I definitely agree that RB and CB are where we need upgrades. I think the upgrade on Sissoko needs to be a creative player. With Skipp (presumably) back in the summer, we'll have enough ball winners but with only Ndombele so far providing any form of creativity outside of Kane, I think someone else to ease or share that burden is needed. Either one who can play alongside Hojbjerg/ Skipp with Ndombele in front, or one that plays in front of Ndombele and Hojbjerg/ Skipp. Sissoko in theory should always be a squad player for the cups, his importance has grown over the years mainly because our options have worsened therefore he's been the least worst pick. Agree on selling Lucas. Agree on selling Sanchez and playing Rodon in his place. With White coming through I'd like to finally think we can sell Winks and invest time in White now. Just like how we sold Mason to invest time in Winks. I think Hart was only signed purely for HG purposes. If we registered Gazzaniga for Europa another non-HG outfield player would've needed to be dropped like Gedson was. It's the only logical reason I can make for actually signing Hart, because if Jose signed him purely out of ability, he got that sorely wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if Doherty goes in the summer. I have a feeling he'll go, Aurier will sign a new contract (which probably won't go down too well) and we'll sign an up and comer with the aim of being the long term heir for the RB role.
Something else our team clearly needs is some physicality, because there's a weird balance for where the physicality is Forwards: Kane Attacking Mids: Lo Celso (an argument can be made for Lamela, although that's more ****ehosery) Centre Mids: Hojbjerg, Sissoko (an argument can be made for Ndombele, although he doesn't smash players off the ball, rather smashes a path through them) Defenders: ...anyone remember that famous line from the Apollo 13 mission? It's no wonder our right side is so weak when we don't have any wingers of fullbacks who can tussle with opponents without falling over almost immediately, and if the solution is to play Sissoko as an ersatz RW we're making that issue more obvious while also blunting our play going forward. On the other hand, the lack of physicality can cause issues in the centre too, for example when we were pressing from the front (and had Wanyama or Dembele available) Winks was far more proactive with his passing, but without the press and no Wanyama or Dembele protecting him he's only every going to make the percentage passes - which is fine when we're 2-0 up in the 93rd minute, a bit of a bugger when we're 1-0 up in the 75th minute and getting overrun in midfield I don't suppose Norwich's manager is dumb enough to accept cash + Doherty for Aarons in the summer?
Aurier's physical. He's very strong and good a pressuring people with it, too. His problems are elsewhere in his game.
If Aurier could concentrate he’d be a better than decent RB. He’s quick and strong but just switches off at key moments. Needs to work on his attacking output too but I could accept his inconsistency there if he wasn’t a constant worry at the back.
Physically he’s fine but the rest of his game is beyond repair. Has way too many brainfarts and errors and that won’t ever change
I'm torn on this. Still pretty pissed at how he downed tools for a year only to make a sideways move and sit on the bench every game. But then I think back further and remember the Eriksen who was the best in his position for 3 years running. And then I also remind myself that even when he downed tools, our main problem was the terminal decline of our CBs, FBs and CM. And that terminal problem still hasn't been addressed. Put an Eriksen in our current system and it'll be a colossal waste of money and talent. And that's my greatest concern. I was under the impression we signed Hojbjerg to free up our other midfielders to play more advanced. It didn't. It just allowed us to add another defensive player to an already defensive system.
All sources now jumping on Eriksen wanting to return and that his reps have contacted us. Conflicting reports though saying: We’re refusing to pay a loan fee. Jose wants him. Jose doesn’t want him. Thing is, I wanna dream of a Kane, Son, Bale and Eriksen attack, all in top form of course, supported by Hojbjerg and Ndombele but we all know Captain Crab and Sissoko are starting regardless
Lilywhite Rose also reckon that Bournemouth want to sign CCV on a permanent deal for around £750k. He’s only just started playing having been on the bench/ out the squad most weeks. There’s also talk that Marques Muir is gonna follow in Noni Madueke’s footsteps and leave us for PSV. I was gutted about losing Madueke, as like Marcus Edwards, he was one of our very best prospects and he’s now killing it in the Eredivisie this season, 6 goals and 6 assists in 15 league games so far and he’s still only 18. He’ll go for big money in a year or two I think, as will Edwards. For what it’s worth though, I’m not overly disappointed at Muir going. I’d say he’s an “ok prospect” and one that likely won’t make us regret his departure too much (famous last words!).
Bringing Eriksen back would be a big mistake (imo), he lost it with you and has never come close to getting back to what he was (which was very good but never the best in his position). Modric on the other hand was and still is a very special player, he would enhance any team.
Different players to be fair but I agree, Modric was in a different league, not just to Eriksen though, to anyone I’ve seen at Spurs. I’ll be amazed - and delighted - if I see a better midfielder play for this club again in my lifetime. He's currently the best I’ve ever seen at Spurs if I’m honest but I’d say Kane is slowly creeping up. Kane’s become so good nowadays that even when he has an ok or average game he’ll get criticised for it because the standards he’s been setting are so damn high.
I think for a couple years he was the best in the league in his position to be fair. Obviously we as a club weren’t as good as other teams but if you look at Eriksen’s individual stats when he was in the Prem, he outdone everyone in terms of creativity (chances created and assists), that includes the likes of de Bruyne/ Silva/ Ozil/ Coutinho etc who were all regarded as the best 10s in the division alongside him. In hindsight Inter was a bad move for him too. Conte doesn’t use a number 10 so he was probably doomed from the beginning. I’d say it’s a risk more so than a mistake to bring him back, though it could be a mistake if he does return as the broken player he’s looked for the last 18 months or so. If a return could give him that spark again though, we’d have some serious creativity to aid Kane and Son in the form they’re in. I’d be happy for the club to take that risk though, he’s one of my favourite players to play for Spurs and right now we’re too heavily reliant on Kane to both create and score goals.
Re Eriksen 1. Very few players returning to us (as players or managers) work out well. Successes Crouch Defoe Kaboul Average Average Sheringham Houghton ... coach C Allen ... coach Keane ( but ended up being a car crash) Car crashes Chimbonda Ossie ... manager Hoddle ... manager Pleat ... manager Bale (so far) 2. His performances were appallingly bad for his last 18 months with us bar 1 or 2 games. 3. Re signing him will not address the weakness on the right side of the team, nor will it sort out our issue in the centre of our defence. 4. Why should we rescue him from the mess of his own making?
As good as Eriksen was 'WAS' he always lacked steel and determination IMO. He was never that player to take the game by the scruff of it's neck and hew out a victory by sheer bloody mindedness. If the ball went for him he could always pick a pass but he always avoided the more physical side of the game and often went missing in big games. We lack a Dembele more than an Eriksen, just think who are the players in our team who fight and push the team to greater efforts. Kane can do that, Hojbjerg does it and Dier is always full of determination Other than them the killler instinct is missing. We also need belief from the manager that we have sufficient attacking skills to back ourselves against teams like Fulham and Crystal Palace. Eriksen is done.
1. I'm willing to overlook this as most of our disaster returnees were either past their peak years when they returned, or not very good in the first place. 2. We still don't know what was really going on behind the scenes to cause this but what worries me is that Maureen's arrival did nothing to galvanise him and he still preferred a sideways move to Inter over at least trying under a new manager here. All evidence points to the fact that whatever the reasons were, he was totally 'done' with the club. 3. 100% agreed. As i posted yesterday, the real issue with this team is not a lack of an Eriksen, it's a lack of a quality CB, RB and upgrade on Sissoko. We have more than enough attacking talent to damage most teams. 4. I still ponder on a daily basis how not a single decent club came in for Toby or Eriksen when they were available for peanuts. It bothers me to the point of an existential crisis. If those two weren't worth a £20m punt to the likes of Real, Barca, City etc, I question the fabric of reality.
His final 6 months were abysmal and the 6 months before that weren’t at his best but he wasn’t bad for 18 months. His full final season in 18/19 saw him bag 12 assists and 8 goals in the league. It was in the beginning of January that season where his form started to dip and so if you looked solely from Jan 1st he got 5 assists and 5 goals of his 12 and 8 respectively that season. If a player on the decline is still knocking out those numbers then similar to what I said about Kane last night, sometimes a player has such high expectations that even if they play “ok” or “average” - or even “poor” - by their standards they can still produce more than what an inferior player on top form can do. With regards to rescuing him, that’s not the way I believe you should look at it. Whether a player is returning to the club or simply a brand new face it should always be judged on what they can potentially bring to the team. We all hoped that Bale returning would bring an added dimension to our attack and so far that hasn’t worked. Likewise when we re-signed the likes of Defoe, Keane and Crouch, we were hoping they’d bring goals, they all did to a degree with varying levels of success (Keane being the poorest obviously in terms of overall play), it was never about rescuing them or bringing back for sentimental reasons and it never should be either, it should always be about if a club believes a particular player can add something to the team. Right now, Kane is having to play a double role because the creativity outside of him is abysmal, Lo Celso’s constantly injured, Dele isn’t playing and Ndombele is chipping in a small bit albeit we need more, therefore a playmaker should in theory ease that burden. I really want Sabitzer as most will have noticed but as Hudd said the other day, Sabitzer was never really gonna happen this window. If you look at other playmakers at the moment in Europe we probably wouldn’t be able to sign someone of similar pedigree to Eriksen on a cheap deal or a loan. If you look at other players who would likely be interested in joining us; Grealish would cost £60m+, Maddison similar to that, Isco is rumoured to be available on loan but similar to Eriksen he hasn’t enjoyed the best of times either lately and I’m pretty sure he’s on even higher wages than Eriksen, Sabitzer is likely a summer deal... there aren’t many other playmakers I can think of right now that’d want to join Spurs from their current clubs. I fully get the risk of him returning and playing like that final 6 months especially but I think to help ease/ try to ease the burden on Kane, it’s a risk worth taking, especially on a loan deal.
Some of them have made some extremely dubious transfer business over the last few seasons. Barcelona are collapsing financially, have Koeman as their manager, a lopsided squad and a Boro reject up front. I'm sure they'd have happily swapped Umtiti for Alderweireld, but they've been unable to shift him because he's a crock.
