Tielemans, Ndombele and Grealish please. No messing about Levy. Do it. What's this I hear about us trying to swap Rose for Dinge with Everton? I know the Director of Football wanted to leave earlier and go north, but I thought he was back to enjoying Spurs!
GKN's loan has gone so well that I'm willing to accept Kevin N'Doram as a surrogate, given N'Doram at least gets into matchday squads...
I’d take the Belgian and Super Jack but we wouldn’t need Ndombele on top of that and also, tbh, he’s probably the most likely to be subject to a bidding war out of the three, and we won’t be winning one of them. Haven’t heard of a Rose/Digne swap but I wouldn't do it. I know not everyone wants to forgive Danny but I have, and you can see how much it means for him to be here. He shows more fighting spirit than many of the other players combined.
I still don't understand the implication that a lot of our players lack spirit. Didn't you watch the Ajax and Man City CL ties. Every player gave his all.
Yeah they did in those games, you’re absolutely right. Rose is a real fighter in general though, we’ve seen that in his game for years now. I like that. If the whole team showed that CL spirit over the course of a league season we would win the title. Maintaining that intensity is the big step up the players and coaches need to make now, because aside from having more quality in their first XIs and throughout the squad than we do, that mentality is what has set Liverpool and City apart this season.
In both of those ties we were primarily the underdog and as I and one or two others have said in the past, as underdogs we tend to do well because there's less pressure on us and we seem to play with more freedom because of that, but when we're favorites and the pressure is on, we seem to more often than not take a tumble, it's as if the players struggle with expectation and this is something that needs changing. This side could likely really do with a Gallas and/ or a Davids right about now.
Yeah Tielemans and Grealish would be great signings for this squad. I like the look of Ndombele from what I've seen but I think there's a lot of similarities with Sissoko and so I'd ideally want someone with different strengths. For all of Sissoko's assets, he lacks a real eye for vision (as does Winks, Dier & Wanyama) and so that's something we need to bring in, which both Tielemans and Grealish have in abundance. Agree on the Rose/ Digne swap too. Whether I've forgiven Rose or not isn't part of my thought process, it's more to do with the point that he seems to be rediscovering his form from the years of 2014-2017 and that was the Rose that was often seen as England's best LB. I'd now happily say that for this summer at least, LB shouldn't be a position to worry about. RB, CM as the primary objectives. Eriksen and Toby replacements next in line. Then another wide forward (to replace Lamela) as the cherry on top.
Ndombele is Sissoko with end product, notably passing and through balls, so would be an upgrade - and with Sissoko turning 30 this summer, he can't be expected to have seasons like the one he just had a year or two from now Similar can be said for Gedson Fernandes, although he'd be rotating with Sissoko if brought in while Ndombele would replace him
I think Fernandes is the option for that reason - plus Ndombele is the bigger name and more likely to be poached ahead of us by those with deeper pockets. If we can steal in for Fernandes that would be ideal.
Wouldn't exactly say he's got much end product at the moment, neither player has envious stats on assists/ goals. Younger, yes, with potentially a higher ceiling but Sissoko is more than worthy of his place in the side. I don't really see the point in looking to upgrade on him right now when there's more pressing concerns. If we sign Ndombele then great, he certainly looks a top player but signing him still likely means we need someone with more creativity. Fernandes would probably be a better option. He can learn and rotate with Sissoko which is more ideal and likely to cost half of what Ndombele will so allows us to focus on other areas rather than blowing a lot of our likely budget on someone who probably isn't needed right this moment.
I don't understand any kind of deliberation on Ndombele. He is an upgrade on Dembele!!! He has Yaya Toure stature and presence. He can assist. Sissoko, IMHO, was always best suited as a backup to Dembele, not a replacement! I thought that when we bought him, and I still think that now. As great as he has been for us, he operates at the level which should be expected of backup players, at our current level. Especially with his age.
It’s far too early to say he’s an upgrade on either Dembele or Sissoko at the moment until he kicks a ball in the Prem. I disagree that Sissoko has performed as a backup this season, he’s single handedly carried the midfield. We wouldn’t have finished top four and reached the CL final if without him. Ultimately I have no qualms whatsoever if Ndombele joins, he looks a very good player but just pointing out that if we have X amount to spend and Ndombele would likely take up a large chunk of that, I’d lean more towards bringing in say Tielemans and Grealish/ Fernandes for the same price as Ndombele and then focus on areas like RB/ WF etc. Especially as Sissoko and Ndombele are similar types of player and therefore bringing in the likes of Tielemans gives us a different dimension.
Sissoko is a basic CM beast (difficult to out-muscle - especially when he has a head of steam going) . Dembele has far more finesse in his passing, and tis that which Spurs are seeking to replace.
His twin brother made their bench yesterday. It's been suggested in the past that any deal would include him, for some reason.
Stats for all competitions this season Sissoko: Goals 0 Assists 4 Ndombele: Goals 2 Assists 7 Fernandes: Goals 1 Assists 2 The key thing is that both Ndombele and Fernandes have over both Sissoko (and Dembele for that matter) is at the end of their runs they're capable of a defence-splitting pass, while Sissoko's passing is as sideways as Dembele's was, and there's no way we're coaching that out of him
That’s why I’d rather Tielemans. 3 goals and 5 assists in the Prem alone and he’s only played half a season. For £70-ish-m, it seems a lot of money to just marginally upgrade Sissoko on. £40-ish-m can bag us Tielemans and then there’s £30m for another CM if we like. I don’t think upgrading Sissoko should be seen as a priority at the moment either. Upgrading the creative CM role, which is basically non-existent, is. If there’s money in the bank for both Tielemans and Ndombele, well that’s another story and would probably send us into a bit of a meltdown.
Hilariously titled article: https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/barcelona-ready-challenge-tottenham-hotspur-ajax-youngster
