Football
Kevin Palmer 9y

Tim Sherwood: Tottenham not good enough for top-four finish

Former Tottenham head coach Tim Sherwood has written off Spurs' chances of a top-four finish this season and criticised striker Roberto Soldado after their 4-1 defeat to Manchester City on Saturday.

Soldado suffered another miserable afternoon in a Tottenham shirt after he was handed a rare Premier League start by boss Mauricio Pochettino, but the 26 million-pound forward missed a vital penalty on the hour as Sergio Aguero netted four times at the Etihad Stadium.

"You try to give [Soldado] as much confidence as you can and you do that by backing him and playing him," Sherwood told BT Sport as he reflected on the performance of the striker he struggled to get the best out of last season.

"In the end, I couldn't keep picking him. I had to put Harry Kane into the team because day in, day out on the training field, he was outperforming him. So there was no choice. It was nothing to do with effort. In my opinion, Harry Kane is better than him.

"Everyone at the club is on his side. They want him to do well. He is a great guy and the fans shout his name when he is on the bench. They want him to come onto the field, but I don't think we can use the excuse that he needs to settle any more.

"He has lived in the country for more than a year and he needs to start producing on the field and we have to stop making excuses for him.

"You see the little guy Sergio Ageuro for City and he is second to none in the Premier League. That is the difference. Manchester City have a few world-class players and it shows in the final result."

Sherwood was dismissed as Spurs boss and replaced by Mauricio Pochettino last summer, but he suggested the change at the top would not result in the Champions League return that is craved by the club's hierarchy.

"I think Spurs will be where they have been in recent years," added Sherwood. "They will be up and around the top six. They will beat the teams lower down the Premier League, but when they come up against real quality like they did with City, they are going to be the same. Not a lot has changed.

"They did OK for periods in this game, but the gulf in class is there between the teams at the very top of the league and the rest challenging for fourth place and it was shown in this game."

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