Toby Alderweireld replacement ready and waiting

If we pick up Lascelles or Maguire, Lewis, Brozovic and Martial, it will have still been a decent window and I will forgive Levy. We need to replace Alderweireld - that much is obvious from pre-season and from watching England at the World Cup. At every opportunity, Poch will want to play a back three and release his wing backs. Trippier offers too much, in the final third, for Poch to put a back three "on the backburner." Also, Sanchez performed at his best when sandwiched between Alderweireld and Vertonghen. In a perfect window, we would have bought De Ligt and Sessegnon and lined up with a back six of Lloris; Trippier, De Ligt, Sanchez, Vertonghen, Sessegnon.

If he plays with a back 4, then we still need one experienced centre back to be available, as cover (preferably better than Dier.) With Son away, after the first game, Lamela injured and Moura playing from the right, we look week on the left. Davies was atrocious against Girona and Rose is for sale. Getting Martial in would solve, at least, the attacking side of the equation.

 

Less than a working week to go, here we are still being Brave.
The biggest bit of Transfer news is about us selling one of our best players to a rival.
When Pochettino put Bravery, Boldness and Risk up for interpretation I never thought he meant in a let's see how far we can push the streamlining of resources sort of way.

 

Spurs ditched a back three last season when results were not consistently forthcoming

Alderweireld's injury played some part in that shift.. but tellingly there was no return even when he did

Trippier and Davies are not typical wingbacks.. too physically limited.. that said their roles in our 4231 are not that dissimilar to what they'd be in a back three.. still I would suggest both are better suited to a back four

There really is no point shifting Alderweireld just to replace him with a lesser centreback.. he's considered dispensable now primarily because of Sanchez.. among other things

 

A case for the defence of DL!

You yourself Walid state "what he (DL) did is not in dispute". My interpretation was you meant that in a positive sense, what DL has achieved for the club in his tenure? Not a negative sense, of how he hasn't? If my interpretation is correct, then like me surely we have to cut him a little slack!

Most huge stadia/arenas even office construction end up over budget and are a race against the clock but I will agree with you the 3-4 hundred million probably has weakened Poch's transfer pot but we ain't City and we can't have it all!
As far as the time scale goes we expected to be in the new lane this month. Now its gonna be 3 weeks later!!

I believe the Alderwiled move will start a domino effect and we will see a couple of signings, one stela! The sky's of the UK will see plenty of helicopter traffic carrying players to medicals etc with the contract paper work in waiting for a signature. Again I agree with you to suggest (The want away 29 year old, 185k a week demanding) Alderwield will spend 50% of any new contract on the treatment table is of course speculative, but my comment was I think with his injury just gone and he is approaching 30, this is something DL might have considered?

Will Toby be a huge loss? Absolutely he will! Could we have done more (offered 130k) to keep him? Probably but when a player breaks rank then a stance has to be taken. Ask Fergi, and his team done ok!

I think if we don't end up getting a ready made (Maguire/Lascelles) replacement for Toby we will see more often than not a back 4 of Trips/Sanchez/Verts/Davies with Dier in front of them and covering when either Trips/Davies venture forward. I'd love to see Foyth given regular outings in a back 3 though.

Worst transfer window ever! Not for me!
Increased contract renewals for Kane, Son, Eriksen, Dele, Verts, Trips, Winks and Davies I believe. Great signings everyone of them. Plus I believe we will add from outside the club to these signings.

I guess we will find out on Thursday if that's gonna be likely?

 

So having just watched City Vs Chavs in the CS City resemble a finely tuned F1 car just getting the finishing touches done in the pit ready to unleash their hold on the Premier LG.
We on the other hand resemble a crank start motor that hasn't been turned over in a while.....

Can't believe Mahrez signed for them when they have Sterling already or Bernardo Silva when they already have David Silva I mean they even have the same surname.
When will they learn you shouldn't sign players to challenge the 1st 11????

 

If you are saying somehow there is a direct correlation between wages bill to positioning in the league and winning trophies I'd agree but you use it to defend our failings and suggest its a mark of how well we are performing..
However I would say if we paid more wages would that logic. It suggest that we would finish higher and maybe win something ? It's not that players perform better the more they are paid of course but it's more of a case the more you pay the better calibre of players you attract. The more you pay your top players the more likely they stay. The more top players you have in your squad the higher in the league you finish and the more success you achieve. The more you win the more you earn in revenue the more you can pay your players and the cycle continues.. See the pattern here.. This is how top clubs are avoiding sanctions for FFP

 

Must admit I'm loving the optimism with the names being banded about brozovic martial maguire lol can't wait .

 

But Fran we have a untouchable 1st team that's impossible to improve who are only going to get better and better and better until they're the bestest....

 

Always difficult to compare any club to City as they are light years ahead of anyone in the epl imo.
I'm hoping there might be a tad of complacency from them this epl campaign as their focus will be The CL Trophy and with R Madrid and Barca in transition and not necessarily the force they were 2-3 seasons back (yes I know RM are the current champions) I think the CL will be the priority. Fran joked about how our current first 11 are so good that there are not players out there who could possibly enhance us and this crop will continue to only get better and better until we are the best-ist! You gonna love this next line.....

I think (not the player enhancement bit) there is an element of truth and likely hood in that!!!!
This group will improve with (I'd prefer with) or without additions. I'm convinced had we not been at Wembley last season we would have been closer to City than Utd were.

An if we do add (I think we will) Grealish plus a stela signing.....

End of 2018/19 Top 4 prediction....

Liverpool or Us
Us or Liverpool
City
Chelsea.

Not a wind-up, so bring it on

COYS!! New season fever has took hold!

 

Come on Anthony share the drugs mate .

I've had this chat with a few fellow spurs pals of mine , for this team to improve to the level needed we'd be expecting Kane to score 40 league goals per season, Son Eriksen & Alli would all need to exceed their current output which statistically wise would be a massive push.
And that's just in the Premier, they'd need another overall 30% say more out put in the Cup comps.
It's simply a pipe dream that this current team can improve any more their best imo has come and gone it peaked the 16/17 season on our last WHL season and that wasn't enough.
It dealt with a transition away from home last year, there will be some obstacles still with our move back and in this time weve swapped Walker for Aurier , about to sell Toby to Utd, Dembele is on his last legs etc it's not gonna get better.
I've suggested this before but nearly to many times and belief (that extra %) can start to slip.
Genuinely I can't see Eriksen sticking beyond this Season if no Silverware is picked up because at the end of careers top players want Medals to show for their efforts not a fond project.

 

Don't laugh - Lewis could be the stellar signing - he really could. Jermain Defoe calls him "Little Modric" and he's the best player in a very attractive Bournemouth side. Selling Alderweireld and replacing him with Lascelles (I concede we are not going to pay £75m to get Maguire, or NOT replacing him but buying Lewis, would increase our homegrown quota by one and, probably, allow Foyth back into the CL squad he was dumped from, in January. If so, he will appear more often than last year.

Vertonghen was injured for two seasons in a row and, last year, it was Vertonghen's turn. It's the reason good sides need at least four good centre backs in the squad. If Poch doesn't think Foyth is quite ready, then we are left with two plus two (Dier and Carter-Vickers.) In my mind, Poch prefers Dier in midfield and will only switch him in an emergency. Carter-Vickers is no better than Foyth, other than being more physical. TJ Eyoma is light years away. Lascelles would be an ideal acquisition - good positioning, calm under pressure, good with the ball at his feet and a leader. I go back to an earlier statement. Aldeweireld improved Lloris. No question about it. When Toby plays, Hugo makes less gaffes. Lascelles is also that kind of player. Not quite Toby - but then, he has never played alongside Jan Vertonghen.

As for Trippier not having the attributes of a wing-back...that's probably what everyone thought BEFORE tuning into the World Cup. He left Russia as England's best performer and, in truth, the only Tottenham player to have enhanced his reputation (Harry Kane's Golden Boot notwithstanding.) Davies has a lot of work to do but, if Rose doesn't move to Wolves, he can certainly play as a wingback - he began life at Spurs, after all, as a left winger!

Ditching 3 at the back, last season, was not meant to be a permanent thing. I don't believe it was an experiment Poch tried and failed with. It brought the best out of Davinson and I think Poch will revisit it if the right player (Lascelles, Maguire, De Ligt, could be found.) Incidentally, all went extremely quiet on the Pavard front, very quickly.

As for my comments about Levy...I agree that a lot of what he has done is positive. Then again, the same could have been said about Napoleon - until he wanted to be into everything and it all went south. This year - especially this year - Levy should have picked a side - stadium build OR transfer business and then chosen a trusted lieutenant to oversee the other. Personally, I think he should have focused ALL his energy onthe stadium because that's the bigger picture and more expensive item of the two....but KNOWING (and contributing) to the fact that this was a much shorter window than any Summer before, he has no excuse for not putting transfer business (at least, temporarily) in someone else's hands. I don't care what he's done in the past, he CAN'T be omnipresent.

I also don't buy the line we've been sold, that tying down Kane, Son, Davies, Alli, et al to contract extensions is like buying half a team of new signings. That's like saying you put a new exhaust on your car and running it through the local car wash is the equivalent of getting a new vehicle.

Even Crystal Palace has done great business, by signing Max Meyer on a free. With us, the problem always seems to be "we have to sell before we can buy", which indicates that money is NOT there for transfers, in the first place. I don't see which part of "being brave" that falls under - but the prices Levy wants for some of the discards is plain silly. Janssen and 33-year old Llorente for a combined £30m? Money back (£30m) for Sissoko? £25m for an injury-prone Dembele who doesn't want to go to China and who has less than 10 months remaining on his contract? Who is going to be dumb/desperate enough to pay those prices?

I still have enough residual goodwill (stupidity/blind faith) to believe Levy can pull off the swap that sees Martial in Lilywhite, this season. Either that, or he's going to have his pants pulled down when Mourinho gets Toby and swaps Martial for Willian, at Chelsea. Martial was excluded from United's final pre-season match, against Bayern Munich. It's apparent - either HE goes or Mourinho does.

Final word about our shirts - the home one, at least. When worn with the navy shorts, they don't look too bad. When we are wearing all-white, however, they look ridiculous.

As ever, COYS! I am enjoying this banter but I really, really, really have to get some work done, too!

 

Good post Walid, as per..

 

Previous post went wrong (as usual) - the comment somehow got into Anthony's quote, but there you go!

 

I knew that was coming Felon I like my world. Its safe and warm!!

 

Not guilty Cheshunt! Levy has frustrated me plenty over the years and in a previous post I stated if Toby goes to Utd without Martial coming the other way Levy should be stung-up as a feature of the new stadium. I'm just trying to play devils advocate and think DL has enough tokens to be given a tad more credit...….until the 9th!

 

Transfer update...
Nobody wants to sign our deadwood.
Nobody seems to want to sign rose Toby nor dembele(God send really given our transfer activities)
No player incomings evident or pending but don't worry we're in talks with Grealish just 10m apart in the fee.
Meanwhile Liverpool who finished 2nd in the CL have spent 175m to try and actually improve their starting 11 despite already being the most likely team to push City anyhow.

 

Hoping Levy playing hardball no Martial = no Toby

 

I'm utterly flabbergasted with this feckin transfer window. As a club, we are teetering on the edge of genuinely becoming one of Europe's top 10 clubs. We are so feckin close. A few decent quality signings (not potential or bargain basement ffs!), just two or three, and we'd be there. THIS window must have been the one to do it....and what happens? Oh my days give me strength. I'm utterly confused/puzzled/dumbfounded/exhausted by our lack of investment. I give up!