Fraudiola says that de Bruyne and Foden won't be available this weekend Obviously they're trying to force a move to us, because they want to win trophies instead of happen upon them...
Agree with all that. I just fear we won’t move enough of the dross. Winks supposedly reluctant to leave despite being told he won’t play much. Dele is back in the team again judging by pre-season… Yaaay. Similar with Dier, more so that he’s been captain in a number of games. I reckon Sissoko is the only one we can seemingly expect to go sooner or later. Possibly Sanchez if Sevilla or an other come in for him. The rest are just gonna hold us down like an anchor and continue to halt our progression.
I said months ago it would be a miracle if in a deflated market we managed to shift more than 6/7 senior players, so that's the benchmark I'm hoping for. We've shifted 3 (not counting Foyth). I really hope Aurier and Sissoko can be sold. Beyond them it's anyone's guess. Losing his mates might convince Ndombele to cancel his own contract which would be lovely.
I’d say we’ve only shifted two (presuming Hart was your third but I don’t think he was a necessity to shift, was on a cheap deal and could’ve been a decent 3rd choice for a year) and that’s Toby and Lamela, typically both were also two of the higher calibre deadwood players. We’ve still got the true, dross calibre deadwood like Winks, Sissoko etc and they’re the ones I want out most, the ones that offer pretty much nothing other than eye gauging performances and lowering the average squad quality level. Though I suppose it’s natural to find it tougher to sell those, more so when one is supposedly reluctant to leave
I think Sanchez will leave on loan with an option to buy, I can't see Sevilla spending decent money on someone who has looked as bad as Sanchez without seeing him first hand. Nuno should be forcing Dier out, he is an absolute liability. I'm a little bit worried about the amount of game time he has had and the lack of game time for Rodon.
I think it depends on if they sell Kounde to Chelsea or not. If they do then I’d imagine Fabio/ Levy would want a permanent sale of Sanchez knowing they have the funds. Yeah I think Dier’s here to stay, featured in most games and captained in them too, hard to see us then selling him. Hopefully Rodon can force himself in with more time with Nuno though.
Yeah I guess Hart plus Foyth could count as a third. Then there's also CCV who i would have thought would be long gone by now after a solid season on loan but despite widely reported interest from a variety of teams there's been nothing concrete. Ultimately very few teams have cash to spare so why take a risk on tripe like Aurier and Sissoko when you can take the same risk for free next summer? I'm hoping we at least manage to loan them out to save on their wages and clear some non HG spots but honestly I'm not particularly optimistic at the moment. The financial situation is truly dire and there hasn't exactly been a queue of interested clubs. I agree, Sanchez on a loan with an option to buy is pretty likely especially if Kounde moves. Beyond that, it doesn't look like Dele is going anywhere, nor is Winks or Tanguy Fivebellies. Portuguese managers seem to have some sort of inexplicable fetish for Dier. Which leaves 2 clowns in the final year of their contracts. Hmmm.
I think we need a bit of lateral thinking with Ndombele. Can look brilliant on the pitch and offers something very different to anything else we have but doesn't have the stamina to last 90 minutes. So why not use him off the bench for 15 to 30 minutes a game? Might get a decent return on that. Not ideal but surely no-one will pay more than £20m for him and that is nowhere near enough to get someone better.
I don't think Winks, Sanchez or Dier are anything like as bad as people think. Probably only £20m value each but we would need to pay twice that to get someone who is pretty certain to be better. Even Aurier and Sissoko are perfectly good squad players but they are definitely where we need an upgrade. Doherty is also in that category for me as has shown nothing since he arrived.
They really are though; that's why people think it. I would add Dele in there too. And using the words "perfectly good" in the same sentence as Aurier and Sissoko, unless followed by some kind of pejorative is most definitely a no-no.
Sissoko and Aurier are the two I’m absolutely desperate to see the back of, closely followed by Dier, Sanchez and Winks.
Sissoko - 202 Spurs games, 5 goals and 16 assists. Winks - 173 Spurs games, 4 goals and 4 assists. Whilst stats don’t always tell the whole story, it’s pretty painful reading, especially the latter’s. Madness they’ve played so much for this football club.
Madness would have played a damn sight better. I hear Suggs is quite useful with the ball at his feet.
If a player supposedly at the peak of their career is only worth £20m, even a squad player, they aren't even close to being good enough for a club that apparently aspires to regular CL football and major trophies. If your young future potential stars or your older players coming to the end of their careers are worth circa £20m, you're doing just fine. The troubles start when huge chunks of your 25-30 year old 'core' simply aren't up to standard. And that includes Sissoko, Aurier, Winks, Dier, Dele, Sanchez and Doherty. This has been our single biggest problem for the past 2 years: the players supposedly at the 'top' of their game in terms of age, experience and fitness is the same as the list of the worst players at the club, with the exception of Kane and Son. Enough is enough.
Hojbjerg gave away about ten goals last season but that isn't noticed by anyone. Winks and Sissoko don't make many mistakes. The last ten times they started together we got 21 points which is CL form. Dont have the info to look back further.
I counted them as it happened starting with the two in the Everton FA Cup game and got to six. I doubt he was better in the first half of the season.
It's not that they're not up to standard, it's that they regressed - and that is a very different set of circumstances I vaguely recall having this conversation a couple of years ago regarding Danny Rose, who at the time was supposed to be at his peak but he'd clearly gone backwards to his LAdPCeVB-era form due to the combination of injuries and his motivation all but disappearing And how many of that list can have similar said about them? Dele's edge has clearly been blunted by his injury problems between 2016-18, Winks has definitely lost something as he plays like someone terrified of picking up another ankle injury (and yet spent three seasons miscast as a DM), and while it's true that Doherty was hardly setting the right flank alight when he arrived he definitely came back from his dose of Covid playing like somebody ten years older than he is Realistically that list is only damning of Aurier, Sissoko and Dier: Aurier has been given plenty of playing time in the last couple of seasons yet frankly is at the point of asking why we don't make a cheeky bid for Trippier this summer; Sissoko has always been as likely to cause greatness or chaos but the last season or two have had little to no greatness as if he used up all his greatness in the 2018-19 season; Dier simply isn't suited for any role in our team at this point as his passing is not good enough for him to be a DM while as a CB he's better suited for a low block which the remainder of the team are not, neither of which were an issue between 2014-17 but became problems later on As a result we were hit with three problems simultaneously i.) A batch of our players regressing at the same time, because as well as that aforementioned list we also had Dembele and Wanyama falling apart at the same time, Lamela's injury problems effectively ruling him out as a starter, and Vertonghen's levels started to drop soon after ii.) Certain players not getting the required game time to bring them up to speed, notably KWP and Foyth while arguments can also be made for Sanchez and Skipp iii.) There was definitely an attitude of "Our team was good last season, why change it?" which effectively prevented us refreshing the squad, for example in 2017 we could've made £80m at least from selling Danny Rose and Eric Dier and reinvested that into the squad (and, as I always point out, we could've signed Andrew Robertson and Harry Maguire for £20m combined in the summer of 2017, so imagine what the remaining £60m+ could have done) but we stuck with what we had and, typically, the following season is where the regression began
