Ramos Will Revitalize Tottenham
Tottenham Hotspur currently sit 18th place in the table, in the relegation zone and only above Bolton and Derby County.
With just seven points coming from their first eleven games, this is hardly the stuff of a team that many claimed would break into the top four this season; their poor results have led to Martin Jol being sacked and Sevilla boss Juande Ramos being brought in to replace him. Ramos of course managed Sevilla just a short while ago, and while Tottenham have had many questionable managers in the past, Juande could be the man to finally bring glory to the north London side.
I am an Arsenal fan; I’m sure most of you will know that, and those that don’t know it now. Now for me, Tottenham have never really been a ‘rival’ to us; sure, they’re a local side but in general don’t provide that much of a challenge to beat, and apart from two seasons ago when they f**ked it up on the last day of the season, haven’t really challenged Arsenal for their place in the league.
Them bringing Ramos on board is something that has almost brought about a tiny shiver of fear; while Ramos will not be able to get Tottenham challenging for the top four this season (and will have a hard time making the UEFA Cup too at this rate); if the c*ntish Spurs board let him work his magic, they will have a good chance of doing so in the upcoming seasons.
Juande Ramos is a man that does not need to spend boatloads of money to create a solid team; while he had the natural talent of Sevilla’s youth academy in Spain, he could not compete financially with Real Madrid and Barcelona, so he didn’t. Ramos built a team that was at one point in pole position for the title last year; they fell behind as the fixture congestion grew too much to handle, however the club still picked up a bit of silverware (including the UEFA Cup) by the end of the year, and did well to come so far against the wealth and super-stardom of the ‘Big Two’.
Ramos was unveiled at Tottenham Hotspur yesterday; upon being introduced he showed a surprising grasp of English, saying:
‘Our main aim will be to try to get good results straight away, to try and bring some confidence back in the team. Ultimately, we will see what we can achieve in the long term. I’ll try to instill some discipline into the team and I’m sure the players will respond in the right way.’
So now we know his aims. Anyways, why was I almost scared of Spurs after they stole signed Ramos? Well, Ramos can get his teams playing a very decent attacking style of football- something that Tottenham have failed to do in the past (as comedic it is to watch their defending, their football going forward is extremely inconsistent) and surely he will only shine with more money to spend, despite him not needing it- press reports already have him going back to his old club to take away a few of their more decent players. A manager should only do better with more money at his control; while this is not always the case (as with Rafa Benitez and even Arsene Wenger) it has shown to be true more often than not.
So, do you think that Ramos will mould Tottenham into a top four team next year? Let me know why (and why not) below, and I’ll try to laugh at your views respectively offer my opinion as to whether I agree with you below 
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If there was anytime Ramos could have sent Tottenham to the top (in place of Liverpool/Chelsea - or what I though would be Arsenal before the season started, D’OH!) it was in the summer. Already the team has had a horrible start and sits miserably.
Tottenham deffinetley have quality, but they will lose a lot of it if they do not qualify for the UEFA cup this year so that will make things harder for Spurs. Turning the top 4 int a top 5 will take years. Jol was lamost there but now Ramos will need a few years before he can do it too. As for Tottenham replacing one of the big four: only if the stadard of the Premier League (overall) increases drastically.
Ramos is clearly a good manager and will probably turn Spurs around this season in time to compete for the three cups they are still in. (with his record at Seville would anyone bet against him winning at least one of them?)
However, the side is too far behind the pack to make a dent on the league, and if the board keep interfering with the football then he’ll struggle to grow his side into one capable of challenging in the league.
So while Ramos is good enough, the question remains as to whether the club is.
I agree that Ramos’s Sevilla teams did a great job of assembling talent without spending boatloads of money. But Sevilla have a very highly regarded sporting director, Monchi, in charge of their transfer policy, and it’s an open question how much credit Ramos deserves for assembling the talent on the field. (He wasn’t even at the club, for instance, when Sevilla bought Dani Alves for under £1 million.)
The biggest challenge for Ramos off the pitch at the moment will be dealing with Tottenham’s disaster of a board. He’s had prickly relationships with directors in the past, including at Sevilla, and Tottenham seem to be run by a group of men who could alienate a puppy. Yesterday’s press conference wasn’t a great beginning (Ramos claimed never to have met with Spurs officials in August, even though he was photographed doing so). I like what Ramos brings to the pitch, but if Tottenham can’t straighten themselves out off it he might have a short stay.
…actually he was NOT photographed meeting with the Spurs officials, although he may have visited the Hotel at the time. Ramos says he never met with them; so let’s leave it at that!
well all i can say he cant do any worse den mj . mj was great top 5 finsih with money he had there no excuse for not fin 5th..well fin in top half an hopefully win a cup, this is aman who does not want to fail an players he want s to bring in will push us closer next season really judge him
Being a Spurs fan, the last few weeks, (actually after the first game of the season) it’s been tough. Seems every season we start with hope and anticipation, only for it to be gone before Xmas !!
However, I do have that same feeling now they’ve signed Ramos, (although I’m trying desperately not to !) Ramos’ track record speaks for itself. I think he will do a decent job, and he’ll prob get the best out of the current squad. But he’s going to need time.
This season is now a wash out for Spurs in terms of league position, (top 4) and unless something drastic happens UEFA cup place. He’s got a chance of doing well in the cups, but he’s not going to get much chance to work with the players before those start kicking in, so don’t expect miracles.
The biggest prob at Spurs at the moment is the board. Every board has a right to think, “right this guys taken us as far as he can, time for a change”, why oh why, if that’s what they thought didn’t they do this in the summer ? Let Ramos spend the 40 mill, get a squad of players he’s more comfortable with, and have had a chance to work with. Now we’re back in the same old, “this is a season of transition” !!!
I hope Ramos is left alone to do the job. More importantly buy the players he wants, rather than what Camolli or anyone else thinks is right, and given the time to build a decent team. If the board can do that, then yes, we may have a chance of challenging the top 4. If they can’t we’ve already blown 1 decent chance of making the top 4, we’ll be blowing another one !!!
Brian - read my article on Monchi and Ramos, should be published on here soon.
The main reason Juande Ramos was so good with so little money was because Sevilla are well known for having a great youth system, and as someone already mentioned, a very good sporting director, so although i think he should be a great manager for Spurs, we shouldn’t get too over confident with the added asset of him having money.
Well I think you guys speak a lot of sense about the spurs. But then with so many examples of what a shambles we have been and still are how could anyone fail to see the many problems past and present.
IMHO we have a good squad for the right sort of manager and I don’t think that’s Ramos at the moment. If we don’t hit top four by the end of next season (which we won’t) then he’ll be off to a much better club than us and I suspect we’ll be giving a worse side to another manager at the point.
I feel another truth with Spurs is that we’re good at making the right decisions at the wrong time and the wrong decision at times when another would be right. I personally feel this is what’s happened again.
As for anyones hope of cracking the top four in Engaland? Don’t bet on it happening anytime soon. Football has been set up by the new Champions League format to almost creat a European super-league without actually going the whole hog and doing it. These clubs now spend money and build their teams so as to exclude anyone else from getting thier mitts on the cash at the top of our league and the champions-league. This only serves to make them stronger while not silencing the press suggesting whoever is in fifth at the time might/can push for one of those spots. When they fail they are unhappy and problems start for them and they inevitabley slip away only for another club to take up the mantle of hoping to ‘crack the top 4′.
The clubs in the top 4 would be remiss if they let this happen and they won’t. I personally think the stlye of football by the top clucbs with all the money shows their defensive nature to their privilaged position in the game. They buy all the best players they can to stop anyone else getting them whether they suit their style or not. So now you have a team like Man Utd who give in to player power, break their once lauded pay structure and sell someone of the quality of R.V.N. because the young talent they had to have can’t play consistantly and responsibley in a sloid 4-4-2 (rooney and ronaldo). So now they just have loads of the same player and give them free reign to do what they want. They won’t be good enough to beat the best in Europe at the sharp end but they sure are a good net for trawling all the money out of the game and thus the fans pockets.
Also on the point of decisions made and their right and wrong timing, I’d like to suggest an option that I haven’t seen mentioned, probably because we already did it at the wrong time IMHO.
Hoddle is a good manager (even if he is a complete numpty) and I feel would relish the team we have now with little change other than to rid the club of excess baggage.
Goal - Robinson, Alnwick, Cerny
Center Back - King, Dawson, Kaboul, Rocha, Gardner, Huddlestone(mid or def)
Wing Back - Chimbonda, Bale, Y-P Lee, Stalteri, Ekotto
Midfield - Zokora, Jenas, Malbranque, Tainio, Ghaly, Boateng, Lennon
Forward - Bent, Berbatov, Keane, Defoe
Others - Tarabt, Routledge, O’Hara, Barnard, Ifill, Dervitte
Is it just me, or do we have exactly the right players for him to do the job well for a long time. We have some already really good players, some great youth talent and so many players we could easily sell 6 or 7 and then hope to add to that team slowly with more real quality. Forget chasing the top 4 and just hope it comes. Become a solid team who can be problematic for the big sides home and away doing things thay they won’t like to have done to them, while still being good enough to beat the rest if we organise in defence and on set pieces. I think it would be the best team Hoddle had ever managed and he’d be able to do well. Also this is a much better team than he inherited before at Spurs and some credit for that should go to M.J. IMHO.