Fair enough I thought they could have took him in January and apparently he’s struggling for game time at Betis so could have been got if Spurs still wanted him.
Erm. Ange has had 4 windows to overhaul / rebuild an entire squad whose wheels were being held together by Son, Kane, and some Gaffa tape for years. Players also had to leave. They haven't even all gone yet. Dembele probably fits your description. Name one midfield player that we've brought in since he left that has come anywhere close. They are not easy to find, and even harder to convince to switch to a team being held together by string and losing their best players to age, mental health issues and 'bigger' teams, especially with no CL football. The focus on youth makes sense in that regard, but only for the long term. A midfield three of Sarr, Gray and Bergvall may well be top draw in a few years, and if we had waited for them to age before signing them, they may well all have better options or already be at bigger teams. The idea that all this change was meant to happen with no dip in form or results is highly optimistic, even if we had half the injuries to key players. I expect us to at least attempt signing Cardoso and Gomes in the summer. Neither of which were prepared to leave earlier for various reasons.
Yes 4 windows to sign that all important DM that you seem to think will transform the whole team. Cardoso (not Cardozo) can’t even get game time for Betis so not sure if Spurs will go for him in the summer. Which Gomes? Angel Gomes on a free? Wonder why Spurs are interesting in him
Scarlett is cup tied I believe? Maybe Kulu doesn’t start but he’s going to have to play at some point I think. He’s our best player and we need him. Clear week ahead too and a Sunday game so I’d suspect that some of those that have played serious minutes (Kulu, Gray, Son) might get a few days off at the start of the week just to give them some proper rest.
Going back as far as 1984, the pattern for a Spurs manager who pushes on from his predecessor is : 1. retains much of the inherited squad 2. makes a few (not wholesale) significant additions and the 'two year rule' correspondingly seems to hold. Ange has not done #2, has he.
Gonna play devils advocate ... 1976-77 Spurs 2 Wrexham 3 ( 3rd Division) cup Derby 8 Spurs 2 Everton 4 Spurs 0 Man City 5 Spurs 0 West Ham 5 Spurs 3 West Brom 4 Spurs 2 Drew and lost v Arsenal Relegated 1977/78 Luton 4 Spurs 1 Millwall 3 Spurs 1 Scraped up via a draw on last game of the season... on Goal difference 1978/79 Spurs 1 Villa 4 Liverpool 7 Spurs 0 Spurs 0 Arsenal 5 Spurs1 Swansea 3 (league Cup) 3rd div Spurs 1 Altringham 1 (fa cup) non league Spurs 3 Wrexham 3 (fa cup) 2nd div Arsenal beat us home and away Finished 11th 1979/80 Forest 4 spurs 0 United 4 spurs1 Spurs 1 boro 3 Norwich 4 Spurs 0 Southampton 5 Spurs 2 Arsenal beat us home and away Finished 14th No way would Burkinshaw (our then manager) have been given time to go on to build that great early 80s team if it were today.
Ange ain’t no Burkinshaw. Nor could the club afford to get relegated or even be in the wilderness for 2 more seasons after this one. Money these days forces clubs to make decisions quicker than back in the day.
All that talk of 1990s Spurs managers here, seems to have pushed Ange to go a bit Ossie. Or he believes this is his last game so has gone full "echoes of glory" .
If we could regen Dembele and put him in this squad it would go a very long way to transforming the whole team, especially when fit players return. Dembele alongside Gray might actually be an improvement. I hear we are also after this Rios fella in the summer. Could be exactly what we need. Ironically, this is the advantage of having a stadium and infrastructure that doesn't rely on the football for income. 'Beyonce and her fans' don't care what division the team is in, they will buy their tickets at full price regardless. Maybe we need to be relegated for some fans to actually appreciate that aspect. Plus the ticket prices for the actual football matches will be lower too. Win-win.
