I know he's a Harry sort of player and it's been widely reported as fact that we've been after him. But my question is, who would he replace in midfield? Better than Modric? No. Better than Hudd? Not in passing, but 'gets about' more. Sandro? Not from what we've seen of his development. So will he be our 4th choice center mid? In my opinion, that's all he would be. I wouldn't be surprised by this signing, but I certainly wouldn't be excited by it. I believe that if we can keep all our 1st team and some of the bench, we only need a striker and a defender to push on next season. Woke up to TalkSport going on about Drogba, Ferdinand and Parker for Spurs(No I don't take them too seriously) but definite Redknappesque signings. But don't excite me at all.
He'd replace players like Jenas and O'Hara, in my opinion. It might not be the headline grabbing star striker that everyone's hoping for, but I think he'd improve our squad. Modric and Sandro will hopefully still be our first choice midfield pairing next season, but having Parker and Huddlestone as back-up and competition can only be a good thing. If we can progress in the domestic cups and Europa League, then we'll have enough games to keep everyone happy and four players to pick from who are all quality. I think that you could match up any two of the four and have a working partnership, too. Drogba's extremely unlikely, in my opinion, Ferdinand's just media speculation hopefully and Levy should be a bit more on the ball for this window.
I would like to see Drogba. Can't stand the guy personally, but there is no doubting his calibre in front of goal - or indeed a fair few yards away from it.
I thought Sandro was an absolute revelation. A real breath of fresh air. Hard working, fabulous in the tackle, and great going forward. I too would hope to see him forge a permanent partnership with Modric next term.
People seem to overlook Huddlestone. I think when he gets a good run of games, he rea\lly makes us tick. Definitely agree re Sandro, looks quality. Bursting with energy, tackles and technically sound. Don't even need to discuss Modders!
Why does everyone assume he'd be given a starting spot??? He's an improvement on what we have on the bench, I'd take it as no more than that.
I would welcome Parker. A midfield of Modric and Parker would be awesome. Whilst I think Sandro has grown over the season I believe Parker is more of a complete player, his England call up was well earned.
I think HR wants Parker to complete what would be a pretty impressive quartet of central midfielders. Modric, Sandro, Parker & Hudd - Best in the Prem??
Add Bale, Lennon and van der Vaart to that list and it's quite an impressive and versatile midfield, CH. As much as I'd like to see Kranjcar and Redknapp repair their differences, in the event that it doesn't happen, we'll need to replace him, too. We could see quite a number of players departing from our midfield roster this summer, so suitable replacements will have to be found. Palacios, Jenas, Bentley, O'Hara, Kranjcar and Dos Santos (forward, winger?) all look to be leaving, but I don't think that we need to buy 6 players to fill their places.
I think he would be a solid signing and if Parker arrives i sincerley hope harry dosent leave the excellent Sandro out of the side. Harry has stated that he needs more leaders in our squad and maybe at times we will play a 433 formation with parker, sandro and Modric as a middle three. But lets all remember our relationship with west ham isnt good and they may not sell to us. There are rumours of Diarra from madrid who is a top top player.
Ive been saying to mates for a while that we should play 433. I have also been saying that VDV is a luxury player and I really cant see him fitting in with a 433 formation, or a 442 for that matter. I felt that too many times last season we accommodated for VDV in our team, instead of playing the best suited team to win a game.
While I can see where you're coming from SLS, I'd suggest that van der Vaart could probably play in a 4-4-2 in the centre of midfield. If he was played alongside a player with a more defensive mindset, like Sandro or Huddlestone, then I think it would allow him to play the way he does now, without isolating a lone front man. Move Modric back onto the left wing and Bale to left-back, where they both played very well for some time in the season before last. I'm not suggesting that this is the way forward, but I'd like to see it given a go in the pre-season.
Plus Pienaar and we have a very good midfield indeed. I'd buy a right winger to give Lennon some much needed competition and then focus on the top striker we all crave. I think it could be possible this summer to strengthen the team and make a profit.
It depends on whether we can shift some of our players and get a good price, CH. You can see Hutton, Bentley, Jenas, Keane, Palacios, Dos Santos, Bassong, Kranjcar, O'Hara, Alnwick and Woodgate all leaving, plus at least one other striker and probably Gomes, too. That's a lot of movement and could be quite disruptive, if not handled properly. Walker, Rose, Townsend and Caulker should all be pushing for a place in the squad, though. I'd expect the first two to feature, with the other two being loaned out, again.
Our wholesale changes have generally been forced and involved key players leaving, Lidls. Hopefully that won't be the case this time. If we can keep most of our first XI, with the addition of Friedel and a striker, then I hope that changes to the squad players won't be too disruptive or damaging.
We cannot be held responsible for media speculation Luke. Friedel is a good start the rest is rumour.
And I've also read about Rose to Pompey, and Walker to QPR, both need regular football, its not a good stage in their careers to spend most of it sitting down. Neither are 1st choice though, so its a tough one.
This whole area of sending our young players to rival PL clubs on loan is difficult for me to understand. Players like Walker & Caulker must be close to playing in our first team squad. There were times last season when we could have done with them, yet out they go to learn about a different club with different players. Surely it would be better for them to be immersed in Tottenham, learning about our player and playing systems. I get the impression that Harry does not trust youngsters to play for him but dosen't want to sell them either. Trying to have his cake and eat it. It's crying out for Spurs to reinstate a proper reserve team IMO.
I know it would take a bit of work, but I've been playing around with this idea for a while and feel it would be a fantastic balance. I know people harp on about VDV in Central Midfield but are you really telling me a player of his class can't adapt? I doubt it. With this sort of formation if he were to go missing there would be enough discipline to cover, with Sandro protecting the back 4 and Parker being the box-to-box. ---------Friedel Charlie--Gallas--Daws--BAE/Bale ----------Sandro Lennon--Parker--VDV--Modders ----------Drogba
