---
title: "Tottenham Hotspur: Spurs players have ‘gone stale’, says Alan Shearer"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/tottenham-hotspur-spurs-players-have-gone-stale-says-alan-shearer/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Stephan Georgiou"
section: "Features"
published: "2019-10-06T20:05:42Z"
modified: "2019-10-06T20:05:42Z"
---

# Tottenham Hotspur: Spurs players have ‘gone stale’, says Alan Shearer

**Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer has highlighted the high number of players that have remained at Tottenham for the last few years when dissecting their current issues in the wake of their weekend defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion.**

A miserable week for Tottenham got worse on Saturday lunchtime, with their 7-2 pounding at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League being compounded by a 3-0 reverse on the south coast that leaves Mauricio Pochettino’s Champions League finalists in [mid-table](https://www.skysports.com/premier-league-table) after the first eight games of the season.

Speaking after the game, Shearer argued that there are plenty of players who have been on the books at Spurs for a long time, with [eight first-team players](https://www.football.london/tottenham-hotspur-fc/players/spurs-players-alan-shearer-claim-17039344) still at the club from the 2014/15 campaign.

While they include the likes of Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane, Shearer suggested that their current woes demonstrate how these players have ‘gone stale’, with a lack of successful transfer activity failing to bring about sustained success at the club.

He told BBC’s Match of the Day (via [Football.london](https://www.football.london/tottenham-hotspur-fc/players/spurs-players-alan-shearer-claim-17039344)): “Eight players from five-and-a-half years ago are still at Tottenham.

“Seven of them played today, that shows some of them have gone stale.”

When compared to the likes of Manchester City and Liverpool, it seems that Spurs’ recruitment policy would have gone against the norm compared to some of their top-six rivals, so perhaps Shearer’s point is one worth making.

While any correlation between long-serving players and footballing success may require a more extensive analysis, the fact that neither Spurs’ side nor the contents of their trophy cabinet have materially changed since Mauricio Pochettino’s arrival in 2014 may go hand-in-hand.

Although Spurs’ self-refusal to delve into the [transfer market](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/tottenham-hotspur/alletransfers/verein/148) in 2018/19 appears to have been a one-off, plenty of players they have bought have already been sold on or not deemed as good as their pre-existing teammates – such as the likes of Davinson Sanchez (a former [record buy](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41031823)) and Serge Aurier, who were both [unused](https://www.skysports.com/football/brighton-vs-tottenham/teams/408052) at the weekend despite heavy outlays in the summer of 2017.

And with that in mind, perhaps Tottenham’s unsuccessful efforts towards a major trophy were to be expected – though their current form is a damning illustration of their recent failures in the transfer market.

\[freshpress-poll id=”247889″\]

***Spurs fans, what do you think is behind your recent poor form? Let us know in the comments below!***