SPURS TALK: Are Tottenham's stars fit enough to compete at the top?

8:29am Sunday 7th September 2008

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DESPITE Juande Ramos introducing a new hard-line approach to fitness and dieting at Spurs, it seems that some Tottenham squad members may still be well behind the stars at the top Premier League clubs.

Hard-line Spaniard Ramos was said to be shocked by the fitness levels of the players when he took over at White Hart Lane in October 2007.

And while he implemented a new regime that has seen members of the squad like midfielder Tom Huddlestone improve their fitness ten-fold, a story claiming that former striker Dimitar Berbatov is well behind the levels required at new club Manchester United will surprise Spurs' fans.

The alarm-bells will certainly be ringing in the white half of north London, that some of Ramos' men may still lack the same preparations if United do feel that Berbatov hasn't been reaching his peak fitness while with the Londoners.

This revelation follows a story in the News of the World claiming that new United record signing Berbatov, is short in terms of his general conditioning compared to other players at Old Trafford.

The paper quoting a United club insider said: “The coaches have been told to put him on an extensive fitness programme when he returns from international duty with Bulgaria to bring him up to ‘United standards’.

“We believe he has a natural fitness that allows him to get away with things most other players can’t.

“But we think there’s another 25-30 per cent to come once he’s involved fully.

“Even Berbatov will be surprised at the extra levels of fitness he will be able to achieve with the United the training programme.”