Daniel Levy’s failures in 2018 have caused lasting damage to Tottenham and I don’t think it’s something he personally can fix.
I’ll kick things off nice and gently – I’m very very worried about next season for Spurs for a multitude of reasons.
When I look around us in the league I see almost all of our rivals improving next season and I can’t for the life of me say the same thing about our club.
The likes of Chelsea have already made big moves in the transfer market bringing in Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner – two players that would have drastically changed Spurs’ squad, but we’re nowhere near having those conversations it seems.
So where did it all go wrong for us? How did we end up in this situation? Well for me, all eyes are on the man at the very top.
We are the eighth richest club in world football. Eighth. When I look at the recruitment strategy by the club over the last few years, that statement becomes more and more ludicrous every time I read it.
It takes me back to a quote that Mauricio Pochettino said in an interview with Gary Lineker last year. It’s all very well and good having the new stadium and training ground, but you can’t have a nice house and not the furniture to match.
Admittedly, Daniel Levy did put his money where his mouth is last summer. The acquisitions of Tanguy Ndombele, Ryan Sessegnon and Giovani Lo Celso showed real intent from the Spurs exec. But, that’s my issue. It was all too little too late.
In 2018, Spurs became the first Premier League club in history not to make a summer signing since the window’s inception in 2003. That is where our troubles began and also where our rivals started spending smartly to bridge the gap.
Ndombele and co. should have been joining a team that had already evolved beyond the squad we took to the Champions League final. Too much has been expected of them this season and particularly in the case of the Frenchman, it’s unfairly misplaced in my opinion.
In 2018/19, Liverpool spent £170.5m on four key areas of their squad. Firstly, after the car crash of a performance from Loris Karius in the Champions League final, they brought in Alisson from Roma for a whopping £65m. One big issue was suddenly fixed.
They followed that up with a combined £66.5m spent on Xherdan Shaqiri and Naby Keita, providing much-needed cover to both their midfield and attack, and later a further £39m on Fabinho. As the likes of Man City and now Liverpool have proven in recent years, winning multiple trophies isn’t possible without real strength in depth.
Meanwhile over in north London, tumbleweeds lined the streets. Throughout 2018, Spurs were linked with the likes of James Maddison, Jack Grealish and Anthony Martial, none of which got over the line and all of which would have made a huge difference to our squad.
I can’t stress enough how key this period was for Spurs and Levy got it massively wrong. Much was said about how impressive our Champions League heroics were having not spent a penny, but look at the mess it’s left us in now.
It’s really difficult not to look at Liverpool like a kid peering through the window of a sweet shop. Spurs have finished above Liverpool in eight out of the last 11 Premier League seasons, yet one of them is now the champions of the world, Europe and England. Clue: it’s not Tottenham.
I think summed it up best last week saying: ‘right now, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur are playing a different sport.’ As frightening a statement as it is, it could not be a better summary of where we’re at right now.