Benoit Assou Ekotto, Jan Vertonghen and Kyle Naughton have each taken their turns at the revolving door that is the left back position this season. Hell, even Gareth Bale had a run back there. The left side of the back four has been dreadful for Spurs this season.
BAE has looked like a shell of his former self after returning from injury, but what more could we expect from a player who claims that he has no passion in the game except for to make money? He looks unfocused, unmotivated and uninterested. His defending has been average, his delivery poor and he has clearly fallen out of favour with AVB. He is no longer picked in important games and will likely be one of the first players to leave White Hart Lane in the summer window.
Jan has been incredibly inconsistent as left back and who could blame him? He is a world class central defender, displaying the "total football" that Ajax preach. There is not a thing that he cannot do as a central back but he lacks the needed instincts as an outside defender. While he is comfortable supporting the attack as a LB, he is not comfortable with his defensive responsibilities. The most glaring example was against West Ham when Joe Cole simply drifted across his face to score an important goal. He is our best defender, but not out wide.
Kyle Naughton may be out the door as quickly as BAE is. He has a similar mentality to Kyle Walker but without the same natural talent, speed or strength. He isn't up to our level and I would not be sad if I never saw him lining up on the left side of defence only to cut in and expose the whole flank again. He looks awkward out there and makes us too narrow.
So with the impending renovation of our left back position, lets look at some options.
Bruno Martins Indi: Would be a fantastic addition. Cheap, young, versatile and less than £8m. He is above average at left back or centre back. He is already a regular in the Dutch National Team.
Samuel Umtiti: We all saw how fiercely he can hit a ball on a half volley when he scored that howler against us in the Europa League. He is a solid player who is still improving. If Lyon continue to have money woes, he could be an affordable buy.
Luke Shaw: Southampton produce fine young players; look no further than our own talisman #11. Ironically enough, he has been labelled the "New Gareth Bale". Shaw is already putting in very solid performances in the Premier League at the age of 17. He is tactically adaptable and could be a Leighton Baines type player for us. He was a boyhood fan of Chelsea but that hasn't stopped us from pursuing him. If Southampton sell him, there is a very good chance that it is to us.
Danny Rose: We already own him so it would cost us £0 to bring him in. He has put in good performances for Sunderland and is arguably a top 10 left back in EPL. He would have added much needed stability and pace for us this season. Let's not forget this amazing strike against Gooners
The available options are definite upgrades and would solidify our backline. AVB's rotation makes it clear that he doesn't like his options and expects it to be addressed in the summer.
Are there any other names that you'd like to see linked with us to solve our left back problems?
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Marc A. Ashed
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BAE is still a perfectly good option. He missed 5 months of football, has had to play with a bunch of completely different players in front of him on the left (Gylfi, Bale, Dempsey, Holtby) and is naturally struggling. If we get rid of him it will be a long time before one of his mooted replacements reaches the level of BAE at his best. I say we get rid of Rose and Naughton and have BAE/new signing and Walker/Smith as our full-backs.
ReplyDeleteNo, our greatest weakness is our strikers. You won't miss out on CL on the back of having a crappy LB, but having no goals from your strikers is fatal.
ReplyDeleteThink we keep forgetting that we actually still have a decent option in Rose and he will have progressed well at Sunderland but not sure he will ever be at the level we need
ReplyDeleteConsidering that we have rotated the back 4 so much think they have done ok but agree a new LB is important for next season if AVB doesn't want to keep BAE. Tom
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with that first comment.
ReplyDeleteEveryone's jumping on Bennys back, but he is a quality lb. He's had a long spell out and has since been in and out of the team, but I'm sure if everyone gives him time he'll get back to his best.
How anyone could consider Rose ahead of Benny, I just don't know.
BAE is the best left back in the club, but he real strengths show mostly when Bale plays on the left. The pair are akin to the Neville and Beckham partnership for Man U, in that they know each others game so well. verty is an option, but the centre of defence lose so much when he plays left back that its not worth putting him there. Naughton is just not up to it I'm afraid, but Rose might be a real option after what has been a really useful stint in the north east - but please don't write off Benny.
ReplyDeleteM'baye from inter Milan, young, quick, physical... quality player!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree left back has been a target for other teams, but it is not the left backs fault, before this season, there was a left midfielder that had defensive duties, Gareth Bale does not have them anymore, so the left back is left exposed...
ReplyDeleteI'd say its more that with bale in the centre hes not getting the help and protection he would normally get! We are struggling because lennon and bale down the wings do fantastic jobs defensively as much as attackingly! If we hadnt shipped off andros townsend maybe he wud have a natural winger in front if him to help!
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with what you say.
ReplyDeleteBAE has always been good going forward but is not up to standard defensively. You know he's going to make one big mistake during the game.
To add to that,I think we need a new right back. Kyle Walker may be great at times going forward, but he's always out of position defensively and relies on his speed to get him out of trouble.How many goals are down to him this season??.Good to have as cover, but not up to PL top 4 standard and forget about CL!..and bye bye Naughton. For me it's pointless qualifying for the CL if we don't get a quality striker and 2 full backs.
Recalling Rose to act as back up for Benny (who just needs a run of games) is the answer and im happy with Naughton as back up for Walker.
ReplyDeleteWe need to spend every penny on 2 world class strikers, 2 additional wingers + a creative midfielder.
Sell Adethewhore. Gallas & Big Tom.
Buy Eriksen from Ajax. Sinclair from Man Shhhity. Remy (when QPR go down) & Benteke or Higuain. Recall Townsend & Rose. Get Kaboul fit to play with Tongy at CB. Keep Sandro fit as he is the difference......League Champions!!!
I should be manager
Danny Rose is woeful! No positional sence whatsover. Remember what he did against Aston Villa last season that cost us big time!
ReplyDeleteSeriously? BAE is still one of the best left backs in the EPL, heck he's probably somewhere in the world top 20. Only obvious upgrades I can see are Alaba or Coentrao. He's also been injured most of the season and just needs time to readjust. We should give Townsend, Rose, Carroll and some other youngsters a chance next year and just buy another striker in the summer instead of spending silly amounts of money. Apparently Mario Gomez is available but now I'm just dreaming. ^^
ReplyDeleteAll indications are that BAE is on his way out. AVB just doesn't rate him.
ReplyDeleteThe main point that I am trying to get through was that left back has been incredibly unstable all season long and in a back 4, you need consistency and chemistry. We don't have a player that AVB trusts for that position and we have serious breakdowns a few times each game. BAE was never the best man marking back and it has gotten worse, in my opinion.
Great comments, keep them coming. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy it.
agreed our weakest position at the club belongs to Levy 2 seasons running the twat has failed to use the January transfer window as to keep hold of a CL place, last season we were crying out for a class center half levy the scrooge brought Neilson way past his sell by date, this season we were desperate for a quality striker and got sweet FA so MR D Levy keep picking your wages up from the Emirates as you have been their biggest asset over the last 2 years.
ReplyDelete