Five-time title winner Graeme Souness has outlined only two directions he envisages Tottenham traveling by the end of this season, and they don’t exactly make for a joyful read.
The Liverpool legend won 12 major honours during his 6 year stay at Anfield and also earned over 50 caps for Scotland, including appearances in three different World Cups.
Add to that his 20 years of managerial experience, there’s no doubt in Souness’ credibility or knowledge of football.
Recent remarks about the near-future of Tottenham Hotspur seem slightly unfounded, with the now 64 year old having claimed that Spurs face one of two nightmare scenarios.
In an interview with The 42, Souness, who’s career actually started at Spurs, declared that Tottenham’s Wembley woes will lead to an exodus of first-team talent at the end of the season.
“It’s a mystery to me, because I don’t understand why playing at Wembley should be an issue,” He stated. “They weren’t good enough last year to win the Premier League and they’ve not strengthened.”
“If you’re a Tottenham supporter, and part of me is, you’re saying we weren’t good enough with that group last year. Everybody else has strengthened and we’ve stood still.”
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“What we’re relying on is the group all getting better to compensate for all the teams around us that are spending money to get better.”
“Tottenham are looking at two scenarios: they’ve a miserable season and they’re not qualifying for the Champions League or getting anywhere near the Premier League. And then the star players will leave because they’ll say they want to be winning trophies and they’ll point to the lack of investment.”
“The other scenario is that they actually win the Champions League or the Premier League. Then they’re all knocking on the door saying ‘I’m a Champions League winner’ or ‘I’m a Premier League winner’ and ‘you have to treble my wages’.”
“So 12 months from now, Daniel Levy is facing a difficult round of negotiations with several of his Tottenham players.” He added.
For me, this prediction lacks any awareness of wider context.
Firstly, Souness is making the claim that we haven’t strengthened with our transfer business, whereas I’m sure many would agree that Sanchez and Llorente are upgrades on Wimmer and Janssen.
Not to mention the fact that we’ve brought in a young ‘keeper and one of the most exciting centre-backs in South America in Juan Foyth. And hello? Serge Aurier? For him to claim that we haven’t strengthened is blatant stupidity.
Secondly, he seems to believe that we’ll either finish outside the top 4, or win the league. Where’s the middle ground? Is it totally implausible that we finish 3rd or 4th and that we carry on as normal?
In all honesty, I think something like 3rd-placed finish is the most realistic expectation we can have this season, so I don’t know why he’s having to bounce between these two extremes.
Also, let’s be real here. If Spurs were to win the league, why would anyone want to leave? Seriously, we’d be champions, that’s not a bad thing Souness, that would be the greatest thing in the club’s modern history.
Thirdly, he’s forgot that we have a new stadium being built. Remember Souness? That £800 million, state-of-the-art, 61,000 capacity, multi-purpose sporting arena? Shouldn’t slip your mind.
I doubt players will be sprinting for the exit doors when the stadium’s on the brink of opening, if anything I think it’ll attract players.
No wonder this guy only got a substitute appearance in the UEFA Cup for us.
What do you think of Souness’ predictions? Do you agree with me, or with the SkySports pundit?
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