What's becoming remarkably bloody irritating is that, in the case of both Pereira and Foyth, the reporting is the same: there's some sites who say we're in negotiations, some sites saying that we're crossing the Ts and dotting the lower case Js...and some that say we were never in for either player in the first place. The obvious issue is this means that people listen to whichever fits their agenda. Case in point there's a Spurs blog out there called Harry Hotspur that seems to be run by the sort of miserable git that usually sits two rows behind you and moans about the same player every single game - the difference being that, rather than moan about a player, the blog seems to exist solely to kvetch about Levy and will seize on any opportunity they can get, or better yet engineer. In terms of those two deals, my thoughts break down thus... Pereira: I sincerely ****ing hope we've got someone lined up, because (as I said elsewhere) while I believe Tripper is the perfect RB to have when New RB beds in, I'm a lot less happy if he's first choice and we're throwing KWP in at the deep end Foyth: While the description of him being an Argentine John Stones is enough to fill most people with horror, with Estudientes needing to sell it's a very Levy deal - although I expect his introduction will be slow given the Argentine season finished in June and, on top of that, Estudientes played six Copa Libertadores games in April/May plus they started the Copa Sudamericana last week
Going back to Barklay, don't ask me why but he reminds of a VdV type of role. Experienced, playing in the centre front rather than behind, good playmaker and ball skills and can turn matches. Yes, I AM a fan of his.
You've described VDV to a 't' - now try Barklay, cos he sure ain't experienced and has seldom turned matches......
All the evidence regarding Foyth is that he'll barely feature this season anyway. I wouldn't even be surprised if it ends up as one of those "loaned back for 6-12months" deals. IMO this is just a deal that we can get on with at the moment, whilst we continue to wait for things to settle. Then we'll attempt to sign the players who we hope will improve the squad right now. My concern is that the market is all over the place and the "waiting for things to settle" part won't actually materialise.
The way Sandro came into the team seems like a good rule of thumb: a few cameos between August and January as he gets settled in, becoming more regular in the second half of the season if we need to rotate. Either that or, like Wimmer's first season, he'll be a starter in our cup games.
You know what? I wouldn't mind Naz at the club, as I think he could a decent job for..." Hang on... WTF am I saying!
it's being reported that Foyth needs a work permit. That could be a significant problem given his lack of senior football. An Italian grandparent would come in handy. With Barkley, part of me wants a club to say "**** it, we're not selling on the cheap. Spend a season with the stiffs and leave for nothing.See if we care." They won't and they won't get anywhere near £50m either. Football has gone mad but only West Ham are that mental and Barkley's World Cup hopes would be better off if he played U23 for Everton
It'd seem that way. Although, this lad is a bit younger than both you mention (relative to when they signed), and has had little experience compared to them. To be adequate cover (should we sell Wimmer) this guy is gonna have to really step up.
The other week I suddenly remembered that I wanted Dembele sold a few seasons ago. It was weird. Like as if it must have been the thoughts of another person - I remembered saying it and thinking it but it felt so distant. It was was with a grudging sort of "Look - we all know how good he could be but he just doesn't do it". And then Poch got hold of the team... Oh! I remember thinking that Danny Rose was average at best too! That was before Poch came to the club. Basically I think that with every player there's the "Before they've been coached by Poch" version and the "After they've been coached by Poch" version. All of our players have improved under him, haven't they? **** - I wouldn't even put it past him to get something useful out of Sissoko. Not kidding. Surely a big strong lad who can run in a straight line so long as the ball's nowhere near his feet must have some advantages in certain situations (I know that the ball thing is pretty critical but then again I'm not a football coach).
To an extent, yes. However, Dembele had five PL seasons under his belt prior to Poch taking over - he was 27 years old and supposedly at his 'peak'. In reality, he was a bang average player who clearly had bags of talent but just as clearly had no idea how or when to use said talent. It is clear that Poch has shown him both as the difference is night and day. Kyle Walker is another example that disproves your theory. Magnificent in his breakthrough season under Harry - played almost every game and deservedly became (and remains) the only defender to have won the YPOTY award in the PL era (Tony Adams was the last one, 3 years before Walker was even born). Then his form nosedived under AVB and got even worse under Sherwood. I would even go so far as to say that in the 2013-14 season prior to Poch's arrival, he was comfortably one of the most calamitous players in the league. Every time he got the ball in our own half my heart was in my mouth. Missed huge chunks of the 2014-15 season through various injuries and to be honest, quite a few of us were expecting him to be sold at the end of Poch's first season and there is every possibility that Trippier was initially signed with precisely this in mind. Fast forward two years, another PFA team of the year award and £50m in our bank account, and that tells its own story.
Come now Diego, when am I ever rude or sarcastic to you? To add to my reply: I think there is a group of players who have benefitted from Poch in more subtle ways, and in their cases it could well be that the natural progression of experience has helped them to mature into better players rather than any specific input from the manager. Eriksen, Jan and Hugo all showed real signs of quality before he turned up, and have been building on that quality ever since. There is even a case to be made here about Harry Kane, as it was really Sherwood who gave him his chance in the first team and his ability was immediately apparent.
One report is saying Juan Foyth will be going into our U23s Meanwhile, if you squint, you'll see some familiar names on the list of our first-year scholars That's the sons of Maxwell Staham and Maximus Tanio, yet another of our long list of Maghomas, and the borther of Samuel Shashoa...and apparently a superhero from a 1930s radio serial.
Sorry? I don't think that Maxwell Statham's any relation to the former diver, is he? Maurizio is Pochettino's imaginatively named kid, while Tainio went all Roman for Maximus. And just because it's still funny:
