Sunday 18 September 2016 15:22, UK
Ahead of Tottenham and Sunderland's meeting on Super Sunday, Jamie Redknapp looks at the reasons behind Spurs' stuttering start to the campaign and explains why he fears for David Moyes...
It's not been a great start to the season for Tottenham, but that's something I've grown accustomed to. They often seem to start the season slowly, and I don't think they are helped by their approach in the transfer window, with players always coming and going at the last minute.
That makes it very difficult for the manager to get a settled team and know exactly what he's working with. More than their rivals, they found it difficult to get the players they wanted this summer. Daniel Levy tends to leave their business until the deadline, and that means they look unsettled going into the season.
As we saw in their defeat to Monaco on Wednesday night, playing their Champions League games at Wembley is another factor that could unsettle the team. Mauricio Pochettino played down those concerns, but that's always going to be difficult for the team because it's like another away game.
People might not understand this, but as a player, there's a real familiarity with playing at your home ground. You walk into the stadium, you know all the faces and you know where you're going to be sitting in the dressing room. At Wembley, Tottenham looked overawed by the whole situation.
They will improve, and I do think they've got a great chance of finishing in the top four this season, but they always seem to be playing catch-up and that's far from ideal. Fortunately, only Manchester City have had what you would call an incredible start, but Spurs need to get going again.
You look at Sunderland at home on Sunday and you think, on paper, it should be a good one for them to get a positive result, but I've always felt Spurs are better in the big games. In my time as a Spurs player, I always felt the fans enjoyed those more.
After the Monaco game, the fans will be there at White Hart Lane on Sunday thinking: "Okay, you've had a stuttering start, now what have you got?" Spurs will have to show a bit of early-season character. They're going to need the likes of Dele Alli and Harry Kane to stand up and show what they're made of.
I still think they will win this game, but I don't think it's going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination. Sunderland will be set up not to lose after their poor start to the season, and Spurs might need an early goal to get them going.
From a Sunderland perspective, I feel really sorry for David Moyes. I think he's got the toughest job in the Premier League. They've not bought any good players, they've got injuries and they sold players before the window closed.
That squad just isn't good enough. They've stayed up by the skin of their teeth for the last few years, and they haven't even hit the 40-point mark since 2011/12.
Moyes is a very good manager, but what do they expect? I hope we don't have a situation like we've had in recent years where they go and sack their manager in January and expect someone to come in and wave a magic wand. That would be completely unfair.
Moyes is trying to build his reputation again. I'm a big fan of his, but there are certain times when you look at a manager and think maybe he got it wrong. I look at that Sunderland squad and I think even Pep Guardiola or Jose Mourinho would find it hard to do anything with them.
Maybe he'll prove me wrong, I hope he does, but Sunday is looking like a big game for both sides…
