Arsenal legend labels Spurs a "shambles" (From This Is Local London)

Arsenal legend labels Spurs a "shambles"

2:49pm Saturday 20th September 2008 in Latest Sport

ARSENAL legend Paul Merson says bitter north London rivals Spurs are a “shambles”.

Under Spanish coach Juande Ramos Tottenham have made their worst league start in 34 years, with just one point from their opening four Premier League games.

And Merson, who played in the red half of north London for 12 years of his distinguished career, believes they have even gone backwards since sacking predecessor Martin Jol.

In his Daily Star column, Merson writes: “You have to laugh at what is happening at White Hart Lane. I'm not being horrible but it is a bit of a shambles down there.

“In the space of 11 months they have sacked the manager who got them to within a dodgy lasagne of taking them into the Champions League and sold their three best players.

“That manager Martin Jol currently sits proudly at the top of the Bundesliga with Hamburg.

“And you can bet Jermaine Defoe, Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane will come back to haunt Tottenham.

“Defoe can't stop scoring at Portsmouth, everybody knows what a class player Berbatov is and you can be sure Keane will come good at Liverpool once he gets that first goal and his confidence comes back.

“Yet Spurs sold their prize trio of cracking forwards. Okay they picked up nearly £60million for them, but at what cost?

“Right now, with them propping up the Premier League and in danger of going out of the Uefa Cup, it is hardly looking good business.

“They've bought Roman Pavlychenko for £13.8million but you can bet he wont settle as quickly as snow.

“Russia isn't just up the road from north London and he's joined a side struggling, not beating everyone out of sight.

“Compare them to Arsenal. When they sell players, how many of them go onto better things?

You don't hear too many Gunners fans moan that they wished they'd not let someone go.

“Spurs have only themselves to blame for the state they are in because they are forever changing managers.

“They have had seven – as well as caretakers David Pleat and Clive Allen in the time Arsene Wenger has been at Arsenal.

“And every new man that comes in wants to change the players around because he probably doesn't rate them or wants to start his own team.

“This keeps happening over and over again at Tottenham and it has been like that for God knows how long.

“Each time the new man comes in he has to start all over again and they keep on falling behind.

Granted they have brought in some talented players. But looking at Luka Modric, I really don't think he's a central midfielder.

“He just looks like he will always be bullied and dictated to and that is what's happened in most games.

“He is a free spirit and Juande Ramos should just tell him to go out and play behind the strikers and do what he wants. You can't ask hime to play box-to-box.

“Ramos played him against Aston Villa and asked him to go box-to-box – but he is not that sort of player. Yet he left Jermaine Jenas, who can play that role all day long, on the bench. I just don't get it.

“No-one has really pointed a finger at Ramos yet, largely because of that Carling Cup win.

“But he faces a tough game at home to Wigan tomorrow. Look at what Steve Bruce's boys did – winning 5-0 at Hull.

“And they also have a really tough second leg in the Uefa Cup with that trip to Wisla Krakow, who beat Barcelona in Poland in their Champions League qualifier.

“Lose those two and Ramos might well be under pressure. But surely Tottenham won't think of changing managers again.

“But I think they will if he doesn't pull them around after a couple more seasons, and the same old process will start with the new boss changing everything round once more.

“If he doesn't get it right, it will be all change again three years later.

“A final point about Spurs. I wonder how many of their supporters now look back on my old gaffer George Graham and his time at the club and think that maybe he wasn't so bad after all?”