Last year, based on numerous polls, votes were cast for the team that forum members wanted to see for the 2012/13 season.This was a team based on a 4-4-2 at the time (due to Harry still being in charge) and included players such as Modric and van der Vaart in it. As it turned out […]
What we wanted -vs- What we got
Last year, based on numerous polls, votes were cast for the team that forum members wanted to see for the 2012/13 season.This was a team based on a 4-4-2 at the time (due to Harry still being in charge) and included players such as Modric and van der Vaart in it. As it turned out those two left but we got a new central defender (Vertonghen) and a new keeper (Lloris) as was wanted however we missed out on getting a new striker (Damião) and we also failed in our bid to get Moutinho. Regardless of this our incomings of Dempsey, Sigurðsson and Dembélé with AVB as our new manager shifted us to a 4-2-3-1 which we expected to look a little something like this throughout the season:
As the season progressed Bale moved to a role behind the striker with Dempsey and Sigurðsson sharing duties on the left. Our left back position was shared even more with Naughton, Vertonghen and BAE all having a go and with Kaboul getting injured in the first game of the season Caulker, Gallas and the eventually Dawson stepped in to cover. Defoe and Adebayor shared striker duties with Sandro and Parker having half a season each due to their respective injuries and Lloris finally becoming first choice some time in November. Essentially we looked a little something like this:
Kaboul aside we got to see most of the first XI we expected.
Back in May, I again made a number of polls to determine how we saw our squad and how we wanted to improve on it for the 2013/14 season. The results were based on a 4-2-3-1 formation and were as follows:
Subs: Archer (U-21), Caulker (HG), Dawson (HG), Holtby, Sigurðsson (HG), Townsend (HG), New Striker.
Squad: Friedel, Smith (HG), Rose (HG), Naughton (HG), Assou-Ekotto, Carroll (U-21), New Ball Winning/Deep-Lying Midfielder, Dempsey, Adebayor, Kane (U-21).
Sell: Gomes, Gallas, Livermore (HG), Parker (HG), Huddlestone (HG), Falqué, Defoe (HG), Obika (HG).
Now with the transfer window over let’s go over what we got.
Goalkeepers
Lloris proved last season that he was the keeper we have been crying out for and as a result the votes for first choice keeper were pretty clear. Less clear was who we wanted on the bench as 25% of voters wanted Friedel gone and replaced with someone else. This resulted with young Jordan Archer finding himself as our second choice keeper and Friedel as third choice, a highly unlikely scenario for the season. Gomes, as with the previous year(s), failed to be sold and so remains with us to run down the last year of his contract. At least we now only have 3 senior keepers instead of the 4 we had at the start of last season when Cudicini was still around.
1. Hugo Lloris
2. Brad Friedel
3. Heurelho Gomes
+ Jordan Archer (U-21)
Fullbacks
As with last year Kyle Walker remains our first choice right-back, Benoît Assou-Ekotto however no longer remains our first choice left-back with over 40% of voters wanting to see him sold and just under 60% wanting a new first choice left-back. As it turned out he was frozen out of the first team and is now out on loan at QPR. The new fullback we wanted however never materialised and Danny Rose, back after a successful loan spell with Sunderland, gets to be first choice, something less than 20% of voters wanted. This leaves Kyle Naughton as backup fullback once again for both positions as Adam Smith, who was the backup option to Kyle Walker in the voting, is now out on loan at Derby County. We are a quite thin in the fullback department with Vertonghen, Kaboul and perhaps Chiricheș likely to have to provide backup throughout the season. Fryers was not included in the polls but I have added him to the list below as he now seems to be an option.
4. Kyle Walker (HG)
5. Danny Rose (HG)
6. Kyle Naughton (HG)
+ Zeki Fryers (U-21) (not included in polls)
Central Defenders
William Gallas was released as expected following the end of his contract however what was surprising was the departure of Steven Caulker to Cardiff City having been expected to provide at least cover from the bench. As 25% of voters wanted us to have a fifth central defender for the season having only three seemed unlikely and the club addressed this with the signing of Vlad Chiricheș as well as defensive midfielder Étienne Capoue who can play in defence as well. With Younes Kaboul now back from injury our central defence has more squad depth than last year and with Jan Vertonghen performing so well in his first season with us it seems unlikely we will need to strengthen in this area for the forseeable future.
7. Jan Vertonghen
8. Younes Kaboul
9. Michael Dawson (HG)
10. Vlad Chiricheș
Defensive/Ball Winning Midfielders/Deep Lying Playmakers
Another area where we have strengthened, having not expected to, with Paulinho and Étienne Capoue coming in to provide more muscle and height in the middle of the park. Most voters were happy with Dembélé, Sandro, Holtby and Carroll as four players for two positions but with Carroll now out on loan at QPR there are five players vying for two spots in a 4-2-3-1 formation, however with AVB utilising a 4-3-3 formation as well all players should see plenty of game time. Huddlestone and Parker had over 55% of voters wanting them sold and so they were, to Hull City and Fulham respectively, and with Livermore also receiving a low number of votes to be kept on he has also been loaned out to Hull City for the season.
11. Mousa Dembélé
12. Sandro Ranieri
13. Paulinho
14. Lewis Holtby
15. Étienne Capoue
Attacking Midfielders / Wingers
A number of voters wanted at least one more player in one of the 3 positions of a 4-2-3-1. With over 60% of voters preferring Holtby in the more withdrawn role this became more of a requirement even with Andros Townsend back from a successful loan spell with QPR. Gylfi Sigurðsson’s and Holtby’s first seasons at the club meant that although nobody wanted them sold only about 25-30% of voters wanted them in the first team. Dempsey’s season saw just over 55% of voters wanting him to be kept on and he ended up being sold to the Seattle Sounders in the MLS. Falqué received just over 50% of the votes to be sold and has gone out on a season-long loan to Rayo Vallecano in La Liga.
This essentially left us with a strong bench of Holtby, Sigurðsson and Townsend but with only Gareth Bale and Aaron Lennon as first choice and with Real Madrid managing to take our best player for the second season running (this time for a world record transfer) we were left with another gap that needed to be filled. Thankfully the club managed to bring in Erik Lamela from Roma, Nacer Chadli from Twente and Christian Eriksen from Ajax, so not only did we cover the loss of Bale we also added two more players when we only expected one allowing us to have two players for each position and again great strength in depth. As both Eriksen and Lamela are under the age of 21 they do not require to be registered as part of the squad of 25.
16. Nacer Chadli
17. Aaron Lennon (HG)
18. Gylfi Sigurðsson (HG)
19. Andros Towsend (HG)
+ Erik Lamela (U-21)
+ Christian Eriksen (U-21)
Strikers
Having managed to finally make Adebayor’s loan spell permanent last season we still only ended up with two recognised senior strikers, both of whom did not perform well at all. As a result, over 50% of voters wanted Defoe out and over a third wanted Adebayor, Kane and Obika out. A new striker was demanded, if not two, and Roberto Soldado came in for a club record fee. None were sold or loaned out so we have essentially strengthened in this area as well however it is unlikely Adebayor or Defoe will like being third choice (or even second choice) seeing as we now tend to play with only one striker. They will both need to adapt to the team to get some game time and so far it seems like Defoe is AVB’s preferred choice although with Adebayor not getting an expected move away things may change. Dawkins has been included in this list as he will need to be registered in the 25 man squad to play games for us.
20. Roberto Soldado
21. Jermain Defoe (HG)
22. Emmanuel Adebayor
23. Jonathan Obika (HG)
24. Simon Dawkins (HG) (not included in polls)
+ Harry Kane (U-21)
Conclusion
An incredible transfer window. Although we have lost Gareth Bale we have built up our team with a stronger first eleven and most importantly with an excellent squad. The only name in the list of 25 that probably doesn’t belong is Obika (and I suppose Gomes) but when you look at last year’s squad list which included Falqué, Livermore, Bentley, Gallas and Jenas all who barely got any game time, if any at all, you can see how much more strength we have in the squad now. We are also a much more versatile team with only a handful of players unable to play in different positions and we are also a much more powerful team with the additions of Paulinho, Chiricheș, Capoue and Chadli.
We will likely concede less goals this season whilst having more possession and if Lamela and Eriksen can provide the assists we should start scoring more as well. It should be noted that Lamela mostly played on the right for Roma however as he is left-footed and Lennon was voted as first choice at the time I have placed him on the left, as he is probably the most versatile of the 3. Chances are Lennon may lose his place with it being unclear just yet who will be playing on the left.
We are almost the complete package now with perhaps the left-back position needing to be addressed only, whether that’s in terms of first choice or squad depth however remains to be seen. Even the disappointments of losing Gareth Bale and missing out on Willian can not hide how much we have owned the transfer window this summer!
[author name=”Zin” avatar=”https://www.thefightingcock.co.uk/forum/data/avatars/l/0/656.jpg?1349633375″ website=”spursplayers.blogspot.co.uk” tag=”Zin[/linequote]
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03/09/2013 @ 8:15 am
I like the analysis and it’s perhaps a bit too early but I’m not sure we have got all we wished for. We have played three games this season and haven’t scored in open play. I’m not too concerned about this, as that’s how things pan out in certain games. I’m also not overly concerned about losing 1-0 at the weekend, as we will expect to see teams towards the higher end of the league take points from each other. My main concern is the number of chances we have created in those three fixtures. Whilst we have controlled vast parts of all three a lot of possession has come in safe areas for our opponents. It might be the players are still settling in and I hope I’m wrong but whilst we’re stronger, I don’t think we look as dangerous. Just an opinion.
03/09/2013 @ 8:18 am
Unless he has been moved out or ineligible to play you forgot about Zeki Fryers at LB. I think we might be surprised by him this season and reckon we could end the year with him as full time LB if he takes the opportunities he is given.
03/09/2013 @ 8:20 am
Am I the only Spurs fan to feel we just got mugged again by Mr Levy here, sales of Bale, Caulker, Dempsey etc and the release of highly paid Bentley and Gallas, more than covered buying in the magnificent seven. Having watched the NLD, where is the Plan B striker, you know 6 ft 2 plus muscle bound sod the central defender that’s my ball striker a la Mark Falco, Mark Hateley, Bob Latchford, Joe Jordan or even Leandro Damiao for that matter? We bring on JD who is shall we say vertically challenged, I watch a lot of Spanish football and I was so happy we got Roberto and yes I still love Jermaine but we really needed an alternative and the Pepperami Worrier aka Adebayor just does not meet the criteria. We are probably financialy wealthier and a stronger team now but I fear the lack of a little brute force when the pretty play doesn’t work may well cost us again especially when teams park the bus, and some will surely do that. So hope I am wrong, but come January, I hope Mr Levy, Mr Baldini and AVB are willing to splash the cash to remedy what might be the next obstruction to CL football next season. In short we strengthened the team for zero pounds or thereabouts but I think we needed to bring in another backup plan.
03/09/2013 @ 12:15 pm
I agree we could of done with BA , cisse, berbatovor benteke
03/09/2013 @ 8:22 am
Lamela does not play on the Left wing! Someone said he could, but I have watched him a lot, and can tell you that he has hardly ever started a game out there.
A number 10 at River Plate and an inverted right winger/inside forward at Roma, we want him cutting in on his left, not running down blind alleys!
I think we will see Lamela on the right, and Townsend/Lennon/Chadli sharing the left, and covering for Lamela in cup games.
05/09/2013 @ 11:53 am
Am I the only one that longs for the days when we had wingers that played on their proper sides and whet full pelt to the bye-line… (> Aaron / Gareth 2011)
We saw against Woolwich the problems of having wingers that always cut inside… Against teams that sit back… (which is basically the top 6 teams (with a lead) and ALL the other 14 premier league teams) it really gets congested and we struggle to break teams down. I hope AVB has a plan for this…
03/09/2013 @ 8:29 am
nice article…. but we didn’t hv a perfect transfer window… left back was a must… disappointed levy didn’t get anybody on deadline day… and anyways lamela doesn’t play left
03/09/2013 @ 8:31 am
AVB needs to get more out of Adebayor now that he’s staying. If he pulls his finger out he’s the big centre forward we will sometimes need in tight games when Soldado/Defoe are crowded out.
03/09/2013 @ 8:31 am
Excellent work, great analysis.
I personally expect fryers to cover at left back. With naughton covering at right back.
We have some really creative players so I do not want the double pivot, which I believe is stifling our forward play.
Just one in front the defence then two midfielders like Holtby and Paulinho there are lots of permutations available.
Shame about Carroll wanted to see him play and nail down his position.
Going forward Moussa needs to contribute goals or assists or he will get benched.
This is a team is ready to tackle all competitions. It’s a marathon (as we have seen ourselves in the last few seasons) not a sprint.
Keep the Faith COYS
03/09/2013 @ 8:37 am
A few errors/omissions in your article:
You forget about Zeki Fryers, brought in from Standard Liege following a protracted attempt by Levy to sign him from then Alex Ferguson’s Man Utd. Predominantly a left-back he can also slot in at Centre Back also, possibly another explanation for Caulker’s departure to Cardiff.
You state that “Kaboul is back from injury”, if this is the case, then why, given one of our most important fixtures of the calender (Arsenal away) was Kaboul absent from the team sheet, in favour of the far less competent Dawson ? He did play against Dinamo Tbilisi the previous week, so surely that was indication that he was already fit to play ?
Lastly, I question your positioning for Lamela. My understanding is that he was brought in primarily as a right-winger who cuts inside and shoots from the right (ie. inverted) or drives to the bye-line and delivers crosses. I believe if this is the case, he would end up most likely competing with Andros Townsend and Aaron Lennon on the right. However, three players competing for one spot is overkill, so I suspect AVB may move Townsend over to the left to compete with Chadli (who hasn’t exactly set the team alight at present). As such, I expect the attacking wing positions to be: (Right): Lamela, Lennon and (Left): Townsend,Chadli.
03/09/2013 @ 10:25 am
Kaboul is fit, but reports say his knee still gets swollen after playing games, so he will be eased into the team. That’s why he didn’t feature vs scum.
03/09/2013 @ 8:40 am
to be frank levy made a profit of 2+mil dis summer…. y can’t dey take a hit atleast 1 time… dey cud hv bot a world class left back…
03/09/2013 @ 8:45 am
I agree wit Acton yid… lamela can’t play left….
03/09/2013 @ 4:58 pm
Why don’t you try writing English? If you can’t yet, go back to school, learn it and only then come on this site again.
03/09/2013 @ 9:06 am
Good analysis overall and picking on the few errors is probably a little churlish. Saw Fryers the other night and he looked like he’d been to see Huddlestone’s dietician. Anyway, Rose could surprise and while a left-back would have been nice, the arrivals have more than made up for it. I think Kaboul must have been a bit stiff after his run-out and they probably decided not to risk his long-term recovery for the sake of the NLD, which is the proper approach.
As for the net spend effectively being a ‘lack of investment’ as some are suggesting, please bear in mind that we are about to break ground on a £400m stadium. Avoiding the temptation to bank the money and instead re-investing every penny in new talent – Including breaking our transfer record once and smashing it twice, deserves to be applauded, not grumbled at.
I’m pretty excited about all the new arrivals, especially Eriksen, I think he could turn out to be a great Spurs player and Lamela is of course an exciting prospect. The general quality will challenge last seasons regulars such as Dembele and Defoe and even ‘irregulars’ like Holtby, Siggy, Naughton, Townsend etc. to really up their game.
The important thing is that the signings show a statement of intent. Regardless of the first few games (Half these players haven’t even had the chance to grab a coffee together, let alone gel), I think they will grow into a unit. One of the things most overlooked is the fact that the squad as it stood could have been affected by the Bale transfer, feeling that the bond in the side had been broken. These new players have no connection or loyalty to Bale – They start with a clean sheet, with their own point to prove.
Exciting times.
03/09/2013 @ 9:33 am
They should have invested last jan we could have had bale and champions league football by now – lost both. Levy screwed up big time. All he has done now is give AVB from their profits not their pockets and they are still in profit, otherwsie AVB would have left as well. So nothing brilliant about that. OK some very good players bought in, but that has nothing to do with Levy either in the choices.
AVB looks distinctly depressed in his interviews which is worrying, i think he is literally missing bale.
His boring boring footbal does not help. Liverpool might make top four more difficult now.
But lamella erikson and carroll are our future and are young enough to wait for a manager who will play the spurs way again.
03/09/2013 @ 10:26 am
Totally agree with that. Spurs have been playing very dull football under AVB. They have too many defence minded footballers in midfield. They only need to play one of them against the good teams. Against Arsenal they played three of them, which was a joke. I also look forward to Spurs bringing in a new manager who appreciates creative players like Tom Carroll. Spurs can then sell two from Dembele, Paulinho, Capoue and Sandro, who are not all needed.
03/09/2013 @ 1:50 pm
Look at the stats for last season. Our win rate with Sandro in the team was amazing. Then when he lost half a season, we shrugged.
We’re set up as a strong midfield, with deep lying defensive mids in Sandro and Capoue, an attacking selection in Lamela/Townsend/Lennon/Chadli with Eriksen and Holtby in the much needed number 10 slot. All of this held in place by an upcoming back 4 in Rose, Vertonghen/Chiriches/Kaboul/Dawson and Walker, who once he learns to differentiate between situations needing a pass and shot will really shine. Of course, we have one of the worlds best stoppers in Lloris, who proved what a vital asset he was at the Emirates.
This is the first season where AVB has been allowed to construct his own team in the EPL, and we’ve certainly improved on the danger areas we encountered last season. What more can you fickle naysayers want?
05/09/2013 @ 12:49 am
The reason AVB looks depressed is because he only has one way of playing and its useless.You only got to look at him on the bench”my great master plan isnt working again,I dont have a clue what to do”As ive said elsewhere plan A do’snt work and there is no plan B.Goals win everything and we arnt scoring any,take away Bales goals last season and we’d have beenabout tenth.
03/09/2013 @ 9:33 am
None of our strikers have scored many goals under AVB. Both Adebayor and Defoe scored for fun under Redknapp and all of a sudden the goals stop? and now £26mill striker bought in and no change! Id hate to be a striker playing for AVB, his tactics are so slow and boring, wheres the pace gone? Personally id rather have lost 4-3 to the scum with Redknapp in charge, at least i would have been entertained! All we keep going on about is this top four finish, well we managed it twice with Redknapp and at the same time were the leagues best entertainers!
05/09/2013 @ 12:52 am
Good God there are people who agee with me,bring back Harry,our most successful manager for yonks,I mean whose dogs got a bank a/c cant be all bad
03/09/2013 @ 9:41 am
Great article, well thought out and presented, but as others have said – what about Zeki Fryers?
Arsenal signing Ozil is a bit of a spanner in the works in terms of relative strength. I really hoped we would use the Bale sale to pry Ozil out of Madrid. Now I’d say things are in the balance against them. We have strengthened overall but we will need to get the players working as a unit quickly. Some of the newbies in the last game against Arsenal seemed quite flat and without urgency whilst Arsenal got forward quickly and were organised. That will need to change as we can’t rely on been bailed out this season (pun intended!). Hopefully Lamela and Eriksen will make all the difference and squeeze us in to the top 4. Another thing to consider is that we have not actually spent any money even though I’m sure the wage bill is not pretty especially as we did not shift Adebayor. This means we potentially have the money to tweak in January to give an extra push in the second half of the season which is something that we should have done in previous seasons. Perhaps a left back (I was sad to see Benny go without replacement) and another striker (hate to think if Soldado gets injured that we’d be back with Ade and Defoe again)…
03/09/2013 @ 1:58 pm
I agree with you, mostly at least. The only players who didn’t impress me on Sunday were Capoue and to a lesser extent, Chadli. This was their introduction into the world of NLDs, understandable that they seemed a bit fazed.
I disagree with Arsenal being more organised though. They sat deep, putting 3 men behind each ball and tackle which you very rarely see from a top club at home. They had no real sustained threat much the same as us, but with a starting XI that has been playing together for over a season against our new starters in Rose and Townsend accompanied by the obvious new blood.
Arsene punished our lack of creativity with boring backs against the wall football.
04/09/2013 @ 4:49 am
I don’t know, the game I watched Arsenal opened up our defense numerous times and we theirs literally zero. Obviously they were protecting their lead in the second half, but they knew that we couldn’t do anything with the ball but pass it sideways or backwards.
03/09/2013 @ 9:49 am
I still think we have concerns in some areas of the team. For a start I know it’s early days but Danny Rose and Kyle Walker worry me. Walker seems too intent on getting forward but forgets his defensive duties relying mostly on his pace to get back into position, Danny Rose gets into good positions to cross the ball but the end product is terrible (so far) plus he also gives needless passes away. The rest of the defence I am happy with but would prefer Kaboul to Dawson. I can’t fault Daws for his commitment but he does get out of position quite a bit and usually ends up with that last ditch challenge which worries me.
I have finally come to the conclusion that Dembele is over rated and slows the team down. He has this habit of hanging onto the ball far too long and I would prefer Holtby to play in that position as he keeps the momentum going with his quick passing and always seems to know where the ball should go before he has received it. Also possess a good shot.
We are still missing out on that creative player to supply Soldado but it’s not just that person that should be doing that Lennon, Chadli and Townsend can’t seem to find him. Soldado has been isolated so far and we need to learn how to find him in the box. With the arrival of Eriksen maybe this will improve but it certainly does have to. I have high hopes for Lamela as I think he will be a new star at Spurs.
As for the Arsenal game I thought we played well but we couldn’t find Soldado as he was just feeding off scraps. In fact Spurs looked like the home team as they constantly pinned Arsenal back and they were relying on the quick break. They caught us out on the break but I have to blame Dawson for being out of position and once again going to groune with a desperate challenge.
Overall I was quite pleased and the way we controlled the game considering Arsenal were just parking the bus and relying on a quick break. It was a shame Spurs just couldn’t get their rewards for controlling so much of the game.
Overall summing up: Spurs are a team with a bright future and it’s still too early for them yet but give it time and they will be a force to be reckoned with.
03/09/2013 @ 11:36 am
Wenger knew exactly what he was doing. He saw the three lumps we had in midfield and just sat back and let them pass the ball side to side, then win the ball back when we step further and hit us on the break with pace. There was no pinning back! We are so predictable now. Bale covered over so many cracks last season because he was able to create his own chances and get goals from nothing. How many of his goals were tap ins? like i said earlier our strikers are starved and haven’t become poor overnight and soon more and more supporters are going to see that AVB’s tactics are to blame. Take away Bale’s freak of nature goals last season and we would have struggled getting top ten and AVB’s position at the club would be seriously in doubt.
04/09/2013 @ 4:53 am
This is why Bale’s leaving might not be so bad. Now we don’t have a superman to save us therefore the team must become a TEAM. I’m afraid even with all of these great new faces things are going to get worse before they get better.
03/09/2013 @ 9:51 am
Harry has gone. Let go.
03/09/2013 @ 11:48 am
Its easy to say that mate, but why was he sacked? Top four finish, entertaining football and all with very little backing from our chairman. We are less exciting to watch than stoke now!
03/09/2013 @ 10:00 am
Rhini deal you seem to talk a lot of sense spot on on every tactical error. You have echoed exactly what my brother said to me on sat not to worry if spurs lose to arsenal cause he could see how the team would look like in the coming future and absolutely agreed that Dembeli was the weakest link. My brother is a regular amateur footballer.
03/09/2013 @ 10:49 am
forgot the game has now changed arsenal now have ozil which will be a major set back for spurs if he stays fit certain of that. Nervously looks like 5th again
03/09/2013 @ 1:23 pm
Maye he wouldn’t but the Bale contract should have included no big RM star goig to the PL this window. Ozil could have gone to PSG.
03/09/2013 @ 2:02 pm
Not quite sure how Arsenal securing one world class players and two.. meh players (for want of a better word) is going to alleviate their problem of lack of depth.
03/09/2013 @ 10:02 am
The reality is we were stitched up in this window, first by Chelsea taking Willan and then by Arsenal helping to fund the Bale deal via Ozil, thus strengthening themselves and weakening us at the same time. We are left wth a squad that may be stronger than last season overall but that is not enough when everybody else strengthens as well. We have no match winners. Unless one of the signings turns out to be a real star in the making, we will be 5th again at best, probbly lower as Liverpool will be back in the mix this year.
03/09/2013 @ 10:57 am
so so true
sugar was right when he suggestd ozil should have been a part exchange but we dont know if he would have agreed
03/09/2013 @ 10:22 am
Mmmmm. Much to ponder.
Pretty good analysis. I guess this is the wait and see bit.
Have to say though. Sad to see a talent like Caulker and Carrol go, & like it or not, in an indifferent season last term Assou-Ekotto was often our most consistant player. And yet to continue with Adebayor…???
Picking players has become an art form. We’ve had years of being the “pretty club” to watch and not so much as the “once in a decade token F.A cup” to show for it for nearly 23 years!!!!
No doubt there is class to be had in the likes of Soldado and Erikson, And we seem to have replaced class with muscle in the middle of the park. Useful when it comes to playing all those horrible east european hardman teams in the Europa league(i suppose if you have to play in the darned thing …you may as well try to win it…been a while since we’ve done that either)
But i can’t help but think, just a few games in, it’s going to be a long,long season.
03/09/2013 @ 10:29 am
with his cv, when avb was sacked i was hoping that spurs will get him, and shockingly we got him. and i was hoping that the attacking game played under redknapp will be further improved and synchronised to get even better and show more goals. but sadly this has not come about. first 3 games were really disappointing, to say the least. the game against arse was utterly rubbish, very disjointed, more lie a u-16 game. the players brought in aass, so i hope this top class avb will be able to mould them into a top class team. tactics definately have to change, we were rubbish in midfield and the last quarter, simply disjointed, headless cockerel. please please the coaching staff get your act together and the right player for the right positions. dawson is definately not the right first choice defender, no way.
03/09/2013 @ 10:33 am
AVB letting Tom Carroll be demoted to the championship is the last straw for me. Carroll is so much better than Dembele, Sigurdsson, Paulinho. What on earth is going on? Tom Carroll would be a star in the premiership this season. What a waste of a great player.
Spurs need creativity in midfield and they let their most creative passer go out on loan. I cannot believe it.
04/09/2013 @ 4:57 am
Jesus christ!!! Tom carroll is not that good. Some of you are viewing him as a Premier League wonderkind through some fogged up Europa League glasses.
04/09/2013 @ 10:08 am
Carroll is better than dembele sigurdson and paulinho? your talking crap. How did you come to this assumtion? MDMA
05/09/2013 @ 12:59 am
With you there Jon,Carrol coming man if developed properly,great talent .
03/09/2013 @ 10:53 am
I am also not happy with AVB’s comments the other day. In his depresed and annoyed style he said and I quote ” I am not s spurs fan” ” I am a professional” working for spurs. he looks too pissed off at the moment which is a real concern. I think this is a reactioin to his weakness. Not least due to the fact that he could neither prevent bale from leaving with whom he alledgedly had this wonderful relationship nor bring in Moutino— sure sure other factors count as well.
Perhaps i’m reading too much into this.
BY the way Barcelona play football on the ground and thbey have not done too badly, so dont knock the ‘spurs way’
03/09/2013 @ 1:08 pm
These polls were done in May when Fryers was quite clearly an u-21 player so was not included. I’d be surprised if he got much game time in any case.
Lamela and the other attacking mids/wingers I expect to switch around during the season in any case, I put Lamela left as I expect Eriksen to play in the middle more than him. Something tells me there would be more uproar if I demoted Lennon by putting someone else on the left.
03/09/2013 @ 4:58 pm
Like most of the other contributors, I was very disappointed with the lack of penetration from Spurs. We have some quality players in midfield but too similar in that they are strong defensive footballers but don’t have the killer pass or the ability to get past the opposition midfield, especially when, like Arsenal, they pulled 10 or 11 players behind the ball. This was our big failing last year as well but thanks to Bale’s ability to score the vital goal, we managed to overcome most teams using those negative tactics. Dembele has so much ability on the ball but then having beaten 2 or 3 players runs out of ideas, loses the ball and, more often than not, commits a stupid foul. In fairness to Arsenal, they took the game to us initially and only shut up shop once they had the upper hand. Frustratingly, we did this many times last year and then AVB would take off the likes of Dembele or Sigurdson and bring on Livermore or Huddleston to defend our lead for the last 20 minutes or so. I still have palpitations every time we give away a corner or free kick around the box as we don’t appear to have mastered the art of zonal defence. I’m sure that things will improve as the players get to know each other but at the moment I feel for Soldado who must wonder when he’s going to get some decent supply. Let’s hope Lamela and Erikson can give him that supply.
03/09/2013 @ 5:10 pm
… but last year we got more points than ever before in the EPL. It was a total fluke that we did not secure 4th, or even 3rd. I’m confident we’ll reach 70 -72 points this term and 3rd or 4th with them.
04/09/2013 @ 1:55 am
Gentlemen… I think it’s a little early to criticise AVB, we beat United at Old Trafford for the first time in years, and in an exciting way, and we achieved a record tally of points. As for creativity, I believe this was the reason for Lamela and Erikson coming in. Nobody can judge this team/squad until they have had time to train and get to know each other, perhaps a few weeks. I have seen United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and City and none look world beaters IMO, so if our boys gel as I believe they will, we will be contenders for the PL this season. Don’t write us off yet.
05/09/2013 @ 1:04 am
Hes been there a year now and we had a great squad when he came now we have a bunch of blokes,new and regulars looking as if they havnt a clue.
04/09/2013 @ 5:09 am
Everyone needs to step back and take a bloody breath. AVB’s “project” is going to take a bit of time. We have so many new players there is no way they can just be thrown on the field and expected to win at the swamp when simply the premier league itself is so new. I just laugh at shit like “Paulinho is rubbish”. It was one game for the love of god! Part of the reason we weren’t exciting last year was the exit of Luka and to a lesser degree VdV and the disappearance of Ade, who seemed to care the season before. Yes it sucks that we had to play the scum the 3rd game of the season but just remember that their squad has played MANY games together. We will exact revenge.
04/09/2013 @ 10:27 am
Agreed. As a Spurs fan I really hate certain Spurs fans. Some of the comments on here are just so deluded and unfounded. We lost narrowly to Assnal by one goal at their ground, why on earth are we panicking and being pesemistic about the season ahead. Were above Man U by 2 points, and level with assnal man c. Yes we have not scored in open play but I assure you we will score plenty in open play, and I know its a crappy european team but we put 8 past tribilsi in europe so all this talk of not being able to score goals is rubbish. At the end of the day we have started the season with a new squad and our star player missing and have managed to pick up points against a tricky swansea and got the points (as we should) from palace. Slow down with the critisims, get behind our boys. How on earth can you put down AVB after a record points tally, a brilliant summer of transfers, an anialation in europe and 6 points on the board. If you dont like it then go support assnal. We have had a decent start to the season and logic says we are only gonna improve and get better, this may take a bit of time but I garuntee we will be harder to beat than last year, and I predict a top 4 finish, ive put 500 quid on it!! im so certain we will be at the top of the league fighting come the end of the season, and maybe even lifting a cup with this large squad. F off fake spurs fans, stop talking through your ass, 3 games in, tut tut tut
05/09/2013 @ 5:41 am
agree 100%. Lost 1-0 and the Emptycrates to a 1 in 50 deflection by Giroud, after dominating the game with a formation not suited to the players available, who are new to each other and have not yet gelled. RELAX. Christ. Get behind the team and stop bitching. We have a deeper squad than Arsenal, United and Liverpool and are arguably on par with Chelsea (in depth) and City. Once Eriksen and Lamela are regulars and Soldado will have some service, then we will truly see the potential of this talented team. This is the year boys.
COYS
(and yea…. City lost to Cardiff and Arsenal lost to Villa, so I’d say we’re better off than they are to start the season. 1-0 Arsenal is fine. Arsenal aren’t as bad as most people make them out to be……..)
05/09/2013 @ 1:20 am
Sorry topspur we are not going to get penalties every game ,be nice, but we need an alternative way of scoring.
05/09/2013 @ 4:48 am
Lot of panic merchants here. We haven’t given Lamela, Eriksen or Chiri a full game yet. If Kaboul had played Dawson wouldn’t have lost Giroud. AVB did try to land another striker but couldn’t. He also tried to sign a left back but couldn’t.
Arsenal parked the bus in the NLD, that’s the first time I can remember them playing with 6 full backs. I disagree with Holtby being played as a DM. His best position is nearer the forwards so he’ll be in competition with Eriksen.
Arsenal have signed one player and expect to win the league. They had a better team than us last year, I don’t think they have now.
If Tom Carroll makes the grade then English football is in big trouble.
05/09/2013 @ 5:31 am
……….So many of you have NO IDEA what you are talking about… I’ve read nonsense like “under AVB our strikers aren’t scoring, as opposed to their non-stop scoring under ‘Arry.”…. Well, let’s analyse that shall we? What do you think will happen to a striker when the ONLY two creative players on the team leave in the same summer? The striker gets no service and has to feed off of scraps and solo chances.
There’s been stuff written like “AVB’s football is dull, ‘Arry’s was better” lets compare the lineups:
Walker – Kaboul – King – BAE
Lennon – Modric – Parker – Bale
VDV
Adebayor
VS
Lloris
Walker – Dawson – Vertonghen – BAE
Parker – Dembele
Lennon – Bale – Dempsey
Defoe
from two years ago to last year, Walker, Adebayor, BAE & Parker had regressed terribly, while Kaboul and Sandro had long term injuries with Bale and Lennon getting a few knocks here and there and our beloved King had retired, on top of arguably our two best players in VDV and Modric being sold in the summer. The only real upgrades we got were Lloris in goal and Bale’s skyrocketing to fame (not counting Vertonghen – Dawson pairing as an improvement over Kaboul – King). How do you expect a team with so many setbacks to play attractive, chance-creating, entertaining football? It can be argued that after Sandro’s injury our squad was roughly on par with that of Liverpool. Its not AVB’s fault, if anything it was Levy’s fr not going out and finishing the Moutinho and Damiao deals on time. There’s no way on earth you can blame AVB for the NLD defeat either. Ya he could have slotted in Holtby in the 10 position but that’s a terrible risk to take. You expect a midfield of Paulinho – Capoué – Dembélé to create opportunites for Soldado? They could barely get the ball to Townsend and Chadli, LET ALONE to Soldado.
All you Dembele haters: how do you expect him to get forward and do something with the ball in a 4-3-3? In the 4-2-3-1, he had the liberty to easily glide past defenders with the knowledge that Sandro was at the back covering for him. Now, he can’t do shite. He’s still very usefull, just not in a 4-3-3.
I guarantee you that this will all change only if AVB decides to switch to 4-2-3-1 with
Sandro – Dembélé/Paulinho
Lamela – Eriksen – Chadli/Townsend
Soldado
If he continues with the stagnant 4-3-3 and we fail, then it will be entirely his fault. If we succeed, he will be one step closer to becoming a Spurs legend. Mark my words, when we start gelling, we will be ripping even Chelsea and City new assholes.
COYMFS
05/09/2013 @ 10:11 am
One second you are criticising us for knocking AVB, the next you are questioning his tactics. AVB got it wrong sunday playing those three in midfield. Anyone could see our team was crying out for either Holtby, Carroll or even Sigudsson in there behind Soldado, he had plenty of time to make the change and did nothing. Lamela is going to take alot of time to settle and get used to the pace, poor kid looked like a deer caught in headlights whenever he got the ball, which in his defence wasn’t very often. Eriksen i think will settle sooner and im hoping will become a more goal scoring version of Modric. I agree with your comment regarding the 4-2-3-1, but i think he will go with a 4-3-2-1, with Dembele, Paulinho, Sandro in the 3 and Eriksen, Lamela in the 2.