I don't see how Spence or Porro fit into Postecoglou's system. Emerson's weakest element (his crossing) is virtually eliminated, though.
Yeah, most here were pleased when we signed Porro permanently last month but I was puzzled as he’s not a full back.
I still watch Emerson and think he looks so uncomfortable in possession. I thought the same with Doherty too. Porro is the opposite as he’s technically superb but just cannot defend to save his life and I don’t quite get why because a natural wing back should have some defensive capabilities. Scary though that we’ve spent £120m+ on RBs since Walker’s departure and we could be 6-12 months away from potentially needing another. Thankfully, Udogie on the other flank looks like he’s going to be a star so we should be fine there for quite some time.
Watching him yesterday, he still takes far too long to do anything with the ball once he has it. The game visually slows down whenever he is in possession and I do think it is one of the reasons why Kulusevski is struggling for form.
Ornstein says we rejected Bayern’s latest bid for Kane. Ally Gold says we’ve distanced ourselves from Tapsoba due to Leverkusen’s asking price.
Agreed with this and DH’s comments. Porro is a good footballer but can’t seem to get it right defensively. Emerson is solid at the back but I always worry about his touch and I think he does slow things down a bit. You’d think that Emerson would play the big games and we might use Porro in games where we have a better opportunity to dominate possession, though the level of the PL is so high that all teams will take advantage of defensive weaknesses. Destiny looks a proper player on the left, my word. We’ll see how the season goes of course but he could be one for the ages.
As I keep saying, the two deals are intrinsically interlinked. They shouldn't be, as in an ideal world we'd buy Tapsoba and keep Kane. But in Levy's world, it's one or the other.
The other issue with Porro is that physically he isn't the strongest, and if Ange is insisting on pushing the FBs infield at every opportunity, whereas Royal and Udogie have the physique to cope with that, our other options don't.
There’s something in that, though the fact he’s technically good and just a good footballer means I think he’d be fine inverting. Just not reliable enough defensively for me to be comfortable if we were playing City or the goons. If he can work on his defensive instincts and positioning and technique, and maybe bulk up a bit, he’ll develop very nicely.
Probably. I’ll settle for not signing Tapsoba though as long as Kane stays and the van de Ven deal gets finalised. It’s not enough on the defensive side, as Tapsoba should’ve been the absolute priority, but it’s sufficient enough I suppose. And right on cue, Romano says the van de Ven and Veliz deals are complete.
So that’s: Vicario Maddison Solomon Phillips Van de Ven (pending confirmation) Veliz (pending confirmation) Ange said he still wants another defender but I reckon that won’t be Tapsoba. We’ve then gotta try and clear about 7 (at least) players from the books. How are people rating this window?
You can add at least six teams to that list mate, all of them comfortably good enough to take full advantage of a FB who isn't particularly good defensively, being asked to move 30 yards out of position whenever his team has the ball. We'll be skinned so easily and my concern is that we've already seen it happen in all three pre season games.
1. Happy we haven't waited to get rid of Ndombele, Lo Celso etc before getting players in. 2. Happy we are addressing areas needed. 3. Don't follow European football so know nothing about the majority of our new players. 4. BM throwing tantrums cos we ain't acting like a German team has been pretty entertaining. 5. So far 7/10
I agree with Colin its a solid 7 so far, if we can get Ndombele, Sanchez, Hugo and 1 or 2 others out, and another experienced CB in it could even get to an 8. With Spence now also being deemed surplus to requirements I do wonder if we would look bring another 'proper' right back in, as I see Porro being used as Kulus understudy as much as Emersons, he looks to me better suited to being a right sided player further further up the field in this side. He can certainly cross the ball and he seems to have an eye for goal too. Maybe Tanganga might get chance in the RB role. I still think that the other CB will be Lenglet which will be a little underwhelming, though I think he is better than Dier and Sanchez.
Reading that Djed Spence is on the transfer list ,being touted as a make weight for Brennan Johnson from Forest , shame I liked the look of him but that's 2 managers now who don't fancy him , Rodon and Gil also mentioned, true or just throwing names in the air to see what flies
Interesting that we apparently denied Rosario's request to take Veliz back on loan, and paid them extra for the privilege. Some have suggested it implies Kane is closer to the exit but I wonder if the opposite is true and we'd like the youngster to gain a year of free tutelage from him?
Unless BM throw stupid money our way I suspect that their behaviour has pissed us off enough to even refuse to sell Ndombele to them
Like Col and TCM have said, it’s a 7/10 from me too. We’ve addressed pretty much all of the problem areas though one or two have been option B’s where we’ve seemingly not chosen to spend a little more on option A’s, we’ll see throughout the season if they’ve proven smart signings or “Spursy/ Levy” ones. It’s nice to finally have a creative mid in Maddison on board though and that’s certainly an option A. Disappointed so far we’ve only got rid of Winks, we’ve got a massive squad and it needs serious trimming. I’m hopeful that’ll happen though. Keeping Kane will make the window an 8, adding another top CB will make it a 9 and clearing out all/ most of the deadwood will perfect it.
Fire up the sirens ...look, I went to see Oppenheimer this afternoon, that ate up like 1/6th of my day
