Transfer talk & rumours

Well we had the chance to sign Grealish and not for huge money but the Charlatan wanted it even cheaper and was trying to screw villa over to massage his own ego and make the deal all about him.

Madison was also available at our price range but again we were hiding as usual during the transfer window.

There's just too many names to mention, a catalogue of missed opportunities all because of the idiot in charge.

 

According to the rumour mill Levy plans to give Mourino another year whether or not we win anything or finish top four.I don’t think I can watch another season of the dross systems and tactics he gives us .who is going to decide who we buy and sell I suspect Levy will be in charge as Jose won’t rock the gravy chain.Surely Kane must see the light and demand a move and who would blame him and we will sign 5 or6 second rate players as usual

 

Harry Winks to Southampton! .......please say it’s true
If we can get a swap deal with Ward-Prowse I’d take it.

and swap Sanchez for Vestetgaard while they are at it......

.......next up.....NDombele for Phillips (Leeds).....

Doherty for Aarons.......

......the list could go on.......

 

According to latest reports in the press, we are in for a treat if JM is still in place next season and gets his man....he is keen on a reunion with Marouane Fellaini as well as making Vestergaard a priority at CB. If that is JM’s ideal signings, next season will be worse than this (so let’s hope it’s just paper talk).

IMO, we should be trying to sign Ezri Konsa from Villa, Joachim Andersen from Lyon, Max Aarons from Norwich and Sam Johnstone from WBA. We could raise enough by selling Lloris, Sanchez, Aurier, Doherty and Dier.

If we could start with them then get to MF...bring back Skipp and swap Winks for Ward-Prouse at Southampton and try to sign Bissouma from Brighton by selling Sissoko and Lamela.

 

I believe there are four players who'll enter into their final year of their contracts? If so then decisions needs to be made about them: Sell, extend or allow to leave on a free

Lloris
Difficult one, if he wants to stay then extend. Not sure if he should be captain though

Lamela
Ages ago he did great in Italy, so maybe an Italian club came with an offer and if so then sell. If he isn't sold then do not extend until it is clear that his injuries are behind him

Sissoko
Nobody will buy him, please do not extend his contract again so allow him to leave on a free

Aurier
Rumour has it that he might want to leave and there might be buyers. If he is sold then there is hope that a younger, better and cheaper player can replace him. Realistically I believe two out of those three might be possible. A younger and better will most certainly be more expensive etc

There are a few additional big decisions to be made, this summer will be an interesting one & the situation with COVID does not make it easier.

Hopefully the players and the manager focus on the remaining matches, there'll be plenty of time to deal with transfers but the matches are coming soon.

 

It's just a shambles, Sissoko still has 2 years left on the extension he was offered by the club despite not being able to actually play football.
The sheer fact that if Lamela sees his contract out Hel be due a Testimonial (same for Davies Dier & Alli) just goes to show where the ambition is in this club.
Lloris replacement should've been in pipeline last 2-3 years instead we've got Head n Shoulders on a free who claps n shouts more than the Captain but is equally as calamitous.
I predict Lloris will either get an extension that's unwarranted or walk on a free, Lamela will get a move for peanuts having been an absolute waste of time n money, Sissoko will see out his time at Spurs another horrific waste of money & time n then it's just Aurrier who may have a taker.
For a sell to buy club we literally have nothing of any worth than the 2 that keep us from being in the bottom half.

Shambles

 

I can still count 14 poor players we need to get rid of.
Until then we'll remain sh!te and painful to watch (if they keep getting selected)
[any back that includes Aurier, Doherty, Sanchez, Dier and/or Davies is just asking to concede]

Lloris I could take or leave but it can't be easy for a keeper of a very decent international team to see that shower in front of him.
And not just one player...... sometimes all 4 of them!

I'm not a JM fan but I'd be interested to see how it would go if he could change a lot of them

 

Getting rid of 14 players ain’t gonna happen 16 if You include Kane and son.one way to get rid of people like Sissoko with time left on their contracts is to pay them up which is better than them sitting on the bench causing unrest even if it costs a few Bob.unfortunately unlike a lot of other clubs we don’t have a particularly good Under21 squad apart from the odd 2or three so can’t throw in a few of them.This is another Levy failure by not having a youth policy and giving jobs to the boys..As much as I love Ledley he is not managerial and should not have been promoted as Mourinos assistant.whoever we buy we must retain some of the dross as back up and that is a job in itself
While passing I must condemn the animals abusing Son whatever you are doing stop now bringing shame on our club

 

Can’t believe the rumours that we are after Boateng 32 years old.Is this a foretaste of the Mourino revolution especially as he wants. Fellnani as well.

 

I agree with you...... but.....
Boateng would be better than Sanchez or Dier or Davies
Fellani would put more effort and physicality in than Lamela or Winks or Lo Celso or Alli

 

The fact that they are better than some of our defeatists is not the answer to rebuilding our club which will take more than a couple of old age pensioners not wanted by the big boys

 

Just saw the news about Mourinho, not sure what to make of that. I suppose the manager position is now a topic for transfers.

So new manager is the top priority, next priority is probably the players entering into the final year of their contracts and after that then deal with players who want more playing time. Play them more, sell them or loan them out.

Alli
Not sure if he'll get more playing time, impossible to price due to the limited playing time so maybe a loan out?

Skipp
Reports are the he might be one of the best players in the team winning the Championship. Will he get serious minutes with Spurs or is another loan the best option? Norwich might want to have him for another year which might give him serious minutes in the EPL

Winks
If Skipp stays then if Winks want minutes then he might need to go. I'd prefer a loan but sale might be what happens

CBs
Rodon and Tanganga need serious minutes to develop, Rodon is getting them (for now), maybe Tanganga would benefit from a loan. Sanchez... If an offer comes in then maybe sell?

The squad is in my opinion still a bit too big and also unbalanced. Might need defensive players to allow for the attacking players to go forward. Am not a fan of buying an attacking player and putting him or another attacking player into a defensive role - the square peg etc argument.

 

& about what happened with Mourinho:

There'll probably be some Non-Disclosure-Agreements (NDA) in place so it might take a while to get know what happened. The ones who know can't and won't speak and the ones who speak don't know.

My guess is that the structure at Spurs isn't right. In the Amazon-series it was possible to see a situation where a player (Rose) threatened to go above the head of the manager. Sometimes it is needed and a good thing, often it is undermining the manager and causing a toxic environment. A good manager/boss will make sure it doesn't happen, if the manager/boss does not have the backing of his superior to make it stop then it is time to leave.
A hands-on approach, being approachable, might look good but it comes at the cost of undermining the in-between. Might have cost the job of two managers. Or maybe not, I speak so I obviously do not know

Am hoping that the (mythical?) Mourinho-fanboys and the actual existing Mourinho-haters will do what they did when they followed Mourinho to Spurs -> follow him out and away. The toxic negativity spread by the haters was both tiresome and boring.

Now the time is not to follow the example set by Arsenal - bad recruitment of players and continual sacking of managers. Long-term thinking please.

 

I believe that getting the recruitment right is more important than getting the right manager. If there is a problem with the manager then it is one person (+ his assistants) to be bought off and the cost is often lower than dealing with a failed recuitment. Wrong player coming in blocked the right player from coming in, the budget might be spent and not recovered. Can become seriously costly mistakes. As an example: Real Madrid might not be entirely happy with their recruitment of Bale but reversing it was and is too costly.
Mane or Sissoko? Lo Celso or Fernandes? Aurier, Doherty or the FBs at Leicester? Etc etc

So for me, the discussion about who will be the new manager is important but much more important is improving the process of getting the right kind of players in.

The principle of football might be easy:
Defenders have the ball, often they pass the ball to the midfield who in turn pass it to forwards who will try to score.

When looking at Spurs for the past couple of years then I have the impression that forwards too seldom get the ball in good positions.
Is it because the midfielders (the AMs) are poor at creating chances?
or
Is it because Spurs have problems already getting the ball from defenders to midfield (the DMs)?

In my opinion the problem is more in beating the early press and getting the ball from defenders to midfielders.
In the final third then Ndombele can see and execute good passes to forwards, Lo Celso appears to be able to do it well too, Moura causes chaos for opposition by his runs thus creating openings for forwards, at times the FBs overlap so high and are in positions to create chances. Bergwijn might also see passes but seen so little of him

But I see huge problems in the early stages of the build-up, getting the ball from CBs to midfielders who are willing to receive the pass and also able to get it forward.

Long-winded introduction leading to my opinion that no more AMs are needed at Spurs. Better players, better tactics are needed in the earlier stage of getting the ball to the AMs. I am not a fan of the idea of breaking the press by having the deep-lying midfielders attempt to dribble through the press. The risk/reward is in my opinion not worth it.

Basically, a couple of 'tidy' DM/CMs who are moving to constantly be open to receive the ball. Not like now when the Spurs DM/CMs are often hiding and seldom helping each other by moving to make it easier to pass them the ball. I know that 'tidy' might not be a popular word but still, it might describe it well.

Getting in new big name AMs might improve the attack but if the problem is in another area - getting the ball up the final third for the AMs - then it might not change much.

Anyone got any thoughts about what kind of players Spurs need?

 

The manager is exceptionally important... he sets the tone and the style of play. Even at clubs with overwhelming talent the manager is the difference between winning the league and coming 2nd or 3rd.

The intent of playing out from the back doesn't rest with the personnel... it is a system and directive implemented or not by the manager. It doesn't just happen with the flick of a switch because x y or z happens to be playing today and wants to give it a whirl

Watch Chelsea under Tuchel or Leeds under Bielsa (who has far lesser players than us) and the imperative to play from the back regardless of duress is evident. Jose doesn't play that way... he's not a risk taker... he will tell you that himself

Mason has said we will make some effort to do so the remainder of the season. I trust the next manager will think the same because good sides should

 

I believe we still need a CM who can keep possession and get past the opposition press. We have problem beating the early press and getting the ball to the DM/CM. When we do get it to them, they often cannot keep possession, let alone get past players. Very often it's players like Kane and Moura who come deep to receive the ball and carry the ball into the opposition half/third. Then they have limited options in front of them.

Hojbjerg & Winks only spread play when the ball is already in the opposition third. They are not gold at keeping possession or carrying the ball forward. Ndombele if he plays in CM more often fumbles and stumbles. Lo Celso is not good at holding up the ball either. Dembele used to be so good at doing it and the players get into advanced position expecting him to carry the ball to them.

We need someone in the middle of the park as badly as we need a right-back.

 

It seems we are thinking along the same lines. Maybe Mason can coach it into the players, if not then I think my first priority would be getting some better players there. Better RB might allow for Spurs conceding fewer goals but better CM might allow for Spurs to score more goals and less desperate defending.
I still miss Modric and what he did and still does, everybody around him seemed to play better when Modric was/is playing.

 

Watch carraghers dissection of our players, he gets it.
As I've been saying for seasons now.
We have far too many hidey players, they go through the motions pretending they're doing something but none of them genuinely want the ball, none of them really wanna make anything happen, no one wants responsibility.
Too many are very comfortable watching and pointing but not giving an option, not setting a bar, not driving forward with ball looking to break lines or find pockets.
When we have the ball at the back it's stagnant, Hojbjerg/Winks r usually facing towards our goal never ready to turn and look up just automatically back to the CBs.
If it's N'Dombele/Sissoko they're usually strolling around pointing elsewhere as does Aurrier.
Davies offers nothing, Reg offers little more.
This leaves us passing at snails pace with absolutely no invention/intention to move up the pitch as a unit.
It invites pressure til we inevitably go long. None of our forwards are really target men and that's when the opposition gain control and we all go immediately into rigid defensive mode.
It's not and never been a tactic it's just a result of lazy average players.
They've been doing it for best part of 3 years now.
We've all watched it on repeat the same players the same directionless sh!t.
It needs a complete overhaul coz certain things you can't teach to absolutely shocking unprofessional players.
It's been the recruitment and reluctance to get rid of poor players that's caused all of this.
Nothing really to do with methods of either Poch or JM and won't be the next guy either.
The board have been there too long, a number of players have been there too long.
The result of standing still inevitably sends you backwards and the longer we persist with these dead beats the worse itl get.

 

Spoken like a true neophyte

Now I know that’s not the case so what exactly have you been watching all these years?

You’re talking as if all managers would set up the same all things being equal... nothing is further from the truth

Do I need to give examples? Surely not?

Your mate Carragher said that your mate Jose will never get a decent job in England again... I wonder why?

Reckons he’d be better suited to the Italian league.... now why do you think that is? perhaps something about his antiquated style?

Spurs are what they are... a top 6 side for 11 consecutive years... which makes perfect sense given that is where we spend

Some managers will punch above that... plaudits to them

Some will be par for the course... fair enough

The odd one will do less

Next

 

That sums up everything we say and think ... https://www.football.london/tottenh...cio-pochettino-tottenham-daniel-levy-20481877