tomaldinho1
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- Nov 26, 2015
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I think this is the reason for Poch's statement because whilst he wouldn't have had silly expectations of suddenly having £200m to spend, he will definitely have expected more transfer activity than he's had because he can see this team is coming to the end of it's cycle.Even with no further additions, I think Spurs still have enough quality and continuity to be favorites for 3rd this season.
The bigger problem is really the future. Fast forward to next summer and you've potentially got the following: Both starting CBs leaving in Alderweireld and Vertonghen, the main creative attacking midfielder leaving in Eriksen, Lloris now 33 and needing replacement, Rose and Sissoko both 30 and going into the last year on their contracts, and quite likely still a big hole at RB. That is a lot of problems to address simultaneously.
A far sighted club would definitely put a couple of the longer term solutions into place this summer (ie, Lo Celso and Sessegnon).
Spurs have been excellent for the last few years because of a core group of top players who were brought in as lesser knowns (for example Alderweireld was a known entity but on loan at Soton, Vertonghen and Eriksen were bought for peanuts from Ajax, Lloris from Lyon, Dembele from Fulham, Son from Leverkuzen) who then grew into the impressive starting XI they currently have. Kudos to the scouting department and Poch for improving them because some of those players have been there since ~2012.
There are many older players coming toward the ends of contracts and a key player in Eriksen wanting out, where's the longer term planning for next year. Poch isn't unrealistic, he won't look at City and complain he doesn't have their spending power but he will look at teams like Wolves, Everton, Aston Villa, Leicester and West Ham and think he should have a lot more spending power than them.