Transfer thread for 2016-17 season

I believe AVB really messed with Dembele's head to the point where hadn't clue what to do when he had the ball.

 

You make some good points, HBIC, but so much of what you have written had or has nothing to do with Pochettino himself. Dembele is a perfect example here: he did lose his place to Bentaleb - for an entire season! Early last season, Dembele started as part of the '3' and one of Mason or Bentaleb started next to Dier. The pair then picked up 'perfectly timed' injuries, coinciding with Alli's surprise development as a brilliant #10, to clear the path for the Belgian to have a nice consistent run next to Dier. By the time Nabil had returned from injury, his place was well and truly lost and his confidence probably shot to pieces. Dembele's growth into a key player had as much to do with coincidence is at did with Poch's managerial skills.

When it comes to players who came through the youth system, logically it is impossible to say that they were only at the club as a 'temporary measures'. Quite the opposite - the hope is clearly that the next Kane, Rose, Walker etc. will climb through the ranks and go on to transform the first XI from within, all the while costing the club pittance during a time when money is so tight.

So I know I'm harping on about it, but when a youth graduate shows the potential of Bentaleb, it is wrong to the point of being insulting to give up on him so quickly. Form may be temporary, but class most certainly isn't. And class takes time to nurture. If we have a manager who isn't patient enough to wait for that, we could well be caught in an expensive catch-22 of not bringing through enough talent from the expensively-assembled youth set up, and not being able to afford real upgrades on what we currently have, as per my response to Brian's comparison of Poch to Bacon Face.

 

I agree about his ability, but there are two things about Bentaleb that I'd bring up.
Firstly, he hasn't actually gone anywhere yet and has been given a squad number.
I'd see that as a possible way back in, but only if he works for it and proves himself.

Secondly, when you look at players like Mason, Carroll and a few others, it suggests that there's more to this than just one thing.
They certainly didn't excel last season, yet they were given repeated chances to show what they can do.
If they're doing everything right off the pitch, then that's probably a good example for our academy players.
Like I said earlier, I think that Pochettino's trying to set the tone with this stuff.

There were a number of rumours about Bentaleb and I don't know how many of them were true, if any.
He got injured and there was some suggestion that he'd had a motorcycle crash, which he furiously refuted.
Then he went off to play for his country when he wasn't fully fit and got injured again.
His contract negotiations didn't go smoothly either, by all accounts and his agent made some noise to the media, too.

 

We're very lucky in that every year we produce a few very talented youngsters and we have to sort the wheat from the chaff so that those with a potential future with the club get a shot. Some go on talent - Dom Ball and Grant Ward are great lads who will have good careers but at this point they aren't showing they've got what a CL club needs. So, the next generation get a chance but they need to understand that this opportunity has a time limit and they need to show enough to have it continue. Ryan Mason must be showing it in training or he'd be gone. 90% of Spurs fans would have had him gone last season but he's still here in the way that Erik Lamela is.

Likewise, Erik Lamela's talent, attitude in training and commitment to the Spurs' cause hasn't been in doubt, even when his form on the pitch was pretty poor a couple of years back. Adebayor, however, had to go. Some decisions are easy and some are tortuous but it is better to make them in good faith than put them off and hope things will improve as Wenger seems to want to do. Mauricio Pochettino doesn't just discard players whose form is poor if he can see something that will come right and that they have the talent and application. However if they lack either or both, then it's time to leave.

Mauricio Pochettino went to see Fergie. I am sure he had a long list of questions about things like "when do you give up on a young talent and let them go elsewhere?" and "How do you know when to move on a senior pro?" Our manager is still very much in the learning stage himself but everything points at him having the innate talent and personal drive to be a winner. We need to show him that we know this and back him all the way. He has committed himself to us. We need to do the same.

 

It is alleged Christian Eriksen's agent has indicated that he would like £150k p.w. to sign a new contract. Good luck with that, Christian.

Taxi for Mr Eriksen!

 

If that's true we should cash in now rather than let it become poisonous and drag on.
To demand £150k a week is pretty much the same as demanding a transfer imo

 

Great player but goes missing in far too many games imo. Not even worth half that £150k per week

 

Some interesting comments from Eriksen's agent Martin Schoots to the Standard...
"The only thing that I can say is that if money were the most important thing, Christian would not have gone to Ajax at the first place.

"At the time, he was 16 we were in contact with clubs like Barcelona, Chelsea and AC Milan.

"And if money were the most important thing, he wouldn't have joined Tottenham three years ago. He had interest from some of the richest clubs in the world.

"But Tottenham were the only club he wanted to join, and he is happy.

"In the eight-and-a-half years that I have worked with Chris, we never made any comments on contract negotiations and we will not make any exception on this, not even confronted by some funny internet rumours."

By "interesting" I'm mainly referring to the last part, where he appears to be distancing himself from the figure being quoted by the Mirror.

 

Wouldn't go that far, while the £150k a week is far too much (refuted recently by his agent in fairness), I'd say he's worthy of a £70k-£80k deal. While he does go missing at times, just like today, there aren't many better in the England or Europe when he's on form and replacing him in the current market would cost us £30m+, you only have to look at guys like Mane, Wijnaldum and soon to be Bolasie to realise that we're lucky having Eriksen here and getting in someone to replace him would be a joke in financial terms.

 

I can't remember the last time I saw him have a good game.

 

The last time I watched him and thought wow was Swansea away last season.
If he is not asking for £150k per week then I am glad but he does need to continue to improve cos the minute you stand still in your skills in any professional or personal aspect of life you go backwards imo

 

I had a choice between him and Lamella for my FF team, did I pick the wrong one

 

Eriksen tweeted after yesterdays game and ended with "and don't believe everything you read on the internet"

He does need some more consistency but at the same time I think people do sometimes underestimate the amount of work he puts into the pressing side of the game. His running stats are usually near the top of the table IIRC. He deserves as much praise for that as Lamela does, to be fair.

150k is way too much for him though if that's an actual demand. Not sure it is though, hope not anyway.

 

He's confirmed what his agent suggested, all media bollocks. He is underestimated in the off the ball stuff, works very hard. Look forward to him scoring and making a few more goals though.

 

I agree, but I strongly believe he needs more serious competition for his place in order for him to step up to more consistent levels. It's getting to the point where I'm not even trusting his free kick ability to at least hit the target.

 

Best get Coric in pronto!

 

It's also worth noting that Eriksen was the second highest assister in the Prem last season after Ozil, beating the much praised Mahrez and Payet in those statistics. Imagine how good he can be if he gets more consistent.

 

If he combined last season's assists with the goals from the previous two seasons, then he'll be worth whatever figure the Mirror wants to make up.

That said, if Bolasie is getting £75k a week at Everton, Eriksen should be up there with Kane and Lloris in the £80-100k bracket.

 

Eriksen should be one of the top earners at the club imo