Woodgate: Liverpool Are The Benchmark For Spurs
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Tottenham Hotspur defender Jonathan Woodgate believes Liverpool are the model Spurs should follow as they attempt to challenge the dominance of the Premier League's 'Big Four' next season.
Former Leeds, Newcastle, Real Madrid and Middlesbrough central defender Jonathan Woodgate reckons Liverpool - who beat Spurs 2-0 at White Hart Lane on Sunday - have shown the North London side just how much they need to improve.
It has been a stange season for Spurs. They kicked off the season with great expectations under Martin Jol, but made a woeful start to their campaign with just one win in nine games, and sacked Jol. New manager Juande Ramos led them to Carling Cup glory, their first trophy since 1999, but thereafter they stuttered and stalled, eventually stumbling to an 11th-place finish.
Their inconsistent and unconvincing post-Cup final form angered Ramos, who has already entered the transfer market to buy £16 million midfielder Luka Modric, as he looks to build a team that will sustain a credible challenge for honours next season.
And Woodgate sees Liverpool as ideal role models for Tottenham.
"We have got a lot of improving to do. Liverpool are a benchmark, they're a top side and showed they were a better side than us,” he said after Sunday's game.
"It shows how much we have to compete and how much we have to work to get the standard they're at.
"They are 20-odd points ahead of us and that is a big difference but we'll have a big go next season. I'm sure the chairman will back the manager to buy some more players to build a strong squad here.
“Ramos is not happy. The players aren’t happy. Since the Carling Cup win, we haven’t played well at all and it’s not good enough.
“What’s the point of competing if you go into the season looking to finish fifth? We want to try and get in the Champions League, that’s the benchmark.
“We have players of Champions League quality but there’s no point in saying it every week, we have to prove it. At the moment we are not.” -
spur's news again...stop making me laugh
