Apparently he had a lot of niggling injuries with us. Was constantly having pre match fitness tests before games before taking his place on the bench. Possibly his fitness wasn't trusted?
Yeah, I thought even in his best games it would be one good half and one poor half in a game. He looks better suited to playing in Italy, good passer but very slow. I'm pleased he's gone but mostly because having sold 2 central midfielders we surely must be moving for a replacement soon.
I've also seen this. Sunderland ITK claims it's £3m - hopefully he passes his medical. Will be 1 more troublemaker off our books.
If we're selling Stambouli then we must be in for a player, unless Dembele is going to feature much more heavily in the coming season and the youth are really going to get pushed forward. Even then we could do with an older head in that position. I have a feeling Harry Winks is going to have a good year too.
King, Kane and Lenny, I have the same take on Stambouli that you do. My mental notes go something like, "Okay, good aggressive DM, expected that, looks like Carlos Monzón...oh, can dribble...even throws in a trick, impressive if a shade showboat-y...you know, he actually pings the ball forward well...better than any midfielder we have other than Mason, probably...wonder why he doesn’t get a run of games..." If we weren’t selling Stambouli, we’d probably be buying him. He and Lennon are the mysteries of Pochettino: players who looked good when they played, but are being moved on anyway. What I really wouldn’t understand is why we’d sell Stambouli for 6, pass on Cabaye for 10 and then think about buying McCarthy for 20. To me, it’s either a Cabaye or a Schneiderlin, on the one hand, or keep taking a chance with our young players on the other. One way to build a team that overachieves is from your own youth players, and to judge from Kane and Bentaleb, especially, that may not be at all unrealistic and deserves a try. Add Alli to the mix, and use Demebélé when we need more strength?
Oh to know what really goes on behind the scenes, eh? Like when Kaboulgate broke - no one could quite believe that a player who seemed Spurs through and through could behave so unprofessionally. But even then, who knows what previous there'd been between him and the coaching staff? I think if his performances on the pitch hadn't have so closely resembled me on a Sunday afternoon at Power League, there would've been an uproar in his defense, such was his popularity with the fans. I think the goal you're thinking about was in the 5-3 against Chelsea and it was Fazio who inexplicably passed the ball to Hazard of all people in the final third. I genuinely can't remember Stam putting a foot wrong, which leads me to the main question: We've gone from looking like Costco in central midfield to a supermarket in Venezuela. We suddenly look a bit threadbare in those key areas. I know many are optimistic, but I personally don't think Carrol and Alli are anywhere near (yet) the level we'd need. Either way, we'd be left with an under performing Dembele as our only CM with anything remotely resembling top drawer experience. I really hope this doesn't go through. Unless the player is pushing for it, it makes zero sense.
Hopefully his main issues were off the field with our coaching staff. Before his long injury lay off, he was magnificent. I saw him at WHL last preseason and he was top drawer, guiding Dier though the game and was made club captain not that long ago. Then, inexplicably, he went downhill amidst rumours of a falling out with the youth policy. If his issues with our coaches (whatever they really are) go away, he might get back to a good level.
Kaboul has had his injury woes too, there was a rumour at one point that he had a chronic problem similar to that suffered by Ledley King. While I don't think it ever turned out that bad for him, his injuries have played a part in his downfall here too. If Sunderland can keep him fit and in the team though he'll be a strong addition you'd think. re. Stambouli - surely the fact that we're considering letting him go means we're in for someone of a good level. Carroll, Alli and Winks have all shown promise, particularly the former 2, but with question marks over Mason, Bentaleb and Dembele in the DM positions we can't be relying on the players we have. After seeing the side desperately needing rotation, and that being hampered due to injury at the back end of last season, having just 3 senior DMs for 2 positions would be mental. I would sell Dembele over Stambouli if you gave me the choice but either way we need someone to come in who is beyond the level of 'promising'.
If his injury problems are not severe and/or long lasting , you've got a top class centre back. Superb athlete, but as S.D. said, he seemed to fall out with management for some reason.
A fully fit, fully focused Kaboul is our best CB in my opinion, better than Jan and Toby, problem is, over the past 18 months - 2 years he's had too many injuries and then pissed about last year which saw him ejected from the squad for two thirds of the season. The quoted £5m can either be the best or the worst £5m Sunderland will spend. He's an absolute monster in the air and prior to his injuries was considered one of the fastest in the squad which had players like Walker, Bale and Lennon, he's no doubt lost an edge of his pace but still isn't a slouch. His problem in his last few appearances for us was his concentration, just seemed to look lost a number of times and error prone (likely down to having been out for so long). If you can get the Kaboul of a couple years back, he's without a doubt one of the best CB's in the League.
Haven't a clue what went on behind the scenes, but I will be wishing YK all the best and thanks for a few great memories, including setting up Crouch for the goal that beat City and claim the CL place and one of my favourite moments in 50 years of supporting Spurs - a certain headed goal after 85 minutes of the NLD on 20/11/10!! There are some events in football that you just cannot put a price on
The coach who Kaboul initially had a bust up with over our youth policy, is currently on "gardening leave" and so Kaboul's behaviour since does him no favours as he seems to hold a grudge with pretty much all at the club rather than just the guy he fell out with. He has turned from being a top bloke and a top professional to a first class prat. A parting of the ways is best all round.
Looks like Bentecke is going to Liverpool (strange transfer imo) but could that mean Adebayor going to Villa? Rumours of Soldado to Spain, so we'll be free to get attackers Poch can work with. Should be an interesting few weeks coming up.
