The Daily ITK Discussion Thread - 20 July 2011

Benspur · Jul 20, 2011

I thought that we were planning on keeping our best players and last season Benni was one of the most consistant. He has got better year on year and there is no way we should be selling him. As others have already mentioned he's in the top 3 LB's in the league.

Bobbins · Jul 20, 2011

Bale is most effective running from deep, from left back.

However the benefits of this do not outweight the benefits of BAE sticking there.

Babylon22 · Jul 20, 2011

Didn't jace ace say modric was on strike?

Benny is staying. No point even discussing it.

felmani26 · Jul 20, 2011

jimbo said:
...and he's now a big enough name to leave if he doesn't like the route management wants to go down. I'd keep him on the wing, and I'm also one of the original 'Bale is a left back' people. I was wrong on that, a rare blip in my record.

I think the foundations of a 'Bale to LB' role was based on Harry's comments that he would in all likelyhood end up as a wing back so it wasn't necessarily just fantasy to suggest he may indeed fulfill this role in the future.

Also, as far as i'm aware, Bale has never publically stated his desired position, although I dare say he'd much prefer to be further up the pitch than defending but nonetheless, it's perhaps why this notion of him pushed back in the back four still rumbles on.

DEFchenkOE · Jul 20, 2011

I'm almost certain if Bale went to Barca for example they would put him at left back. Not many top teams are playing 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2 so he'd probably have to adapt his game quite a bit if he had to always play in the front 3, last season proved he has the ability to score plenty of goals though so maybe he wouldn't have any issues with that.

I was in the Bale at left-back corner too, but can't argue with what he did first half of last season especially.

mattdefoe · Jul 20, 2011

ekkoto bid possibly from psg?

I think the new ITK source will be our best information, his comments seem very belivable in comparision to other ITK I have heard, particulary interested in the rangers comments and also the defoe ones.

talkshowhost86 · Jul 20, 2011

Danny1 said:
We cant sell Benny, he is a class LB, possibly the best Ive personally ever seen in a Spurs shirt! Bale is far too good at LW to play him at LB.

I agree but to be fair that is in comparison to such luminaries as Justin Edinburgh, Clive Wilson, Paulo Tramezzani, Timothee Atouba and Erik Edman.

Why did we used to buy exclusively shit left backs?

arthurgrimsdell · Jul 20, 2011

fatpiranha said:
Disco Benny is a much underated player but if PSG were to go up to £20M i'd find it hard to say no when we could probably get someone like Yuri Zhirkov for £10M as a replacement.

Ekotto is a player who invokes strong opinions.
There are those who revel in his spectacular play, great touch and verve. There are others who underplay this and see only his poor positioning, recklessness around the penalty area, both in tackling and in not clearing his lines quickly and efficently, always preferring to beat an opponent first, his preference to hoof the ball to the opposing right back, his predilection for playing offside without reference to his teammates, and his poor aerial ability; in short his unreliability as a defender.
I have for some considerable time thought that Bale and Ekotto should swap positions. There is a view that Bale can't defend, but this ignores his performances when he first returned to the first team at Left Baxk when Ekotto was injured two seasons ago, when he was a revelation. The swap would give Bale far greater licence to go forward because it would make it more difficult to double and triple mark him. He has, in my view far more discipline in his play than Ekotto, as shown by his tracking back when playing on the Left Wing, and would develop into a far better Left Back. It would give the option of retaining the use of Ekotto's buccaneering qualities as an option, along with using Modric instead on the left as he was employed in our best Premier Laegue season in 2009-10.
Incidentally the talk of loyalty shows a complete misunderstanding of Ekotto's personality in my view. He is honest, not loyal. He has made it plain that he sees football as a profession. The fact that he enjoys it as well is shown by the verve in his play. But if he were given the opportunity to better himself in his eyes, he would take it like a shot,and he has never pretended otherwise (unlike Luka Modric).
So if the suggestion that an offer for him has been made, then if the potential buyers are a big enough club he will want to go. Whether he is allowed to will depend on whether Levy and Harry think he is a key player.

tRiKS · Jul 20, 2011

only just logged ontoday. The schalke forwards? who are they?

Danny1 · Jul 20, 2011

talkshowhost86 said:
I agree but to be fair that is in comparison to such luminaries as Justin Edinburgh, Clive Wilson, Paulo Tramezzani, Timothee Atouba and Erik Edman.

Why did we used to buy exclusively shit left backs?

Good point! Ah Atouba, heart attack & standing ovations with nothing in between!

Supersi32 · Jul 20, 2011

tRiKS said:
only just logged ontoday. The schalke forwards? who are they?

KJH & Farfan...

Danny1 · Jul 20, 2011

tRiKS said:
only just logged ontoday. The schalke forwards? who are they?

Huntelaar & Farfan.

pythonboy · Jul 20, 2011

arthurgrimsdell said:
Ekotto is a player who invokes strong opinions.
There are those who revel in his spectacular play, great touch and verve. There are others who underplay this and see only his poor positioning, recklessness around the penalty area, both in tackling and in not clearing his lines quickly and efficently, always preferring to beat an opponent first, his preference to hoof the ball to the opposing right back, his predilection for playing offside without reference to his teammates, and his poor aerial ability; in short his unreliability as a defender.
I have for some considerable time thought that Bale and Ekotto should swap positions. There is a view that Bale can't defend, but this ignores his performances when he first returned to the first team at Left Baxk when Ekotto was injured two seasons ago, when he was a revelation. The swap would give Bale far greater licence to go forward because it would make it more difficult to double and triple mark him. He has, in my view far more discipline in his play than Ekotto, as shown by his tracking back when playing on the Left Wing, and would develop into a far better Left Back. It would give the option of retaining the use of Ekotto's buccaneering qualities as an option, along with using Modric instead on the left as he was employed in our best Premier Laegue season in 2009-10.
Incidentally the talk of loyalty shows a complete misunderstanding of Ekotto's personality in my view. He is honest, not loyal. He has made it plain that he sees football as a profession. The fact that he enjoys it as well is shown by the verve in his play. But if he were given the opportunity to better himself in his eyes, he would take it like a shot,and he has never pretended otherwise (unlike Luka Modric).
So if the suggestion that an offer for him has been made, then if the potential buyers are a big enough club he will want to go. Whether he is allowed to will depend on whether Levy and Harry think he is a key player.

Totally agree with that, I think BAE is dependable but £13mill should buy better than that.

RuskyM · Jul 20, 2011

Would only sell Benny if we could get Baines as a replacement. Otherwise, no dice.

EJWTartanSpur · Jul 20, 2011

arthurgrimsdell said:
Ekotto is a player who invokes strong opinions.
There are those who revel in his spectacular play, great touch and verve. There are others who underplay this and see only his poor positioning, recklessness around the penalty area, both in tackling and in not clearing his lines quickly and efficently, always preferring to beat an opponent first, his preference to hoof the ball to the opposing right back, his predilection for playing offside without reference to his teammates, and his poor aerial ability; in short his unreliability as a defender.
I have for some considerable time thought that Bale and Ekotto should swap positions. There is a view that Bale can't defend, but this ignores his performances when he first returned to the first team at Left Baxk when Ekotto was injured two seasons ago, when he was a revelation. The swap would give Bale far greater licence to go forward because it would make it more difficult to double and triple mark him. He has, in my view far more discipline in his play than Ekotto, as shown by his tracking back when playing on the Left Wing, and would develop into a far better Left Back. It would give the option of retaining the use of Ekotto's buccaneering qualities as an option, along with using Modric instead on the left as he was employed in our best Premier Laegue season in 2009-10.
Incidentally the talk of loyalty shows a complete misunderstanding of Ekotto's personality in my view. He is honest, not loyal. He has made it plain that he sees football as a profession. The fact that he enjoys it as well is shown by the verve in his play. But if he were given the opportunity to better himself in his eyes, he would take it like a shot,and he has never pretended otherwise (unlike Luka Modric).
So if the suggestion that an offer for him has been made, then if the potential buyers are a big enough club he will want to go. Whether he is allowed to will depend on whether Levy and Harry think he is a key player.

Interesting post. However, Ekotto has no buccaneering qualities whatsoever. He can beat a man in a tricky situation, but whenever he steps across the half way line, he doesn't have very many ideas. Quite often, our CM's literally have to goad him into making a run on the overlap, if they see a pass out wide to him. He makes the run and collects the ball eventually, but mostly after seeming very reluctant to get forward.

There is basis for an argument re Bale playing LB, but none whatsoever for Ekotto being an LM

Krafty · Jul 20, 2011

Great to have more ITK, after all isn't that while we are all here? And until someone is proved 100% right (or wrong) keep it coming. It's all interesting, breeds discussion, and I also like hearing what's happening with other clubs - information is power.

On to The Journalist's stuff, his/her information has the whiff of agent rumour. More substantial than Harry spotted in the crowd ergo he is after player X, but not on the inside with regards who we really want, in what order, what the budgets/parameters/fees are. Interesting stuff nonetheless.

I can't imagine a team having both Pav and KJH, there would be absolutely no link between attack and midfield, the opposition's defence might as well camp on the edge of the penalty box because those two are not going to offer anything in the build up. Farfan I like, he is the type of player we should be looking at (wing forward), someone who would get in the box, can run the channels if played upfront, or can play wide in a front 3 or even wide in a midfield 4 if we want to go attacking. But is he the right one? Rather than shed 20 million on him I'd rather try to get Gio performing.

As for the BAE stuff, I remember the days when we would be crying out for a full back half as good as him. I think there is more to come, with Bale ahead of him BAE doesn't get forward enough and against weaker teams I'd like to see him getting to the touchline and Bale roaming inside and getting into the box more often.

I don't think BAE would force a move, even if they offered silly wages. Everyone takes that quote out of context, he said football was only a job when you consider there are wars and famine in the world. You could equally take it that he wouldn't care about the money (doesnt he get the bus and drive a smartcar?) he is more about living a happy life, and he is happy in London.

That said, he isnt irreplaceable, and £18-20million would be very tempting.

yido_number1 · Jul 20, 2011

EJWTartanSpur said:
Interesting post. However, Ekotto has no buccaneering qualities whatsoever. He can beat a man in a tricky situation, but whenever he steps across the half way line, he doesn't have very many ideas. Quite often, our CM's literally have to goad him into making a run on the overlap, if they see a pass out wide to him. He makes the run and collects the ball eventually, but mostly after seeming very reluctant to get forward.

There is basis for an argument re Bale playing LB, but none whatsoever for Ekotto being an LM

I completely disagree with that... Benny loves to get forward and if anything runs on the outside of Bale too much... I sit in the park lane block 33 and watch him do it solidly for 45 mins every game right in front of me... if you are going to criticise him at least do it for his occasional defensive lapses...

Imho we shouldnt sell as we won't get better...

jimbo · Jul 20, 2011

talkshowhost86 said:
*guffaws*

Ringpiece.

Lo Amo Speroni · Jul 20, 2011

Stoof said:
I don't want a replacement that has to learn the ropes. I want a player that's played with the team that actually knows what's going on.

This isn't Championship Fucking Manager.

Stop selling players for the sake of it! Ridiculousness!

Here here that man, good point well delivered.

BringBack_leGin · Jul 20, 2011

If he is so reckless in and around the area, why is it that not one person here would be able to name a goal we've conceded because of him since he started playing regularly. After all, he's been first choice LB for 2.5 seasons now.

As for poor positioning, I take it it's gone unnoticed how often he intercepts through balls, how often he sweeps behind the centre backs, how he's first to almost everything even against the few players with more pace than him.

My only criticism of him is that he often neglects to close down a cross and tackle, something Rose does well. However, this appears to be the malaise on the modern fullback content to let their CB's get them out of jail. Otherwise, he's defensively great and his technique and passing means that he starts a lot of our best attacks too.

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