Ross Barkley

BringBack_leGin said:

At his age there's a lot that can be done to make him less lazy. And a claim like that needs context anyway, every single one of our first choice players can be accused of laziness at some point. Eriksen, Rose, Walker, Dembele, Lamela himself and even Vertonghen and Kane now show tenfold more commitment than pre Pochettino. Rose in particular was the sort of player who lost the ball high up the pitch and then just jogged lightly back into his own half.

I'd suggest yanks just doesn't want added competition for his favourite player, who despite offering many great qualities has yet to show after four seasons that he can regularly supply our attack with the necessary flair and creativity required, something which its debateable whether his offer the ball justifies. Context: Eriksen offers more on and off the ball.

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DC Hotspur said:

Right...well I was just replying to the original poster who asked how anyone could prefer Lamela to Barkley. If Poch wants him then that's good enough for me. But I disagree with the previous comment that suggested there is no rational reason to prefer Lamela to Barkley. I'm a lawyer, I play devel's advocate for a living...it's a weakness...I'm working on it.

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HildoSpur said:

We have a much better team than most of our rivals to begin with and there is no guarantee that any big signings they make will make them significantly better than us. If we can keep the vast majority of our team together I don't think there is much to worry about.

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BringBack_leGin said:

At his age there's a lot that can be done to make him less lazy. And a claim like that needs context anyway, every single one of our first choice players can be accused of laziness at some point. Eriksen, Rose, Walker, Dembele, Lamela himself and even Vertonghen and Kane now show tenfold more commitment than pre Pochettino. Rose in particular was the sort of player who lost the ball high up the pitch and then just jogged lightly back into his own half.

I'd suggest yanks just doesn't want added competition for his favourite player, who despite offering many great qualities has yet to show after four seasons that he can regularly supply our attack with the necessary flair and creativity required, something which its debateable whether his offer the ball justifies. Context: Eriksen offers more on and off the ball.

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yankspurs said:

Lamela has been progressing for us when he's fit and you could see how crucial his energy is to this team. He's a tremendously hard worker. Barkley has not improved at all and has actually regressed a bit and having watched Everton quite a bit as there on in the states pretty often, he is just lazy. Doesnt work too hard at all. We need another quality player who can actually add to this team and give us a huge boost in the league. Barkley just isnt that guy.

But i'm done talking about Barkley. It's not worth it. As per usual, SC has managed to talk its self into believing an average player is some fantastic player who would add so much to this team. In this case, the truth is that if everyone is fit, he wouldnt even make the 18. Poch prefers at least 2 defenders on the bench. So that leaves space for 1(sometimes 2) CM's, a striker and 1or 2 AM's(Son and Lamela). Signing Barkley for the bench until Lamela recovers? Would rather we give those chances to GKN, Onomah or Edwards.

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WiganSpur said:

Sky sauces will be proven right. If it is going to happen it's got deadline day all over it.

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shelfboy68 said:

Agree if we are to get him then no one should expect to see him in a spurs shirt until early September, sad we cannot get players in earlier but this is the reality of how we do things.

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WiganSpur said:

It's frustrating but it's the way we operate and we all know this. This season considering the calibre of the targets we are going for I don't think we will have any players signed for the first game of the season.

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shelfboy68 said:

True enough mate I used to get frustrated by this year's ago but now days I just don't bother getting excited about it as it is such a longed out and laborious pastime waiting for our signings to come in.
On the other hand we have a superb team that we can be proud of hopefully for years to come, whilst ignoring the lack of activity surrounding our transfer business.

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double0 said:

If Pochettinho what's Barkley then the board should back it. Tbh I did not expect Wanyama to be this good when we got him, Barkley might surprise or not therefore like all deals it's a risk.

Sissoko worries me, our transfers need to to productive, if not for the price tag of £30 M let's suppose we paid 10M, at the latter price it's a good deal and option from the bench.

Barkley isn't worth the money being reported however £15-20M is about fair £25 over the odds.

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eddiev14 said:

I do really wonder how we are going to compete for any player who can improve us in this window.

Reports may put us in the top 15 most valuable clubs in the world but the money all of the rest of them seem to be spending is utterly absurd. I saw yesterday that Liverpool were willing to pay £39m for Salah, for example. He's a good player but it's amazing how, in the space of only 2-3 years, players who would move for between 10-25 million are now suddenly commanding fees of at least £30m. I say at least because some are going for a hell of a lot more than that!

The issue we have is that our ability to spend has not increased, whereas others around us has significantly (especially on wages).

We won't spend £35m on Barkley (and nor should we) but if that's how much a player in the last year of his contract is going for, then I think getting business done early simply will not happen for us.

I mean, if you were a club or agent, you'd only stoop to Daniel Levy's value once you know for damn sure that the big spenders are not going to come in, wouldn't you?

It's going to be a frustrating few months watching our rivals spend big, and hoping it works out how we want it to. I'd imagine for Poch as well as us fans.

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Hoopspur said:

We often get accused of 'ALWAYS' leaving our transfer activity late.

It's a total myth that we do.

Of the current squad, note the actual agreed transfer dates:

May 29 - Kevin Wimmer
Jun 19 - Kieran Trippier
Jun 23 - Victor Wanyama
Jul 8 - Jan Vertonghen
Jul 8 - Toby Alderweireld
Jul 12 - Vincent Janssen
Jul 23 - Ben Davies
Aug 2 - Eric Dier

Even in the year we spent all the Bale cash, Paulinho signed 6th July, Chadli 21st July, Soldado 1st August.

Note - from elsewhere. Thanks to the author.

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eddiev14 said:

To an extent I agree, although I don't think the quality in our first XI is as far ahead of our rivals as some like to make out.

For me, last season our weakness was our lack of depth beyond Son Heyung-min. Our strength was our quite unbelievable home form.

Next season that strength of playing at home is gone, we'll be at Wembley. So it is absolutely fundamental that we address our biggest weakness and improve the quality in the squad so we can cope better with injuries, loss of form and multiple competitions.

My concern is that, financially, it has become incredibly tricky for us to do that.

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Johnny J said:

£25 would be a good deal. If it wasn't for Alli, he'd probably be starting for England. And if he was foreign, we'd be all over him. He's got every attribute to be a star, he just needs the right coaching. Would provide excellent alternative for Dembele or in the front three. Hope we get him.

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