I'm not sure that we need to get someone in who's better than Defoe, but we certainly need someone who'll compete for his place. Rodallega from this weekend's opponents Wigan might be an idea, as he's playing for a side that play decent football and he's capable of playing up top on his own. His contract expires in the summer too, I believe, so we'd probably be able to pick him up fairly cheaply.
PNP - Perhaps this is just my estimation of Defoe but I can't imagine Spurs actively wanting to sign someone who doesn't clearly look to be an improvement. We all know what it's like when he stops scoring and you're left thinking "Sorry - WHAT does Defoe do again?". Decent EPL striker but too one-dimensional and inconsistent. And for someone who's nothing but a goal-scorer he really doesn't score that many and rarely against decent defences.
Well i think we all hope Pav will go and 10mil would be great a return for a him atm.I see we've been linked with a few players,one who we could afford and wants to leave is Eder of Academica Coimbra.He looks a bit like Ade,and plays in a similar way and at 23 can improve.Also he is a realistic option.
I know it's not good PNP,but sometimes Spurs have to be realistic,with our wage cap and no CL we will always have a problem if we get in a transfer fight with another club, who will pay far higher wages.
That's the price we pay for having a natural goal-scorer who has nothing else in his game. It's one of the reasons why we'll be so deadly in front of goal this season, with both Defoe and Ade in the squad. Both are superb finishers, but Ade (having the better football brain) can pick and choose whether he or Defoe are best placed to take the shot, every time he sets up a goal-scoring chance. Neither Pav nor Crouch had the ability to do that for us, which is why we were so shocking last season. Having said that, Defoe does, on his day, have the ability to create something from nothing, as his goal against LFC proved. The way he turned the defender would was reminiscent of King Kenny himself, in his heyday.
I don't agree. Neither of them, nor Defoe for that matter, is suited to the lone striker role, which is why we struggled so badly. In the previous season, when we played two up front, Defoe scored 24 goals. Crouch was instrumental in that and he was important to our creativity last season too, making 9 assists last season and 7 the previous one. A lot of them were simple knock-downs or flick ons, but he was involved in a lot of our goals.
Not bad atm though. Liga Sagres Top Scorers 2011/12 PLAYER CLUB GOALS Baba Maritimo 5 Eder Academica 4 Oscar Cardozo Benfica 4 Nolito Benfica 4 Edgar Vitoria Guimaraes 4 Hulk FC Porto 3 Wolfswinkel Sporting 3 James Rodriquez FC Porto 3 Michel Pacos de Ferreira 3 Izmailov Sporting 3
I dunno. His league record is played 360, scored 132. That's not great. If he's giving you little else besides. I just think that in midfield we have some very, very good players and it's not being overly ambitious to aim for better than someone who is basically a very fine mid-table striker. Hey! I don't mean to run Defoe down too badly - I seriously think he can have a part to play this year. He's just not as good a striker as Modric, Parker, Sandro are CMs. He's not as good a striker as Bale is a winger. Etc. it's still a weak point in the team is what I'm saying. And if you're going to bring in fresh blood you surely have to be aiming to sign better than what you have.
He's scored 7 league goals in 3 seasons and 67 appearances though, Pat. I don't see how we'd get a work permit for him either, as he's from Guinea-Bissau, who are ranked 147th in the world and he has no caps for them. Ta, HIAG.
Yes I expect Pav to be sold in January, and hopefully Leandro replaces him (that guy looks the business in the few clips I have seen). Pav has never really set WHL alight, we`ve seen the odd moment of brilliance but overall his contribution has been average at best.
Couldn't agree more SOS. It'll be interesting to see ade's thought on us come the end of the season. He's said alot about wanting to play football regularly and be treated with respect. He's certainly got a lot of chance getting that at spurs, so it'll be interesting to see just how happy he is here at the end of the season and whether what he's earning really matters that much to him. Maybe he'll realize (if all goes well) that tottenham have revived his career and he'll join on a permanent deal. However, with Ade's past... It'd doubt it. It could just be a stepping stone to a "big club". If pav leaves, we'll def get another striker in Jan, as well as a defender like Gary Cahill. We Need to consistently be playing good football and show a lot of promise by Jan in order to attract players. With our current squad, thats easily possible.