Transfer Rumours transfer thread fact and fiction

Oh yeah, here they are...
https://www.reddit.com/r/coys/comments/usm69f/kostic_watch_assist_frankfurt_1_1_rangers_rafael/

 

Can he actually defend, though? All I seem to see of him is attacking highlights.

 

We play 343 and have two players for every spot except one plus a sprinkling of youngsters....how is that "wildly unbalanced"?

 

We have very little variety or strength in depth in the midfield pivot and few players who can facilitate a change in approach/formation. That’s the main issue. Our backup CB options are also a bit shaky, especially at LCB. There’s a plethora of issues really, but the main ones are not having more CMs who can mix it a bit while actually offering more creativity, and another RWB option to compete with Doherty.

 

I was just going to reply to PS then read on and seen this.
You are spot on, playing a rigid 3-4-3 is great with 2 players for each position (same as any formation you can make work) but when a team nullifies this you need players who can go to a different formation to make a difference.

 

Agree with all that but it's still not wildly unbalanced. We sent all our attacking midfield options on loan so the coach clearly thinks we don't need them.

 

Or he didn't think that were actually good enough options because they were not offering anything when used.

 

I think the truth is somewhere between PS and Huddlefro/TCM.

Thinking back to our squad in 16/17, we had a very defined system and tactical approach, and essentially had 2 players who could fill each role. The only significant exception to this was the difference in style between Wanyama-Dembele and Sissoko-Winks, but ultimately it didn't really matter who was in the matchday squad, the formation and approach rarely changed.

That is only really possible when the majority of your 18-man squad is of a high enough quality. Our starting XI that year was so strong, and with a pretty solid bench including the likes of Wimmer, Trippier, Davies and Lamela, we didn't really need a Defoe or Llorente type player to come on and change the game for us. In fact, had we not suffered that early injury to Kane and suspension to Dembele, I'm almost certain we would've won the league that season.

The need for a 'game changer' becomes magnified when what's already out on the pitch wasn't good enough to start with. That's why you need a game changer - the game needs changing. It's no surprise that Defoe was so heavily relied upon when our strikers could barely hit 15 goals a season - and remember, he played in some of the best Spurs sides in PL history. Same for Crouch. Same with Llorente and more recently Bale. As the team in general began to decline and in particular midfield strength and creativity dissolved, the same players who had previously excelled started to struggle and suddenly games were in need of changing. So we had to invest in different skill sets to sit on the bench.

I'm rambling a bit here as this thought just came to me, but in summary: In 16/17 our first team and most back up options (i.e. like-for-like subs) were so strong, we didn't need game changers. By 2020, our first team and back up options were so poor, we were desperate for the likes of Bale to come off the bench and change a game.

This is one of the many reasons why I don't think we'll sign Bale next season. Conte will put pragmatics before sentiment and spend his budget and wage allowance on upgrades to the first team and then like-for-likes on the bench.

 

It is worth mentioning he was a winger at Groningen and Stuttgart, so he's only really been a LWB at Eintracht, and Eintracht's high press is what allows him to be a WB

The main thing with Kostic bombing forward is their LCB moves out to the gap on the left while their LCM drops into defence, which would currently be Davies and Hojbjerg, so he could easily fit into our system that way - on the other, he does easily get isolated by balls over the top due to being positioned so high up due to being a winger first and a WB second, with his pace, stamina and workrate making up the difference

 

Well there's no way Ndombele is going to start in Conte's system but I don't see any reason he couldn't come on for 25 minutes if we needed a goal as we do lack creativity. Similarly Dele or Lo Celso. But Conte must think that having no option at all is better or he would have kept one of them.

 

As I've pointed out before, it is impossible to tell during a match whether a system is working or not. It's crazy to change the system because you have not scored because that happens by chance sometimes.
There is a subtly different point though...since you get three points for a win and only one for a draw, if you a drawing or losing with 20 mins to go, you ought to take more risk. I think that is better done by changing the players rather than the system. With our current squad the obvious thing to do is to bring on one or both of Lucas and Bergwijn to replace the wing backs. But Ndombele, Dele, or Lo Celso instead of Hojbjerg could have been an option.

 

El Chiringuito are linking us with Yannick Carrasco

Not as hyped as Kostic, but been a very reliable LWB for Atleti for a few years (and was ridiculous in the Chinese Super League for a couple of seasons...)...but is a Pini Zahavi client, and we're trying to offload the last one of those

 

We’d be better off going down to 10 men than bring any of those on.

 

So after watching Frankfurt against West Ham (twice) and Rangers, I’m now clearly an expert on all their players.

Kostic impressed me. Not overly sound defensively but a wand of a left foot, those crosses into our front three would be ideal to have. His crosses are like JWP’s freekicks; worth about 9-12 points a season alone.

On the opposite flank Knauff also looks far more ideal for a Conte RWB role than Doherty or Emerson. Still quite raw, reminds me a little of a young Walker but could very well become a top RWB. On an 18 month loan there though from Dortmund so would have to wait a year to get him if we were ever interested.

Really liked the look Kamada, we were linked with him a year or so back IIRC, silky player. I was surprised he doesn’t have more assists to his name judging by his level of technique, passing and movement.

Borre is also a handful up top. Very hard working and quite a team player type of striker. Could probably play across anywhere in the front three judging by how he plays for Frankfurt.

 

I don’t think that’s quite right though. You can usually tell when a system is not working because mis-matches and overloads and spaces consistently appear. That’s what I would look for rather than purely goals. You yourself highlight our issue IMO - the replacements we have don’t give us the ability to do anything different. Even if we keep the same formation, we’re not adding much more than fresh legs. And we lack the players to do much different.

 

That isn't what's been happening under Conte though. There have been very few examples of the system breaking down in defence. We've also scored loads of goals but they have been too unevenly distributed between matches. More attacking options off the bench sounds the right answer to me but Conte shipped them all out.

 

One player I've long been saying we need to sign is somebody who'll ping through balls from the centre, either to the flanks or straight through the middle, as that would change the dimension of our play

None of our squad, either at the club or out on loan, really do that
Bentancur and Winks look to play chipped passes
Hojbjerg goes for the conservative layoff
Ndombele and Lo Celso tend to dribble the ball up the pitch

That's been an issue for a while, because the ball only moves as quickly as the player with it - but if we had somebody who could move the ball faster, in the Modric mold, that would change

 

Thats because Conte is excellent at drilling a 3atb defence and the pivot in front. We definitely had issues before the January window but Bentancur coming in has added a lot to the pivot, his technical ability and calm on the ball help those around him. Having Romero, Dier and Davies mostly fit for the business end of the season has helped massively too. My comments about spaces and mismatches were more general about how systems match up.

The issues we have are in possession against teams who are happy for us to have the ball. Unless we have two perfect all rounders in the pivot then we need other options of how to play to get round it. We also sometimes have issues when teams can press us perfectly and our players don’t react well to it.

 

Assuming Wales are in the WC finals, and Spurs are in the CL,
Bale will be signed. *** He will be a big help in the CL group stages
at the very least. A repeat at least of his PL loan foray, even better.

*** Wage demands not withstanding

 

Considering he's suggested he may hang up his boots post-WC, a six-month contract would balance out some of the wage concerns

Alternatively, that golf course the Lunatic Fringe would not shut up about a year or so ago (a golf course that we spent something like £30k for...) might pay off