Toby Alderweireld Talks Spurs, Foxes and Premier League
Spurs’ Toby Alderweireld recently spoke with Dutch newspaper, De Telegraaf, about Tottenham, Leicester City and the Premier League.
Five matches will ultimately decide who will win the Premier League. Spurs who are in second place and seven points behind have a chance to close that gap, but they have to win all of their remaining fixtures to realistically have a shot at the league title.
However, according to Toby Alderweireld, the Premiership title is actually Leicester City’s to lose. The Belgian international is aware that winning five consecutive games is a huge stretch for his side, considering the Foxes need three wins regardless of other teams’ results. But this year’s title challenge is something that the 27-year-old believes can only help Spurs’ in future seasons.
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Speaking to Dutch newspaper, De Telegraaf, Toby Alderweireld was asked an honest question: If Spurs finished in second place, would that be considered a failure? His answer shouldn’t be — and isn’t — shocking.
“No, I do not. However, naturally if you are so close, you want more, Alderweireld said (quotes via Eurosport).
“To be the champions would be great, and we are working very hard to finish in the top three. We have direct qualification for the Champions League in our hands and we want to hold on to it.”
“The Champions League will make our young group stronger.”
Finishing inside the top four is an amazing result for any club and their supporters as well as the team’s financial situation too. Not just for Tottenham, but anyone.
Just participating in the Champions League will net any club a big share of the pot money that is up for grabs for whoever wins the Champions League trophy in the end.
And the further a team progresses, the more money they earn.
It’s practically a win-win situation and why teams tend to make it a league objective each year to qualify for Champions League football over winning the Premier League. Seeing as how it’s quite difficult to win the Premiership in the first place. Which is why Toby Alderweireld feels the title is Leicester’s to lose.
“The title is difficult. Leicester has everything in hand,” Alderweireld continued.
“However, we want to win the last five games to increase the pressure on Leicester and keep the pursuers behind us.”
Should Tottenham continue to win while Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and West Ham United falter and drop points, this will give Spurs more breathing room to work with and secure a top-two finish.
As for Leicester, their rise from worst to first, or more specifically from worst to 14th place and then to first place, in a year’s time is one reason why many neutrals are rooting for the Foxes to win it all and top off a fantastic fairy tale season.
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“What Leicester are doing is unbelievable,” Toby Alderweireld said. “In one year they have gone from a candidate for relegation to become the title favourites.”
“Leicester have made some good purchases and players like Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez are in the form of their lives. It’s a very good, stable team.”
While Tottenham have more spending power than Leicester does, both clubs are quite similar in that they tend to place more value on a player fitting into their club which could help augment what is currently on the squad. Rather than going for players who are better but would cost more than either side would like to spend.
At the same time, it can’t be overstated that a new lucrative TV deal will essentially give every single club — especially the bottom and mid-table teams — more of a chance to compete with the upper echelon teams for years to come.
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This makes a difficult Premier League even harder to contend in on a yearly basis, but it’s something that all teams must now deal with. Something even Toby Alderweireld sees as the new reality for the top-flight division of English football.
“This says everything about the Premier League; because of the enormous TV rights, the so-called smaller clubs also have the resources to purchase outstanding players and this allows anyone to beat anyone.”
“I don’t think this is frustrating – it is just the reality now.”