Like DH said i'm feeling that the whole "we have to be brave" statement early in the window should have been translated as "we're good. Don't buckle to people bidding for our players. We have some good kids". I'm interested in seeing more of Amos and Skipp in particular after the ICC tournament. Maybe Poch, who works with them every day, sees them maturing into better players than anyone we could conceivably get?
He said that last January ahead of the deal for Lucas. So wasn't even as if it was something he sprung on Levy this summer (cf. Jose Mourinho for 'how to irritate your chairman after the window has already opened")
Let's face it. It's only divisive because we all have raised expectations, and for this we have to credit Levy. We have punched above our financial weight for a while now. We all know this. I think the bigger issue has been a lack of takers for players that Pochetino was happy to offload. Hence the waiting. Rose, Sissoko, Dembele, Wanyama and Alderwiereld could have easily become Sessegnon, Zaha, N'dombele, Brosovic and De Ligt had anybody come in with healthy offers for the former players. But they didn't. Hence not much happens. To me, Grealish is icing on the cake and clearly not a player that either Levy or Poch want to spend near record fees for. I mean....£32m?!? Really??
If that is the mindset then MP is looking for any signings now to make an impact in season 2019/20 this takes pressure off the club to scrabble at all. If they are now playing the long game because we have a squad that can do it, then in the end this will make Spurs stronger.
It's a sad state of affairs but £32m now is like £10m a few seasons back. He's English, he has talent and he's young. That seems about right. Dav cost £10m more so it's not that close to record fees
Er... Dav cost £10 more but plays for his national team and was a starter at Ajax. Who are these championship player going for this much, with the exception of Sessegnon who everyone agrees is an outstanding case?
Ohhhhh I thought that was part of his being brave statement though, the brave one was after the semi defeat IIRC(?). Still Poch must've wanted early signings so that's probably a gripe for him that we've to do anything. That said, I do stand by the point that there is zero correlation to suggest early or late signings prove better (especially for Spurs), our transfers have seen success and failures of players signed both early and late in windows. I think a lot depends on where they're signed from as well, domestic ones generally shouldn't need much time, foreign ones perhaps a different matter.
I'd take both for £60 if it's possible. I think they'd integrate into the team well with all our other young England players. They're different enough players, from what i've seen, that they'd both get games
Grealish was starting in the Prem as a teenager. He lost his way a little off the field and that has cost him, but all indications suggest he's grown up considerably.
Personally I'd rather Grealish. Cook looks good but he seems a jack of all trades in that he's good at a lot of stuff but not great, which isn't bad by any means but I want someone who's more forward thinking, even if that means they're less astute defensively and that's what Grealish is.
John McGinn edging closer to a Villa move. That could be the domino we need as he's a similar player to Grealish circa 2018 - deeper playmaker with a decent record of goals and assists.
Also, don't underplay the home-grown aspect of the price of Cook/Grealish. If we buy a foreigner we have to sell a foreigner or have one that misses out on being in the CL squad
You may have missed some of my criticism of Winks since you've been gone so that's probably why I prefer Grealish to a Winks-eseque Cook.
This sums my thoughts on Grealish up pretty well.... https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...8/jack-grealish-tottenham-hotspur-aston-villa
Not about expectations, but about the potential consequences. Spurs have long been treading a fine line against the usual suspects. This summer the line now feels to me to be paper-thin.
