Tottenham: Is Pochettino's defence of the club's transfer window justified?

The Spurs manager has defended his club’s lack of business this transfer window.

Most of the ‘Top 6’ have been quite busy this summer. Chelsea, Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool have all bought reinforcements and all have at least one ‘world-class’ signing. Tottenham Hotspur are the odd ones out – they have yet to add any new players and have lost one of their best in Kyle Walker.

However, Mauricio Pochettino has insisted that he isn’t concerned with the work of his title rivals, and is focused on improving the squad he currently has.

"The big sides are investing a lot of money in trying to improve their squads, but for us we are so calm and so quiet because we have belief in our youth from our academy. We may lack a few players, but we are so calm because I think we have a very good team and the most important thing for us always is the team – Sky Sports"

In some ways, Poch is right to focus on trusting the youth. It is something that fans of all clubs ask for and it is clear that the manager values young players. Players such as Harry Winks, Josh Onomah and Cameron Carter-Vickers have all been given solid chances in the first team. Harry Winks in particular has impressed massively and features regularly as a central midfielder.

At only 21 years old, he saw 21 appearances in the League last season. Whilst low on recorded goals and assists, his contribution was clear in the way he sought out the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli with long passes forward. The potential is there and Pochettino has utilised him well so far.

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However, whilst it is important to develop the players already at the club, Tottenham would do well to bring in some reinforcements. Their issues do not necessarily lie with talent, but with depth. The loss of Kyle Walker to Manchester City will see Kieran Trippier take his place, who also just signed a new contract.

But if he is to sustain an injury, a reshuffling of the team will be necessary and might damage the balance. The same can be said for Tottenham’s centre-backs Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld.

Harry Kane is another example. He is arguably Tottenham’s most important player and a guaranteed force up front. But injury can be an issue – he was out for a total of 12 weeks last season. Even though he still managed to win the Golden Boot, Spurs will need to find a solid back-up if they want to seriously compete for the title and beyond. Vincent Janssen was not the right man and Erik Lamela, another attacking player, is also prone to injury.

Sometimes buying new players is not always about replacing injured ones, either. Tournaments like the Champions League are harder than any domestic ones, and can call for a change in formation or rotation to simply ensure players are kept fresh and to surprise the tough opponents. Tottenham do not have enough players of a high quality to allow for these options.

Although their finishing position in the League was their best in years – and all credit to the manager for that – they may have been able to push further if they had the depth to make changes whenever Poch wanted.

The manager’s comments are justifiable but he would be naïve to expect Tottenham to compete against the other Top 6 without some summer purchases. Having faith in youth is good but matching your rivals is just as important.

Next: West Ham sign Javier Hernandez

As Spurs move to their interim home at Wembley, they will need all the strength they can gain. Tottenham fans have enough reason to trust in their manager and his philosophy is definitely a strong one. But a few new players will help them massively in their quest for silverware.

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Tottenham: Is Pochettino’s defence of his transfer window justified?

By Rayna Sidhu | Jul 22, 2017

The Spurs manager has defended his club’s lack of business this transfer window.

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