Tottenham 3-2 Aalborg: Spirited comeback puts Spurs on the brink

The Tottenham manager may feel the January transfer window is for the desperate, but given the nature of his side's defending against Aalborg last night, it is surely time to open the cheque book.

Dimitar Berbatov, Steed Malbranque and Darren Bent may have spared Tottenham's blushes after the break, but if Spurs are to progress much further in this season's UEFA Cup, never mind climb the Premier League, a major reassessment of their calamitous defence must be high on Ramos' list of priorities.

Ramos' name is already writ large in the history of the UEFA Cup, having become the only coach to lift the trophy in successive seasons, with Sevilla.

Guiding Spurs to their first European success in 23 years would not only grant Ramos legendary status in his first year at White Hart Lane, it would also see him join Italian legend Giovanni Trapattoni as the only coach to have guided a team to three UEFA Cup victories.

With pre-season predictions of a Champions League place already a distant memory for Spurs and their chances of qualification for the UEFA Cup via the League for a third consecutive season looking slim, a further piece of history making by Ramos perhaps represents Tottenham's best chance of European football next season.

The inability to offer European football next season would be sure to limit Tottenham's attractiveness to any quality recruits, while any lingering hopes of hanging on to Berbatov beyond the end of the season, if indeed he stays on beyond January, would surely vanish.

Aalborg, joint leaders of the Danish league, represented the next obstacle to Tottenham's European ambitions for this season, not to mention the next.

Defeat to Getafe in former manager Martin Jol's emotional final game in charge and an uninspiring victory over a poor Hapoel Tel Aviv side in Israel did not bode particularly well.

That said, barring defender Michael Jakobsen, every one of Aalborg's starting line-up had arrived on a Bosman free.

But within two minutes, despite the relative weakness of the opposition, concerns over Tottenham's shambolic back line were brought home.

Martin Pedersen's throw-in was flicked on by striker Rade Prica and Thomas Enevoldsen did not need a second invitation to crash the ball home from the edge of the penalty area.

As if it was not enough to stomach for the home support, the fact that Pedersen is a life-long Spurs fan whose grandmother was in the stand to celebrate her birthday hardly took the sting out of the early body blow.

The goal allowed the visitors to stroke the ball around early on as if White Hart Lane was their home turf.

It was enough to have Ramos on his feet in the technical area as Tottenham's defence looked nervy with every Aalborg attack and, although Spurs pushed forward in search of the equaliser, they did little to worry the Danish side's defence.

Indeed any thoughts that the host could level the score in the first half were dissipated when the visitors from Denmark added to their tally eight minutes before the break.

Andreas Johansson, playing in the whole behind Prica, started the move which carved the Spurs defence open yet again, and Kasper Risgard was ideally placed to receive Prica's cross and leave Spurs with a mountain to climb.

Ramos brought on Darren Bent for Young-Pyo Lee and Tom Huddlestone for Jermaine Jenas at the break.

Huddlestone had yet to feature since Ramos' arrival, but he soon showed what he could do, handing his side a lifeline 40 seconds after taking the field by placing a ball through for Dimitar Berbatov to toe-poke across the line.

Spurs were level six minutes into the second half when Berbatov's cross travelled all the way across the 18-yard box and Bent' s mis-kick found its way to Robbie Keane, whose centre fell for Malbranque to crash the ball into the roof of the net.

Bent completed the comeback after 66 minutes when Gareth Bale's free-kick was parried by Aalborg goalkeeper Karim Zaza into the path of Aaron Lennon, whose driven cross was gratefully tapped home by Bent from three yards out.

Tottenham have an embarrassment of riches in attack with Berbatov, Keane, Jermain Defoe and Bent to save the day, which is just as well, given that they simply remain an embarrassment at the back.