Ahead of Sunday’s North London derby (NBCSN, 11:30am ET), Robbie Mustoe spoke with ProSoccerTalk about Tottenham, Arsenal and whether there is a transition of power happening in North London.
Q: Are we seeing a power shift in North London between Tottenham and Arsenal?
Robbie Mustoe: I think it’s hard to really commit to that statement of a power shift because of the history and because of the revenues. I went back and checked just on the 2016 figures and Arsenal have so much more money coming in. Arsenal have 468 million euros of revenue and Spurs have 279 million. That’s almost 200 million euros in terms of difference. For a long-term power shift I still think it’s really hard for me to think that’s going to happen when there’s that difference in money.
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When you look at Spurs at the moment with their amazing training ground, their new stadium, a motivated owner and chairmen in Daniel Levy, a fantastic young manager with a young team, you have to think, hang on for a minute could history change and all of sudden Spurs become that dominate force in North London? But again, I go back to the revenues and a lot in the Premier League is governed by your revenues as a football club and I just can’t think that there’s going to be this crazy difference right now. Even though Spurs are in a brilliant period of time with what they are doing at the moment and Arsenal are not, I think it’s way too early to say that there’s a shift of power in North London.
Q: Have Spurs begun to rise to the level of Arsenal?
RM: I think it’s about Spurs rising, but Arsenal have definitely fallen. Considering where they are right now it looks very difficult for them to finish in the top four and they’re stagnating. They’ve stood still where Spurs have really gone forward. I think you really have to give credit to the owner Daniel Levy. We all know he is an extremely hard negotiator, he won’t go crazy on players’ salaries. He has sold the club’s best players before for financial reasons, like [Gareth] Bale and [Luka] Modric and through all those situations he’s still managing to put together the football side of the club that’s phenomenal. Their new stadium is going to be incredible. We had a look at it two weeks ago when we were in England and it was magnificent. There’s no question that Spurs are on a fantastic run with this new dynamic football side of things and this young squad that have been all signed up. They’ve signed up all their good young players where with Arsenal you’re thinking about who’s staying, who’s going to sign a longer contract.
I think the off the field stuff in terms of organization, preparation and execution, Spurs have been fantastic. It’s just the annual revenues that Tottenham Hotspur bring in are still a long way down on some of the other clubs in the Premier League. That’s the challenge for them going forward. You have to figure Spurs will be addressing these revenue issues in the next few years as they move into their new stadium and maybe if the team gets more successful they will close that gap financially as well.
Q: If we are looking at the next five years, which side has the brighter future?
RM: I think in the five-year window Spurs’ future is more positive. I mean in terms of the ownership, Stan Kroenke doesn’t seem that motivated, that involved. Arsenal are a giant of a club, a historical giant of European football and that’s where the frustration has come from the Arsenal fans. They should be challenging for the title. Last year, I thought it was absolutely their year to win, given the other teams that weren’t in good shape and Leicester ended up winning the league title so the frustrations are still there. I think the general feeling is that Arsene Wenger is going to stay at the football club so I just, you can’t see a reason to be extremely positive about them challenging for the Premier League title.
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Whereas Spurs you can. Their net spend over the last few years hasn’t been a lot. They’ve received a lot of money from the players they’ve sold. Financially they are in good shape and they’ve done an amazing job in producing a brilliant young team without spending a huge amount of money. I think when you look at the manager and these young players you have to be more excited about Spurs. Particularly the players that are signed up for long contracts. They are playing so well, their ages are good and there’s been an improvement from last season with Spurs. They’ve got their highest Premier League points tally already in 74 points. That’s real progression and the majority of the team is the same so that shows you what the manager does with his players. He improves them and develops them so they become a stronger team, where with Arsenal you can’t say that. You can’t say that many of the players, if any at all, are improving. There doesn’t seem to be this same underlying progression from the squad.
Q: What do you think happens in this weekend’s North London derby?
RM: I think it’s interesting. I think it’s made more interesting because of Arsenal’s system. The three at the back is very different for Wenger. It’s worked in the three games they’ve played so far. They’ve won all of them when they’ve played this system. We first saw it against Middlesbrough which didn’t look particularly comfortable but I think they’ve done better since. However, I think Spurs are going to show Arsenal whose boss in North London because it is Spurs at the moment. They’re fired up, they’re playing great football and they’re finding ways to win. I thought the Palace away 1-0 victory this week was an indication of an improved determination, a drive, a hunger to win. I think last year I’m not sure if they would have won that game, but manager switches, system switches, player switches and just that drive and going for the game in the second half was very impressive. I just think Spurs are going to confirm with a victory that they are, at the moment, the best team in North London.
