"Not along ago Dembele was our saviour, then we gave up on him, then Holtby was are new Jesus , that has gone tits up." No one has given up on Dembele at all. Never vaunted as a saviour, but he is one helluva player who we got on board for a song. Holtby is a young lad who we have a chance to see develop into a very decent player. The same goes for Siggy in my opinion. If we are to consolidate and progress then we will need a better squad than we have at present and these are players who would all fit the bill as good enough to be part of that. That is provided that we also get in at least 2 more top level performers......and don't lose our best in the Summer!! (My) Jury is out on Dempsey at the moment and the sort of performance that went on today is not filling me with any confidence.
My point is we don't replace our quality with the same class. Yes some are good squad players but not Modric, VDV. Berba, even Carrick, and what will we sign to replace Bale, I bet you he won't be anywhere near as good. These only the type of players that will keep you in the top 4 and you need at least 3 in one team. Soon we will have none, but a bunch of very good , good, average and bad squad players.
I said this a while ago to HIAG and co when Bale was injured, although its a problem with all clubs as the quality of the league has declined. The recession and spending restrictions inflicted on clubs means that world class/excellent players are sold for a handsome fee and replaced with bargain buys. This isn't to discredit Sigurdsson, Parker, Dempsey, Adebayor or Holtby but they wouldn't have got near a Spurs starting XI 5 or even 3 years ago.
Your "weak league" theory conveniently overlooks City and Chelsea's vast spending in recent times on some of Europe's best. Are Aguero, Toure, Mata, Hazard bargain buys? The fact that Chelsea are not outperforming Spurs and Arsenal says more about the management of the club than the quality of the purchases. A club with a squad the size and quality of Chelsea's can't blame any recession- as it clearly hasn't affected your spending on players.
We aren't talking about Chelsea or City we're talking about Spurs but ill happily oblige. When Tevez, Ronaldo and Berbatov are sold and Welbeck, Hernandez and RVP come in as the replacements there is an obvious dip in quality. For Liverpool see Mascherano, Alonso, Torres and Allen, Carroll, Henderson For Arsenal see RVP, Fabregas, Hleb, Flamini, Nasri and Giroud, Arteta, Cazorla, Gervinho, Ramsey It really is simple
And the reverse is true of many other sides in the division, DL. Try comparing Swansea's team now with their side from back then! You've also picked out one club that's doing very well and two that have definitely gone backwards in the timeframe that you're talking about. Liverpool and Arsenal may be weaker than they were 5 years ago, but they're league positions are worse, too.
"All clubs" you said, DL, but that isn't so. The spending on players and wages isn't declining for most clubs. Of the players you mention, only Ronaldo is a truly world class talent. His circumstances were unique and Real Madrid paid £80M for the privelege. Fabregas wanted to return to his home town club, but is he better than Cazorla? Or Cabaye? Or Mata? Liverpool still paid through the nose for the players you mentioned (and others)- they didn't cut their spending, they bought badly. Look at the money Stoke, Southampton and Sunderland have spent recently too.
The last paragraph is just plain wrong DL - although I accept that we have lost one top player (Modric) and another bloody good one (VDV). Parker is a better player than Palacios by a country mile and Holtby has arrived as a young developing player who has already held his own in the CL and Bundesliga. Adebayor (the real one, who hopefully reappeared today) is a better forward than Crouch, Defoe or Pav. Sig is still finding his feet but is again good enough be 'near' our best 11. Dempsey is the only one who I wouldn't currently rate as good enough for our match day 16.
I really rated Pavlychenko, but to be fair it's a different system entirely you are playing now. Can't help but think losing VDV may cost you. Dempsey just isn't the same player. VDV reminded me of Lampard, always in the right place at the right time.
Agreed.... Bearing in mind my comments about him earlier I am surprised that I was that kind on him now!!! Lol
Dempsey's not a replacement for van der Vaart, but nor is he intended as one. Bale's moved into his position and both Sigurdsson and Holtby are probably at their best in that role. Our lack of suitable back-up or competition for Bale and Lennon has seen them moved out wide.
There were players we had around then who looked very talented but performed inconsistently. Pav was one of those, as was Kranjcar. However, some thought it was the management style of the time that acted to their detriment.
Seeing as we're down to our last striker with defoe out for a couple of weeks,. I would consider to leave Adebayor at home on Thursday. I know the next Premiership fixture is not scheduled until 21st, but Heaven-forbid hes goes out there to FC Basel and picks up any kind of injury. That would be a tragedy of epic proportions., espcially now that he's begining to show more interest....... Wait-a -minute,. when is the Chelsea game ?.
