Article by Rob Graal - @holygraal95e-Spurs Twitter
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As much as Spurs fans wanted star power, the brutal truth is Levy learnt his lesson after last summer. Record signings and high expectations both came crashing down last year and Levy, who received a lot of the blame for the struggling transfers, wasn’t going to take that risk again, especially with a new coach.
Despite this, there’s plenty to look forward to at White Hart Lane. Pochettino has done plenty of wheeling and dealing. Although none of these transfers will make any headlines, he’s been efficient in improving the squad and getting rid of unnecessary links.
The additions go as follows: Ben Davies, Eric Dier, Federico Fazio, Benjamin Stambouli, Michael Vorm, and Deandre Yedlin. Yedlin won’t be seen until winter, but everyone else has either already been seen or will be featured soon enough. The first thing that jumps out about this group is every player features on the defensive half of the field. Stambouli being a defensive midfielder is the only one that won’t be primarily used in the back four. This focus on the defensive half is a great thing to see from Pochettino. Last season, many of our players were forced to play out of position, including Vertonghen as a Left Back and Capoue as a centre back.
Honestly this is a refreshing change of pace. Yes it’s always good to get more attacking oriented players, but we’ve also always had the “problem” of having too many midfielders and attackers battling for playing time. Now we have this same depth benefit on the backline, in addition to new young talent that can always be exciting to watch develop. Now it’s time to sit back and see whether they thrive in Pochettino’s system.
We’ve seen many more departures from Tottenham than we’ve seen arrivals. This list is highlighted by names such as Gomes, Sigurdsson, Fryers, Falque and Livermore. Many other players would show up on the departure list but there are two names that won’t be forgotten. Let’s start with Sandro, the Beast. In my opinion, Sandro was one of our better defensive midfielders, and even if you questioned his skill, his energy was 2nd to none. His work ethic was always best on the field and he’d be the one making a tackle in the 90th minute that many wouldn’t bother attempting simply because all energy was lost. He had his share of spectacular moments and goals in a Tottenham jersey He will be dearly missed.
Finally, a man who needs no introduction after just under 10 years of service, Michael Dawson has sadly left the lane for Hull City. He was never the strongest or the fastest on the field, but his love and heart for the club was something that you don’t see enough in modern soccer. He had multiple opportunities when he did not look the favourite to start and could have left for consistent first team football, but he stayed. Last summer he could have went to QPR, but he stayed. He fought for his spot under every coach and silenced all doubters. His heart and intelligence in the game is how he earned that captain band that he wore so many times. As a fan myself, I hate to see that band passed on to anyone else, because they will not wear it like he did. All the best to Michael Dawson, Tottenham till the day he dies.
That sentimental note ends the review of this past transfer window. Not the most exciting summer spurs fans have seen but a good one nonetheless. There’s still work to be done, but the foundation has been set. Let’s hope for something special.
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i disagree that this was a successful transfer window, we should have kept holtby as back up for eriksen in case of injury, for cup games, and as a high energy impact sub, we also should have kept sandro and loaned out bentaleb to clear up room, a midfield of stambouli, sandro and holtby would've been very high energy and great to see. i am highly disappointed we signed fazio instead of musacchio, not convinced fazio is an improvement over dawson, we should have just payed up and signed musacchio, he's a good age and looks quality, if we had signed musacchio i'd consider this a successful transfer window but with how things happened i'm not sure. there was nothing for levy to learn from last season, the players we signed last summer are good players, soldado just needs to get his confidence up like lamela is doing, we shouldn't have expected to do that well. our team as a whole last year was vastly improved to the season before where we completely relied on bale, of course it was going to take time to gel. levy has no excuse to not make big signings and him refusing to do so will be our downfall, we didn't even lose money with our signings last year, we sold more than we spent, and while we're on the topic of selling last summer we should not have sold caulker, he was actually a product of our academy, having him and townsend in the team gives us more character than having someone like fazio. the biggest mistake of last season was appointing sherwood and sticking with him as long as we did, our team was a blatant mess from that point on. selecting bentaleb completely threw off the hierarchy of the players, i still don't agree with it even though he looks half decent, he should be loaned out
ReplyDeletei also think pochettino is overrated. he seems to be a decent manager but people give him way too much credit for southampton's success. southampton were already a good team punching above their weight with all the right players in place before he was appointed. nigel atkins deserves more praise for southampton's success than pochettino does
ReplyDeleteWhen will writers realise that the transfer wheeling and dealing is done by Levy and Baldini NOT Pochettino. However he is obviously involved in choosing targets.
ReplyDeleteIt's no surprise that the biggest spenders are constantly at the top of the league. You get what you pay for, we are mediocre spenders, so are a mediocre club... the sooner Levy and Enic sell up and p**s off the happier i'll be.
ReplyDeleteLiverpool showed us up for what we are, currently. A fairly non-imaginative and slow build-up side that will be cut to pieces by the top teams again. That team last Sunday could have been an AVB side from early last season. And I fully disagree with Glen about the midfield. I loved Holtby's enthusiasm, but not his football brain (and as one commentator said, he was like a puppy chasing the ball with energy, but when he got it, he wasn't sure what to do with it). Sandro, after all his injuries, was in danger of becoming another Wilson Palacios. Both were rightly lauded as tough ball winners in the middle of the park ..but the game we need to play has rendered them irrelevant. The pressing and passing game means everyone is a ball winner ..and once our team get the ball, they have to have pace and imagination when using it. Bentaleb still has much to learn (again, Liverpool showed that) but has great potential, while the jury is STILL out on Paulinho and Capoue. Stambouli we have to reserve judgement on. What Tottenham need, however, and this is where we've not had a great transfer window, is someone finally to replace Modric ..a proper playmaker orchestrating the whole team and linking with the DM(s) plus Eriksen/Lamela and the forwards. A fast left winger too is another 'must' ..someone who can balance out that right side (Lennon and/or Townsend need it for their OWN game). Our left flank, from being the best in the PL with Bale and (yes) BAE, has been relatively hopeless since (with Chadli, Sig and even Eriksen failing there ..and Vertonghen sulking behind them in the absence of Rose).
ReplyDeleteAnd no more inverted wingers ...we haven't got that type of quality player, as L or T are only at their best now running that right flank. Walker has proved a huge loss to us there too ..even with his occasional errors in defense. The 3rd and final missing link is another top quality forward ..because we really ARE pushing it with the choice of Ade, Kane and Soldado in our push for top four (all capable on their day, but are any of them consistent enough?).
Obviously it's not that gloomy! We have a very strong squad of decent players, plus we've shored up the defense (particularly on the left). I have a good feeling now about Lamela, and Eriksen will get even better. We have a good core of DMs. But let's tie up those loose ends, inject more pace/creativity/finishing power, and bring in 3 top players for the vital positions mentioned.
Defensively we seemed to hv bought good defensive players.
ReplyDeleteSpurs still need proven players whether for their speed, aggression and winning spirit., eg in Sandro ' Beast ' who is d boss in midfield, speed in Lennon, Bale n Townsend.
This is where POCH need to fine-tune these gifted players, NOT sell them, as these r the Characters for Spurs, otherwise what is Spurs.
Eg of d 7 new players last season, none proved their so called potential. D only exception is Eriksen, who has shown good potential, if he had equally good back-up players around like Messi, who had v good attacking midfielders in Iniesta n Xavi, n d rest , when they moved up to attack.
Eg when Lennon our Road runner is up and running, sometimes he is all alone.
or when Eriksen is attacking, d midfelders r Not assisthing'
N our so called attacking midfielders R Not having a go n attack.
Look at how Liverpool recently rammed n attacked Spurs at will w pace, aggression n winning spirit. They had Raheem, we had Lennon or Townsend. In midfield they had Henderson, we had more so called ' attacking ' midfielders who were stuck with attacking ideas, clueless n heavy-feet laden.
I totally agree with Glen Swagmire's view on Bentaleb. We will not make the top four with him in the team. Secondly no matter what people say about Sandro's injuries he was excellent in his last Europa game and showed no signs of injury....SAD LOSS.
ReplyDelete