The Daily ITK Discussion Thread - POST MORTEM

Klinsmannic said:

Good window, but not great imo. Needed a quick AM / inside forward, clear for all to see.

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Agree, hamstrung by the disastrous Sissoko purchase last year, hardly a rumour on him leaving at all yesterday,

Happy?...pretty much.

Ecstatic? ...not quite.

Looks very good defence wise, good bit of depth there, and I'd suggest certainly stronger squad wise even after Walkers sale.

Lamela back training, hopefully he can recapture some of that pre injury form.

Llorente gives us another option up top, perfect back up for Kane. Highly unlikely a worldie would've come in and played second fiddle ( especially when considering our pay structure and the astronomical fee one expects that would cost)

Pace can come from Aurier and Rose.

We could see a bench of Dier, Davies, Lamela, Son, Vorm, Sissoko and Llorente. Not too shabby. ( only one new addition granted, but Lamela would be great to have back)

Be great to get everyone back fit and get some momentum going.

With everyone fit i think we'd look pretty damn strong in a 3-4-2-1 set up. Flexible cover on the bench also I'd suggest.

Cheers for providing this great forum chaps.

Shame we couldn't address a couple of other weaknesses to make the window a complete success, though it wouldn't be Spurs if we actually achieved our aims... but still, it was fun in a masochistic kind of way ...

Yeah, thanks to @Rob, @Archibald&Crooks, and @Stoof things clearly get a bit nuts in here, but you guys kept a handle on things nicely the last few days.

Hopefully next year we won't get cretins posting GoT spoilers in here eh @Dougal

#nameandshame

Wasnt happy last night, but when you digest the size of the squad, at least we will have strong teams in the domestic cups now, as I can see few unhappy players come January that won't even make the bench. Just concerned that it doesn't hinder Edwards who has chosen to fight for his place rather than a loan move. At least we have good options on the bench and it should allow the core players to get rested as the season progresses.

THOWIG said:

Sanchez is a signing that's been majorly overlooked mainly because many of our press and pundits don't watch a lot of football outside of this country, but trust me he's one of the top 5 signings across Europe this summer.

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I have no doubt that he is going to be one of the best centre backs in Europe (if not the best) in a few seasons time.

Good enough squad to challenge for top four and cups. Perhaps not enough to challenge for title which may have repercussions in terms of keeping hold of one or two next year.

Also, can I just give a little shout out to Arsenal's transfer window, and the reaction of their fans.

Cheers lads, kept me amused

Not a bad transfer window but not a great one, I still feel we are missing that last piece of the jigsaw to complete our squad and from reading the info from the ITK's that's also what the club thinks too.

So it seems in these ever evolving transfer windows there are still many more lessons to be learnt!!!

COYS

Unfortunately people really forget to take ITK with liberal amounts of NaCl, we are lucky to get the information and we hope it comes off but in all honesty if it all did we'd have a squad the size of a small village.

Thanks mods and contributors as always it's been emotional

On the one hand, it's a testament to the club and the progress we made that the players we bought were of quality, pedigree or high potential, all of which would have rejected offers from no doubt bigger teams.

On the other hand I'd be interested to know what our strategy was outside of Sanchez and Aurier - was Llorente always to be hijacked? Were we confident in doing that? Ducks were allegedly in a row, but Barkley made it all the way to a Chelsea medical before pulling out.

Step back and overall it ended up as a solid window, upgrading certain squad areas with quality rather than bodies - but I just have a nagging feeling that it didn't quite all go how we intended. We are fortunate Llorente picked us over Chelsea, expect this became our alternative a couple days ago when it was apparent we weren't getting a WF (about the same time Sissoko said he was staying)

We are also fortunate Barkley pulled out of Chelsea giving us another chance in January.

I just hope Poch is happy with all this and was part of the discussion and decision making, and is fully on board and understanding of the windows events.

eddiev14 said:

Also, can I just give a little shout out to Arsenal's transfer window, and the reaction of their fans.

Cheers lads, kept me amused

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The latest Arsenal fan tv video is a classic, fam.

Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam,
Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam,
Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam,
Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam, Blud, fam,

So I guess we have replaced, possibly improved on Walker and made £27,000,000 profit, we have strengthened our central defence now and into the future, we have backed up our goalkeepers and we have got a worthy rotation option for Harry Kane, all that is a tidy window.
We didn't get the nippy winger or Barkley and that's a shame but at least we know that we can concentrate on those in January or next Summer then what a squad we'll have to start in our spanking new stadium.

I'm pretty relaxed about it to be honest, think we've made some subtle but astute changes. Could it have been better, yes, we could have added that AM/WF with the ability to carry the ball at pace, but the main positive is we'be retained the core of last year's side.
Walker was the only core player we lost, but we got a good fee, and I think replaced him virtually like for like, arguably remains to be see if it's actually a potential upgrade.
Wimmer clearly didn't have Poch's trust, so replacing him with Sanchez looks a very good bit of business. Upgrade. Also added a little extra depth with a view to the longer term in Foyth, albeit I think he'll surprise a few this year.
Llorente was the leftield signing, did not see that coming, but can see the logic in it now I've had time to think it over. Experience, proven winner, appears a good pro in terms of looking after himself. Plus, he seems happy to be here from his interview, probably won't cause a fuss sitting on bench, but will give us something different when he comes on. Janssen may actually benefit from being around him.
Overall, we had the best defence in the league last year, and have made upgrades. We had three players get 20 or more goals last year, and I think Llorente will add something to us there. Getting Lamela fit will be like a new player. Gomes not coming off isn't an issue for me, in Winks we have a player capable of giving us that fluidity in the middle already. Finally, Nkoudou started off preseason well, hopefully there's a Lamela/Son type second season uplift to come there, he would offer the same skill set as Gray had we gone there.
Disappointing that once again, firstly we had targets and left it too late to secure them, secondly our scouting doesn't seem capable of providing the amount/quality of available targets necessary. However, it's not all doom and gloom, it's probably just not as polished as we'd like. We are still in a strong position so long as we get our players fit and available. Hopefully go straight back in for Barkley Jan 1st as a sign of intent once fit.
Possibly an opportunity for some of our young players to put their hands up and offer some depth. Oakley-Booth already apparently saved us shelling out £10m on Diop. Could Edwards offer something too?

Oh, and big thanks to the SC team of Mods for all they do, all the crap they put up with. Likewise thanks to the überwhores, and of course the resident ITK's, just because we don't like the outcome so much, doesn't mean we don't appreciate the info. That's what we all come here for. Donated, not a lot I'm afraid, but hopefully it all adds up.

Donation made

probably posted..
hertyid on barkley: My guy says "wants Spurs, coming in Jan"

EastLondonYid said:

Very Happy with what we bought

Not Happy with what we didn't buy.

Overal we are stronger than before window opened

Kane has some competition/help at long last.

We have the best back 5 anywhere.

Lets do this.

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This. All the players that we've brought look like great buys, probably the best we could have wished for.

I feel really sorry for Barkley and can't help thinking that we've left him in a bit of a horrible position, at a club that won't play him and where he's already fallen out with the manager. I don't understand why we were willing to go for Gomes, but not pay the extra £5m or so to get Barkley over the line. Maybe it's true that Everton wouldn't talk to us?

Thanks to all the ITKs, especially our own ones like JJ, Grey Fox, Trix, Breezer and Hercules. Thanks to Dov and all the other whores and all the mods. And Rob who pays for most of the site.

Special thanks to A&C who was so patient for so long during this window.

Klinsmannesque said:

On the one hand, it's a testament to the club and the progress we made that the players we bought were of quality, pedigree or high potential, all of which would have rejected offers from no doubt bigger teams.

On the other hand I'd be interested to know what our strategy was outside of Sanchez and Aurier - was Llorente always to be hijacked? Were we confident in doing that? Ducks were allegedly in a row, but Barkley made it all the way to a Chelsea medical before pulling out.

Step back and overall it ended up as a solid window, upgrading certain squad areas with quality rather than bodies - but I just have a nagging feeling that it didn't quite all go how we intended. We are fortunate Llorente picked us over Chelsea, expect this became our alternative a couple days ago when it was apparent we weren't getting a WF (about the same time Sissoko said he was staying)

We are also fortunate Barkley pulled out of Chelsea giving us another chance in January.

I just hope Poch is happy with all this and was part of the discussion and decision making, and is fully on board and understanding of the windows events.

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I am guessing that in the end there had to be a certain flexibility in terms of our targets although it is pleasing that with Sanchez and Aurier, they do seem to fit into the Poch 'template'. Llorente was likely a fairly last minute decision so it's interesting whether Poch just decided to be more flexible and go for an older, more experienced player or whether he couldn't turn down the opportunity to sign someone of Llorente's quality or it was down to several factors.

Everlasting Seconds said:

Great post. I don't really think Sanchez is a player of abundance pace, though. I'm not holding that against him at all, I just think some are exaggerating this aspect of his game. He has, I believe, more or less the same pace as Vertonghen/Alderweireld. If he is even a bit quicker, that would be great, but we truly shouldn't expect him to be a phenomenal sprinter.

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Really? Poch highlighted his pace as one of his main assets when asked about Sanchez

The fact that we fucked over Chelsea makes it a good window imo.