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Frenkie still got more goals and assists than any of our CMs did <laugh>. He’s also in with a shout to be named in the UEFA team of the tournament after his displays. So yeah, I’m sure Barca are definitely cursing their scouts.

Poch’s CMs have been about physicality but we’ve often found times where that’s hindered us on occasions. We’ve been heavily reliant on Eriksen to create everything, when he doesn’t play our creativity levels drop horrendously. It’s why we need someone with a more creative edge to play behind him, to ensure the mantle isn’t always on Eriksen’s shoulders. We may not even have Eriksen next season either, which further adds emphasis on bringing more creativity to the side.

Back to Frenkie for a second, he ironically said he could’ve potentially joined us last summer, whilst we all know that Grealish himself expected to be a Spurs player this season. That certainly signals that Poch is looking for that creative spark in CM.

Think you've missed the point. Of course Frenkie's a great player but you were focusing purely on the numbers so I was comparing his to Tielemans' and joking that Barca would be gutted they missed out on the player with better stats. Barcelona aren't signing him because he gets a goal or assist every 6 games, they're signing him for what he does every game. He screens the defence, he wins the ball back and he keeps it moving.

Of course it's not just about physicality in our midfield. The Wanyama and Dier midfield would have worked great otherwise. You need to have players who can control play and break through lines either with passes or runs. Dembele did that for us, Winks does that for us and now Sissoko does too. The formula works. In the past 2 seasons we've beaten every side other than Barca and Juve. What we need is to bolster it so we're not constantly relying on Winks and Sissoko, or hoping Dier finds some form again, or Wanyama suddenly becomes injury-free.
 
Like I said...I hope for your sake you win...you'll see how inferior I feel if we win though...oh boy...don't disappear

If the Poool don't win, I'll very sad.

Akin to the way Odysseus was moved to tears at his trusty dog
wasting away with maggots on its body, and barely the strength
to lift its head to acknowledge the return of its master after a
decade away.
 
If the Poool don't win, I'll very sad.

Akin to the way Odysseus was moved to tears at his trusty dog
wasting away with maggots on its body, and barely the strength
to lift its head to acknowledge the return of its master after a
decade away.
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Whenever I see stats for players I think of Brunt > Xavi and then Modric when he was with us.
Barely got any goals or assists, but ran the game consistently and pulled the strings in the midfield every bloody week.
It would be nice to see us signing someone along similar lines.
 
Think you've missed the point. Of course Frenkie's a great player but you were focusing purely on the numbers so I was comparing his to Tielemans' and joking that Barca would be gutted they missed out on the player with better stats. Barcelona aren't signing him because he gets a goal or assist every 6 games, they're signing him for what he does every game. He screens the defence, he wins the ball back and he keeps it moving.

Of course it's not just about physicality in our midfield. The Wanyama and Dier midfield would have worked great otherwise. You need to have players who can control play and break through lines either with passes or runs. Dembele did that for us, Winks does that for us and now Sissoko does too. The formula works. In the past 2 seasons we've beaten every side other than Barca and Juve. What we need is to bolster it so we're not constantly relying on Winks and Sissoko, or hoping Dier finds some form again, or Wanyama suddenly becomes injury-free.

The initial point was that you felt Tielemans and Ndombele weren't more creative than Sissoko, Winks and co. Which I disagreed with and pointed out the stats which would indicate they were more creative. Then we seemingly moved on to Frenkie.

I feel Spurs do need a player who can get the numbers from midfield. We're criminally reliant on Eriksen to the point where if he has bad game he's murdered for it (more so than whenever Son/ Alli etc have bad games) and when he doesn't play it's more noticeable than any other player. If we could add a more creative option behind him (assuming he's a Spurs player next season for a second) to help relieve the pressure on him being the sole creator, I think it helps elevate Spurs towards that next level.

The current CM formula works to a degree. It's worked in terms of getting us to this current level but now that we want to push on, I think just about every Spurs fan would agree that CM is our weakest area alongside RB and so that's what needs improving.
 
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Whenever I see stats for players I think of Brunt > Xavi and then Modric when he was with us.
Barely got any goals or assists, but ran the game consistently and pulled the strings in the midfield every bloody week.
It would be nice to see us signing someone along similar lines.

Frenkie was that guy! :emoticon-0106-cryin

I think Tielemans, based on what he's done at Leicester, is the next best thing - AND he brings good stats.
 
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Fat Frank's reaction to Villa's second goal was spot on. What the **** was that?! Questionable keeping on both, for me.
 
The initial point was that you felt Tielemans and Ndombele weren't more creative than Sissoko, Winks and co. Which I disagreed with and pointed out the stats which would indicate they were more creative. Then we seemingly moved on to Frenkie.

I feel Spurs do need a player who can get the numbers from midfield. We're criminally reliant on Eriksen to the point where if he has bad game he's murdered for it (more so than whenever Son/ Alli etc have bad games) and when he doesn't play it's more noticeable than any other player. If we could add a more creative option behind him (assuming he's a Spurs player next season for a second) to help relieve the pressure on him being the sole creator, I think it helps elevate Spurs towards that next level.

The current CM formula works to a degree. It's worked in terms of getting us to this current level but now that we want to push on, I think just about every Spurs fan would agree that CM is our weakest area alongside RB and so that's what needs improving.

They don't indicate that though, that's been my point. The systems they play in, the standard of the clubs they play for and the quality of the league they're in all play a factor in the end result that you're concentrating on. If it was that simple Janssen and Soldado would have been successes. We wouldn't be worrying about Eriksen leaving, we'd just sign Ryan Fraser as he got a very similar return. Job done.