Premier League Review - Pochettino’s Spurs deserve investment

Spurs draw hints at financial ceiling

Spurs are now unbeaten in their last nine away games. In the first half against Everton, they seemed set to dominate and eventually take the lead. But thanks to an excellent piece of direct play to set up Aaron Lennon by Romelu Lukaku, Spurs needed a special moment of their own.

Dele Alli’s brilliant chest control and volley from Toby Alderweireld’s pass from defence was more than equal to Everton’s goal, but Spurs were unable to take advantage in the second half, and both sides should be happy with a draw.

As good a coach as Mauricio Pochettino is, the draw hints at the reasons why he might have taken them as far as he can without serious investment. With players like Tom Carroll and Ben Davies on the players, there are weak links, however admirable it is that young British players are given a chance. Christian Eriksen has continued to struggle, and it demonstrates that Spurs can’t yet afford a squad that has the depth in quality of the more established sides.

They might have enough to qualify for the Champions League side, this year, as Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea struggle to find their feet. In Harry Kane, Erik Lamela and Alli, they have the players to make the difference in front of goal, and their central defence of Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen has improved throughout the season. Some sensible signings in January could lift the overall quality of the squad, and at least take them to fourth place.

Rooney no longer looks out of place on a football pitch

For much of the season, Wayne Rooney could have claimed that he was the worst footballer in the Premier League. Not that he’d have wanted to. He dragged United down with him, with assistance from the lack of commitment from those around him, and also with the influence of Louis van Gaal, who was recklessly conservative in the face of the obvious. United had the players to attack, and the defence that demanded they not be asked to keep a clean sheet on a regular basis. Nevertheless, United persisted along the path of diminishing returns until it gave them eight games without victory in succession.

Things have changed now, but only marginally. Van Gaal is now constantly changing things on the pitch, even if it isn’t a helpful intervention. Four at the back, then three at the back, Anthony Martial going from left wing, to left wing-back, back into the attack, all while Swansea occasionally sauntered through the United midfield when they could put three passes together. For Van Gaal, thankfully, that was rarely. But United’s porous defence still gave Mo Barrow the chance to set up Gylfi Sigurdsson for what seemed like the goal that might finally banish United’s manager from the ground for good.

The most significant change from the Swansea performance over the previous disappointments wasn’t some great upturn in the display, but the fact that United took a couple of chances that they had created. Against Chelsea, Rooney blew two convertible chances, but against Swansea, his neat flick came off. Martial’s header beat the ‘keeper whereas previously he has spurned what has been put in front of him. The performance was still focused on short passes and little movement, but on this occasion it was enough. There’s no sign that in the coming months that such a performance will return three points again.

Much has been said about Rooney’s performance and goal. That he is back, and that he was United’s best player. He isn’t and he wasn’t - that was obviously Martial or Ashley Young. Rooney still let plenty of headed chances go to waste, on one occasion using his face to put the ball into the ground just ahead of him. But he was no longer the worst player on the pitch. That might be Daley Blind, or even Juan Mata now, as they no longer have any movement to aim for with their often excellent passing. In an odd way, Rooney deserves credit for much that had brought warranted criticism. To keep going for months and months when utterly useless, when you know it is hurting the side, takes a special kind of determination. His improvement must continue rapidly if it is to make up for anything like the damage his abysmal season has done so far.

Manchester City can win the title if they want to

Arsenal are adding to their squad, with Mohamed Elneny to join in the next few days. They have also been linked with Danny Najar, a winger at Anderlecht. If both these transfers go through, and assuming the players are able to cope with the Premier League, then Arsene Wenger should be given credit for two sensible signings. To take the pressure of Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and the depleted central midfield gives Arsenal the best chance they have of winning the title. Perhaps adding a striker would help, but Olivier Giroud is sufficient to take them to the title, should he stay fit and be provided with regular chances.

In the evening match on Saturday, Manchester City turned up at Vicarage Road and then proceded not to turn up in spirit. The partnership of Nicolas Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala is vulnerable to pace, movement, strength and creativity. Vincent Kompany seems to be struggling with recurrent muscle injuries, and Martin Demichelis might soon retire to MLS.

But for five minutes, Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure intervened to secure victory for City with two moments of excellence. Toure’s volley and Aguero’s header would be beyond many players in the league, but for them it appeared to come naturally, despite intermittent form and fitness problems. It seems as if City have checked out under Manuel Pellegrini’s watch, as they wait for the arrival of Pep Guardiola this summer. They have shown that they can win the league if they want to, so the conclusion if they don’t must be that they don’t have the mentality to do so, which Guardiola won’t fail to notice.

Chelsea can’t count on Crystal Palace win for too much

There were clear positives for Guus Hiddink after the match. John Obi Mikel played well for him again, a defensive shield who was also able to safely and intelligently use the ball in midfield. After Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas have failed to use possession sensibly in tandem, Hiddink had to find someone he could rely on. So far, that appears to be Mikel, but as his Chelsea career has shown for the past decade, there is often an end to those performances, or a manager is tempted to try a fancier, more expensive option. For now, Mikel can be trusted until something better comes along.

Another positive alongside him was Fabregas, who played an excellent pass for the first goal. Diego Costa got on the score sheet, meaning that his return to form is moving from possible to probable. Even Branislav Ivanovic looked like a footballer again. But it is still too early for Chelsea and Hiddink to count on this being the start of any serious resurgence.

Crystal Palace have no goals in their last three matches, and without Yannick Bolasie they have no direct replacement, nor a striker to make it easier to play in a more traditional manner. Frazier Campbell got his chance against Chelsea, and made no impression. That will probably be resolved in the transfer window, and another obvious weakness was, without Yohan Cabaye, that Mile Jedinak is nowhere near the same standard or type of player. Add to that Wayne Hennessey’s mistake for Costa’s goal, and it’s fair to say that Chelsea had one of the easiest trips to Selhurst Park of the season. Nevertheless, now just 12 points off the Champions League places, it appears that Chelsea no longer think that qualification is beyond them.

Perhaps the biggest worry is Eden Hazard. Chelsea coped well without him, but with rumours of him wishing to leave, and with another muscle injury, there is a very slight whiff of Angel Di Maria about all this.