GetSpurredOn
Well-Known Member
- Jun 18, 2006
- 5,022
- 8,922
Three key positions to address.
RCB - someone to take the workload off Toby, like for like in the way Wimmer has stepped in for Jan.
DM - someone to share the load with Dier, like for like stylistically, able to drop deep as an auxiliary CB when the fullbacks go up.
CF - someone to share the load with Kane, maybe not so much like for like, so they could indeed play together if required.
Up until now, I believed Bentaleb was the understudy to Dier in the DM role, but to see Mason and Carroll together Thursday was less than sturdy, and also changes the dynamic of the usual tactics. I think we missed that shielding player, who also drops between the CB's to allow the fullbacks to get upfield, that's key to our game and with Mason and Carroll there, that wasn't going to happen. So, if Bentaleb isn't seen as the straight swap for Dier, then we need to be looking for one. Wanyama has been linked before, and obviously has played under Pochettino before.
Higher up the park, we are perhaps overloaded with AM/WF, so maybe there's room to move one out in order to bring another CF in, and realistically despite his decent goals output, I do wonder if Chadli really has the dynamism to go to the next level. With Eriksen, Lamela, Son, Njie also in the mix, Alli often played up there, along with the returning Pritchard, and then Onomah on the fringes. Dembele on a bosman would give us a physical option as backup, then maybe go back and look again at someone like Ben Yedder, as an alternative style CF, both could be got for a relatively modest outlay I'd guess. I just can't see us going for the likes of Berahino, Lacazette or Batshuayi, too big an outlay based on recent windows.
There is some suggestion Carter-Vickers will be Toby's understudy, and the return of Dominic Ball after a decent loan at Rangers, capable of being like for like with Dier as a CB/DM option. Question is, with the CL on the horizon, does selling Bentaleb to buy Wanyama as a closer Dier option at a higher level than Ball, become a more desirable route? As good potentially as Bentaleb could be, if he isn't the Dier role, then we would be overloaded in the other CM role and is he above or below Mason and Carroll in Poch's eyes?
So,
Fazio out, Carter-Vickers step up.
Bentaleb cover Dier.
Ball to cover both roles.
Or Bentaleb out and Wanyama in.
Chadli out, Dembele and Ben Yedder in.
Lloris, Vorm
Walker, Trippier
Rose, Davies
Alderweireld, Carter-Vickers, Ball
Vertonghen, Wimmer
Dier, Bentaleb/Wanyama
Dembele, Mason, Carroll
Lamela, Son
Eriksen, Alli
Njie, Pritchard
Kane, Ben Yedder, Dembele
Then the likes of McGee, Walker-Peters, Winks, Onomah etc.
RCB - someone to take the workload off Toby, like for like in the way Wimmer has stepped in for Jan.
DM - someone to share the load with Dier, like for like stylistically, able to drop deep as an auxiliary CB when the fullbacks go up.
CF - someone to share the load with Kane, maybe not so much like for like, so they could indeed play together if required.
Up until now, I believed Bentaleb was the understudy to Dier in the DM role, but to see Mason and Carroll together Thursday was less than sturdy, and also changes the dynamic of the usual tactics. I think we missed that shielding player, who also drops between the CB's to allow the fullbacks to get upfield, that's key to our game and with Mason and Carroll there, that wasn't going to happen. So, if Bentaleb isn't seen as the straight swap for Dier, then we need to be looking for one. Wanyama has been linked before, and obviously has played under Pochettino before.
Higher up the park, we are perhaps overloaded with AM/WF, so maybe there's room to move one out in order to bring another CF in, and realistically despite his decent goals output, I do wonder if Chadli really has the dynamism to go to the next level. With Eriksen, Lamela, Son, Njie also in the mix, Alli often played up there, along with the returning Pritchard, and then Onomah on the fringes. Dembele on a bosman would give us a physical option as backup, then maybe go back and look again at someone like Ben Yedder, as an alternative style CF, both could be got for a relatively modest outlay I'd guess. I just can't see us going for the likes of Berahino, Lacazette or Batshuayi, too big an outlay based on recent windows.
There is some suggestion Carter-Vickers will be Toby's understudy, and the return of Dominic Ball after a decent loan at Rangers, capable of being like for like with Dier as a CB/DM option. Question is, with the CL on the horizon, does selling Bentaleb to buy Wanyama as a closer Dier option at a higher level than Ball, become a more desirable route? As good potentially as Bentaleb could be, if he isn't the Dier role, then we would be overloaded in the other CM role and is he above or below Mason and Carroll in Poch's eyes?
So,
Fazio out, Carter-Vickers step up.
Bentaleb cover Dier.
Ball to cover both roles.
Or Bentaleb out and Wanyama in.
Chadli out, Dembele and Ben Yedder in.
Lloris, Vorm
Walker, Trippier
Rose, Davies
Alderweireld, Carter-Vickers, Ball
Vertonghen, Wimmer
Dier, Bentaleb/Wanyama
Dembele, Mason, Carroll
Lamela, Son
Eriksen, Alli
Njie, Pritchard
Kane, Ben Yedder, Dembele
Then the likes of McGee, Walker-Peters, Winks, Onomah etc.
