18 goals (the most in the league) I don't think they'll have any problems finding the back of the net.

Spurs Against No. 15 Blackburn

Blackburn is the only team that finished in the bottom-six for the 2010/2011 season and that Tottenham swept. In two matches last year, the Spurs took all six points away from Rovers.

The best part about the games is how convincing both were.

On November 13th, Tottenham hosted Blackburn, winning 4-2. The Spurs were up 4-0 as late as 80 minutes in but Rovers knocked in two garbage-time goals to make the score a little less embarrassing.

Then on February 2nd, just two days after losing 4-0 to Fulham in the FA Cup, Tottenham came back and beat Blackburn 1-0 on the heels of Peter Crouch's goal in the fourth minute.

These two matches are a blueprint for what good teams should do against bad teams. They score early, they should score often and they should be able to hold the ball away from the opposition (the Spurs averaged over 55 percent of the possession).

They were easy wins for Spurs and I believe that Sunday's match against Blackburn will look a lot like last November's 4-2 thumping (except Friedel isn't going to allow two goals from Blackburn...maybe one, but definitely not two).

Will Tottenham Be A Different Team This Season?

Tottenham is a new team that has dismissed troublesome players from its locker rooms, made the right moves in transfers, scores goals at will and has squeezed even more juice out of 41-year-old goalkeeper Brad Friedel, who is playing as well as just about anyone in the league.

This year's Champions League hopes will rest on the club's ability to capitalize on its opportunities against bad teams. Will Tottenham sit back and let a draw against a team like Wigan Athletic be good enough? Or will Spurs exploit the teams that just aren't doing well, scoring early and often, like they did against Blackburn last season?

There's no reason why Tottenham shouldn't stomp Blackburn on Sunday. Rovers are coming into the game with only one league win and manager Harry Redknapp is having to ask Blackburn fans to hold off protesting against manager Steve Kean until after the match.

Tottenham needs to start getting wins instead of draws against bad teams. Sunday looks like as good an opportunity as any to start doing just that.