Seconded. Give the kid a chance, for Christ's sake. He's hardly had 5 minutes in football terms to settle in and get used to a new club, system, league, and country.
U-21 level is nothing like the Prem though TJ. Not that I'm comparing them but I remember watching Carlton Cole at U21 level years ago and thinking ****ing hell this guys' amazing . Francis Jeffers has the most goals at U21 level for England. A player looking good at U21 level needs to do the business at senior and quite frankly so far, Holtby hasn't done that. Holtby's shown potential to be one of the best players in the world?! You mention that the "Carroll love in is a joke" and that he's not that good yet come out with a statement like that... That's just ludicrous. And I never said Carroll was better, I said Carroll had performed better in the cameos he had. Neither player is ready for first team, I agree but I'd rather see us give chances when available to a player we've nurtured for years than someone who hasn't shown much in his time here. It depends on the situation the sub is being made, if we're chasing a goal with 10/15 minutes to go, you'd honestly say you'd chose Holtby and Carroll before Dempsey? Sig I can understand, he plays a similar role but I know for a fact that if Spurs are a goal behind then one of the people I'd like to bring on is someone with an eye for goal.
The problem is where are these chances going to come from? He didn't break into the team last season and when he played it wasn't impressive. We've signed Paulinho and Chadli, both who can actually affect his chances ofr first team football even more. When you look at the pecking order for midfielders in the team, I'd say it's going to go: Paulinho, Sandro, Dembele. With Sigurdsson, Huddlestone, Parker, Holtby, Carroll, Livermore all vying as the players to compete. It's all well and good saying give him another season but I don't see how he can impress when there's a good chance his appearances will be limited. It's not as though the likes of Sandro, Dembele and Paulinho are nearing the end of the careers either to the point where Holtby is then bled into the team. Holtby is like a Pienaar version 2. Came in January with high expectations, didn't impress and then chances became limited from then on due to other players taking their chances and impressing.
Lets also not forget that IF Bale gets sold, many are talking about signing Eriksen as one of the players to come in, THAT would really **** up any sort of chance Holtby has of breaking into the team.
Holtby will have plenty of opportunities to play in cup games, at the very least. We need to use him in a role that suits him, though.
This was just put up on Twitter: please log in to view this image Who posted it? Sandro! I'm assuming that he's nicked it from somewhere, but still.
FA Cup, League Cup, Injuries, Europa League. Will be plenty of opportunities. Also Erikson really isn't all that.
They're not the sort of opportunites a player like Holtby wants, especially with the World Cup around the corner. Besides there's not actually a proper guarantee of that either with Parker (if still here), Hudd (if still here), Livermore, Sig, Lennon and Townsend also fighting for opportunities. Plus AVB has already shown that he treats Cups with respect and doesn't make wholesale changes. This is getting laughable now, Eriksen isn't all that yet Holtby can be one of the best in the world...? I've heard it all.
Because Eriksen had a good debut season, then 2 awful season in a league far inferior to the German league - Have you actually watched many Dutch games? The defending is absolutely horrendous. Holtby was a key player for Schalke (forget the u21s) and is one of the sole reasons they finished finished 3rd in 11-12 season. Where as Holtby was playing against the likes of Bayern, Dortmund, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Bremen, Leverkusen and Monchengladbach - Eriksen was struggling against PSV, Feyenoord, Vitesse, Twente. Also why would Holtby be fighting for opportunities with Livermore, Huddlestone and Parker? They are all defensive minded players. He'd be fighting for opportunites with Gylfi and maybe Carroll but again Carroll is hardly an offensive player. It speaks volumes to me that you are the only person I've ever spoken to that thinks we should sell Holtby and rates him behind DEMPSEY, but whatever You seem to be dismissing a young player who is widely considered one of the most promising youngsters around, after 6 months and I have no idea why? I'd be disappointed to loan him but would understand it, let alone SELL him. We'll see how he's doing in a couple years.
DEMPSEY had a better season than Holtby. I'm sure it does speak volumes but then imagine how it is from my point of view when someone says that one of our back up/ squad players has the potential to be one of the best in the world based on appearances at U21 level. I'm surprised James Milner hasn't won the Ballon D'Or yet. He was a beast for the U21s. Unless he picks up his game, we probably won't see him in a couple of years. At least not in a Spurs shirt anyway.
Did you even read my post? Or just skim over the bits you didn't want to see? He proved himself in the German league for 2 years against teams on par with teams in the premiership? Not talking about this anymore it's clear your mind is made up that Holtby is useless and should be discarded immediately.
Funnily enough I do, I follow Ajax and it was only in November I was at the Amsterdam Arena to watch Ajax vs PSV, if you've noticed, I'm usually always posting replies to any of Cove's articles as the Eredivisie is the league I follow most after the Prem. 2 awful seasons? I'm starting think perhaps it's YOU who hasn't watched much. Admittedly Eriksen can drift in and out of games, every Ajax fan will admit and tell you that but so do many creative players in this day and age, but more often than not they come up with moments of magic which make you realise why they're on the pitch. If he's been "awful" why have Spurs, Liverpool and Dortmund been recently linked while Barca and Madrid have held an interest too? He's the catalyst to many of Ajax attacks, similar to how Luka was with us. Yes the defending isn't great in Holland but that still doesn't mean his creativity can be discredited, it doesn't matter what sort of defence is on the pitch when you can pick out the passes he can, both long range and near by. Holtby would be fighting for opportunites because there are plenty of players who are also trying to break into the side. Jake, Hudd and Parker may not be offensively minded like Holtby but they're still a contender for a CM position which is one of the areas Lewis plays. In the CAM role, I'd fully prefer Sigurdsson - and Dempsey if still here - to be picked over Holtby. Holtby is well thought of in Germany but he's not got the same reputation as Eriksen around Europe. And besides, I don't care for a players reputation, I care for what they do on the pitch here at Spurs and from what I've seen of Holtby, he doesn't live up to his acclaim. I've actually mentioned about loaning Holtby out before, whether it would do his chances of getting in the team at Spurs any good who knows. He has 3 fantastic CM's to beat, admittedly Paulinho hasn't played yet and for all we know could flop (hopefully not!) but if all are playing like we know they can, then Holtby will not get the chances he desires here at Spurs. You edited that post 2 times, I was replying when you only had 2 sentences, I've replied ^^^ Yes, he did prove himself in the Bundesliga but he hasn't here and the point I've been trying to make is that he's not going to get the adequate chances to do so now unless we get injuries which is why selling him would be of no concern to me. Even if he did become a major player for one team in the future, if they haven't done the business here we can't moan or sit here and say "I told you he'd be great!". Kevin Boateng seems a class act now and Kanoute had great success after leaving us. Sometimes players just don't work out at certain clubs and I get the feeling Lewis will fall into that. Pienaar too, the guy looks a completely different player at Everton to what we had here.
As I said above not interested in discussing this as we clearly disagree on both Holtby and Eriksen. So agree to disagree
A lot of the papers are stating that many transfers all hinge on the Bale deal going through. IF we sell, it could mean Ronaldo going back to United if rumours are to be believed. If so, where does that leave Nani in the bigger picture? Worth a cheeky bid I think. Could be a good player... proven quality, two good feet, can play both wings and centrally, pacey and nearing the end of his contract. Portuguese so AVB may be able to sway the deal... http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/spieler/vertragsende/basics.html Thoughts?
I actually spoke with someone a few weeks ago on here about a cheeky bid for Nani, regardless of whether Ronaldo signs. He didn't get much of a look in last season and it looked as though his relationship with SAF deteriorated (not a wise choice Nani! ), not sure if he'll be in Moyes' plans. My only worry is that if SAF/ Utd couldn't get him performing on a regular basis, could we/ AVB? There's no doubt he has fantasic ability and on form is one of the best players in the country but I'd be a bit worried he could turn out a sort of wing version of Adebayor.
He hasn't had much time on the field to be fair and I think he'd come at a decent price. Given a new challenge, he may spring back to life. I wonder if he's the kind of player who has to feel that he is the main man to perform. He might be a bit of a sulker but with AVB being from his native homeland, may be able to motivate him and get him back to his best. At 26, he still has many good years left. What concerns me most if Bale goes is the loss of pace. I can't think of many players we could get, that will maintain that pace on the wings. Nani is one of a few players that possess that pace with an end product so he's worth a punt in my view.
