Fazio, Dawson, Chiriches, Mussachio - Spurs Backline Creating The Headlines

After Gareth Bale’s departure in August 2013, the focus of Tottenham Hotspurs’ transfer window was not so much in replacing the player, but in replacing his goals.

As an attacking supreme leaves, a club is expected to invest for the next-best thing, and after a gruelling 12 months, we may finally see the fruits of our labour from last year’s window.

A year later, come August 2014, it is not Spurs attacking quartet filling the back-pages, but those in defence.

From Hotspur Hero to Hull

After a fee of £3 million has been agreed with Hull City, Spurs skipper Michael Dawson will leave the club after 9 years of service.

Tottenham Chairman Daniel Levy was quick to pay tribute to Dawson, stating – “his contribution cannot be under-estimated. He has been a fantastic individual & personality and a great influence on younger players", whilst labelling him a “deservedly popular figure”.

Yet, I believe Dawson’s exit speaks volumes for the club, with words that haven’t even been said. Daws’ exit is a telling one, as we are given an insight into Pochettino’s philosophy – a defence where skill and power trumps passion alone.

Mussachio a no-go

After such hope and promise, it seems that any deal for Villarreal defender Mateo Musacchio is now dead in the water, as reported by the Daily Mirror.

The Argentine, 24, had impressed during the 2013-14 season in La Liga, and was rumoured to be a personally picked target of boss Pochettino.

Musacchio’s move is believed to have fallen through, due to issues surrounding his third-party ownership.

Fazio to Spurs – Signed, Sealed and Delivered.

With Mussachio to remain at the Submarines, we have turned our attention to another centre-half currently playing his football in Spain. Step forward Sevilla’s Federico Fazio!

Standing at 6ft5, Fazio can operate at both centre-half and defensive midfield, and it has been confirmed by the Telegraph that he has swapped sunny Spain for White Hart Lane.

After it has been suggested that the move was delayed due to the bad relationship between the clubs over Juande’ Ramos, Fazio has signed a four year deal, with us forking out £8 million for his services.

Chiriches to miss out on his Roman Holiday?

With “ins” expected before the windows closes, exits are just as likely. However, it seems that one player who will have to re-evaluate his escape plan is Vlad Chiriches.

With Baldini and Lamela trading the Wolves for the Cockerals, it had been anticipated that Chiriches would be heading in the opposite direction a year later.

Unfortunately for Vlad, Roma look to be out of the market for a central defender, after they completed the signing of former Arsenal target Kostas Manolas, for £10.4m from Olympiacos.

Kaboul in Limbo or Lazio?

Another defender who had been linked with a move to Serie A, is our stand in captain Younes Kaboul.

Kaboul, who has starred in both of our opening PL games, was expected to make a move to Lazio back in early August, amidst reports that Spurs were unconvinced by his ability to stay clear of the treatment table.

With the likes of Fazio coming in, along with the form of Eric Dier – Kaboul knows that he will have to be on top form if he is to keep his place next to Jan Vertonghen in a Spurs starting XI, for the foreseeable future.

 

After being in Sevilla last season and watching Fazio control their back line, I think Spurs fans will like what he does. He's huge and physical, and in Sevilla's encounter against Real Madrid at the Sanchez-Pizjuan last year, he held the line beautifully as RM attacked in waves. The only goal they scored was on a Cristiano set piece.

I think he'll adapt to the English game pretty quickly as he was always asked to do the physical "dirty" work at Sevilla. He should be a handful to mark on free kicks and corners as well given his size.

 

I don't think the Mussachio deal was ever seriously going to happen with this third party, stupid money demands, so Fazio it is. Don't know too much about the player, and some mixed reviews and opinions so fingers crossed that he can settle in. As an Argentinian then I guess its in Poch we trust. Im not sure we will see any of the other CBs move on, we will probably take a punt on Kaboul's fitness and give him another year and maybe extend his contract. Im a bit frustrated with Vlad tbh, does he have a real injury or is it that the player doesn't have the ticker for the EPL ?

 

I think one of the reasons you'll see the likes of Dawson and Holtby move on as opposed to say Chiriches and Paulinho is quite simply that selling the Romanian and Brazilian would mean taking a loss on the fees we paid for them last summer. We know from experience that Levy is unlikely to take such a loss early on. Roma did seem interested in Vlad but i'd guess that Levy might well have quoted a fee around the 10million euro mark for a player as yet unproven in a top domestic league. Dawson on the other hand is ageing and nearing the end of his contract. It Levy did manage to get £6million for him as some papers are reporting then we've done well in a business sense. In a footballing sense i think Dawson has been something of a scapegoat for Spurs supporters. While he doesn't really fit the profile of a defender playing in a high defensive line you have to question whether any defender with more pace would have done better at Spurs last season given that our midfield generally failed to press the ball and made it very easy for the opposition to pass the ball into the space behind the defense. Fortunately the early signs this season are that we will pressure teams in midfield areas so i think whoever plays in defense is likely to be more successful than at times last season.

 

Fazio sounds just the sort of graceful stopper that Poch would choose. He may even captain the side in the future. 8 million appears a good deal in this market for the big Argentinian. Have to say a big thankyou to Micheal Dawson for all the years of brave service, Spurs man through and through. Hull are becoming my second favourite team ! Coys