Guys can I ask a question of you please as you will know better than us. There is a bit of debate on our board (Swansea) as to whether Spurs would be happy to let Tom Carroll leave on a permanent. I have been very impressed with him and would love him to sign, but can't see you wanting to lose a you talented midfield player. Thoughts plaese. Thanks TLF
No idea, but I wouldn't have thought so, especially as Pochettino seems to like the other youngsters that Carroll played with in our U21s.
Trundles left foot As far as I am concerned you can't have him. If I had my way I would end his loan spell now. We have seen him grow as player and it is time he was at Spurs to claim a first team spot.
I would not let Carroll go, he deserves a chance like Bentaleb/Mason/Rose/Townsend/Kane. Whether that is the case within the club i have no idea. I wouldn't have let Caulker leave either, but off he went (admittedly rumours were he wanted to move to Wales, but he's now back in London anyway)
Tom Carroll is a difficult one, because of Eriksen being around the same age. There is also the possibility that the club may also decide Alex Pritchard is ready for a senior squad place (he is doing well currently at Brentford) .
Not really - Carroll plays in a deeper role so would be vying with Mason for a starting place (which shunts Paulinho and Dembele further back in the pecking order), while Pritchard can be used either as Eriksen's understudy or a winger.
Could Pritchard play on the right? Is he right-footed? I'm very much warming to the idea of putting as many of these academy products in the team as possible
In the U21 class of 2012-13, Carroll was the definite playmaker in the 4-3-3 MF. Pritchard was also providing creativity, but he grafts in MF too. The third (who was doing major spadework) was one of : Mason/Luongo/Parrett/Munns/Bentaleb.
Pritchard's primarily right-footed, though he's scored a few with his left: Apparently we've turned down attempts by Brentford to make his move permanent this season, as it's believed that he can break into the first team next year. Good.
Everytime I've seen him at senior level he's looked far too timid. He's got a lot going against him as he's small, weak and not especially fast but he just needs to take the shackles off and have the courage to play his game. I wouldn't be especially surprised if we let him leave but I doubt we're in any hurry to do so, it's the older players we're likely looking to move on.
"He's got a lot going against him as he's small, weak and not especially fast but he just needs to take the shackles off and have the courage to play his game." And that is IMHO the difference between him and Pritchard. Pritchard seems to have that precocious self-belief that comes with youth, and when things are not going his teams' way that irritation to do something about it. If Carroll got a bit of that in his bloodstream then IMHO he will be a regular senior.
Over the two games where we would be most tempted to rotate the squad, we played 16 players. Extras to our more or less established starting 11 were Chiriches, Rose, Stambouli, Townsend and Dembele (at LM). We're not going to sell Yedlin before he's played a game for us, though we might loan him out. I found myself wondering which other players we would not want to shift in the upcoming window. The list I came up with: Soldado (still a useful squad player, if a disappointment as a starting striker. Also, he may be the closest thing to an Eriksen replacement we have.) Dier (young, a recent buy, promising and able to play two positions.) Vorm (good, a recent acquisition, and needed because it's impossible to forecast how long Lloris will remain) Lennon, perhaps (both for his exemplary service to the club and the fact that he's our only pacy outside-footed wide player) Of course, if anyone's price is right, they may go. Levy might be interested in any way to cut losses on Soldado, in particular. But my list of established players we might like to sell would include Ade, Paulinho, Kaboul, Capoue and Naughton. There, too, it would depend to some extent on what sort of offers we get. What I'd really like to get in is an improved version of Mason. Mason's directness makes him preferable to other choices. But someone with his directness plus better quality might have a big positive impact on the team. I get tired of watching Mason misplace passes and shots. In general, our "2" has been mostly disappointing lately, though it certainly picked up in the second half against United. I wonder if it's simply a case of Mason and Bentaleb wearing down a bit after playing a more grueling schedule than they've played before. Schneiderlin, though he's more of a DM than Mason, certainly would be tempting--but it looks like that won't be happening. Everyone including me would like the right striker at the right price. But given that Kane is scoring, Soldado has been a good sub, and they both seem fairly durable, I'm not so sure it's a desperate need, especially as there's some (slight) chance Ade could suddenly become a big scorer for us, as he has been in the past. I would have said an upgrade to Fazio not very long ago, but I think he's improving, and has formed a decent partnership with Vertonghen. Neither one is as fast as I would like, but Fazio's strength in the air, combined with Vertonghen's skill, are beginning to pay dividends, especially as we now have got more athletic and able CBs available. So all things considered I think we're in good shape, though you can never tell where injury will hit.
I don't think we'll be selling Carroll or Pritchard, we'll see them come back (potentially after the U21 Euros in the Summer for them both) and Pochettino will see what he thinks of them pre-Season IMO.
BBC linking Berahino to Liverpool for £23m. They can have him for that price - I don't think he's worth much more than about £12m right now and based on what I've seen of West Brom this season he'd be no improvement for us.
West Brom have said he's going nowhere, anyway. Released a statement today. Usual red top bollocks, I suspect.
I saw us linked with a move for Ajax centre back Niklas Moisander, whose out of contract at the end of the season. It makes sense from a Levy/spreadsheet standpoint, although it does sound like joined-up reporting: the papers are linking various defenders with moves away (Dier on loan to a PL club to gain experience, Chiriches to be loaned with a view for a future sale, Kaboul to be moved on) so obviously we'd need a new centre back, and since we tend to sign players from Ajax...well, there you go. If possible, I'll hand this one over to Cove: would Moisander be a decent addition?
I hope we keep Chiriches. It’s hard to question Walker as the starter, and I feel a little heretical saying this, but as of the last couple of games, I think Chiriches has been our best right back. Walker has been good, but Chiriches has been better.
Not really, more a move to add some depth but he is not even close to the level of say... Vertonghen. Moisander has been poor lately so. Wouldn't recommend going for him.
Chelsea and M City being linked with Bony. Supposing Bony goes to Chelsea and given that Maureen seems to prefer Drogba to Remy would that mean Remy is available? If so we should try to get him. He can score goals at the top level and would be a great addition to the squad. Could get him for 10-12 Mil as well.
