Ambitious Jol won’t settle for fifth
They confirmed their place as “best of the rest” again with a 2-1 win over Manchester City, courtesy of goals from Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov.
“It means the world to us,” said Jol. “We have a talented team and everyone again saw what we can do. We played 59 games this season and are the best of the rest again but we want more.”
Spurs suffered final-day disappointment a year ago when they were hit by a mystery illness against West Ham and Arsenal pipped them to fourth.
Although they were not in the hunt for the Champions League this time, the difference was reaching the latter stages of three cup competitions, meaning they played 19 more games than their last campaign.
Jol wants a bigger squad next season to compete on four fronts again, and he will also address the left flank of his team.
Berbatov’s form has led to speculation linking him with Manchester United and Chelsea but Jol is determined to keep him at the club, echoing the sentiments of chairman Daniel Levy in his programme notes.
“We are a rich club so why should we sell players?” said Jol. “The other problem could be if players want to leave but they are all happy. Dimitar is happy.”
Keane and Berbatov fired Spurs ahead within 32 minutes at White Hart Lane before Emile Mpenza pulled one back which led to a touch of nervousness among the hosts in the second half.
Paul Robinson produced a stunning save in each half, from Darius Vassell and Mpenza, to keep Spurs ahead before Jermain Defoe missed a late penalty.
White Hart Lane then erupted when their fifth-place finish was confirmed.
“We knew we were in a fine position with two games in hand and we were on a good run, the only game we lost was Chelsea when we played 32 hours after a UEFA Cup game,” added Jol.
“It was not easy because we were the only team who played three games in the final week.
“That showed in the second half but they showed resilience and character. We had a few heroes out there.”
City boss Stuart Pearce was pleased with his side’s performance but highlighted the need for firepower in attack.
“We failed to score enough goals this season,” he said. “It’s been our Achilles heel which has kept us out of the top half – people with goalscoring records. We’ll try to do that over the summer.”
He added: “I thought we played extremely well and created chances. The goals were offside and the penalty wasn’t one.”
Opta Fact: Spurs conceded more headed goals than any other team this season, 15.
Opta Fact: Since March 1, only Chelsea have collected more points than Spurs
Robinson, Chimbonda, Dawson, King, Gardner, Lennon (Malbranque 75), Jenas, Zokora, Tainio, Keane (Defoe 81), Berbatov.
Isaksson, Onuoha, Dunne, Distin (Hamann 28), Jordan, Vassell, Jihai, Johnson, Ireland, Beasley (Samaras 81), Mpenza.
S Bennett (Kent).
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