Thursday's match against Hapoel Tel Aviv could prove crucial for Tottenham's European campaign.
By ALLON SINAIspurs88(photo credit: )
Tottenham Hotspur will arrive in Israel on Wednesday afternoon in the midst of a rebuilding process.
The North London club, which faces Hapoel Tel Aviv in the UEFA Cup group stage at Bloomfield Stadium on Thursday night, sacked manager Martin Jol after the team's 2-1 loss to Spanish side Getafe in the UEFA Cup two weeks ago. Spurs hired Sevilla manager Juande Ramos in his place in the hope that he can transform the club's fortunes and succeed where so many others have failed.
Tottenham could only manage a 1-1 draw against Middlesborough in Ramos's first league match in charge on Saturday and has only claimed a single win so far this season. The team is fourth from bottom of the English Premier League with eight points from 12 matches and is also in trouble in the UEFA Cup after losing at home to Getafe.
Despite its struggles in recent months, Tottenham, which finished the last couple of seasons in fifth place, has got a strong and deep squad that will give Ramos every chance to get the side back on the right track.
"Our main aim will be to try to get good results straight away, to try and bring some confidence back in the team," Ramos said last week. "Ultimately, we will see what we can achieve in the long term.
"We will do our best to try to impose our own style of discipline. I'll try to instill some discipline into the team and I'm sure the players will respond in the right way."
Ramos' reign at Spurs got off to the perfect start of Saturday when Darren Bent gave the team the lead in the 35th minute. Middlesborough's Luke Young, however, spoiled the Spaniards afternoon with an equalizer that will have reminded Ramos that he's inherited a side in need of work.
"It's going to take a few weeks," assistant manager Gustavo Poyet said after the match. Without a doubt, we need time. I'm not asking for time but it was too difficult to look too deep into the situation because of the few days that we have had to work.
"We have another game on Thursday, another one on Sunday and then the international week. We have to use the games to keep improving - we have to make sure that we do the right things during the game."
One player already impressed by Ramos is striker Jermaine Defoe. The England international, who was out of favor with Jol, believes his new manager has already made a positive impact at the club.
"In the short space of time he's been at the club you can see Mr Ramos has made an impression," Defoe said. "He speaks to me and sometimes all you need is for someone to put an arm around you, give you confidence and wish you luck. Maybe I have been held back in the last year, but the new manager speaks to me, which is important. He lets me know where I stand."
Thursday's match against Hapoel could prove crucial for Tottenham's European campaign, but Ramos, who guided Sevilla to victory in the last two UEFA Cup's, knows that the rebuilding will take time and that the team's fans will have to be patient until the side achieves success.
"I've signed a long contract and my aims will get better in time. Attacking football is my philosophy. If you want to instill that in Tottenham, you need the right ingredients. Tottenham has a reputation of playing good, attacking football, albeit a little bit different from that played in Spain. But we'll do our best to play that attacking style that everybody wants to see.
"I'm a professional and I'll always try to do my best, so I'll create a style of football that suits my style," he said.
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