Winning a trophy should not be Tottenham’s measurement for success claims pundit

Winning a trophy should not be the measurement of success as far as Tottenham Hotspur are concerned.

That is the view of former Scotland boss Gordon Strachan who is now working as a football pundit for Sky Sports.

Strachan believes that it can be easy to win silverware such as the FA Cup when you could potentially get an easier route to the final by playing opposition from the lower leagues of the English footballing pyramid.

Tottenham should already be considering themselves as successful according to Strachan due to their ability to hold their own in the top four of the Premier League along with the ability to mix it with the big boys in Europe.

It has been ten years and nine months since Tottenham last tasted glory, having beaten Chelsea 2-1 in the Worthington Cup final in 2008 courtesy of goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Jonathan Woodgate.

Mauricio Pochettino has previously stated (Guardian) that it is his priority to win the Premier League title with Tottenham, rather than the likes of the FA Cup, Europa League or League Cup.

Strachan told Sky Sports’ The Debate: “Say they win a cup. It’s easy to win a cup. You can play two teams from the Championship, one from League One and one from non league, you play one from the Premier League and you win a cup. That doesn’t make you a great side.

“Being third in the Premier League is far better. If you think about the progress made over the last couple of years where they can go and play Real Madrid and stand up to them and be in the Champions League.

“People say they need to balance it out with a trophy, but what is a trophy? Is the League Cup as good as what they are producing week in, week out? Everyone talks about consistency and over the last four years, they have been incredibly consistent. One team could win the FA Cup and then get relegated, so who is doing the best?

“Pochettino and his staff have done tremendously well and he is not scared to use youth either. You look at the young players that have played there and he has bought in players who have gone in there and improved which is a great thing.

“They’ve got to fill a big stadium, which they are doing just now, and that’s great going. Here’s another bit of success, as a football fan, I love watching them play football. I love watching them on the TV.

“If they’re not successful in the Champions League, they’ll be disappointed because they think they can do better, but I think they have done fantastically well.

“There’s a lot going on there and he might want to win a cup but I don’t think it’s really that important.”

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