Glad you've seen the light with Capt Daws, Rob. Good for you sir I'm also with you on Holtby, if he's fit enough I'd like him to start instead of Dembele on Sunday.
He's had a good start to the season G. Let's see how it goes, but he's there or thereabouts for me at the moment. I think Dembele is going to struggle to hold a place down this season to be honest, and (although many would take issue with this) i wouldnt even find it a total shock if he went in January.
Fair comments RS, but I don't need to see how it goes. Capt Daws has been superb for us for years, so I expect him to continue to be superb. there'll come a time when age catches up with him, but not for two years at least I'd say. Agree re Dembele, not that I expect him to go, but he hasn't made the breakthrough I expected from him. We need goals and assists from him, I think we'll get more from Holtby.
There's no way Dembele will go. We've got no one like him. He's a massive asset in breaking up the play and no one can deal with him. - who have you ever seen get the better of dembele? He might be underperforming right now, and frustrating at times, but we'd miss him massively if he wasn't with us. It's good that his position won't be guaranteed, it'll do him good. But selling him would be a massive school boy error.
yeah i forgot chadli i;d have him down instead of sigg probably, in the 2nds. bench : friedel, rose, chiriches, sandro, carroll, townsend/chadli, defoe
he's been "underperforming" for most of his time with us. he's not as good as sandro at breaking up play, and capoue looks like he's probably better too. don't think we'd miss him at all. he's one of those strange fan favourites for me who's put in a few good performances (most of which were because sandro made him look good), but he doesnt merit a place in the team now, and i don't see him being a regular starter this season.
I dont think we should start shipping people out just yet. We have only just got ourselves into a position of depth and people want to errode it already. Dembele may not pass like Modric, or break up play quite as well as Capoue or Sandro, but he is a good back up, can be used in cups and Europe, Very rarely loses the ball, is strong, and can run past people. I think he is well worth keeping unless we were to get someone amazing instead ie Schweinsteiger, Mata or Taure quality. That wont happen for a while if ever.
i'd pretty much agree with that, ie that's he's "a good back up" who's "worth keeping". i'd far sooner we lost him though than holtby, and if we were in a position where we were at the 17 overseas player limit, then he would be one of the ones i'd be looking at to get a good deal on. also, if he feels that he needs to be at a club where he's getting regular first team football, then i dont think i'd stand in his way. from his point of view, i believe chadli starts in midfield for belgium at the moment, with dembele on the bench, so with the world cup around the corner, it wouldn't surprise me if he's keen to get plenty of game time.
Had the pleasure of watching the Sandro-Carroll-Holtby-Defoe (I think) first from behind the goal 20 yards away as it unfolded in front of me. The Sandro intercept and Carroll pass got the crowd headed towards its feet. Holtby's beautiful reverse pass started a massive cheer, almost as if Defoe had already scored, which he duly did. This was Holtby's audition for number 10, and he passed with flying colors, to me. He had the idea and the understanding worked out with Defoe before the ball got to him. Gylfi has had awful luck. I still think he'll do very well, but admit it will probably be at another club. He's someone who needs to know he will start every day, I would say. Erikson faces stiff comp for the number 10 role from Holtby, especially since the former's weakness, I've heard, is his tendency to drift out of games. Holtby screwed up a number of times early, but kept wanting the ball and ended up having a great game. That's invaluable. The crowd was great, singing constantly, loud as hell. Maybe the lower ticket prices attracted a heartier, less yuppified crowd. I like going to games where the atmosphere isn't crippled by people like me. There are so many players I'd like to keep, but I would think we might sell/lend third stringers ATM. Carroll's a bit of a special case, because we don't really have another DLP. Selling or loaning Dembele strikes me as madness. Whatever he does or doesn't do, he carries as much of an intimidation factor as Sandro, IMO. The way he dribbles past other players while they bounce off his legs puts them on the back foot. Four players in the "2" strikes me as right, considering 1/4 will usually be hurt, and you need 3 to rotate for twice a week games. Since I think we should play a 4-3-3 against Arsenal and other teams that will attack, we may well consider 5 there, leaving a spot for Carroll. Holtby and Erikson can rotate for a while at CAM--though I've heard Lamela has designs on the famous, left-footer-cutting-in "free role," which may be center-ish.
We're leaving Monday. It's very unlikely, but possible, we'll go the Arsenal game. Spurs have some kind of 240 pound deal, supposedly, which ATM seems a bit steep. At that price I think I'd be disappointed not to see us win, which we've only done once in twenty times away to Arsenal. And if we do, it's unlikely to result in a touchy-feely post match atmosphere. (Though I had been busy calculating that's "only" twice what it costs for a no-frills trip to a Pittsburgh Steelers game, all things considered--and there are frills involved with this deal. ) Seems like a good pub would be the wiser choice, ATC. Cheers to you. Will you be at the Emirates?
No, I'm actually going to Silverstone to watch some very fast spaniards dominate MotoGP. I booked the tickets before the calendar was anounced. What are these "frills" you get then? I think you would enjoy watching the game in a pub somewhere in London. I always do with my cousin (Gooner) and they are mostly Spurs from what we've found. The one we've settled on is the Water poet in Shoreditch.
2013.08.29 - Tottenham vs Dinamo Tbilisi (720p).mkv (1.12 GB) https://mega.co.nz/#!HJdFVQ6B!KimAk137X4n0QHlvVXBnKmDCqtojONE_mML48gabIbw
