TalkSPORT pundit Jamie O’Hara suggests poor recruitment as one of the main reasons behind the current struggles for Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur have been nowhere near good enough since resuming their campaign after the October international break.
They were beaten 2-1 by Aston Villa at home, failing to build on their away victory over Leeds United. Spurs bounced back by beating Everton 3-0, handing David Moyes’ side their first defeat at the brand-new Hill Dickinson Stadium. A pair of headed goals from Micky van de Ven and a late header from substitute Pape Matar Sarr restored order, but Thomas Frank’s side were back to square one last week.
First, the north Londoners were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by holders Newcastle United, before they tasted another Premier League home defeat at the hands of London foes Chelsea. It was an embarrassing performance against Chelsea, to say the least, with Thomas Frank’s side mustering barely anything on target.
Jamie O’Hara slams Tottenham’s transfer strategy
Time and time again, the Tottenham attack has been tamed by the opposition easily, especially at home. On several occasions, the flair players have barely offered anything and have been nullified completely from games. So, while Saturday’s disappointing 1-0 loss to Chelsea was certainly not the first such occurrence of the season, it was perhaps an eye-opener for Thomas Frank to change his tactics and focus more on the attack.
Summer signing Xavi Simons, in particular, is finding it tough to adapt to life in England. He delivered another lacklustre display after coming off the bench as early as the sixth minute as a concussion substitute for Lucas Bergvall against Chelsea, before been taken off in the 72nd minute with Spurs trailing 1-0. Randal Kolo Muani is yet to score his first goal in a white shirt after arriving on loan from PSG on deadline day, while Richarlison has gone completely off the boil after an electric start to the season.
Former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara has now had his say on the team’s struggles going forward. The English pundit has indicated the north London club’s poor recruitment as a major reason for their current struggles, including the signing of Xavi Simons.
“We’ve got a garbage team – going forward at home at the minute is absolutely terrible,” Jamie O’Hara said on talkSPORT.
“We’ve spent £60m on Xavi Simons, £60m on Richarlison, £60m on Ndombele. The money we spend on some players… our recruitment is an absolute disgrace.”
Can Fabio Paratici make Tottenham competitive again?
No one can deny the fact that Tottenham’s recruitment has been shoddy. For many years, the club bosses have either not backed the coach properly in the transfer market or brought in wrong profiles. Fans have become extremely frustrated over the years with the club’s lack of ambition and urgency in the transfer market.
Despite knowing the need for creative midfielders owing to James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski’s long-term injuries, it took the Hotspur Way chiefs until the final week of the summer transfer window to land Xavi from RB Leipzig. The 22-year-old has been feeling the heat from all corners of the world following his slow start to life at N17, but Frank and Co. are convinced he will come good eventually once he fully adapts to the league’s pace and intensity.
One thing the club did well last month is Fabio Paratici’s appointment as the co-sporting director. Alongside Johan Lange, Paratici, who delivered successful signings such as Cristian Romero, Dejan Kulusevski, Rodrigo Bentancur, Destiny Udogie and some more in the past, will be hoping to improve Tottenham’s recruitment strategy starting from the winter window. There is no reason why the experienced Italian cannot do that.
