Personally I'd prefer a CM capable of getting assists rather than goals, because one of the main flaws with our squad is we're overly reliant on Eriksen to create something from nothing when we need somebody deep who can unlock a defence with a through ball that plays Son or Lucas in - which is why Ndombele and/or Tielemans should be topping our wishlist as they're both capable of this
If Real were to offer a player swap deal Eriksen for Bale and the latter was open to a wage cut. Wid ye?
It's pretty damn worrying all round in the league this season based on the stats c/o Transfermarkt Moussa Sissoko - 0 goals, 2 assists Harry Winks - 1 goal, 0 assists Eric Dier - 2 goals, 0 assists Victor Wanyama - 0 goals, 0 assists Mousa Dembele - 0 goals, 0 assists Oliver Skipp - 0 goals, 0 assists Luke Amos - 0 goals, 0 assists How damning? Well here's the stats for our centre backs... Toby Alderweireld - 0 goals, 0 assists Jan Vertonghen - 1 goal, 0 assists Davinson Sanchez - 1 goal, 1 assist Juan Foyth - 1 goal, 0 assists My biggest surprise is that, unlike previous seasons, Toby hasn't got any assists from his chipped pass from the back that Dele usually gets on the end of
Probably not. I wouldn't be against Bale coming back but not a straight swap for Eriksen. His injury record makes it a less attractive deal to swap our most creative player for someone who might only be available for about 25-30 out of roughly 50 games a season. I'd rather Isco for Eriksen. Then if a separate deal for Bale was doable from our perspective, why not.
I whoieheartedly agree, those two if we get those two midfielders, I'd be prepared to put a cheeky outside bet on us winning the....... ....except, can't we have/expect both goals and assists from our CMs?
I think I put a similar looking side in a thread I made a month or so back, but my ideal (and realistic) looking Spurs XI for next season if we're taking into account the likely losses of Toby and Eriksen, would be something like: Gazza AWB, Dave, Jan, Rose* Tielemans, Sissoko/ Dier, Alli Zaha, Kane, Son * Would like Chilwell but don't 'hate' our current LB options. Pace at FB. Creativity (Tielemans), power (Sissoko or Dier) and goals (Alli) in midfield. Skill and pace (Zaha and Son) flanking Kane. If we signed those three I'd be a happy man. Anything else would then be bonuses with regards to the squad.
Not really, considering the form of the various (top level...) ones we're linked with (and a couple I'm throwing in for comparison's sake and/or thinking we should just sign Lyon's central midfield and be done with it) Tanguy Ndombele - 0 goals, 6 assists Youri Tielemans - 7 goals, 5 assists (5 and 1 at Monaco, 2 and 4 at Leicester) Donny van de Beek - 8 goals, 8 assists Houssem Aouar - 7 goals, 3 assists Sander Berge - 0 goals, 3 assists Andre Gomes - 1 goal, 1 assist Jean Michael Seri - 1 goal, 3 assists Mateo Kovacic - 0 goals, 2 assists Florian Grillitsch - 0 goals, 3 assists Adrien Rabiot - 1 goal, 2 assists Stanislav Lobotka - 0 goals, 1 assist By and large with central midfielders it's one or the other, with the best example being Lyon's midfield where Ndombele bulldozing through midfield creates space for Fekir and Aouar to get into scoring positions which they wouldn't be in if they had a water carrier next to them - while van de Beek's stats come as a result of being part of the killing machine that is Ajax's midfield
I’m much along the same lines wanting us to do something like this (long post ahead I’m afraid): Gazza AWB Dave Jan Rose New CM Dier Alli New RW Kane Son I’ve only specified AWB above because he’s the truly standout option that we probably all agree on. For CM options I think we’ll need two, one of the top tier non-HG signings plus Grealish would be my wish list. For RW, we either need to buy young and HG (Bowen, the rapid Welsh kid) and trust Moura to start, or buy a top class one and a HG one. Zaha isn’t someone I want us to go after. Overall we need a keeper (two if we don’t want to promote Whiteman), a CB, a RB, two CMs, a RW, and probably a backup striker if we don’t convince Llorente to stay another year, or give Janssen another shot. I’m happy with our LB options, though I know that isn’t a view everyone shares. So 2 or 3 starters, the rest is depth.
[QUOTE="LockStock, post: 12712944, member: 1010269" can't we have/expect both goals and assists from our CMs?[/QUOTE] My point (above) exactly!
Teilmans and Ndombele it is then! I'd love to see how our CM's compare to this, per season, going back all the way to say, 81. I don't suppose you happen to have such stats to hand do you? Surely Modric did more than this. I imagine. Just. Maybe. (What do I know? )
Modric's season-on-season stats 2008-9: 3 goals, 9 assists 2009-10: 3 goals, 4 assists 2010-11: 3 goals, 2 assists 2011-12: 4 goals, 6 assists Of course, the central midfield was more straightforward: as VDV said in an interview a couple of months back, team talks consisted of "Pass it to Luka" so he had his role, Parker/Palacios/Sandro were there to kill anything that moved, and there was a nippy winger on each flank for an out ball
