Tottenham's best signing

Tottenham's best signing

Tottenham Hotspur have had eight managers in the last 10 years.

If White Hart Lane is to see any success in the coming years, the chopping and changing of managers have to stop.

Club chairman Daniel Levy has to start giving managers more time and more leeway to build a team.

With every managerial change, players come and go, and Tottenham have found it very hard to be consistent as a result.

But, in new manager Mauricio Pochettino, I think Spurs have finally found the right man to bring back the glory days to the London club.

Of course, many were singing the same tune when Andre Villas-Boas took over in 2012, but there's something special about Pochettino.

At Southampton, the Argentinian displayed an uncanny ability to get the best out of his players, some of whom are not really of the same quality as the Spurs players.

More importantly, Pochettino got the Saints to win matches with his attacking style of football.

Four wins in the first four matches this season - including two Europa League ties - indicate that Pochettino might have earned the Spurs players' trust and respect during his short time at the club.

It may still be early days, but I believe Tottenham will be a force to be reckoned with this season.

They failed to impress last season because many of their new signings - Erik Lamela, Christian Eriksen and Roberto Soldado - were new to the Premiership.

Now that they have adjusted to the pace of the Premiership, there's no reason for them to underachieve this term.

Spurs have a good goalkeeper in Hugo Lloris, a solid defence and loads of talent in attack.

If there are any question marks about them, it's whether striker Emmanuel Adebayor can perform throughout the season and if creative players such as Eriksen and Lamela can stay consistent.

But trust Pochettino to erase those question marks as the season goes on.

Looking forward to tomorrow's game, I see Spurs ending their recent poor run against Liverpool.

CRACKS

The Reds may have signed a host of new players but, as we saw in their 3-1 defeat by Manchester City on Monday, the same old cracks in defence - particularly at the fullback positions - still exist.

Brendan Rodgers may see Mario Balotelli as the answer to Luis Suarez, but I'm not a big fan of the Italian.

One of the reasons for that is his lack of versatility.

Rodgers will have to alter his attacking approach because Balotelli cannot roam the attacking third the way Suarez did.

The Italy international is very similar to Daniel Sturridge and I don't think Rodgers will field both of them at the same time too often.

The way I see it, he will rotate the two of them once the Champions League gets underway.

If I had to choose between one of them, Sturridge is my No. 9 to start with.

I would field the England striker next to Raheem Sterling in attack, with Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana on the flanks.

Liverpool have problems at the moment, and this is a bad time to face a team who have won four on the trot.

Pochettino's winning start will continue - Spurs will beat Liverpool 3-1.

npsports@sph.com.sg


This article was first published on August 30, 2014.
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