Winter Transfer Window

Oduwa to Colchester.

 

They're really, really ****. Might be the Southend in me talking, but damn. Surely they could have found somewhere better?

 

Stop me if you've heard this one before...we have supposedly agreed a deal in principal for Berahino



...does this mean they'll be giving Pritchard some minutes now?

There's also talk of us trying to "hijack" Man Utd's move for Barca centre back Marc Bartra...even though we were enquiring about his availability last summer, only for him to essentially say he's happy winning medals at Barca despite playing a handful of games every season, which means Man Utd are hijacking our move (see also: talk of us "hijacking" Wet Spam's proposed summer move for Batshuayi - even though we bid for him last summer and have been tracking him since he was at Standard Liege)

 

Think that if we don't get top 4 that from now til September there will be countless stories of Kane, Alli, Lloris, Dembele, Alderweireld, Rose and Lamela leaving us.

 

That's true, I think we are the only team who suffers from the "if you don't get champions league, all your players will want to leave" BS, you won't hear anyone in the media mentioning the likes of Willian, Oscar, courtois ect wanting to leave Chelsea or a mass exodus at man utd if they don't get champions league. If we were in the same position as Chelsea are now, Pochettino would be being asked questions daily about all our players wanting to go if we didn't get champions league.

 

Or, for that matter, how the Mousers qualified for the Champions League yet failed to hold onto Suarez.

 

This pre-Pochettino thinking, historical thinking. It's thinking that's not appropriate to our future. These players contracts expire in:

Kane 2020
Alli 2021
Lloris 2019
Dembele 2019
Alderweireld 2020
Rose 2019
Lamela 2018

They aren't for sale. They play for Pochettino until he says otherwise. I don't believe he wants to work in the loony bins that are Man Utd or Chelsea irrespective of what the papers report. I don't think the players want to leave as it happens.


';/

 

Does anyone know if Eriksen's contract discussions are coming to a conclusion? The player confirmed a few weeks ago that he was 'very happy' to be entering negotiations.

I have to say that until then I had mixed feelings about our Great Dane and the likelihood of him staying on should we miss out on the CL. Unlike all of the players mentioned, I never quite got the feeling that he was as 'bought in' as the others, including Hugo. Until the contract extension is confirmed I would say that he'd be top of my 'most likely to leave' list. But after the season he's had - would we miss him as painfully as others? He's gone from being irreplaceable to being another occasionally extremely good player over the last few months, to the extent that I doubt most of the big guns would even be interested in him come the summer, most probably seeing him as a work in progress still, despite coming up on 3 years in the PL.

I don't say this to the detriment of other players, but to my mind we only have 4-5 players who are utterly irreplaceable, both because they match the manager's system perfectly and/or they are simply too expensive to replace...

Hugo, Toby, Dier, Kane and Alli for what his future holds. Those 5 fully fit and firing on all cylinders is the spine of an exceptionally good team.

 

That really annoyed me. When they were praising Pool as usual about hanging onto him the season before, even though a serious bid never really appeared, and yet as soon as Barca/Real etc became interested he immediately went. No criticism of Pool allowed! (Like how they wasted all the money the received for the transfer etc etc etc etc yawn).

 

Don't think you can fairly exclude Moussa from that list CK ?

(or even Danny Rose ?)

 

He's had a bit of an on-off season but I'd still highly regard Eriksen as one of our key players. Even at what we'd consider to be below-par, he's still contributed to 14 goals in the Prem (5 goals and 9 assists), now considering Payet who just won London player of the year has contributed to 15 (8 goals and 7 assists) and Ozil who many have said has been back to his best only contributing 4 more assists than Eriksen, I think it shows what a class player he is to be considered as being below par yet statistically holding his own amongst the best in the Prem. I know stats don't tell the whole story because from what I've seen of Payet he's been class for West Ham but it does just reaffirm to me that Eriksen is without a doubt one of the best in his position in terms of getting things done, even when not 100% - it reminds me of how good he is/ can be when he's on form and up for it!

I'd also add Jan to the spine of the team. Wimmer has stepped up brilliantly and has somewhat assured us all that we do have a very capable back up who could perhaps blossom into a quality CB but the time being Jan is most definitely better, when he's with Toby there's a much better calmness at the back and he's also a leader on the pitch which is so important. I'd put Jan and Toby (especially Toby) as amongst some of the best CB's in Europe.

Cases can be made for Dembele and Rose too such is the strength of some of these players. Although Mousa would have to replicate this form next season to really cement himself as a key player, it's taken his 4th season to really come alive so I'm just praying this isn't a purple patch for him and suddenly goes off the boil.
Signing Davies last season was the best thing to happen to Rose, he's really upped his game over the past 18+ months and while Davies has had patches where he's looked the better of the two at times this season, I still see Rose as 1st choice and one of the best in the Prem, incredible really as pre-Davies, I wanted Rose out. Great turnaround and nice to be proved wrong on him.

 

Ignoring the rantings of The Mail, Express, Star, etc. there are lots of real transfer issues to come this summer:

Striker(s): We need 2 more if we are to become the club we want to be. Moussa Dembele or Shayon Harrison? Berahino or Batshuayi (who says he doesn't want to leave Marseille) or Slimani?

Midfielders: Is Chadli good enough? We are being heavily linked with Insigne who is a wonderful talent but going to be awfully hard to sign. Is that desire for a left sided attacking midfielder a signal that Chadli's time is up? Is Pritchard his replacement or does he take Andros' slot?

Does Bentaleb have a future at Spurs? If so, where does he play? Can he develop the discipline and strength to play holding midfield? We need players to cover those positions having only Dier and Mousa (and Dele Alli at a stretch) at present. Could CCV/Dominic Ball mean we hold onto our money? I've a feeling Toby Alderweireld would be amazing in this position. When we are chasing a game he more or less plays it anyway and he's fabulous doing it.

Do Harry Winks/Josh Onomah/CCV need a season on loan? There's no point in keeping them on the bench. They need to play somewhere.

We need a right sided centre half. Is it too soon for CCV or Ball? Could it be Marc Bartra?

 

The striking situation is the only position I'd look to strengthen as a must. Then strengthening other areas would be a bonus. Looking at what will likely be our squad next season.

Lloris, Vorm, McGee

Walker, Tripps, KWP (can also play LB)
Rose, Davies
Toby, Jan, Big Kev, CCV

Dier, Nabs, Ball (apparently looked better there than CB for Rangers, reports say he could make similar transition like Dier)
Dembele, Mason, Carroll, Winks

Eriksen, Alli, Lamela, Son, Chadli, Onomah, Pritch, Oduwa

Kane

If Nabs can be groomed into a more rigid DM like Dier then great as that's really the only option outside of the striking position we could use cover in for when Dier doesn't play. I think everywhere else we're very strong in and would be hard pressed to find many better players than what we have who'd want to join us.

As for strikers, I'd much prefer looking in England than abroad, so one of Berahino, Long, Wilson, Ighalo, Deeney, Benteke/ Sturridge (reports say they may get rid of one due to poor form and injuries respectively) would be a welcomed addition for the right price. Then we can promote Harrison as third choice, unless we go back in for Dembele II, in which a loan for Shay would be ideal, along with the likes of Winks, Oduwa, Ogilvie etc.

Yedlin and Fazio to be sold.

 

You've definitely made a strong case SOS, and I notice that RobSpur also sees Dembele and Rose as deserving of a place on an 'indispensable' list. I would respond by saying that when you look at each player in the first team and ask 'are they much better than anyone else we have capable of playing in their position?', the question kind of collapses when applied to anyone other than the 5 I've mentioned - and even then, for all his talent and explosive skills, Alli will have to prove next year that he isn't a flash in the pan one season wonder, second coming of Francis Jeffers. Much like Kane has done this year in fact.

Hugo is much better than our other goalies. Toby is much better than our other CB's. Dier is much better than anyone else in that holding role. Alli is much better than anyone else as an attacking/box-box midfielder. And Kane is obviously much better at leading the line than anyone else. Rose has had an inspired season, but is he much better than Davies? I personally don't mind and don't get nervous seeing the latter's name on the team sheet as he's also a fine player who has put in some fantastic performances this season too. Same goes for Dembele; I feel that it's only in the tough, physical games where the midfield becomes a war zone that he is truly much better than anyone else in that CM role. So against West Ham, we were crying out for him as wave after wave of thugs in claret waltzed through a Mousa-sized hole in the centre of the park on their way to Payet and Lanzini. But against Arsenal, we weren't really crying out for him and indeed as the game progressed he seemed to become less and less influential/relevant.

As for the stats about Eriksen...don't get me wrong I'm not saying he's a bad player! I think all of us are a little disappointed with him this season, that's all. It's interesting that you mention Payet because there's an example of what I want to be seeing from Eriksen in his 3rd season at the club. I want to see a player who inspires panic every time he's on the ball. A player clearly brimming with confidence and self-belief to attempt the audacious - and it is the fear of the audacious that keeps the opposition in a sustained moment of tension and anxiety. You could feel it every time VDV had the ball. He and Eriksen share a number of strengths, albeit the former had a better reading of the game whereas the latter works far harder and runs more miles. I've said it before and maybe I'm asking too much but I see in Eriksen a player with all the talent and technique necessary to take a game by the scruff of the neck and simply own it. He just hasn't been doing that this year. Maybe it's a slight confidence thing - his set pieces have gone to pot. I dunno.

 

You've got a great style of writing CK.

Not sure I totally agree with your method of defining the key players (based on how much better they are than the alternative) though.

To me, it's about us becoming and staying one of the absolute leading clubs in the country. And to do that you need fantastic players. And to me - wheher we have someone who could fill in and do a decent job, or not - Dembele has shown this season that he is a fantastic player; a player worthy of any team. And to me that makes him a key player.

 

Haha although I don't have my crystal ball with me, I'm certain Alli won't be another Jeffers. I see what you say by being much better than the competition and so in that respect, maybe Rose isn't a necessity to stick on that list as I think Davies has also been very good but I would stick Mousa in the esteemed bunch, his sheer presence at times has been of massive benefit this season and I think he helps gets the best from Alli and Dier, the team this season generally plays better when he's in it than when he's not in my opinion so I'd say he's important enough to list down.

It's interesting you reference Rafa with Eriksen, I think Eriksen could well be as good (even better) than Rafa but the difference between the two is that Eriksen is much more committed to the team in terms of running back and chasing things down, Rafa was often the go-too guy in attacking positions (luxury player) and was thus always situated in a position ready for attack, Eriksen's work rate under Poch means he may not always be in that attacking space to get things going once we've won the ball, so it's a bit of a predicament as to whether Poch gives him more of a free roam without much chasing back duties in which he may flourish more but would the team? Or does he keep it the way he's going as the team in general is playing outstanding due to everyone's work rate and moving as one but it may mean he doesn't excel and standout like we we'd hope. Maybe he'll find form anyway and make it work, he has had some very good games this season in fairness so it's just finding that consistency to put him in that bracket like Payet in which similar to what you say, causes fear and havoc amongst opposition, because he's certainly more than capable of doing that.

 

Winks following in Onomah's footsteps by signing a new contract just 6 months after his previous one.

 

Another good bit of info for the club, N'Jie is reportedly back training with the side, ideal timing what with the business end of the season. With internationals coming up he could be ready to play after them, his pace against fatigued legs could be absolutely vital.

 

We’ve always thought of Eriksen in the VDV role, and now I’m wondering if he isn’t more like Modric. The problem is that Moussa Dembélé is Alli’s first pick for five a side because "you can’t tackle him."

It’s a good problem to have. In any case, VDV was a classic 10 in a way Eriksen isn’t. Another good problem to have is that he thinks the two players best suited to be coaches are Carroll and Winks. The latter knows everything about football, he says. It says a lot for how well they’ve been trained.