Danny Murphy has claimed that Tottenham Hotspur are not good enough defensively to be considered serious title challengers but suggested that they should finish in the top four.
It is fair to say that Spurs fans got extremely excited following the 6-1 thrashing of Manchester United two weeks ago.
That excitement continued in the early stages of the game against West Ham as the home side raced into a 3-0 goal lead after 16 minutes and looked as though they could score every time they went forward.
However, Tottenham and their aspirations were seemingly brought crashing down to earth by a late collapse as the Hammers scored three goals in the final ten minutes to deny Mourinho’s side what would have been their first home league win of the season.
Gareth Bale certainly did not have the debut he would have hoped for on Sunday and Murphy believes it might take him a month to start producing his best.
In his column for The Daily Mail, the former Tottenham midfielder wrote: “I’ve no doubt Bale, Kane and Son will work it out. Great players are great decision-makers.
“I think a top-four finish has to be Tottenham’s ambition now they’ve added Bale, otherwise why would they bother?
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“Some excited voices think they are title contenders after the rout at Old Trafford. I don’t subscribe to that view, they still have too many frailties in defence and midfield.
“But a cup and Champions League spot? Why not — the squad looks as if it has greater depth now.
“We don’t know Bale’s physical condition, but I’d say don’t expect the best out of him for another month. If they do hit it off, that front three will be as good as any in the country.”
Spurs Web Opinion
Football fans, by their nature, are reactionary and we have again seen evidence of that over the past few weeks. Many were convinced before the game against West Ham that we are going to win the title and now the majority of fans seem to be convinced that we have no chance. The truth, as always, is somewhere down the middle. While we do have some defensive frailties, yesterday’s late collapse against West Ham also had an element of misfortune to it. The reality is that we would have won that game 99 times out of a 100 as their goals came from a set-piece, an own goal and a speculative long ranger. I still believe we can compete for the title but we were never really favourites.
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