Grading Tottenham Hotspur on Their 2015 Summer Transfer Window Dealings
What's next? It is the question that, literally or in a roundabout way, will have been asked by Tottenham Hotspur head coach Mauricio Pochettino after the closing of the 2015 summer transfer window.
Four matches into the new Premier League season, he can now focus on working with a squad he knows is his. For better or worse.
Over the following few pages, we decide just that. Grading the ins and outs of Tottenham's first-team summer dealings, just what kind of shape are the north Londoners in now moving forward?
Section into defence, midfield and attack before a final overall grade is provided, we naturally begin with the boys at the back.
Defence: B+
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The obvious theme with the majority of Tottenham's new recruits is the wait-and-see approach we are going to have to take on properly evaluating them.
In defence, while Toby Alderweireld has slotted straight in at centre-back, Kieran Trippier and Kevin Wimmer are having to bide their time for their first appearances. Both are being brought in as much with strengthening numbers for the season ahead in mind as any immediate use.
Alderweireld's encouraging first and most recent appearances bookended a less flattering pair of performances that served to show none of these arrivals can be regarded as automatic upgrades over the departed Vlad Chiriches and Younes Kaboul. Indeed, the Belgian's prominent part in Stoke City's comeback to draw 2-2 was an unwelcome reminder of the focus-induced frailties that often undermined Spurs last season.
The hope will be the trio's early arrivals—allowing them more time to work with their new coaches and team-mates than some fellow new signings—will see them find their feet soon enough.
Alderweireld proved himself a more-than-capable Premier League performer during his year on loan with Southampton. If he replicates that form, his missteps so far will just come to be regarded as a product of rustiness.
Trippier similarly impressed in his sole top-flight season at Burnley. The well-balanced right-back will be a more comfortable presence there than Chiriches was as makeshift cover. He should also keep current first-choice Kyle Walker on his toes in the process.
How Wimmer will adapt to English football is naturally more unknown. The Austrian is likely to earn more minutes in the Europa League initially, too.
That Spurs have backed him ahead of Kaboul, and seemingly Federico Fazio, speaks to their confidence he can contribute. As those two (and all of Spurs defenders of late) have shown, though, talent alone counts for little if as a collective they are found wanting for concentration and organisation.
Central Midfield: A-
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Tottenham's objective in central midfield this summer was to trim numbers.
Lewis Holtby's loan to Hamburg and Etienne Capoue not playing since January marked their departures as inevitable. The former made the move back to Germany permanent, while the Frenchman headed just north of London to join promoted Watford.
Paulinho was used by Pochettino up until the end of last season. Come June, though, the reported £9.9 million offered by Guangzhou Evergrande—per the Guardian's Dominic Fifield—evidently appealed more than persevering with a midfielder whose form in two years at Spurs was decidedly mixed.
The sale of Benjamin Stambouli to Paris Saint-Germain is the decision here that has left Spurs most open to scrutiny. The defensive midfielder was infrequently used by Pochettino, but he performed well when called upon.
More than any of the departures, this one confirmed the Argentinian's intention to trust in youth in the position. Eric Dier's shift forward from centre-back was the most notable example of the head coach's belief others can follow the 2014-15 success of Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason. That belief was further demonstrated by January signing/summer arrival Dele Alli's bright substitute appearances and Tom Carroll and Josh Onomah getting places on the bench.
"Today our squad is smaller than the last season," Pochettino said prior to the start of the season. "We have the space to develop our young players and maybe if they show that have quality to play in the first team, why not?"
Despite some consternation among supporters that Spurs have been left light in experience in central midfield, the altering of approach here will not have been without reason (experience in the form of the aforementioned players who left did not count for much anyway)—particularly in regard to Dier's new greater prominence.
The 21-year-old being used in central midfield has not come from nowhere. He was used there previously by former team Sporting Club, and Pochettino talked about his ability to do a job last season.
The Manchester United loss showed his need to work on receiving the ball from a different vantage point—something he acknowledged to Spurs' official website. But in terms of providing protection for his defence, he has begun promisingly. This past weekend, he gave Everton's Ross Barkley his toughest game of the season.
Attack: B-
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In his 2014 summer transfer "window wrap" for Tottenham's official website, Pochettino spoke very positively about the attacking options he felt he had been provided with.
"We want to deliver exciting, attacking and pressing football, and the range of forwards we have are extremely well-equipped to work within this system," he said. "We have quality and versatility in these areas, so we are confident that they can play anywhere across the front line when called upon."
A year on, Spurs have moved on one of those forwards in Roberto Soldado, while Emmanuel Adebayor is completely out of Pochettino's plans. Son Heung-min and Clinton Njie have been brought in, but the quite public failure to sign West Bromwich Albion's Saido Berahino—confirmed by Baggies chairman Jeremy Peace, though not Spurs—has left Harry Kane as the only striker with Premier League experience.
Spurs obviously wanted another man up top besides Son, Njie, Kane and the numerous attacking midfield options already at the club. The inability to recruit even a less touted—but still reasonable—striking option has and will continue to be questioned if the team struggles for goals. The Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust have asked for "a credible explanation from THFC’s Board to address the genuine concerns of supporters."
However, such concern is very much predicated on a pessimism that Kane possibly gets injured or lacks reasonable assistance to perform sufficiently. It is an understandable worry, but not one so certain that Spurs should be completely written off in the final third.
Njie and Son are potentially strong signings. The former's pace and directness and the latter's timing and capacity for the spectacular will, if they settle OK, provide different facets to Spurs' approach play and penalty-box threat. They will give Kane more to work with, too, and also allow Pochettino scope to change from or alter his predominantly used 4-2-3-1 formation if he sees fit (see the flexibility with which Spurs played for an hour against Stoke as an example of how they can thrive like this).
There is a risk Spurs could suffer before the January window, but the "quality and versatility" Pochettino talked about last year is still there. Even had Berahino signed, that the likes of Nacer Chadli, Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela and Andros Townsend are all still around is evidence of the boss' intent to trust in their creative capabilities.
Tottenham have much to prove in this department, and if things go wrong, Pochettino, the club's recruitment staff and the hierarchy will all be criticised. The challenge of creating a consistent attacking force has not changed; they just have one or two tools to do so less than they might have liked.
Overall: B
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It is intriguing to ponder how much Tottenham being four matches without a win has influenced supporters' view of their transfer window dealings. If two leads had not been blown against Stoke and Leicester City, and if Spurs had converted one of their many, many chances and beaten Everton...
In that situation, you have a reaffirmation of the role last season's new signings and standout performers—like Chadli, Dier and Kane—are set to play. You have an encouragingly solid-looking defence enhanced by the addition of Alderweireld, and a bright young prospect in Alli who may deliver sooner than had even been hoped. Not to mention a squad looking altogether less bloated, the underwhelming signings of past windows having made way for promising homegrown talent such as Carroll and Alex Pritchard.
Instead, Spurs have no wins and are showing concerning signs that last season's issues of poor defensive focus and inconsistent attacking performances are not yet a thing of the past. Rather than youthful promise, the squad's young average age is evidence of possibly problematic inexperience.
It is fair to say Tottenham could have done more in this transfer window, notably in attack. But as the early hiccups in defence have shown—a position they decisively addressed—there are no guarantees expensive signings will improve things. At the most basic level, the now-departed purchases of the last two years are evidence enough of that—even if their experiences were more nuanced than many observers make out.
After a fifth-place Premier League finish in a campaign that included derby wins over Arsenal and champions Chelsea, as well as a run to the Capital One Cup final, the Spurs squad did not need major change.
Of course, a few carefully chosen new additions were required, and ensuring key personnel like Kane and Hugo Lloris remained was vital, too. By fully buying into their head coach's philosophy and working to become better individuals and team-mates, genuine improvement is going to come by way of the core players behind those achievements not resting on their laurels.
The new signings give Tottenham a chance of doing that. More obvious guarantees would have been nice, but if this group of players and coaches really has anything about it, a chance should be all they need.
Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
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