Spurs stop Arsenal's charge for an automatic Europa League spot


It's true, North London is blue


Our second gear victory over the Woolwich Wanderers cemented our second place and made Arsenal task of attaining an automatic UEFA Europa League spot that much more difficult.

There has been plenty of talk of a North London power shift but it depends upon what criteria you choose to judge it upon. Arsenal will naturally point towards things that help them believe we are not now the more attractive club and better footballing side.

Realistically it is the players who decide, not the current players, but the players clubs want to buy. The question you have to ask is whether a player would prefer to join Tottenham Hotspur or Arsenal.

Speaking on Twitter to a Manchester United fan he said another season without UEFA Champions League football will seriously damage them in the transfer market and the players they can attract. That is the dilemma Arsenal now have, will players want to go to them, especially if Ozil and Sanchez leave. Will Arsenal become the new stepping stone club?

A lot is spoken about wages and players command top wages, yes but only if they have the mental ability to go with it. The Premier League is littered with players who are in it for the money, West Ham have learned that the hard way, QPR bought and paid big wages only to get relegated, the players were only there for the money, Newcastle United a similar story.

Regular readers will know I bang on about mentally assessing players before we buy them, not just nominally, but becoming world class industry leaders at it by using trained professionals to assess and report on them. A player who doesn't buy into what you are doing is a waste of space, Moussa Sissoko is a prime example of that.

He is a very good player, of that there is no doubt, but he has not bought into the work ethic and the Pochettinoi way. he isn't worth the wages he is being paid and I always had the impression we only bought him because we couldn't sign our other targets. Perhaps now a second year of UEFA Champions League football, because we are surely going to have it, will make us a more attractive club, plus the fact we are challenging for a  title again.

Just like some fools were shouting that Harry Kane was a one-season wonder so they felt Spurs were a one season wonder, only challenging because others dropped off, this season order was supposed to be restored, we were once again fifth favourites as everyone overrated the supposed names. Well order has been established, we are among the top table now and with increased financial income we will only get stronger.

Tottenhamm, thankfully, are not run like Arsenal, we have owners who have made money out of money. If anyone knows how to minimise the impact of the cost of building a new stadium, it is our owners. Few seem to have taken that factor into account and Daniel Levy has said it will not affect the money available for transfers. We fans have also been told that we do not have to sell any of our star players and we will not sell them unless perhaps they demand a move and would upset the environment Mauricio Pochettino has created.

The opposite seems to be the case with the only question mark being Kyle Walker and we don't know the full story there and the amount of family resistance to him staying at White Hart lane.

If you were a player right now who would you want to join, a UEFA Champions League club or a probably UEFA Europa League club. We know the answer to that one, players will wait for a UEFA Champions League club first with the UEFA Europa League club a fall back position.

That is what really determines who hold the power right now.

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