For all the BAE Doubters..

It's time for Spurs to build on success or we might end up like Villa

Benoit Assou-Ekotto
27 Oct 2011


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This is certainly the best Tottenham team during my time at the club and our aim has to be to qualify again for the Champions League.
We're stronger than last year and let's hope we're weaker than we will be next year - but there are other factors involved.
We're a good team who might be on the road to becoming great. If we want to become great, though, perhaps the club have to do certain things differently so as to match what the top teams do in a financial sense.
Since we qualified for the Champions League, we can say, yes, we have become a big team. Now, to become like Chelsea or Manchester United, we need to keep the same team for the next couple of years and make everyone happy to stay, rather than being in the situation we were with Luka Modric during the summer.
There's a lot to be excited about at Spurs now with the new training ground and maybe a new stadium. It feels like the future could be really good for the fans but if the players don't stay, we could end up like Aston Villa.
Not long ago, they were maybe two or three players away from becoming a top team. They didn't buy them and they didn't keep the ones who were already there and since that time, they have taken a few steps back.
Instead of being able to build on what they had, players ended up leaving Villa, so I hope Tottenham will make the right steps.
There was contact from Paris St-Germain about signing me during the summer but I didn't push it. I feel good in England, London and at Tottenham. But let me share a simple example. If a player is earning £3 somewhere and another club offers him £6, he will ask his current club to match that offer.
If they don't match it, he will move to another club, because he might feel undervalued. True, there are other things a player thinks about but the first thing a player speaks about when he is negotiating with a club is money.
When you're at Spurs, it's like you're with family. The players are very friendly, it's a cool place and as a team we will give our best but if the financial situation is not addressed, the players have careers to think about.
You wouldn't go looking elsewhere if you're happy where you are. But you will not always refuse to better your professional career and earnings because you like the "family" feeling.
It's the first of two consecutive derby matches for us this weekend as we're coming up against Queens Park Rangers at White Hart Lane. Although I haven't spoken to him for a little while, I know Adel Taarabt well as we were both at Lens in France and then he joined me at Tottenham in 2007.
I know that Adel has a certain reputation but I don't have the eyes of a manager, so for me, he is a cool man, not a difficult character.
I have known him since he was maybe 12 so it is interesting to see the man he is now, flying with his own wings.
But the problem with some talented footballers, in contrast to those who don't have as much natural talent, is that they use their head less when they face a difficult situation on the pitch.
Perhaps because they have so much talent, they don't feel they need to think their way out of tough situations on the field as they have the skills to usually get out of tight spots.
But I think if a player wants to play for one of the best clubs, it's not only about natural talent.
You can't sulk because you're taken off at half-time, or because another player is chosen ahead of you. If you're at a big club, you have to say, "Okay, I will work harder to show the manager that he made a mistake."
If a player behaves badly, then he won't evolve, because it is in the difficult moments when you recognise a great player. You need mental toughness in football.
Soon after I joined Spurs in 2006, I had a knee injury and I hardly played for 18 months. That was a really difficult period, because not only did I have to prove I could play again at the top level, I still needed to show I was good enough for Spurs.
That experience helped make me who I am today and this I can say is true: reaching the top in football is about so much more than doing an amazing dribble or a brilliant pass.