Football
FanCast columnist Davis
Lowe reflects on
another woeful Spurs performance and wonders where the players are actually
getting the motivation.
Gareth Southgate once famously remarked "we wanted Winston Churchill, but we got Ian
Duncan-Smith" - a damning assessment of Sven's motivational abilities, but
an insight into the modern footballer. They may get paid handsomely and to the
neutral it should be motivation itself, but it's clear that they a need a leader,
someone to inspire them and my word how Spurs are crying out for them.
I'm no Tottenham supporter, so please shoot me down
if need be but I just see a ship that is sinking in the mire and the Captain
and crew have simply deserted them. I mean can someone please tell me why
Jermaine Jenas has the armband? Here is a footballer, who doesn't take a game
by the scruff of the neck, doesn't pass well and is average at best. Where was he
today? Where was the passion, heart and looking to lead by example? It was
pathetic quite honestly and having Jenas as Captain is about as logical as
putting a shark in charge of a swimming pool; it defies belief in all honesty
and the finger of blame here has to point squarely at Juande Ramos.
If you asked me at what point Spurs lost this game today, then I would have said half an hour before kick-off when the team sheet was handed in. Going up against a team who have let in 10 goals in the last two games, with only one up front and Bentley being the only threat from midfield - I'm no football manager, but did Ramos want to win this game? You can only imagine how Pompey's shaky backline will have felt at the prospect of Bent, Lennon, Modric and Dos Santos running at them. Spurs missed a trick big time here and what a surprise that they only started to keep possession and put Pompey on the back foot, when Lennon was introduced in the second half - the crowd started to shout at Ramos, "you don't know what you're doing" and to be fair to them all, they clearly had a point.
So what the hell is going on Tottenham and how do they stop the rot? It seems that Ramos has gone from one extreme to the other and while the first two games he was shot down for being too cavalier in his approach, has decided to make the side as negative as possible. I believe that if my team was 2-0 down then I would throw on Bent straight away alongside Pavlyuchenko and go direct, in the hope to salvage the game; taking the Russian off just left me, baffled. There just seems to be a lack of motivation in the football team and that has too stemmed from Ramos, Poyet and their buffoon of a Captain Jenas. Not once was Jenas out screaming and trying to rally the troops, while the management sat firmly on their seats - is it any wonder why the team lack confidence? It is something that needs to be addressed and fast.