Not likely. Paper talk. He is a huge Chelsea fan though and Mourinho has personally scouted both him and Mitrovic (being impressed by both). That lead to speculation about the transfer when he went to Benfica, but I dont think you have have anything concrete. In any case they bought him for 10m and there is probably a sell-on clause so to value him at 15m is unrealistic at this point in time. He's worth more than that to Benfica. You are in pole position if you want him, which I'm not sure you will given that you just signed Salah. You could have a first option clause if that was included in the Matic deal but I doubt it. Anyway this is talk for your transfer thread, dont like derailing on other teams boards He may not even play tonight which would be a huge boost for Spurs. Benfica is unlikely to collapse like Dnipro though so a strong start is needed.
I like the lineup as well. Get a hypnotist to convince them they need three goals in a half hour to go through, and I like our chances. Never fear, we could stick Bentaleb in at left back. He is left-footed, we don't really know if Rose can go, and Fryers and Vertonghen haven't exactly set the world on fire this year. Besides, Vertonghen has to play CB with Dawson out.
I'd like to see someone played down the left that's actually capable of playing that position, so I'd probably leave Soldado out of the starting XI. Might be an idea to try Eriksen in a central midfield role and push Paulinho further forward, as he actually seems to do well there. Lloris; Walker, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Rose; Lennon, Sandro, Eriksen, Townsend; Paulinho; Adebayor.
Our team today: Lloris; Walker, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Naughton; Lennon, Paulinho, Sandro, Eriksen; Adebayor, Kane. And our subs tonight: Friedel, Fryers, Rose, Bentaleb, Chadli, Townsend, Soldado. Discuss.
Nobody down the left, basically. I hate seeing Naughton there when there's not a left-footed winger in front of him. Why do that when we've got two left-backs on the bench? Picking Kane ahead of Soldado seems totally unnecessary, too. We've got one shot left at winning anything this season and we could easily lose to Arsenal anyway, especially if morale were to take another blow tonight.
"Nobody down the left, basically." No confidence in Rose (the ostensible LB) , nor Fryers (LB by trade) . *** "Picking Kane" Has no justifiable reason. *** *** Assuming no injuries to mentioned/other players.
Several first-team players will play 90 minutes three days ahead of a NLD Surely we should play Soldado and Kane with Ade in reserve? Benfica's right winger is going to have an easy game Bentaleb doesn't start???
Don't forget Sherwood values attitude higher than talent. So we should expect a commited performance from this 11, who presumably have the right attitude.
Most of the team he slagged off for not being committed to the cause after the Chelsea match start tonight.
I like the lineup, except I'm a bit disappointed withNaughton at LB and Soldado not starting. I think Naughton has a good PL future as a RB, but at LB I'd take my chances with Fryers at this point. He's gone from wretched to not too bad, whereas Naughton at LB will always be adequate at best, I think. I'm thinking Kane gets the start for a good attitude (though, if so, I don't know why Bentaleb wouldn't start as well). Maybe it makes sense to start Soldado in the NLD, but I think all things considered we should play our strongest side tonight, and let tomorrow worry about tomorrow. Still, Kane's never looked bad, so maybe it's time to give him a start.
If Sherwood wasn't talking about verts at the weekend then who was he talking about? If he was, why is he ****ing playing? Baffling
