We need a DM, especially if Stambouli leaves, and really he needs to be better than anything we have to go straight into the starting XI. I'd also like someone similar to Cambiasso on top of that - an experienced head to settle down a squad with an ever falling average age. The top class DM is a tricky one to get because most in that category are settled at clubs or have just moved. I like someone like Krychowiak at Seville (even though he only joined last summer) or Kramer at Leverkusen, although we'd be hard pressed to sign either really. So we might be forced into signing a more experienced player and relying on the youngsters to develop, or Dembele to develop a footballing brain - good luck with that one. If we bring in some quality there though, I think we should look much more solid than last year at the back. Further forward, I think the 3 and the 1 are very difficult to separate as a unit, but that we're reasonably close to getting it right. Kane likes to drop off into the inside left channel, so Chadli is in many ways the perfect player for the left side as he has the physical presence and nous to allow Kane that space when he wants it, by moving into the central area of the pitch. He's such a unit, and a not insignificant goal threat, that he attracts attention. Eriksen is usually effective in the centre, so its the right side thats problematic. Lamela doesn't have the pace to threaten in behind, doesn't go past people very often, and too often drifts into Eriksen's space. The Chadli-Eriksen or Chadli-Kane movement is both fine, as those players are happy to interchange for a time, but none of those players want to end up on the right, and neither it seems does Lamela. (Pochettino at Southampton used a similar pattern of movement, with one player holding width on the right hand side, and never really rotating inwards. Whether he's trying to get Lamela to do that and he can't/won't, or if he's trying to modify his system, I can't say) The best balance we saw from the 3 IMO was the Chelsea game, where Townsend was on the right. Yes, he's an immensely frustrating player but when he gets it right he's hugely effective. He needs to get it right with the variety and consistency of his play more often though, if he's ever to forge a real career with us. The fullbacks need to help provide width as they already try to do by and large, and hopefully having the right players in the defensive 2 and a settled and communicative defence will mean that there is cover if the fullbacks are caught forward. If we were to sign Llorente and he played, we'd need a different balance, more of a fixed structure with a setup to encourage crossing most often. The team would sit deeper and press less to encourage the opposition to move forward and leave space in behind, we'd want pacey wingers on their natural sides. That could turn out to be the plan B we've been looking for. Edit: in other transfer news, we may sell Ade to Villa after they sell Benteke to Liverpool after they sell $terling to City, and Stambouli may be having second thoughts about moving to Watford - apparently a fee has been agreed but he's not too certain he wants to go. And apparently we're selling Chiriches to Galatasaray.
If we actually manage to get rid of Adebayor I'll be surprised and very pleased. Stambouli staying could be decent as he was never given a chance at Spurs and thus could do so this season?
I have a feeling Capoue and Stambouli at Watford might turn out to be very decent. That would be painful to see.
According to the ITKs, Lennon has burnt too many bridges at Spurs so can't see your first point happening
Guys, long time Spurs fan here. I dip my toe into the Spurs site from time to time. Tell me, the sales of Paulinho, Capoue and Stambouli, do they mean Poch will give more youth a go? Or are there some bigger name signings in the wings? Carroll and Pritchard have been impressive out on loan and the new lad from Peterboro (who's name escapes me ) looks useful. I saw Pritchard against Cardiff twice last season and he was superb. The Bee's MOM in both games.
I go with the 'modern' managers - the players are more similar than we think and the system makes more difference than we think. That's because we are actually talking about tiny differences here which even the best amongst us won't be able to distinguish amongst our personal preferences and biases. Less than one in 50 possessions end in a goal. Not every goal creates an additional point. So making slight improvements in the number of goals scored via possessions in the tighter matches makes the difference between getting in the CL and not. That's also why we don't need a plan B - since you don't expect to score from most possessions you need more than one match to work out if plan A is working so you should only change things if your are losing by more than one goal and you need a radically different risk/reward balance to get anything out of the game. Almost everything that pundits and ex-players say about the game is going to be disproved by analysis as far as i can see. So you need a manager who can understand the analysis and plan accordingly.
I agree almost completely. I thought our attacking four were pretty good. If not, why did they score more than anybody else’s attacking four? The big flaw was the lack of a player to provide width on the right, which Pochettino had used and Mourinho (who probably knows a thing or two about the 4-2-3-1) still uses. Townsend did it at times, and Lennon can do it in general, but Townsend failed to do it so often I don’t want to trust him this year, and Pochettino for whatever reason doesn’t want to use Lennon. So a right winger would be my first priority. The good news is that Pritchard may be able to deputize for Eriksen and add quality in general to what’s already a good group. We had a lot of problems with the "2," so much so that buying a quality player to take charge would probably be a good idea. But on paper, Capoue and perhaps Stambouli should have been that player. Pochettino demands a lot from the deep lying players. Our own young players, with a year of experience under their belts, may be the ones likeliest to provide it...though everyone including me want it to work now. So, to me, either a player who is clearly a cut above, or nobody. I think the stats on crosses being ineffective gloss over strategic factors. Crossing, on one hand, and going through the middle, on the other, require defenders to do different things, and look in different places. You make their lives easier to the degree that they only have to worry about one option. We leaned fairly heavily towards going through the middle last year. Consequently, we did well (I think!) from our relatively infrequent crosses. Crossing a bit more should serve us well this year, so Trippier was a good acquisition. I wonder if any of our RB options are better than Dier, though, who has pace, can cross, defends reasonably well, enjoys tackling and seems very much a Pochettino kind of player. Walker doesn’t cross well, Yedlin doesn’t defend so well (though I’d love to have his pace in the side), Trippier doesn’t have that much pace.
It would be, but it wouldn't surprise me if they flourished in an environment where they are the heart of the midfield
We've supposedly had a €6m bid for Mehmet Topal turned down by Fenerbahce...although my first thought is how much of this story is fabricated by his agent, given Topal has a year left on his contract, and at 29 doesn't fit into Poch's remit. There's also a story doing the rounds that PSG have made a bid for Stambouli. Somehow nobody's done some joined-up logic and speculated that any deal with PSG for Stambouli would have Adrien Rabiot headed to Spurs. So feign surprise when that nugget shows up on NewsNow in about two hours.
I'm not saying that we should never cross the ball, just that being a good crosser is not sufficient to get into a team with top four aspirations.
Depends what you mean by a cross. A high up and under to the far post I agree. A smart cutback to someone on the edge of the box in space is another matter.
Grant Ward has joined Rotherham on loan for six months. He's already played for them in friendlies, so it's no surprise. He appears to have turned down Championship teams and a return to Coventry. Mitchell and Pochettino have been mentioned in connection to the move, so it looks like a fair bit of work has gone into getting this right.
Guessing that Carrick will rarely play, fellani will be sold and the other 3 will rotated...they could have 8 CL before xmas plus a cup run. The problem with selling fellani is that he is banned for the first 3 matches so probably won't be bought until the last minute. Mind you I said that as united had bought Schweinsteiger that Schniederlin would go to united so wtf do I know?
I'm surprised that Schneidelin agreed to join Manure with Schweinsteiger going there. But, I guess nobody else ( certainly neither us nor the Goons ) seemed willing to pay the asking price.
Fellaini's used further forward, but that brings problems anyway. Carrick, Blind, Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger, Herrera, Pereira, Mata and the Belgian, plus possibly Rooney, all fighting for three places? I think we'll see at least one of them leave, plus a loan or two for the younger ones.
