Arsenal told to learn from Tottenham Hotspur’s January mistakes if they want PL title
Jamie Carragher has asked manager Mikel Arteta to learn from Tottenham Hotspur’s January mistakes if Arsenal want to win the Premier League title, as per his column on the Telegraph (Subscription Required) [h/t Metro].
According to Carragher, Spurs had two good chances to win the Premier League title in recent history – firstly under manager Harry Redknapp in the 2011-12 campaign, then under manager Mauricio Pochettino in the 2015-16 season.
But as per the Liverpool legend, they made the mistake of not thinking about the short term and going big in the respective January transfer windows. Carra wrote:
“In January 2012 and 2016, Spurs were genuine contenders, one quality signing away from continuing their momentum. Redknapp’s side fell away to finish fourth well behind Manchester City, but Pochettino would have pipped Leicester City to the Premier League with more boardroom backing.”
“Daniel Levy favoured the long-term over the here and now and Spurs consoled themselves with the idea that, even though they lost out to Claudio Ranieri, other title bids would follow. The reality is – as a club – they blew their best chance in decades of being champions.”
Carragher wants the Gunners to learn from this example and invest well in January if they want to retain their lead over Manchester City and win their first Premier League title since 2004. They are currently five points ahead of the Cityzens after 14 gameweeks.
Spurs signed Ryan Nelsen, Louis Saha, and a young and rather unknown Iago Falque from Juventus’ academy in January 2012. These are hardly world class signings.
The same pattern was followed four years later, when Daniel Levy and co. oversaw the arrivals of Federico Fazio, Andros Townsend, and Alex Pritchard – squad players at best. Losing this particular league title was more painful.
We saw the Foxes overcome the odds and win the league with just 81 points. This was a title we could have won but didn’t. Carragher is spot on – we blew our best chance to win the title in decades.
More Tottenham Hotspur News:
- Why Oliver Skipp and Djed Spence missed Tottenham Hotspur’s friendly tie against OGC Nice
- Tottenham Hotspur in ‘pole position’ to sign Inter Milan star Alessandro Bastoni
- Tottenham Hotspur priced out of a move for Manchester City target Josko Gvardiol
There is also a lesson for us here. We are in a race for the top four and are still in the UEFA Champions League. This January is our board’s chance to show how much they trust manager Antonio Conte to lead us to glory in the immediate future.
