Spurs midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson says the north London derby is a test of character which they must pass, after dismal defeats to Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool
“It is down to us to prove that we are not gutless and we do care about the club.” That is Gylfi Sigurdsson’s response to the strident criticism of Tottenham Hotspur’s head coach, Tim Sherwood, following his side’s hapless 4-0 defeat away against Chelsea last week.
Sherwood pulled no punches in his assessment of a Spurs squad that has capitulated on more than occasion during the current campaign. The result is that a season that was so rich in promise – after the riches spent last summer – is in danger of petering out in a fug of frustration and recrimination.
“Gutless” was the word that stood out in Sherwood’s post-match lash-out at Stamford Bridge, but it did not end there. He also railed against a squad which, he claimed, had a “lack of characters” and are “too nice with each other”.
“They need to dig each other out more often,” Sherwood said as he attempted to distance himself from the debacle.
The outburst was admirable in its candour, but maybe not in its effect. It did not go down well with the club’s hierarchy, who are considering whether to replace Sherwood at the end of this season, and did not yield immediate dividends, if the 3-1 home defeat against Benfica in the Europa League on Thursday – which leaves Tottenham facing a monumental task to qualify for the quarter-finals – is anything to go by.
Sherwood’s criticisms appeared likely divide more than unite a squad but Sigurdsson understands his anger as he prepares for the Premier League home game against north London rivals, Arsenal, today.
“I am not going to go into details about what he says in the dressing room but he was not happy,” Sigurdsson said, when asked whether Sherwood had been even more brutal in private. “After that game against Chelsea, though, any manager would not have been happy to lose 4-0. So he was within his rights, you need a reaction and if the manager didn’t say anything we would be in trouble. But as long as you have a manager who cares about the team and the players then you will be fine.”
The Chelsea defeat was all the more damaging because it followed a trend – with Spurs having crumpled 6-0 and 5-1 against Manchester City and being hammered at home 5-0 by Liverpool. They have been the whipping boys for the top four.
But what about the public and personal nature of Sherwood’s attack? “In a way he is probably right to say what he did because it has happened too many times,” Sigurdsson said. “It is down to us to give a good reaction and show that we are hungry and that we want to be successful for Tottenham. As players we know we need to address it and we cannot go down again in the way we did. We have to make sure we don’t lose 4-0 or like we did to Liverpool at home or to Man City, even though they can do it to any team. It has happened too many times [to Spurs] this season.”
With Spurs in fifth place in the league the aggregate against the four clubs ahead of them in the table is painful: played six, lost five, drawn one, conceding 23 goals and scoring just twice. It would suggest the gulf is greater than the six points by which they trail Arsenal. “It was a big game against Chelsea and it was a big blow but now we move on to Arsenal,” Sigurdsson said.
“We played Liverpool earlier in the season and lost [5-0] and then we played Manchester United at home afterwards and drew 2-2. That was a chance for us to prove people wrong and we were unlucky to draw it. Against Arsenal it’s a chance again to prove a point.”
It has been a difficult campaign for the Spurs squad with the world-record sale of Gareth Bale last summer, for £85 million, other senior players leaving to balance the books and a huge, ambitious – and ultimately risky – £107 million recruitment drive led by the arrival of the likes of Roberto Soldado, Erik Lamela and Paulinho which fuelled wild claims that they were suddenly title contenders.
“Because we had so many changes in the squad I never looked at Tottenham as winning the league,” Sigurdsson said. “I think it was more about a Champions League spot, depending on how quickly the new boys settled. Some players can take longer to settle than others depending on whether they speak the language or if they are used to English football. This is only my second season but we lost three or four senior boys last summer. When you bring in so many new players it takes time for them to get used to the football and living here. Hopefully next season will be better.”
Not that Sigurdsson believes this campaign can be written off. The spotlight and the demands are too unforgiving for that. “You don’t really have the time to look at it that way. We should be higher in the league, that’s a fact.”
A personal frustration for Sigurdsson is that since he arrived at Spurs in the summer of 2013, signing from German club Hoffenheim, for £8.8 million, he has not often featured in his favoured position behind the strikers. “I have been playing on the left the majority of the time and would prefer to be through the middle. That’s life.”
Not that there are any regrets at joining Spurs, especially as he spurned the chance to move to Liverpool who are now title contenders. “Of course not. I went where I wanted to go and you cannot look back on ’ifs and buts’. I am really happy here, it’s a big club and there’s pressure to win every game and that is what I want to be a part of.”
There is just one – crucial – ingredient missing: “We need to show we want to win trophies or achieve Champions League football for the club.”
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