Well this Is the test I guess. The bloke has already said that fryers and holtby by were done deals. he's been adamant. Today goal.com are saying that we are DUE to reignite out interest in moutinho. This bloke on twitter has already said that there's nothing to discuss as its all agreed. He keeps stressing that his contact has told him its down to the player and the player only. So where as goal.com are making it seem like there's a whole new round of negotiations about to happen, this guy is saying its already way past that. - that's a massive statement to keep reiterating and also be so adamant about. 2 right so far, he could well be legit. It's looking that way now.
If anyone is still wondering about Holtby's ability, I just had a word with a mate of mine who watches the Bundesliga religiously and he claims that Holtby is the real deal, primarily playing as a Number 10 or cutting in from the left. He's not a scout or ITK or anything like that but he did predict the rise of Reus a few years back. I don't think he's quite on that level yet but apparently Holtby is pretty class already and still has bags of potential. It might not mean much to you guys what he's saying but hell, I trust his opinion for what it's worth. Just thought it'd be interesting to share the views of someone who watches the German League like we watch the Prem. I do wonder if we'll get another creative mid in this window now though, now we have a young prospect coming in the summer. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
yeah I didn't want to mention his name. apparently he's had loads of abuse (which twitter is also terrible for) and there was no proof he was wrong either. I juts thought it'd be harsh to potentially add more fuel to the fire. - Not that I'd expect you lovely t people to do anything of the sort! He's now saying that there's a big interest in Will Hughes of Derby. nothing at all concrete yet, but we've been asked to keep informed of his situation.
Definitely one of the funnier tweets I've read: "Spurs will announce signing of Leonardo Damian from Inter Milan on Monday. You heard it here first."
Was it a genuine person or one of the ITK accounts? ... Not that it makes any difference. I reckon we'll get moutinho in the next week or two, if all is to be believed (pretty accurate so far) and damiao could be the jan 31st levy adrenalin rush. Apparently Ade is going to the acons...
I would almost argue we don't really need Moutinho anymore. We're almost overstocked on midfielders now! What we need is a striker - especially if Ade goes to ACON. Damiao would be good, albeit unproven. Llorente is off to Juve if you believe the reports and Huntelaar has just signed a new contract so that's that one gone too. We could do worse than sign Damiao I think - if Rossi were fit I'd say go for him but he's still injured I think.
I still think we're desperate for a moutinho type. We don't have another dembele and he will offer us that, as well as being versatile enough to play other roles in midfield. Livermore and hudd aren't good enough going forward IMO. Carroll is still young, Dempsey is a wider player or back up striker, sig is a central attacking type and Parker and sandro are 100% defensive. We have been out of ideas with out dembele and need to have someone of moutinho's calibre. As we're taking cups seriously, its going to potentially mean a lot of games and he will be an improvement on many of those midfielders mentioned. We can't say no to that. The modric/ Vdv hole still hasn't been 100% fillled successfully. He's that man, for me. - having large numbers of midfielders is no good if the quality isn't quite there, or you're still missing a piece of the puzzle, IMO.
I agree with most of that except the bit about Parker and Sandro being 100% defensive. Much of what both these players do is enabling attack and both are not averse to joining those attacks. No doubt you were just making a point but as it's a good one I think it's worth tying up the ends.
For me we need this extra playmaking influence (ie a Moutinho or Eriksen type) because we have struggled to break down certain teams (Stoke etc.) playing 4-4-2, but we don't have the personnel to effectively play 4-2-3-1, which would allow us to have another creative passer of the ball (something we currently lack despite Dembele's influence) in the team to facilitate the effective use of this formation. Holtby would have been interesting to see arriving in January in this respect.
I agree we need another creative player, someone who can maintain possession of the ball whilst going forward. Imagine a midfield of bale, sandro, holtby, moutinho and lennon. Dembele coming on for an extra attacking push, obviously with dembeles dodgy hip. Alternatively, avb could start Dembele and take him off at the 60-70 min mark, then bang on holtby as hes still young and unproven in the prem!!
Hi spurf. When I said 100% defensive, I didn't literally mean they are incapable of joining attacks, I meant that they will never get used in midfield playing any other role. Their primary role will always be the defensive breaking up type. - hard to write so much detail, the iPhone app isn't great!!
Lilly, I have a feeling that in the near future we won't have an obvious "starting 11". Next season I think we'll have an attitude of trying to win every competition we're in. Now that's extremely likely to happen lol, but we'll certainly be taking everything seriously. - that means tonnes of games. Every player will get 1 game a week pretty much and there will be a lot of rotation, much like we've seen this season. AVB will be picking players based on their attributes for that particular opposition, IMO. If that is the attitude we are taking towards those competitions, we're going to need a versatile squad. The plan seems to be coming together nicely at the moment.
With Jake on the way out (loan or perm), Hudd really not up to the level and Carroll nothing more than a prospect at this time, that leaves Sandro and Parker as the only two frontline CM/DM's. Their opportunity to provide attacking options is really limited. (I put Dembele in a different bracket altogether) So the need for that playmaker MF is vital if we are going to at least maintain our PL position. Moutinho is the logical answer - he is available, apparently at a price that is acceptable, is a fan of AVB and would be able to hit the ground running this season. If personal terms are the sticking point then maybe it's time to reconsider our wage caps?
Spot on, if not 100% defensive , at least 85% defensive. A truly creative player in the centre, is the way forward , and the Spurs way.
