Football
John Crace, Tottenham blogger 6y

Tottenham had a great World Cup but must win a trophy this season to keep players

Hugo Lloris lifted the World Cup as the victorious captain; Harry Kane left Russia with the Golden Boot; Kieran Trippier was included in the official team of the tournament; Eric Dier slotted home the penalty that saw England win its first ever World Cup penalty shootout; Dele Alli was an integral player in the England starting XI.

If that wasn't enough: Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld were the lynchpins of the Belgium defence; Christian Eriksen was the star of Denmark's progress to the knockout stages; Davinson Sanchez was Colombia's standout defender; Heung-Min Son scored two goals for South Korea, including the breakaway that helped knock out Germany; while the supporting roles of Danny Rose and Mousa Dembele for England and Belgium also played a part in their runs to the semifinals.

No Premier League club came close to making the same impression on this year's World Cup as Spurs. Even the old boys got in on the act with Croatia's Luka Modric picking up player of the tournament and Nacer Chadli scoring the goal of the tournament with Belgium's injury time winner against Japan.

It's fair to say that, after a brief rest, the Tottenham players should be returning to the training ground in good spirits, ready for the challenges of the season ahead.

But while the World Cup was a thrilling break from Premier League football, there is also now a sense that time is running out for this Spurs team -- a feeling that the World Cup only helped crystallise. This isn't a criticism, it's a statement of fact; a measure of the progress this squad has made.

What manager Mauricio Pochettino has achieved in securing Champions League football three years in a row -- with one second place and two third place finishes -- is nothing short of remarkable. Not least when you bear in mind that the salaries on offer are far less than those of their main rivals and that Tottenham also had to play all last season's home games at Wembley.

But this coming season is make or break for Spurs. Players might be willing to sacrifice either money for trophies or trophies for money, but there comes a time when they are unwilling to pass up the opportunity to maximise their chances of both. Indeed that moment might have come this year but for the World Cup. With players' minds firmly fixed on Russia, there has been less time to focus on possible transfers. And time is now running out with the deadline brought forward to Aug. 9.

Next summer will be very different, though. The thrill of playing in a new stadium will have worn off and without the distraction of a major international tournament, players and their agents will be thinking very carefully about their options. Kane may have signed a new long-term contract, but is it realistic to imagine he will see out his entire career at Spurs? A player of his quality will know he could not only earn more at a club like Real Madrid but he would also be all but guaranteed the trophies -- both domestic and European -- he craves.

Much the same applies to many others in the current Tottenham line-up. Lloris, Eriksen, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Trippier, Alli and Dier are all reaching a critical point in their careers. That golden window between being a promising young player and critics wondering if you are on the wane; that moment when you are at the top of your game and will never have a better chance to capitalise on their talent.

Nor are there any guarantees that Pochettino will still be in charge of Spurs this time next year. It's no secret that Real Madrid were interested in signing him as manager after Zinedine Zidane resigned shortly after winning the Champions League trophy, and there won't be any shortage of other big name clubs willing to offer him a large transfer chest and the prospect of trophies over the coming months and years.

As with many of the players, the real question is how long can he resist? And if Pochettino did go, then the floodgates at White Hart Lane might open as the players would have no feelings of loyalty to a new manager.

This is the real world of football. Spurs fans might have had the odd moan about not winning trophies in recent years -- those FA Cup semifinal defeats still hurt -- but not so long ago they'd have all bitten your hand off for the level of success the club has recently achieved.

Given the comparative budgets at their disposal, Tottenham have outperformed all their rivals. If Spurs could keep that up for another 10 years, then no supporter would have any right to complain.

But here's the thing: the manager and players would complain. And rightly so. They would feel they had plateaued at a level beneath that of both their ambition and talent. They would want more -- that's what drives professional sports men and women. So that's why this season is so crucial.

Spurs have to win something this year. It's not a matter of pride, it's a matter of necessity. Otherwise, the best Spurs team that many fans have watched for decades will begin to break up and the club will have to rebuild from scratch. And that would be tragic.

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