Spurs wasted no time after losing Robbie Keane to
Liverpool in bringing in David Bentley from Blackburn and appearing
to firm up their interest in Zenit St Petersburg playmaker Andrei
Arshavin. Neither can be seen as a straight replacement for Keane
because of the different roles they fulfil, and it is far from
certain at the moment that the Arshavin deal will be completed. But
Bentley’s arrival, in conjunction with those of Luka Modric,
Giovani dos Santos, Heurelho Gomes and John Bostock, underlines the
major rebuilding job that Juande Ramos is engaged in at White Hart
Lane. Spurs have been one of the busiest clubs in the transfer
market since Ramos was appointed, with Alan Hutton, Jonathan
Woodgate, Da Silva Melo Gilberto and Chris Gunter also arriving in
the January window.
Meanwhile Ramos has also been clearing out, with Pascal
Chimbonda, Paul Robinson, Teemu Tainio, Steed Malbranque, Keane,
Joe Martin, loanee Radek Cerny, Anthony Gardner and Jake Livermore
all moving on (the last two on loan). Dimitar Berbatov, Younes
Kaboul and others could well follow them out of the exit door.
The net effect of these ins and outs is that the potential
threat from Tottenham is steadily growing, and their billing as the
team most likely to challenge the hegemony of the Premier League’s
‘Big Four’ seems justified.
At the same time, the current top four club generally perceived
to be most vulnerable to a resurgent Spurs are their neighbours and
arch-rivals, Arsenal. The bitter hostility between fans of the two
North London clubs intensified last week with the remarks made by
ex-Arsenal trainee Bentley on his presentation to the media as a
Spur. Bentley gleefully stoked up the inter-club rivalry by
declaring his lifelong affection for Tottenham with comments that
have galvanised Spurs fans while inflaming the red half of North
London.
Given that Arsenal’s summer has been playing out against a
back-drop of supposedly “bigger” clubs targeting some of their
biggest stars - with three key midfielders moving on and a striker
(Emmanuel Adebayor) only latterly committing himself to the Gunners
- Bentley’s comments have added spice to the debate about a
potential shift in the balance of North London football power. With
Arsene Wenger maintaining his transfer market policy of pursuing
promising youngsters rather than expensive ready-made stars,
Tottenham fans are rubbing their hands in anticipation.
However, while a fascinating sub-plot in the battle for this
season’s Premier League honours will be the struggle for local
supremacy between Arsenal and Spurs (and with it entry to or
continued exclusion from the Big Four), there are a number of
pertinent issues to weigh up before making any bold
predictions.
1) We’ve Been Here Before…
A year ago, Arsenal icon Thierry Henry left for Barcelona for
£16million while Spurs brought in Darren Bent for half-a-million
more and the pundits were lining up to suggest that Martin Jol’s
side looked better-equipped than Arsene Wenger’s to change the
landscape in the upper echelons of the Premier League. Spurs had,
after all, finished fifth - only one place behind Arsenal - in each
of the preceding two seasons, and Wenger’s ’Invincibles’ of 2003-04
had been broken up, with mostly kids replacing those seasoned
campaigners.
Yet Arsenal started like an express train, Spurs like a creaking
wheelbarrow, and by October Jol was out while the young Gunners
were blazing a trail at the top of the table. The Tottenham
renaissance had proved illusory. Although Arsenal’s title challenge
eventually flagged, they lost a mere three Premier League games all
season, finished third, just four points behind Manchester United,
and were eight places and 37 points ahead of Spurs in the final
reckoning. Wenger had proved again that it is dangerous to write
off his team’s chances.
2) History May Be Bunk, But…
Tottenham are traditionally one of England’s biggest clubs and
yearn to be back among the elite - which in today’s rarefied terms
means in the top four, ideally higher than fourth, and competing in
the Champions League. To make that jump - from 11th
place last term - they will almost certainly have to dislodge
Arsenal, assuming champions Manchester United, Scolari-fuelled
Chelsea and a Keane-enhanced Liverpool are not about to crumble.
And that of course is a potent added incentive for the cockerel,
who has come off distinctly second best against the cannon in
recent years. Yes, Spurs won the last meeting between the rivals in
emphatic style; that 5-1 League Cup semi-final second leg thrashing
of Arsenal at White Hart Lane was not only an essential step
towards winning their first trophy for nine years, it also ended a
dismal sequence for Spurs fans, who hadn’t had a win over the old
enemy to celebrate in any competition since November 1999 - 21
meetings ago.
As welcome a psychological boost as that was in N17, the
statistics are still heavily weighted towards N5. The two teams
have played each other for league points 32 times since the advent
of the Premier League. Spurs did the double over the Gunners in the
first season, 1992-93, but have managed only three victories since
then. So the record reads Arsenal 13 wins, Spurs five, with 14
draws. The Gunners have won 53 of the Premiership points at stake,
Tottenham 29. Spurs still haven’t won the derby home or away since
November 1999, and haven’t tasted a victory on their enemy’s patch
since May 1993.
How Bentley, Ramos and the entire Lilywhite nation would love to
change those damning statistics this time around.
3) Both Teams Are In Transition, Both Managers Under
Pressure
Unlike Manchester United, who have a distinctly settled look
heading into the new season, notwithstanding a possible Ronaldo
departure and/or Berbatov arrival, both Arsenal and especially
Tottenham remain works in progress. It’s a phrase fans dislike,
even if it promises improvement, but many pundits see both clubs
embarking on (another) season of transition. That’s certainly the
case at White Hart Lane, given the wholesale personnel changes and
the fact that this will be Ramos’s first full season in charge,
launched on the back of his own pre-season preparations. But with
Arsenal effectively having to assemble a new midfield, it is also
true of Ashburton Grove. And while both managers are about as
secure as any outside of Old Trafford, both will be under growing
pressure this season - Ramos to prove he can take Spurs over the
threshold to the promised land, Wenger to vindicate his transfer
policy and prove that his faith in youth is valid. More
prosaically, Ramos needs at least a top-three finish, Wenger at
least a top-two - with silverware in any shape or form a required
accompaniment.
Earlier this year Jose Mourinho tried to belittle Wenger by
saying: “Arsenal are unique: their coach hasn’t won anything for
years, but he’s an idol.” Even though every Gunners fan, like
Wenger himself, would like trophies every year, 60,000 full-houses
at the Emirates at every home game since the stadium opened confirm
that they also value the quality of the football Wenger’s teams
serve up. We are, after all, in the entertainment industry, and
Mourinho can teach Wenger nothing at all about playing attractive,
attacking football over more than a decade at one club (and
delivering seven major trophies along the way).
Nevertheless, questions are being asked as never before about
the Frenchman’s team-building, financial prudence and emphasis on
youthful promise. Accordingly, with no silverware since 2005, and
with the disappointing climax to last season in mind, he will be
under pressure to deliver. And that pressure will intensify if
Spurs get their season off to a significantly stronger start.
George Graham, who managed both clubs, feels the shrewd and
hard-nosed Ramos will make it tougher for Wenger than any other
Tottenham boss of recent years.
One of those others - the Spaniard’s immediate predecessor,
Martin Jol - has warned the ex-Seville manager that, given the
resources that have been made available to him for squad
strengthening, he really must achieve a top four finish this
season. Jol, of course, has a bit of an axe to grind. He feels
Ramos has an advantage he didn’t in so far as he is bringing in his
own players, rather than being saddled with the purchases that
sporting director Damien Comolli wanted as Spurs flirted in
somewhat half-baked fashion with a continental model of club
management. Jol has also expressed disappointment that Robbie
Keane, whom he felt epitomised the Spurs spirit, was allowed to
leave the club - though the Dutchman surely knows there is no
future in keeping unsettled players, Keane’s head having been
turned by Liverpool’s interest.
4) The Weaknesses
Ramos has been hailed as instigating a White Hart Lane
revolution, and lifting a trophy in his first few months, beating
Arsenal and Chelsea to do so, was as good a start as he could have
hoped for. But while that League Cup success was rightly lauded,
Spurs went right off the boil after the celebration party, with a
distinctly mediocre last quarter of the season when they appeared
to lose motivation. That did not show Ramos’s management in the
best light and he will be keen to redress that. Another key
weakness for Spurs last season was their propensity to squander
leads. They equalled an unwanted Premier League record by losing as
many as 33 points from winning positions. In contrast, Arsenal won
20 points from losing positions, and those two statistics were
reflected in the clubs’ respective finishes. Spurs also suffered
last season, again, from the absence through injury for much of it
of inspirational skipper Ledley King. He is their natural leader
and they are a much better unit, especially defensively, when he is
available. Any team would miss Berbatov, should he leave, though
the Bulgarian’s temperament has not always served the team as well
as it might.
For Arsenal, the weaknesses revolve around a perceived lack of
experience, exacerbated by the departures of Jens Lehmann, Mathieu
Flamini, Gilberto Silva and Alexander Hleb. There is also a
somewhat unbalanced central defence that lacks real authority in
the air - and one of its components, William Gallas, has been
criticised as a captain. Wenger has given a vote of confidence to
Gallas, who has acknowledged he needs to hone his leadership
skills, but the jury is still out.
5) The Strengths
Since January, Ramos appears to have bought shrewdly and, Keane
apart, offloaded wisely too. Modric is a glittering talent with
great touch and vision who should slot smoothly into the Tottenham
team, while Hutton and Woodgate are outstanding defenders who have
added new dimensions to the Spurs defence. Throw in Gareth Bale,
back after prolonged injury, and King, who is due some luck on that
front, and Tottenham could have a back-four as mobile and resolute
as any. In midfield Jermaine Jenas and Tom Huddlestone have
responded positively to Ramos, while Jamie O’Hara has emerged as a
genuine talent. Bentley is clearly fired up to impress, as is Dos
Santos, and Bent seems to have acquired a new lease of life with
Jermain Defoe and now Keane out of the picture. Above all, though,
there is Ramos - tactically astute, a proven winner, focused and
unencumbered by sentiment.
At the Emirates, what Arsenal have that others crave is a style
of playing which, when the team is on song, is almost irresistible.
Wenger has a vision, and his players fit it; he doesn’t buy players
and then try to devise a style that will suit them. That’s one
reason why players who succeed at Arsenal don’t generally excel
when they leave the club. (Will Flamini and Hleb be next to
discover that?)
The Gunners also have a dazzling array of prodigiously talented
youngsters. They may lack experience, but are gaining it all the
time because they are being given their chance; most are stepping
up to the plate impressively. Wenger has been slated for not
rushing out to by a seasoned star (though he may yet surprise us
with the purchase of an experienced midfielder), but at least that
is an incentive for the existing talent at the club to seize the
day. In Cesc Fabregas they have a world-class central midfield
playmaker who contributed 13 goals and a League-best 20 assists
last season, and in Aaron Ramsey they have recruited an outstanding
prospect. In attack, they can call on the scoring potential of
Adebayor, a fit again Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott, Nicklas
Bendtner, and Carlos Vela - with the impressive Eduardo to come
back from his broken leg in October.
6) Pre-Season
Spurs have had three straight wins, beating Norwich 5-1 then
Celtic 2-0 and Borussia Dortmund 3-0 in the Feyenoord Tournament.
Bent hit four against Norwich and one in each of the other two
games, while Bentley got off the mark against Celtic and Dos
Santos, a scorer against Borussia, has looked sharp.
Arsenal have played six pre-season games to date, winning four,
drawing one and losing one. They’ve scored 17 goals in the process:
Bendtner 5, Vela 4, Jack Wilshere 3, Walcott 2, Adebayor, Jay
Simpson and Nacer Barazite 1 each. Wilshere and Ramsey have
particularly caught the eye in midfield.
Prediction
It’s shaping up to be an absorbing contest between Wenger and
Ramos and their respective teams. Spurs have the impetus of the
new, while Arsenal have momentum born of consistency and
continuity. Both have galaxies of stars, though arguably not
brighter than those at Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and Anfield.
Wenger knows better than Ramos what it takes to win the title: he
went close again last season but fell just short at the business
end. Ramos is a formidably successful cup specialist. Arsenal have
a style of playing that bristles with pace, flair and panache.
Spurs have yet to evolve their style. But both sides showed costly
lapses of concentration last season. Who wants it the most?
Impossible to divide them - but I tip Arsenal to maintain their
edge, narrowly, over their local rivals. Whether they will also be
good enough to overhaul United and Chelsea is another question,
though expect them to have a damn good tilt at it.
So, will North London outshine West London this season? Does the
North-West have much to fear from the Emirates or White Hart Lane?
And who, of Arsenal and Spurs, will enjoy the better campaign?