What Redknapp Must Do For Spurs Next Season

Matt Oldfield

2008/09 was a typically strange season at White Hart Lane. After Tottenham’s worst start in their 127 year history, Juande Ramos was sacked and Harry Redknapp the miracle worker was brought in to turn things around. Within two weeks, Redknapp had taken his new club out of the relegation zone and Tottenham finished the season in a very respectable eighth position, losing the Carling Cup Final on penalties and narrowly missing out on a Europa League place. A job well done, so far, for the former West Ham and Portsmouth manager, but Tottenham fans expect much more next season, with European football high on the agenda.

But how far can Redknapp take his Tottenham side next season? Recent games against Liverpool and Manchester United highlighted the mental and physical weaknesses of the Spurs squad and work will need to be done this summer. Can the London club compete with the Big Four or will Redknapp’s lack of experience at the very top end of the Premier League lead to another year of disappointment and mediocrity? Here are five tips for Redknapp as he embarks on a very important summer.

1. Toughen up against weaker opponents, especially away from home

Redknapp’s side seems to rise to the occasion against top teams but especially away from White Hart Lane, Spurs lose focus and grit against lesser opponents. At home, the North London club only lost one game and conceded only eleven goals. On their travels, however, Redknapp’s side lost to Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Portsmouth, West Brom, Bolton and Stoke in games that they really should have won. Defeats must at least be turned into draws if Tottenham are to challenge the Big Four’s domination. A more consistently professional attitude is needed throughout Redknapp’s squad.

2. Get clinical

Statistics show that Redknapp’s Tottenham do not always finish games well, running out of steam when they most need it. The club must work to improve the fitness of its players, but there is also the question of mentality. The sign of a great team is the confidence to win games in the last ten minutes when necessary, never giving up hope. This confidence was sadly lacking at times this season, especially in key games against the incredible experience of Manchester United. Tottenham’s players have to learn from their mistakes and believe in their own abilities, holding their nerve at crucial moments. As manager, Redknapp must play the pivotal role in creating the necessary winning mentality. At one end, the defence must continue to improve; at the other, goalscoring opportunities must increase as well as shooting accuracy. In a word, Spurs must get clinical.

3. Decide on the right formation

Redknapp must make more of his wealth of attacking options if the club are to achieve great things. In Darren Bent, Robbie Keane, Jermain Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko, Spurs have too many quality strikers to play only one at a time. However, attacking midfielder Luka Modric is a key player who works best as a playmaker behind the strikers and must be a focal point of the attack. Redknapp needs therefore to look at the flexible, fluid style of Manchester United’s attack and try to recreate it with Modric and David Bentley, or Aaron Lennon in floating, wide roles. Notably, Robbie Keane is also a player who can play out wide and this versatility could make him an important player next season.

In central midfield, Redknapp must find the perfect balance. The club’s only true defensive midfielder Didier Zokora seems to be on his way out this summer and the former Portsmouth boss has struggled to find a suitable partnership from his options of Tom Huddlestone, Wilson Palacios, Jermaine Jenas and Jamie O’Hara. All four are better going forward and none seems truly comfortable in the all-important anchoring role. Palacios, an expensive recent signing, seems guaranteed a starting spot and so Redknapp must adapt Huddlestone or Jenas’ game, or perhaps sell one of them in order to buy a more suitable alternative. Whatever he chooses to do, Redknapp must be decisive in getting the best out of the talented players that he has.

4. Improve the defence

Spurs improved defensively as the season progressed but there is still much work to be done. Jonathan Woodgate and Ledley King have formed a strong centre-back partnership, but both are highly susceptible to injury. Michael Dawson is a good reserve but Redknapp might need one more central defender as cover over a long and difficult season. However, the Spurs manager must first deal with his full-backs. Alan Hutton, Gareth Bale, Chris Gunter, Vedran Corluka, Gilberto, Pascal Chimbonda and Benoit Assou-Ekotto are all vying for two starting spots, with none of them standing out as top quality options. Corluka is perhaps the best right-back but Redknapp must try to buy at the very least a good, experienced left-back so as to allow Bale the time he needs to develop.

Having been told that he must sell before he buys, there are certainly three or four defenders that Spurs could sell without repercussions. Portsmouth’s Glen Johnson, Lyon’s Fabio Grosso, Real Madrid’s Gabriel Heinze and Newcastle’s England Under-21 captain Steven Taylor would all be good additions to a side attempting to challenge for Champions League football.

5. Decide on a strike force

Up front, Redknapp has four options, which are all too similar and too high-maintenance. Satisfying four top strikers has been a big problem for Spurs over the last few years and the Tottenham manager has decided to sell two and buy one this summer. Bent and Pavlyuchenko are the two strikers to be offloaded and Sunderland duo Kenwyne Jones and Djibril Cisse are potential candidates for the new target man role.

Darren Bent has largely failed to win over the Tottenham fans, despite scoring 17 goals this season, and his relationship with Redknapp is strained. Pavlyuchenko has also been rejected by his manager but the Russian striker has obvious finishing ability, and just needs more time to adapt to English football. The problem is that Keane and Defoe have only just returned to White Hart Lane, as part of a strange and risky move by Redknapp, and so will not be sold. Out of Defoe and Pavlyuchenko, the Russian is certainly the classier striker and he could be particularly effective in European football. Perhaps the best option would be to sell Bent but not Pavlyuchenko. With Keane playing in a versatile attacking role, and Defoe and Pavlyuchenko alongside a new tall striker such as Kenwyne Jones, Tottenham could have the variety and quality of attacking options needed to win trophies.