UEFA CUP PREVIEW - Wisla Krakow (1) Tottenham (2):FOR A MAN better known for his dourness, Juande Ramos showed remarkable levity as he prepared his maligned Tottenham team for tonight's Uefa Cup first-round, second-leg tie against Wisla Krakow.
Given the club's flimsy 2-1 lead from White Hart Lane and his own admission defeat would be a "disaster", it seemed a strange occasion for the Spaniard's most open press conference yet.
"The pressure is very high at the moment, but this is my job. I have been a coach for 20 years and I understand the situation - very well," said Ramos, who still felt the need to outline the positive contribution he has made since arriving in north London 11 months ago.
"For me, the biggest game of my time (at Spurs) was against Chelsea at Wembley, and we won it. A few weeks ago the problem was the players do not understand the manager. When I arrived last year they understood me perfectly because they won the Carling Cup, and now they don't understand me? We need to work little by little. In 30, 40, 50 days we will have a good combination. I am sure if we win in the next two or three weeks it will be 'Ramos is the best in the world'."
Whether Ramos's attempt to lift the gloom is successful, the Polish champions are unlikely to co-operate. Wisla's coach Maciej Skorza last night told his players to prey on Spurs' uncertainty.
"We want to attack from the first minute and we want to push them back," he said. "If we push hard we think Tottenham will lose confidence."
Even so Ramos seems more likely to trust the instincts of his creative players than the solidity of his defence, and is expected to make six changes from the side that imploded at the weekend. His boldest moves might be to start Giovani dos Santos, the teenage winger prised from Barcelona, and the hitherto disappointing Luka Modric, nursed back from a sore knee and a bruised reputation.
Ledley King, the captain, will have a late fitness test, but trained last night with the rest of the group, as did Gareth Bale, who has a bruised foot. Chris Gunter and Darren Bent will step in for Vedran Corluka and Roman Pavlyuchenko, who are cup-tied, while Aaron Lennon is likely to be preferred to David Bentley.
Guardian Service
