So essenitally it's: please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image ???
Can I be the one to say I already knew how to pronounce it because I play too much FIFA? Martin Tyler is way too keen to say Toby's full name every time he's on the ball in those games.
Current gossip is that Soldado has handed in a transfer request. Villareal are keen but issues with wages and a bit out on price. Another rumour is that Newcastle have bid £15m for Townsend...
Soldado going is not really an issue at all, other than we also want Adebayor to go and have no other strikers. Now if we could bin both of those and get someone else in that'd be okay! Townsend didn't have a great season last year, but not convinced we should get rid just yet. He also counts towards our quota for European football so is a useful squad member.
I wouldn't lose much sleep if we sold Walker and Townsend for the right price. Two players who haven't really kicked on after exploding onto the scene (contrast with the likes of Kane, Bentaleb, Mason and even Rose after a very solid season) and, in Walker's case, increasingly injury prone. MUST BIN: Ade, Cheery Cheese, Kaboul (with a heavy heart), Soldado (like putting a dying insect out of its misery it's the kindest thing we can do for a genuinely nice bloke). BIN @ DECENT PRICE: Walker, Townsend, Lamela, Dembele.
Agreed. He showed just about enough last season to warrant it, although if a bid anywhere north of 20m came in we'd be mad not to take it imho. I also think Fazio should be given another season. There's just no way the former captain of one of Europe's most successful teams is as cack as the bambi-on-ice impersonator we watched last year. In defense, I would rather ship Kaboul, Chiriches and Walker, and allow Dier to progress as a RB with Yedlin going out on loan and Trippier providing cover. A back line of Lloris- Dier- Alderweirwelwlwled (sp?)- Vertonghen - Rose looks very, very good on paper. Height, passing range, crossing ability, goal threat, pace in abundance - it's all there.
Toby plays DM very well,if you have a settled pair at the back he may start there, and of course plays RB for Belgium. But his place is CB obviously , he makes this look soooo ****ing easy
Just logged in this morning and this post is top of the pile on the first page I click on, I'm thinking "What the hell is YV on about?!" then read about and realised what you've done, bravo, bravo
Interesting thoughts RE Lamela. A few on here have been talking of their hopes of Spurs making a big signing and when I look at the squad, the only areas where I think a big signing could come in would be either RW (Lamela/ Townsend's spot) or CM (Mason's spot, not that he's underperformed but there's no doubt improvements on him are out there). All other positions in the squad I'm very happy with, we have one of the best keepers on the planet, a solid LB, a promising CB partnership with enough competition, great competition at RB, a fantastic young DM/ DLP in Bentaleb, goal scoring mids in Chadli & Eriksen and then there's the country's finest prospect in Kane up top. So I only see CM and RW as areas that can be significantly improved upon, though we do have fantastic young players who could make the roles their own in Alli and Pritchard respectively but if the right player is available then I'd definitely be all for it, question is, who? I was leaning towards giving Fazio another crack this season, too. Problem is, with Toby now on board (who I'm presuming will jump straight to the top of the pecking order alongside Jan), plus the fact Dier performed better last season and also Wimmer's arrival - who I'm pretty sure wouldn't have joined knowing he'd be about 5th choice - where does/ could Faz fit in? Players always deserve at least two seasons to shine in my opinion, just look at the difference with Chadli, though the big Argie may not like his current situation unless Poch has given him some sort of assurances that he'll somehow be a starter... Though I just can't see that. Welcome aboard by the way mate, you should enjoy it on here, good banter mixed with interesting debates
Agreed Re Fazio. Don't really want to give up on him but can't see him being happy playing in the cups and the odd league game here and there. I know that mentioning the word 'Lamela' on this site tends to spark quite a heated debate so I won't reopen that can too much. You've made some interesting points Re the positions where a 'marquee signing' would be logical. The question is, since it's highly unlikely we'd be able to make TWO big money signings in one window without selling Lloris for silly money, which of those two positions would you invest in? I think a few people on here have jumped to conclusions regarding Mason. Because he's already going on 25, we too readily forget that last year was his first proper season in the EPL. He may be a late bloomer (lallana springs to mind as an example - the two of them even look similar!) and could be twice as good next season. I know the words 'defensive mid' are bandied around a lot but we forget that there are very different types of DM's out there. You have your destroyers a la Sandro and Cattermole, then you have players like Schneiderlin (who we've been linked to more than once and it seems most fans would be delighted to sign) who aren't necessarily the strongest, hardest tackling players out there. Indeed, from what I've seen of him, Schneiderlin has quite a few things in common with Mason. Both have excellent engines, both have an eye for a worldy, both have a nice range of passing (Mason improved visibly in this department as the season went on). However, the single most important attribute for a DM in the Schneiderlin, Illaremendi, Turan mould is that their reading and anticipation of the game has to be perfect. They are able to position themselves 2 steps ahead of the opposition attack and anticipate where the ball will be next. Have this, and you don't need the tough-tackling 'beast mode' of players like Sandro and Mascherano. This, imho is where the Mason-Schneiderlin comparison falls apart. Ryan didn't do much wrong last year. The only stand out consistent mistake was his knack for getting caught out of position by a rapid counter attack. His inexperience led to a poor reading of the game on more than one occasion, and a player in his ilk lacks the sheer power and strength to redeem the situation. However, reading of the game and playing two steps ahead of the opposition (which Morgan does very well) are two things which SHOULD improve with time and experience. To this end, I'm happy to give the Ryan-Nabil partnership another go, especially with the investment we've put into the back line. Keep Dembele and Stam to add some brawn into the mix, and invest the big bucks on a goal scoring RW.
To be honest, I think our chances of getting Scheiderlin now are bordering on zero. I see that Cambiasso is out of contract at Leicester. No spring chicken, but still a class act. The inexperienced in our team could learn much from him, I think!..
Interesting thoughts on Mason and DMs, Kane. I would like to see Spurs get a top CM, either a DM or playmaker. There’s a feeling the team needs need an upgrade on Mason. The problem is that Pochettino tried a lot of players in the role, and Mason is the only one who got the ball forward fast enough. There’s something to be said for pairing Mason with Dembele, I think--except that Bentaleb looks like he’s too good, and developing too fast, not to start somewhere--like Dier, actually. So it’s a bit of a quandary. A veteran like Cambiasso, as NSS suggests, might square that circle by playing limited minutes. I’m something of a Lamela fan, and would like to see him continue to start most of the time. I just don’t think the options on the right are good enough. If there was a really strong right-sided player, Pochettino could start a four or five man rotation which would get everyone enough minutes without burning them out. Lamela could play anywhere, but is too left-footed to be the first option on the right, I think. I just read an article suggesting Yedlin as that right winger, incidentally, which is interesting, especially as he just played there for the US. Spurs have had three big financial breakthroughs very recently: developing big players themselves, selling their high priced extras at great prices, and now the NFL deal. These three things, in turn, have established a "team of the future." character to some degree. If that can be developed meaningfully, it might be the most valuable asset of all. And we can’t be too surprised if there are more financial boons to come. A big sponsorship deal wouldn’t be a shock. Of course, the club still needs to solve the huge chicken and egg problem of getting top players and improving their table position. But at the moment, thanks to the very impressive way they’ve been moving, I tend to think there are more pleasant surprises ahead. The only reason big signings wouldn’t happen, I think, is wage structure. With all the high veteran salaries potentially out the door, there’s something to be said for not bringing in a Cabaye on wages that dwarf Kane’s.
Rather than Fazio, I'm more interested to see where Veljkovic fits in next season: Verts will have Wimmer as his understudy, Toby will have Dier as his understudy, while Fazio will most likely be slotting into the team every now and then - which limits Milos' opportunities, unless Poch wants to use him as a DM.
I'd completely forgotten about Milos! He'll expect more involvement this year surely, especially after an impressive summer on the international stage. He has played in a more DM role for the youth team on more than one occasion and dos well there so that's an interesting idea. But what a lovely dilemma to have when your team is producing so many talented youngsters be it through the academy or through astute transfer dealings, that you just don't know what to do with them all! When you consider that a team with Chelsea's vast resources have to resort to an injury prone 29 year old on exorbitant wages who has just endured an abysmal season to bolster their striking options, it really puts Spurs into perspective. Yes, Levy and ENIC have made a number of mistakes, but you cannot fault their long-term vision and strategy, both with regards to the academy and the new stadium. As RWAEB said, we're rapidly developing a 'team of the future' image that will attract the youngest and brightest to the club. And yes, a number of those brightest may well be sold to clubs who throw money at the present to create a short term future, but the image won't disappear.
I've only ever seen Milos at DM despite him being primarily a CB, a solid loan should do him some good, he was out of the team at Boro last season and when he went Charlton he got injured a few games in that ruled him out for the remainder. A season like Pritchard would do his first team chances the world of good because right now he's not done enough to give Poch a headache when selecting an 18 man squad, despite being a player with big potential.
I don't think it's his strongest position. He looks better cutting in from the left or maybe in behind the striker. Shame everyone else in the squad does, too.
