Transfer Rumours transfer thread fact and fiction

The saddest thing is that Kane was still better than Son, Alli and Eriksen on the day. Son has escaped a hell of a lot of criticism for his recent form. Meanwhile Eriksen has been murdered, Alli’s had some **** and Kane’s got a lot too. Since the City game Son was very, very poor for Spurs.

Overall for me personally, starting Kane wasn’t the problem. Not starting Lucas was. Well that, and the 1st minute penalty...

 

I think that tends to be the case when we start Kane and he's not fit, though.
He doesn't just play badly, the whole team does.

Look at our run after his return against Burnley, for example.
We'd just won four on the bounce and we got one point from our next five league games, with only the Dortmund away game to show for it.

 

I do agree that when he’s rushed back we’ve suffered but on this occasion, our form during his second injury was terrible. We failed to score in three of the league games plus the home leg vs Ajax and we were playing dire football for the most part. It was practically individual heroics from Son against City (his last good performance) and Lucas against Ajax that saw us through, outside of those games we struggled elsewhere. If we were in good form I’d have definitely advocated the idea of benching Kane but because we weren’t, I wasn’t entirely against the decision providing he was fit.

 

Madness

What even with Levy’s deep pockets and short arms you would reject the chance to make around 60/70 mill in the hope that Poch can strengthen us? Or are you just in love with Eriksen?

Or maybe deep down you know that Poch won’t get the money to spend?

If he stays it’s because his come and get me plea 3 days after the CL final fell on deaf ears. He allowed his head to be turned at a stage that was too important for Spurs...he’s not the Messiah for me.

 

Our form prior to his second injury was also ****, though. It was poor for virtually all of the second half of the season.
Our midfield fell apart and we didn't have enough cover or competition, which increased as an issue when Winks was out and Dembele left.

 

We become weaker without him though...

Eradicate the money factor for a second and having Eriksen in the side with potential new signings makes Spurs very, very good. Take Eriksen out and while the new signings may be great, we’d still almost very much likely be better with them playing alongside the Dane than without.

I’d much rather keep Eriksen for another season if I’m honest. He’s our best player in my opinion. Hopefully he signs a new deal though, that’s the perfect scenario.

 

True but the general basis for me is that if your best players are in the side you should effectively expect to see better results more quickly than if they’re not.

There were so many factors this season that hindered our form though, the CL adventure was a wild one (and even in that we didn’t play all that well in periods) but we were dogshit in the Prem for 95% of it. The fact we still managed fourth was somewhat of a miracle. Injuries/ fatigue/ failure to strengthen/ loss of form for some/ tactical and selection issues all contributed towards different problems we had to face.

 

Vulture Watch
Well now, it appears all is not well in the Roma camp due to the combination of them failing to qualify for CL football and, more pertinently, several issues with the club's hierarchy which have led to Francesco Totti walking out of the club citing a complete breakdown in the club's internal structure as there's basically three factions: one of the club's American owner James Pallotta, one for Franco Baldini, and one backing Totti (the latter of which adds significance to Daniele De Rossi leaving the club at the end of the season)

So with that in mind...

Nicolo Zaniolo (19yo, Italy, attacking midfield, contracted until 2023)
Pros: Well he is being linked with us at the moment, so the timing is remarkably convenient; Capable of playing through the middle or on the right; Has the physicality and technical ability already, so with the right coaching could become something special
Cons: His end product is hardly impressive, with 6 goals and 2 assists in all competitions; It does have to be asked why Inter had him for a season and never used him; It's hard to ignore that so much of his selling point at the moment is "potential" rather than tangible qualities

Cengiz Under (21yo, Turkey, right wing, contracted until 2022)
Pros: Bloody hell is he fast; Linked with us for at least two years, so it would be nice if we could actually sign somebody perpetually linked with us for a change; Would easily fit into our wage structure, as he's on £17k p/w at Roma so even if he asks for triple his wages we can easily sign off on that; Decent end product, with 6 goals and 11 assists in all competitions
Cons: We could've picked him up for about £10m a couple of years ago, while Roma would be expecting at least £40m for him; Seems to pick up hamstring strains at regular intervals

Lorenzo Pellegrini (22yo, Italy, centre midfield, contracted until 2022)
Pros: The sort of midfield metronome we've been crying out for since 2012; Knows how to press; Capable of playing as a centre mid, defensive mid, attacking mid or even as a number ten; Has randomly been linked with us in the last week or so
Cons: While he can press opponents, he's not reliable either at tackling or interceptions; While he's good at keeping the team ticking over, he rarely plays the sort of defence-splitting passes we need from deep

Patrick Schick (23yo, Czech Republic, striker, contracted until 2022)
Pros: Fits the bill for what Poch wants in a Kane understudy, as he can hold up the ball and get stuck in against stubborn defenders, yet also has technique that Janssen doesn't have; Surely used to being an understudy already, given he's played second fiddle to Dzeko for the last couple of seasons
Cons: After two seasons at Roma he's scored the grand total of eight goals - compared to the 13 he scored in his last season at Sampdoria; We could've picked him up for considerably less than Roma will ask for a couple of years ago; With Dzeko getting on in years, may fancy his chances of breaking into Roma's first team this coming season

Ante Coric (22yo, Croatia, attacking midfielder, contracted until 2023)
Pros: A couple of seasons ago he seemed like the Eriksen understudy we clearly needed yet never bothered signing; Appeared to have the tools to kick on at Dinamo...although he probably should have moved on a year before he did
Cons: You can count his appearances for Roma on one hand; As things stand an Eriksen understudy may be the one thing we don't need, as an Eriksen replacement could be more important; A whole bunch of injuries this season; Like so many Croatian prospects, touted as a New Modric but looks more like Another Halilovic

 

Yes a new deal and an Eriksen with focus is the best deal for sure

 

Not when you consider the fact that Pool have the best defensive unit of any opposition we've faced in any competition this season. Best domestic record in Europe, I believe. You could see immediately how their game plan changed. Funnily enough, City tried the same tactic against us in the home leg but it didn't work. Ifs and buts I know but Aguero goes the other side with his early penalty and perhaps it would have done. Ajax's approach is an excellent example of how not to approach a game, and their inexperience at this level shone through and was ultimately their undoing. No way should a team leading 3-0 on the night not know how to shut the game down and see it through.

 

I am not sure we can replace him and Dembele and get a decent back up striker and a Trippier replacement and a possible toby replacement and have a team that works...the Bale replacements showed it is difficult to get so many new players to make a team prosper.

My thinking is that Eriksen is the hardest to replace and (for this coming season) the Dembele and Trippier repacements plus a striker are an immediate needas we don't have anyone doing those jobs.

Imho we are more likely to win a trophy and get a top 4 finish with new players AND Eriksen than without him.

That would be a good season and gives us a year to find a replacement.

But maybe I am mad...or am just in love with him....your choice.

 

Last week it was £66m

Well get them down to a round £50m in time for Wimbledon

 

https://www.not606.com/threads/transfer-thread-fact-and-fiction.343033/page-574#post-12897026

 

Of course we did. Fresh pair of attacking legs in that heat will make anyone look more threatening. Look, I was as shocked as anyone when i saw he wasn't starting. I accepted starting Kane but thought Son would make way for Lucas as he was our worst attacker against Ajax. But him coming on later on and making us look threatening doesn't tell us anything about what would have been had he started.

 

In non-CL final news, sources of various repute continue to link us to Dani Ceballos, who apparently will make a decision on his club future after the U21 tournament this summer, and scored this belter for Spain against Italy last night

 

Wowzer!

 

Apparently it's okay to announce signings even though we haven't agreed terms with any of the parties involved

Don't be like this tetchy ****stain

 

Matthijs de Ligt: "The defender I looked up to the most was Jan Vertonghen. At Ajax he was number four and captain. I was a big fan of Jan Vertonghen. I still am. I think he was my biggest role model."

I think some saliva just dribbled onto my shirt. Never going to happen, is it?











But just imagine....








Stop it CK







But IMAGINE! Tutored by his role model for a year and then Jan moves back to Ajax and we get his natural heir and successor and the circle of life is complete.






STOP IT CK

 

Seriously stop it. You'll hurt yourself getting your hopes up on that one.