Glenn Hoddle has claimed that Jose Mourinho has to sign a player like Christian Eriksen if he wants to win trophies at Tottenham.
The Special One was named as the replacement for Mauricio Pochettino late last year after Spurs made a poor start to the league season.
They had reached the final of the Champions League in the previous campaign and spent some money last summer.
Yet they could not build on reaching that final last season. Mourinho is arguably the most high-profile manager that the club has ever appointed and he will be expected to bring the club’s 12-year wait for a trophy to an end.
The Portuguese manager inherited a very good team of players, but Hoodle reckons that a talent like the departed Eriksen is needed for the team to be good enough to challenge for silverware.
He also claimed that Spurs will need to sign a new centre-back and left-back to be able to achieve their goals.
Hoddle said via Sun Sport: “Yes, Spurs can win a trophy at long last but it is by no means a given, as there are six or seven clubs with chances of winning one of the cups this season.
“And I’d put Spurs’ opening opponents Everton as one of those.
“The only blemish of Mauricio Pochettino’s time at Spurs was that he should have taken the FA Cup more seriously.
“It should have been a major priority. Success breeds success and Spurs just needed to get one trophy over the line to give the entire squad a lift and ease the pressure about not winning trophies.
“Jose is a serial trophy winner and he is building a squad capable of winning one — but while they have strikers who are exciting and will score plenty of goals, they need a creative spark in the centre of midfield.
“Jose has to get Dele Alli back to his best and has to get Lucas Moura consistently producing.
“I don’t think he has the player yet for that vital central midfield role. I don’t see Giovani Lo Celso playing that 360 degrees in midfield. He is best wide.
“Harry Winks is the best option but Eriksen was that player. Not when he first arrived, not for the final 18 months, but for two or three years in between he was the creative genius.
“He could lay set-plays on a plate. He could get the best out of Alli and Harry Kane, providing them both with plenty of chances, opening teams up with that spark.
“With the need for a centre-half and a left-back there are holes in the squad to be filled.
“For a time Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen were ahead of anything in the Premier League — and that included City and United and Liverpool until Virgil van Dijk arrived.
“They were the best unit and with Danny Rose and Kyle Walker flying, that was a sound base — but they need to be replaced.
“The keeper has a little bit to prove this season, so too does Lucas Moura.
“Son Heung-min took time to settle and Moura has had that time now, so he is under pressure to perform. But there is no doubt Spurs have the firepower with Steven Bergwijn looking promising, Kane, Alli, Son and Moura.
“As for Spurs’ opponents on Saturday, it’s an exciting time for Everton fans with some of the buys brought in.
“I’d fancy Everton more if they were at home, despite no fans. But, on balance, I’d make Spurs favourites for this one, as it might be four, five or six games further down the line before we see the best of this new, exciting Everton team brought together by Carlo Ancelotti.”
He’s absolutely right,we seriously lack that midfireld creativity.
I like Hoddle he is one of the more perceptive pundits in my humble opinion.I believe he could play for us now and produce more than we have at present.It must frustrate him so much to see the overpaid players in the PL not fit to clean his boots.
Hod cheekily mentioning the elephant in the room. Perhaps remembering no chances created against a Palace side who’d lost 6 in a row. Perhaps many other games.