ndre Villas-Boas offers his thoughts on our squad following the conclusion of the January transfer window. Germany Under-21 captain Lewis Holtby made the earlier move to White Hart Lane this month after an initial agreement was made for the player to join us in July. The midfielder made a successful debut in Wednesday's Premier League visit to Carrow Road, coming off the bench to inspire a revival that resulted in Gareth Bale's fine equaliser. "Lewis is an excellent acquisition and offers additional quality to a strong squad, which is extremely difficult to find in the January market, when clubs are reluctant to sell. Our intention was always to bring in players that could improve us and Lewis certainly falls into this category. We were pleased that we were able to bring his transfer forward. "He is young, extremely talented and can play a number of different roles across the midfield. We saw a glimpse of the impact he can have against Norwich, finding holes in behind and linking the game well for the team. "It was always going to be important that we kept the players we have here because we have full confidence in them. We have a great squad and that is demonstrated by our current league position. "We have strength in depth, goals throughout the team and the belief that we are equipped to achieve our objectives. "We also have players like Younes Kaboul and Emmanuel Adebayor returning soon and they will provide a tremendous boost for us. âIt is always good to see that so many of our young players have gone out on loan. They will pick up valuable experience, key to their further development.â Yago Falque, Souleymane Coulibaly, Ryan Mason, Andros Townsend, Simon Dawkins, Tomislav Gomelt and Alex Pritchard will continue their development with strategic loan placements, along with Adam Smith who has had his loan extended. Harry Kane returns to us following his recall from a loan spell at Norwich City. Young defender Zeki Fryers has also joined from Standard Liege, linking up with the Clubâs Development Squad. Heurelho Gomes has been loaned out to Hoffenheim, while Jermaine Jenas and Carlo Cudicini have made permanent transfers to Queens Park Rangers and LA Galaxy, respectively, and we wish them both well for the future.
It's telling that Levy thinks the answer to the striker problem is to recall Harry Kane How stupid is he
I'll be keeping an eye on those loan players more than usual I suspect. Townsend should get a fair amount of game time at QPR, while both Bale and Walker have said they expect Dawkins to finally make his step up at Villa. It'll be intriguing seeing how Coulibaly copes with Serie B, if he plays, I would have rathered he'd gone on a domestic loan though...
It's better to be prudent than recklessly splashing out for a player. I still don't think our rivals have done too much to scare us unduly.
The policy of youth development is laudable, and IMO, if done properly, the right way to go. However, that is not going to get us into the CL and the millions that are potentially available, in the short term. We need a top striker now - we can't afford to wait 2-3 years for one to hopefully develop from our ranks.
I fear we may become quite reliant on youth development over the next 10 years or so. With the new stadium we are not going to have endless amounts of money to throw at players like we have to some extent in the past. As much as I hate to say it, I fear we're about to go down the same path that Arsenal have been going down for the last few years, from which they are only just beginning to emerge...
If the price of any "talent" continues to rise, the way it has done. I think we will be left with very little choice. It's not just City & Chavski that can throw huge sums of money around anymore. Look at the transfer of another of our targets - William - crazy money! We're never going to be in a position to compete with that.
if it's done right,it can work,Barca make it ,and Ajax did with good effect in the 70's,and still doing alright now
I think you are all right about the mega money deals but there will always be the good deals out there to be done ie holtbe, dembele and the like, it just needs a good scouting policy, I dont think dl is shy of buying what we identify as good value but will not entertain players with telephone number price tags
Morning spurs fans, after watching qpr v norwich yesterday I must say how impressed I was with the young Townsend lad from you boys Looks a top player, not sure if he is ready for your starting 11 but in the future maybe. Is he rated by you boys ???
I like the player and was hoping to see him given a chance as when Bale is injured or drifting, we have no width on the left. Also we have the europa league to come so we should have kept him. However he has gone to a good cause and will get games at QPR.
