With the 2008/2009 Premier League season coming to a close and Tottenham Hotspur at best possibly claiming seventh position and a place in the following seasons newly formed Europa League, this being a modernized and modified replacement for the UEFA Cup, Tottenham Hotspur have once again failed to reach the holy grail of the top four and a place in the Champions League.
Every season for the past few years Tottenham Hotspur have been put forward as the team most likely to break the top four monopoly of Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, and every season they fall short in this attempt, with two fifth place finishes in a row the best they have been able to muster recently. Tottenham Hotspur are showing every sign of being a team unable to cope with the burden placed on them of breaking into the top four.
Tottenham Hotspur are not the only team who are struggling to break into the top four with perennial nearly men and the only team to break into the top four in recent years, albeit once, Everton and also a revitalised Aston Villa joining Tottenham Hotspur in the "not quite up to the task club". In manager Happy Harry "Houdini" Redknapp Tottenham Hotspur have perhaps the knight in shining armour to lead them finally into the top four, after all this is the manager who has taken them from rock bottom and almost certain relagation to the championship certainties to still being in the hunt for a Europa Cup place, as well as taking them all the way to the Lague Cup final which they lost only on penalties to Manchester United.
So if Harry Redknapp can make this much improvement in a team that he inherited with only a few players that he has bought in himself, all in the space of less than a whole season while ironing out any issues leftover from the previous managerial regime. Then this begs the question how much will Harry Redknapp be able to a achieve with a preseason to get things right, the opportunity to bring in the players he wants, and get rid of the one's he considers not to be up to the task and all this while being in charge right from the start of the season?
Harry Redknapp seems to consider that he only needs to add a couple of players to his squad to be able to challenge the top four in the Premier League. Indeed presuming that these top four do not poach the best players that Tottenham Hotspur already have then Tottenham Hotspur do have a decent squad at present. With two quality goalkeepers in Heurelho Gomes (his wonder saves just about outweighing his clownish errors of judgement over the course of the season) and bags of experience from Carlo Cudicini.
With defenders of the quality of Jonathan Woodgate, Michael Dawson, Pascal Chimbonda, Alan Hutton and especially Ledley King (dodgy knee injury depending). With Aaron Lennon and Luka Modric pulling the creative strings in midfield, alongside Wilson Palacios doing the hard graft as the defensive midfielder that Spurs have been craving for a long time. Upfront returning fans favourites Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe when settled back at the club will provide the goals that are all important for Tottenham Hotspur breaking into the top four.
Tottenham Hotspur are normally big spenders in the transfer market and money will surely be earmarked for a couple of suitable strikers to help Keane and Defoe bang in the goals, and also a central defender to provide cover for Ledley King's recurrent knee injury.
As well as proving themselves up to the task of breaking into the top four, it is the nature of the Premier League that Tottenham Hotpur will be reliant on at least one of the top four slipping up and allowing Tottenham Hotspur to take their place. After all Tottenham Hotspur will be challenging teams who have become conditioned to doing the necessary work to obtain a top four finish and thus Champions League place for the following season, so it will be no walk in the park for Tottenham Hotspur or indeed any other team to break this top four monopoly.
Despite this the top four clubs are not invincible, and while it would be fair to say that Manchester United are pretty much unobtainable at the moment, clubs like Arsenal because of their losing key, experienced players and their current reliance on young players, as well as Liverpool, due to previous seasons endeavours in the Champions League, have been touted as potentially catachable teams, whose top four position might be up for grabs.
Unfortunately for Tottenham Hotspur so far Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United have been able to retain their top four position, but with a quality Tottenham Hotspur team and one of the top four teams faltering season 2009/2010 may be the season Tottenham Hotspur finally give their fans the top four finish and Champions League soccer they have been craving for so long.
Whatever is the case Tottenham Hotspur will be put forward as the favourites once again to break into the top four, and there is a strong chance that they once again will fail in this endeavour, but with the aforementioned conditions and one other very important ingredient, luck and plenty of it, Tottenham Hotpur may yet be the team to shake up the old guard of the Premier League top four.