6 wins and nothing less

One game watched live, 3 games and a couple of weeks in charge. I’m a Spurs fan so expectation starts now. There are 6 winnable PL games before we face Arsenal and. I don’t want to hear tales of King’s return as our only hope. I want to see imaginative solutions (like placing Tainio at right back).

Kaboul has proved too immature for centre back and from what I heard Chimbonda did just fine when he was placed there against Blackpool. Centre- back is a legitimate position for him- he has played there plenty of times before but he faces a height problem like Chris Perry before him. Considering our team’s propensity to concede from far-corner headers we could do worse than consider 6’3” Gardner for right back taking at least one of those corners out of the equation. It is such a key and obvious weakness every single team we play targets it.

I like Stalteri for his effort but I feel uncomfortable even when I see him on the bench such is his tendency to give possession away in key defensive areas. He is a lot like Kaboul but without youth as an excuse, or the height, or the strength or presence. Okay, so not a lot like him. Just once similarity: stupidity in crucial areas.

Watching the Man Utd vs Arsenal game I noted the Gooners have a similar defensive problem- but on the near post on the ground. Manchester United targeted it relentlessly in the first half and Rooney’s goal came from that. Ramos will have to show the kind of tactical nous shown by Fergie in that game to get 6 wins from 6. Arsenal minimise their risk by being fantastic in the midfield and running an average of 1,500 miles every 90 minutes compared with a Spurs player’s 1,5 miles. I hate having to use the Gooners as an example of how we should be playing.

Ramos, by shuffling the team for the ‘Boro game, has encouraged the squad to fight for places. No- one is safe and everyone has a chance. To motivate people for fitness this is key. Bent was putting in extra fitness training after all the other players went home. Result? A start and a goal! Shuffling is something Eriksson did when he first took charge of England and still does, although now only physically, after a far too active sex life with rather fit women. It’s a great early motivating (the player shuffling*) factor and shows that early results are not the only thing on Ramos’ mind.

*- okay- so fit women are great motivating factors, too.