Looking into the Tottenham window

Article by Lee Trowbridge

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If you had asked many a Spurs fan 2 months ago what players they would like to see arrive in the January transfer window I’m sure the majority would have said to bring in a whole new team such was the level of performance.

However, gradually over time, Pochettino’s methods have been taken on board by many of the current squad and we look like we could really see the benefits in the second half of the season.

Saying that there are one or two areas that could do with tweaking and inevitably fringe players will be shifted off the wage bill.

Let’s start the case for the defence and it now seems Pochettino has settled on the combination of Fazio and Verts. They are starting to gel as a pairing and the more they play together the more they will understand each other’s game.

Kaboul’s future now seems away from Spurs and I expect him to be sold by the end of the window along with Chiriches who has spent most of this season playing at right back when needed.

This leaves Eric Dier as backup. Dier has also been used mostly at right back in the early stages of his Spurs career but will surely grow into a natural centre back and I personally think he will turn out to be a good piece of business.

All this means, with the amount of games we will be playing, we could do with another centre back to call upon if needed.

Ron Vlaar is one option to be mentioned. He has been hit and miss in the past but his impressive performances at the World Cup seem to have made him a sought after player. If he was to leave Aston Villa I would see him as wanting to go somewhere where he would be guaranteed first team football straight away and I don’t see this being a good time to break up the Fazio/Verts partnership.

Hector Moreno, of Espanyol, is another name linked to the Lane. He is well known to Pochettino but has had an injury hit year and might take a while to adapt to English football.

I personally think we need a player with Premier League experience who can hit the ground running if needed. In light of this the player who I would like to see is Joleon Lescott.

Granted West Brom only signed him in August but would he be able to turn down the chance of fighting on all fronts and challenging himself one last time? I’m sure he would be prepared to battle it out for a starting berth and this may also see Fazio and Verts take their game to another level.

In the full back areas we seem to be in a good position. Ben Davies is starting to show good form and, in turn, pushing up the performance level of Danny Rose. This seems to be a strong area although I would see Rose having the slight edge due to what he gives us going forward in the way we want to play.

Walker is a shoe in at right back and would now hope to have a good run in the team after all his recent injury problems. Naughton may be sold but DeAndre Yeadlin has now arrived so I see him as backup.

Moving onto the midfield areas and this is where we could be struggling over the coming months. With our two first choice midfielders of Bentaleb and Mason missing, due to the African Nations and injury, we have Dembele, Capoue, Paulinho and Stambouli battling it out for 2 positions in midfield. As we all know Dembele has a lot of ability but seems to have lost focus and drive over the last season and a half. He is also being asked to play a role that he doesn’t seem to understand or enjoy. Stambouli has seen more game time recently but still needs to get up to the speed of the game and I feel the European games are where he will be used more for the remainder of this season.

Capoue was a favourite of Pochettino earlier in the season but maybe he too recognised, like many a fan, the role of protecting the back four was not being carried out particularly well.

Paulinho will surely go if a suitable offer is received, which I suspect maybe from Italy or his native Brazil.

So in this area we could certainly do with reinforcement.

Adrien Rabiot, from PSG, is a name that has been heavily linked over recent weeks and he certainly seems to have been attracting attention from various top clubs. However is a 19 year old midfielder, who could be surprised by the physicality of the English game, what we need right now?

Marcelo Brozović, of Dinamo Zagreb, is another to be linked. Again he is young but if he turned out like the last player that Tottenham signed from Zagreb then I am sure we would not be complaining.

I feel in this area we need someone dynamic who can break up play and put his foot in. In this instance I would be happy to see Fabian Delph join our ranks. Again, he knows the league and would give us that bit of bite we will surely lack without Bentaleb.

In the wide areas Nacer Chadli has nailed down his place on the left and Eriksen is a must but the right side is still up for grabs.

Lennon will surely be sold and I can imagine most Spurs fans would not begrudge him the chance to find first team football elsewhere and get back to the same type of form that he has shown for us in the past. So that leaves Lamela and Townsend to battle it out.

Townsend doesn’t seem to be the player he was in the first part of last season. This may be due to his injuries and hopefully now we can start to see his form come back if he gets an extended run in the team.

Lamela has had a better season (it couldn’t get any worse) but still seems to be hit and miss.

I would say I see us being ok in these areas mainly due to the fact that Eriksen can play across the whole front line behind the striker.

Now we move on to the forward line which is, for me, where we have one of the most important decisions to make. Harry Kane is obviously the first choice when fit but if injury strikes then we are really struggling.

Adebayor needs to go. I would hate to see the hard work and running of Kane replaced with the lack of effort and energy that Ade brings to the side. Unfortunately we will never see the player that turned up that first season from Man City determined to prove a point.

Soldado has failed to deliver the goals that many believed he would provide but still brings something to the team when he plays. That said, we didn’t pay the money for that alone and he seems to struggle up top on his own.

If we want to buy a striker in January we will probably have to spend big and that’s not in Levy’s nature. Berahino is the obvious choice but I fear he may need some controlling and end up a one season wonder.

We have been linked to some South American strikers but after the Leandro Damiao saga I feel we should steer clear of that market.

My first choice would have been Wilfred Bony but the moneybags of Man City look likely to snap him up. So for competition for Kane, who could also play in the number ten position, I would bring in Emenike of Fenabache. He is strong with pace and has similar attributes to Bony.

So with just over 3 weeks until the deadline arrives much can happen and maybe my wish list will come true: Lescott, Delph and Emenike.

But what players would others like to see in a Spurs shirt at the end of the window?

All will be revealed come 11pm on February 2nd!

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