A No-Win situation at White Hart Lane

It was just three days ago that myself, along with most of the Lilywhite fan base, could take a big sigh of relief as we laid our eyes on the favorite words of any Spurs fan: ‘’We are delighted to announce that we have reached an agreement…’’

It seems like our 4 year wait for a world class striker has finally reached it’s end thanks to the fact that we have landed The Soldier. How we managed to lure him from sunny Spain to the rainy Lane? Only Don Baldini knows, but nevertheless, we can finally say that we’ve solved our striker problems and therefore managed to build a decent enough squad to proper challenge the top part of the table. Right?

Unfortunately not.

For the record, I feel the need to state that in general I’m more than happy with the signings we’ve made so far in the form of Paulinho, Chadli and Soldado. We’ve solved the ‘Striker Problem’ with Soldado, provided cover and competition for Lennon and Bale with the signing of Chadli (Townsend is not quite there yet) while the prospect of having a three man midfield of Dembele, Sandro and Paulinho is something that makes every Spurs fan drool in excitement.

However, something that worries me even more than Bale leaving is the sudden shortage solid defenders we have the back. It has to be said that, in my opinion, Spurs had a solid central defense lineup with Dawson, Caulker, Vertonghen and Kaboul which had everything. Strength (Kaboul), experience (Dawson), skills (Vertonghen) and talent (Caulker).

After the unbelievable sale of Steven Caulker to Cardiff, though, we are in a very bad place indeed when it comes to our central defense. Seeing as both Dawson and Kaboul in general, while both more than solid defenders, tend to be rather injury prone and Zeki Fryers being short of the quality we need, Levy needs to step up the chase for a quality CB before we start conceding the same amount of goals that mid-table teams like Fulham, West Ham etc. do week in week out. That would surely see us short of a Champions League place, Soldado or not.

Vertonghen proved a class signing last season for a fair amount and proved to be one of the top central defenders in the League. So, who should we look to sign?

Clearly the two top targets lately have been Toby Alderweireld and Vlad Chiriches but seeing as the move for Chiriches might not be happening and with no real news Alderweireld either, perhaps we should take a look at some other rocks at the back. For example, maybe we could launch a bid for one of Schalke’s 3 talented defenders in the form of Höwedes, Matip and Papadopoulos. Höwedes proving to be a leader of men with solid international experience while Matip and Papadopoulos both being solid young defenders capable of performing at the level we need. Or go for someone more experienced like Adil Rami who would theoretically be a great partner for Vertonghen with his strength, experience and aerial ability. Last but not least, we could look at the Premier League itself for replacements. Perhaps launch a bid for Ashley Williams? Realistic replacements are everywhere to be seen Mr.Levy. Get involved.

Obviously, easier said than done but one thing is for sure. Attack wins you games, defence wins you trophies. And that last part is a bit problematic right now to say the least.