ok, so 'arry thinks we need 3 class players to make us into a team that could challenge for top honours year after year. my apologies , but i see it rather differently. (you have to think yul brynner/mag seven and counting them in (or out)on the fingers here.) keeper - good stopper- too many gaffs- too many points lost - a liability - ONE back four - king , gone , mainly. woody- gone, full stop, kaboul- not top class, corluka- same..that leaves dawson (star) and BAE - just about up there at the mo. so, that leaves short at the back by -TWO midfield, hudd, mod, bale, lennon, VDV(ish) and other spares ..not too dodgy but modric will go in my opinion, so another player at least needed -ONE up front, defoe and crouch ok as support for better main striker, pav wants to go and harry won't play him. we need a top striker and then 2 0f those 3 alongside in the squad. so at least another striker need,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,- ONE being conservative,and assumin none of the preferred faves leave, we are 5 (FIVE), class players short of a team that can replicate last year and better it, with consistency. otherwise , our CL adventure will remain a aone-off, now that city have bought their way into the big- time. 'Arry- are you short of fingers, amigo?
Keeper - Friedal is good enough IMO You forgot about Gallas - in defence we really only need a new right back if anything... but the Kyle fella might just be the ticket there anyway. Midfield - Fine if we keep hold of everyone. Strikers - Two new lads in would be preferrable. I count that as 3 players. For me, Harry's maths check out.
friedel is a short term remedy. he is simply too old. cudicini past it and gomes too gaffe-prone. we need a golaie who can stay for 5- 10 years i.e. a younger guy. gallas is also too old. it's no good hoping to get somehwere with a team populated by 30-somehting players who might stay fit for a season or so, but probably won.t and then we have to reload in the january window. same reason i don't want drogba. he is 33, i think. we have had our days of buying sloppy seconds. i would rather buy young and buy with a view and maybe come 5th for a year or two then to have another flash in the pan season and ten years before the next one. at some stage we just have to buy quality and spend. it is the only way to get to the level of the other 4 biggies. even if we start with 2 or 3 , rahter than 5 and develope some of our own youngsters in the wings. i loved the CL escapade and i want more whilst i can still breathe and enjoy the adrenaline ride without my ticker rebelling. come on levy ..think big and think long. no more bus-pass players.
That's all well ... but if we don't make Champions League next year then you can kiss goodbye to Luka, Bale and VDV more than likely... Gallas is perfectly capable of doing a good job for us next season - same as Friedal - he's still a top goal keeper. If we want a new goal keeper that's fine but I wouldn't want some kid coming in and having to be blooded over a few seasons. Rather come 5th for a year or two? We can't afford to do that... we'll lose our players and be less likely to get the top quality you're looking for. Our transfer policy should be to strengthen first 11 first with a view to next season and then we can maybe seriously think about building our future squad. CL spot next year and there won't be a firesale... Sorry mate, I think you're way off on this one.
Yeah, well how about we spend big this summer where we really need it and get by with Gallas and Friedel, who I admit are not long-term solutions but they can still definitely do the job for us. Then when we come around to next summer we can buy in the other positions that need bulking, goalkeeper and maybe a centre-back as you say. hey, I would love to buy 5 world-class players too, but we just simply aint that flush I don't think.
Friedel, Parker and probably Joe Cole too are indicative of 'Arry's pre 'I'm going to be next England Manager' thinking in my opinion... He will leave the club with a stable team, undoubtedly in Europe again, with class in certain positions but without older players on long term contracts so the new manager can come in and put his stamp on the team immediately without upsetting the dynamic of the team. As long as by the start of the season we have at least ONE new striker (and I mean a proper striker, not a prospect like connor wickham or a useless article such as moussa dembele) and none of the core (Daws, Modders, Bale, VDV) gone we should probably all be quite happy.
The other thing is getting rid of some of the deadwood to make room for these '5' new signings in the 25. It's all good that we keep saying "Sell Keane, J2S, Bentley, Palacios, etc" but you can only sell them if someone wants to buy them, and Levy stops being a tight-arse holding out for maximum dollar!
Didn't 'Arry say that we needed 3 top players to get us challenging for the CL again next season? If so Friedel is good enough, our defence could probably do with another centre back assuming Bassong and Caulker leave and Khumalo is rubbish - even then we'd only need back up, in midfield we're pretty much set, although if Bentley and niko leave we could probably do with another winger and someone to play a similar role to VDV and up front we need atleast one new striker. I make that 4, 2 of them depending on players being sold.
3/4/5 . it kind of does not matter. we don't have the funds, and we do need to unload the deadwood and load up the coffers. if harry goes to england, i still don't want a team of old . past their best players loading uo the squad, and we all know we are unlikely to make the CL next yr with the current squad now that city have got there. is it not luvverly to have spurs fans talking about being up there seriously, instead of in dreamworlds. i waited 40 years for it. i want more. can't help it. gotta build on this , not go backwards. that , me hearties, requires outlay of wonga x millions. if we do,t , then i guess its me kids or theirs later who will get the next CL adventure. that would be a shame. spend it levy, or admit you can't or wont and we can stop dreaming and aim for the carling cup again. what are our ambitions, anyway, for god's sake. mediocrity, safety in the top half. the odd europa cup trip, keeping wages down, // I WANT MORE, I WANT IT ALL AND I WANT IT NOW.
Without the CL we cannot attract the "super star" players that you're talking about. Players want to play in the highest competition. By just strengthening or squad this season with the 3 players 'Arry is talking about and holding on to the key players (Modders, VDV, Bale) we can easily push for the top 4. Look how much money City spent last year and. If the silly results we dropped had gone our way we would have had City all season. A top draw striker is what we need for this season, I would take Drogba any day. He may be on the old side, but he has so much experience in the CL and has been banging in goals for fun in the PL. He is exactly what we need for the push this season.
Snowy... Drogba banging in goals for fun??? a couple of seasons ago perhaps, around about the same time Friedel was a top keeper and Joe Cole was a midfield magic maestro. If we do bring him on board, its a consolidatory measure not a step forward, a spurs team with the drogba of today in place of any one of our strikers will still struggle to get any higher than fifth. And fifth next season is the equivalent to bye bye Modric, Bale and Sandro.
this is the exact nub of it. we could consolidate and we might just edge city next year.personally , i doubt we will. they will buy more and consolidate, too. i also think modders will go, so that weakens the team. and it is same ole, with getting quality players if we aren't in the CL and not getting into the CL without them! Also...bale- can you get a fuller season from him? has he been sussed out a bit? have we got the ability to blast the goals like early last season or the one before? will a sulky, less well paid drog be motivated? will VDV play 5 games in a row without tweaking his bloody leg or summat.? too many imponderables. we need more certainty. more substance. more solidity. gotta smash the lower teams. we always lose to the relegateeees. I just cannot see us getting 4th without more than just consolidation and drogba. we simply have to be more ambitious than this . we have done zip in thelast decade or two and we are finally on the ladder. don't fall off this low down! Levy has to now show his true love and colours and ambition. anway, we can look back at this in a year and we wil probably all be wrong.
all threads evolve, buddy. arry's maths requires levy's pockets- they are in tandem. and you missed the point with the magnificent seven. it was not the seven that mattered, it was the counting thing. never mind. btw, if we lose bale, modric and VDV , we will need 7.- this season or next. alas, CL is the be all and end all these days. tis the way of it now.
OnlyoneDB..... Yes, Droba still banging in goals for fun. If he was given more of a chance in the second half of the season instead of the £50m flop who couldn't hit a barn door. You could see the talent was still there in Drogba and I think if he came across London he would have a point to prove against the Chavs. If he was only with us for a season, I reckon he would still score more goals than Torres. It will only be bye bye Modders, Bale, VDV if we don't qualify for the CL next year. I strongly believe 'Arry has told the key players to give us one more year to be in the CL and if we don't make it then they can go to clubs like the Mancs and the Chavs. I believe a player of Drogba's talent is exactly what we need. He can hold off any defender, he has such good strength. Perfect for us with our wing players on the attack and VDV getting involved from the hole. I can see that combination being alot more effective then the lumped ball to Crouch with the tip down to VDV. Drogba has so much more to his game than Crouch. An excellent addition I reckon
Am I the only one who doesn't think that Bale is pivotal to the spurs line-up? I mean, he's good, I know that much, but I don't think we play any worse then when Kranjcar is in the squad instead. I know Bale has had some amazing games, and has single-handedly won them for us, but so have many of our players (Kranjcar vs Bolton, VDV vs Aston Villa, King vs Liverpool... Even Defoe vs Wigan last year.) I just don't think it will be the end of the world if he left. In fact, in an average game, he's usually outshone by VDV, Modric and Lennon. There, I said it...
Ensil, its good to see that I'm not alone thinking this. It just seems that everyone has worked him out after the second Inter game. 'Arry needs to swallow his pride and allow Kranjcar more gametime in order to adjust our tactics. He seems to have some kind of heirarchy (sp?) in his mind for each player position. Whoever is top for each position gets run into the ground until they get injured. Bale is first-choice LW. He will play every game even if he's ineffective against certain opposition. He'll play Kranjcar when he gets injured. Don't get me wrong. Bale is very good and unlocks a lot of defenses, but 'Arry doesn't realise when he's being ineffective.
i used to be rubbish at maths too.....but anyways HR is stubborn..i think he is an ok manager.....but i dont like him as a person..... hes far too stubborn.....he will make a change that most fans are crying out for due to it being damn obvious but only for half a match or smthing as if to prove a point.....i dont think he is goos at developing players..umight think he is but no...maybe he is good at seeing a player who has potential nd giving him a go etc..but he seems to have carried his own little troop of players wherever he has gone and continues to do that even at spurs...and they can never do no wrong....at united berabtov got dropped,rooney,nani...these are the key players for them yet if fergie thought they need to be dropped be it to show them that they cant be complecent then so be it..but no not at spurs...certain players have had thier purple patch then gone cack for months on end but still were starting yet there were like for like replacemnts that got overlooked...i would have on a fair few occasions rested/dropped...Bale,VDV,Crouch...but no insted...Krancjear who got us 6 points in 2 consecutive matched only to be dropped the 3rd match...and pav who it seems needs to be shown that you have faith in him etc for him to play..to go and enjoy himself etc.....instead for pav every match is his last he better perform or he is dropped yet defoe and crouch having been hitting row z all season.......its all rubbish favouritism that has cost us this season..we had the squad to get us 4th spot and CL quarter finals...but obviously we dont have the manager who is very good with a squad...so him being able to cont up to 4th is the least of my worries
I thought that too. Playing Kranjcar and Pav at certain times in certain games could have gained us valuable points. I'll concede that he gets it right most of the time, but he does miss the obvious changes. And I can't believe we didn't sign a striker in the January window due to him seeing Crouch and Defoe as Messi and Ronaldo.
anybody to mix it up would have done us a job...alot of us spurs fans dont look below the likes of forlan and drogba..hulk..falcao..cmon they have no incentive offered to them to join us..they dont support spurs..they are just footballers out for the buck......and if players such as rodelegga are mentioned then we sniff at them but for me such a player would have been ideal for us to bring in...a last minute 8 mill bid for another midfielder in adams was touted yet had we offers around 10 for rodellega then we could have got him and he does get some vital goals for wigan.who ilike as a team but thier midfield supply is nothing compared to ours
