Tottenham Hotspur FC: 10 Questions Needing to Be Answered This Summer
The English Premier League season may not be over yet, and there is still much to be decided. But having finally exited the Champions League at the quarterfinal stages, there are a number of questions rising that Tottenham Hotspur should well be looking to ask themselves.
The entire club knows that the Spurs have been on the verge of something great for many years and it looked as though the club was finally awakening some of that this season in the Champions League.
Now though, they face a very important run in to the end of the season to ensure they regain Champions League football and continue pressing forwards to reach their ultimate goal of becoming League winners, a feat not achieved by the club since the double winning team of 1961.
Ahead of them, Tottenham face a summer filled with questions and, hopefully for many fans, an equal amount of answers.
1. Are Tottenham Really Not a Selling Club?
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Harry Redknapp has repeatedly stressed to fans that Tottenham are not a "selling club" and have no need to sell their biggest stars to other clubs, like many smaller clubs do to support themselves.
With Gareth Bale, Rafael Van Der Vaart and Luka Modric all attracting much attention again this season, rumours of transfers for Spurs' top players have been surrounding the club for a long time.
It will be a tough challenge to keep hold of all of the top players that the club have worked so hard to bring in but it's also a realistic challenge.
The problem will come if Tottenham fails to secure Champions League football for the second consecutive season. Then they will have to deal with teams offering the lure of Champions League football to key players.
By the end of the summer there will definitely, finally be an answer to this very important question.
2. Is Heurelho Gomes Really a Top Class Goalkeeper?
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Some will say that on top form, Heurelho Gomes can be as good as any goalkeeper. However, other fans will then point out his inconsistencies.
There's no doubt that Heurelho Gomes is a good goalkeeper, but if he continues making some of the mistakes he has done in the past, then he'll have to watch his back at a club with ambitions as high as Tottenham.
There have already been rumours of Redknapp looking to bring in a player of the likes of Shay Given, in order to motivate Gomes to cut the silly mistakes out of his game.
If Tottenham want to challenge for the title they'll need a very reliable goalkeeper. Gomes can be a reliable goalkeeper as he proved vital in the club's first Champions League qualification season, but perhaps asking for a Premier League winning goalkeeper is a step too far for him.
Either way, Redknapp will have to make a decision this summer, keep faith with Gomes or bring in a new and proven reliable goalkeeper.
3. Can Tottenham Regain Champions League Football?
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Whether Tottenham can regain Champions League football will be answered by the end of the season, as the club face a very important run of games now to overtake rivals Manchester City in the Premier League once again.
If the team can secure fourth spot, they will once again face a playoff to reach the group stages of the competition.
Last year, they faced Bern Young Boys, and despite an awful first 30 minutes in the Champions League, it proved to be the start of a fairytale run for the club.
Now it's time to build on that however, and the first step to doing so will be to secure fourth spot again in the Premier League.
4. Can Spurs Attract Big Names Without the Lure of Champions League Football?
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If Tottenham fails to secure Champions League football for the second year running, it would be a big blow to the club. However, it would not necessarily spell the end of the team's recent progress.
If there is to be no more Champions League football at White Hart Lane next season, then Tottenham will have to pull off some very smart moves in order to attract big names to the club somehow, without the lure of Europe's premier club competition.
There can be no denying that the team needs to add a few more top quality players to its ranks before it can compete at the very top, but whether they can do so without providing an incentive of Champions League football remains to be seen.
Harry Redknapp is largely regarded as a transfer window master which would settle the nerves of Spurs fans slightly, although the failure to bring in a striker during the January transfer window could repeat itself during the summer if this was the case.
5. Has Harry Redknapp Taken Spurs as Far as He Can?
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To many Spurs fans, Harry Redknapp is the saviour of a team that was languishing at the bottom of the Premier League table having achieved just two points from eight games.
While his achievements deserve recognition, there is a different way of looking at matters. Harry Redknapp inherited a squad of massively talented players, already counting Gareth Bale, Ledley King and Luka Modric among their ranks at the time, who were very much under achieving.
He did very well to turn the club around and instill a sense of confidence in a demoralised squad, but now Tottenham are fighting at the top of the table, there's a different proposition altogether.
Redknapp's comments about how it would take a miracle for the club to regain fourth place a number of weeks ago signify his mentality as Tottenham being underdogs who have managed to fight it out with the "big boys."
If the club want to go on and challenge for the Premier League title any time soon, and progress any further in future Champions League tournaments, then the mentality of being "over achievers" has to disappear.
6. When Will a New Stadium Feature in Spurs' Future?
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The Olympic Stadium escapade was in the news for weeks on end earlier in the season, with most fans getting sick of the whole debacle very quickly.
Despite Chairman Daniel Levy insisting the move would have been good for Tottenham, most fans felt otherwise and therefore breathed a sigh of relief when West Ham United were announced as permanent tenants after 2012.
After the Olympic Stadium furore, it was also announced by Daniel Levy that the plans for the "Northumberland Development Project" (Spurs' potential new stadium replacing White Hart Lane) were not financially viable and had therefore stalled.
The only news to come out of Tottenham since then regarding the matter has been that the club "continues to investigate all possible options."
If the team truly want to mix with the best in Europe, the current 36,240-seater White Hart Lane probably won't cut it for a club of Tottenham's size.
7. Do Spurs Need More Defenders or Different Defenders?
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On repeated occasions this season, Harry Redknapp has had to go into pre-match press conferences and explain that the team are low on fit and available defenders and are having to use a makeshift back four.
Vedran Corluka and Tom Huddlestone have both had to play as centre backs at some points already this season, and with the team's schedule being even heavier with the Champions League this year, the injuries proved a problem.
Ledley King's long term injury has proved a major problem, while Jonathan Woodgate may well just leave on a free this summer when his contract expires due to his repeated injury woes.
However, with Younes Kaboul, William Gallas, Sebastian Bassong, Michael Dawson and recent South African signing Bongani Khumalo all also available, it would be difficult to say Spurs don't have enough centre backs.
This summer Harry Redknapp will have to make a key decision for Spurs; are more centre backs needed, or should the more injury prone players simply be replaced?
8. Who Will Be the Saviour of Spurs Attacking Woes?
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During the January transfer window, Spurs fans will have most likely woken up everyday just hoping that that would be the day that a new top quality striker signed for the club.
In fact, many fans still had their fingers crossed on deadline day waiting for another Harry Redknapp bargain. Rumours came and went about the signings of Diego Forlan, Sergio Aguero, Andy Carroll and Guiseppe Rossi, with none of them ever coming to fruition.
By the time the window closed, Tottenham fans had no new striker and instead had to watch players like Andy Carroll and Fernando Torres make big money moves, while they were left with the struggling strikers they had had previously.
There's nothing wrong with players like Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch, but after a lack of goals for the pair this season, there's a growing need at White Hart Lane for a top-class striker who can act as a proven goalscorer for the club.
It will quite possibly be the most critical part of the summer for Tottenham as they try to bring in their "saviour striker."
9. Is It Time Certain Players Left Spurs, or Do They Still Have a Place?
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Niko Kranjcar, David Bentley, Jamie O'Hara, Wilson Palacios, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Robbie Keane and Giovani Dos Santos are all possible names for Spurs fans when picking out the second-string players who may no longer have a place at Spurs.
Despite some very important goals and solid performances from Kranjcar this season, as well as some much needed midfield anchoring performances from Wilson Palacios, these players are largely no longer used by Redknapp at White Hart Lane, and it seems about time that some of them moved on.
Most Tottenham fans will probably give a harsh assessment to some of the names, claiming that nowadays they just take up the wage budget without doing much for it, and for that reason it could only be time that some of the players leave.
David Bentley is currently on loan to Birmingham, Robbie Keane at West Ham, O'Hara at Wolves and Giovani at Racing Santander, all with a possible view to a permanent move.
Tottenham has some good depth in their squad, which is a valuable asset, but there's some depth that in unnecessary and must be organised by Redknapp this summer.
10. What Role Does the New Training Centre Play in Spurs' Long Term Future?
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With the news of possible new stadiums coming out of White Hart Lane throughout the season, it went largely unnoticed by mainstream media sources that Tottenham had also been building a new training facility in Bull's Cross, Enfield.
The club's official website says that the new training centre will be "the new home for the Club's First Team and Youth Academy training and provide an additional base for the Tottenham Hotspur Foundation."
Having suffered a recent dip in the youth players coming through the ranks at Tottenham, the new training facility could play a key role in the club's future as they try to develop players that have shown so much promise such as Harry Kane, John Bostock and Danny Rose.
There is no doubt that the new training centre could also have a big impact on the first team, providing them with the best quality facilities they could have.
Just how much of an impact this will have on the club remains to be seen, but it will be very important to crack on with building the new facility this summer so the club can set out a long-term plan regarding it.
