SOCCER ENGLISH LEAGUE CUP: GLUTTONY IS once again in vogue at Tottenham. Having acquired the taste for glory, in Sunday's Carling League Cup final triumph over Chelsea, the players intend to gorge themselves. The Ramos Plan encourages such blowouts.

"Straight after the game the first thing we were talking about was 'Let's go and win the Uefa Cup now'," said striker Robbie Keane.

"It's amazing. We've just won the Carling Cup and we're already talking about winning the Uefa Cup. It shows how hungry the players are."

Since taking the manager's job in late October Juande Ramos has overhauled the squad's eating habits. Sauces and sweets are out. The Spaniard estimates that a collective 50kg has been shed. Yet he has brought refinement on other levels.

He out-thought his Chelsea counterpart, Avram Grant, at Wembley using his substitutions to dynamic effect - while he has proved an equal to Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, the nemesis of a succession of Tottenham managers.

Self-belief among his players has swelled. They feel that they are a match for anyone and have no need to fear anybody at home or abroad.

Ramos has won the Uefa Cup in the previous two seasons with his former club Sevilla and, as he eyes the hat-trick, he sees formidable obstacles. His team face PSV Eindhoven in the last 16, who are nine points clear at the top of the Dutch league, while there is danger from other countries, principally Germany.

The top four clubs in the Bundesliga standings are into the last 16 with Bayern Munich, the leaders, installed as the tournament favourites. Werder Bremen, Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburg complete the order.

Fiorentina, level on points with Milan in Serie A, are fancied and Tottenham dare not underestimate the challenge of Everton, their Premier League rivals.

The 2-1 victory over Chelsea represented a psychological breakthrough and, with Ramos to guide them, there is relish for the battles ahead.

"You can't get away from what Juande won at Sevilla in a short space of time," said Keane, reflecting on the five cup successes in two and a half years.

"He must have something really special. He's given the players a lot of belief and you can see that in the performances.

"We've now proved we can win the big games, even though we knew we were capable of doing that. It's great that Juande has got his first trophy with Spurs and it's a lot of the players' first trophy as well. Hopefully we can kick on now. The Uefa Cup is the main goal and we have every chance of doing it."

Ramos's calm under pressure is fast emerging as the hallmark of his style at the club. Although his cajolings from the touchline can border on the frantic, he has the innate capacity to cut through the maelstrom with his decision-making. He also benefits from the tactical input of his assistant, Gus Poyet, who has emerged as a power behind the scenes.

"The way Juande works with us and speaks with us, he's like a psychologist because he talks to us so well," said striker Dimitar Berbatov. "If we keep listening to him, then we can go places. At half-time he always says it doesn't matter if it's 1-0 for the other team or 1-0 for us, don't look at the score because one goal is nothing in football. He is a winner and he came here to win things. Let's hope this trophy is the first of many."

Tottenham have waited nine years for silverware and the desire to make up for lost time, to realise the potential of an expensively assembled squad, will remain the theme in the coming weeks.

"This must only be the start," said the midfielder Jermaine Jenas. "We know that we are capable of it; we know we can do more."

As the manager of the 11th-richest club in the world Ramos will have money to spend in the summer, to shape the team further in his image. He paid €30.5 million for four defenders in January and a goalkeeper will be his close-season priority but Ramos would cherish above anything a guarantee that Ledley King could remain fully fit.

Ramos played the club captain together with Jonathan Woodgate, one of his new signings, in central defence for the first time and they offered a tantalising glimpse of what might be. King's appearances have had to be restricted because of his chronic knee problem, although he said that "if not this season, then definitely next season, I will be all right and get it right".

"I cannot speak highly enough of how good our two centre backs are," added Jenas. "They can easily play for England regularly. They are world-class."

The coming months promise much at White Hart Lane.

• Guardian Service