Are you happy with our squad?

The truth is we won't know until the end of the season, but if Aurier has brought some pace & Llorente proves to be decent for Kane for a couple of years then maybe the squad will prove to be good enough to do as well as they have in the last 2 years & hopefully bring us a trophy/trophies.

Would have liked someone to really put some pressure on Eriksen, Dele & those in behind Kane & with a bit of pace.

Lloris
Aurier
Dier
Alderweireld
Vertonghen
Rose
Wanyama
Dembélé
Eriksen
Alli
Kane

Vorm
Sánchez
Davies
Winks
Lamela
Son
Llorente

What's not to like?!

Mmmm 82%

Thing that interests me most here is that an overwhelming majority are happy with our squad according to the poll, yet if you went by the posts in the Transfer forum and itk discussion thread you'd think the club was in a state of ruin. There can't even be any accusation of leading in my OP, I merely asked the question and posted a squad list.

I guess the lunatics haven't taken over the asylum after all

Top tier young talent, upgraded someone I thought unupgradable, taken advantage of the Argentine connection and brought in an experienced backup striker... pretty good. Now all we need is Ross Barkley in january (might as well consider it a summer transfer due to all the work that has been done) and we've had a perfect window.

I'm not someone who blindly praises everything the club does and have been critical of certain transfer dealings over the past few summers. With that said, this window has to be categorized as a success as a whole. I was advocating for Llorente as far back as March, and have stated elsewhere on this forum why he was such a shrewd signing. The defenders we've bought are all highly talented, and we probably couldn't have signed better center backs, talent wise, for the collective fees paid out. Beyond that, it's very clear that all 5 signings the club made were largely at the direction of Pochettino. That matters.

As far as negatives of the window, missing out on Barkley wasn't a problem for me, as I have doubts about how he fits into a high pressing system. Missing out on Keita Balde stung, though. He's likely going to light up Ligue 1 with Monaco and have them competing with PSG for the title (and some massive club will pay double their initial outlay to sign him next summer). I also think the club should continue to take page out of the Juventus/Monaco/Sevilla book by looking at attacking players who haven't quite lived up to their potential at top clubs, but still are talented enough to help a squad win (Stefan Jovetic is a perfect example of this and Monaco signed him for only 10 million pounds). I have new hope, though, that the Llorente signing indicates that the club is going to be less rigid in putting financial considerations ahead of footballing ones moving forward by expanding the playing field of players we aim for.

Apart from that, there are a couple other things this window showed definitively. Firstly, this age old belief I've seen people continue to push here, even recently, that waiting until the end of the window results in a total collapse of prices and bargain basement deals, simply isn't true. It has been true for a few seasons now, and once again, we see absolutely ludicrous fees on the final day for clubs desperate to do deals (Sakho for 28 million pounds and Drinkwater for 35 million). Doing business earlier in the window should be considered in the future before the market is set by moves like the Neymar one (AC Milan did brilliantly this window without paying over the odds for anyone, because they did all their signings in June/July). That doesn't preclude you from being opportunistic in the final days of the window if something like the Llorente or Van der Vaart deals pop up.

Secondly, despite the experience of what happened with Berahino two summers ago, there were still people who thought that clubs like Arsenal and Everton had no choice financially, but to sell Barkley and Sanchez for whatever fee they could get. The television deal has changed things. Clubs will put their pride before extra pounds, especially late in the window with no time for replacements to be brought in. I also think that clubs likely believe the next round of television rights, which will be negotiated in the coming months, are going to result in another increase in revenues, and they are acting accordingly.

One thing that will be interesting to see is if we're active this January in the market. A lot of players didn't get moves away, and if Janssen and Nkoudou don't play much, we could probably sell both to desperate clubs for a good deal of money. Perhaps if we're in the thick of a title race, an opportunistic deal like a Gomes loan could pop up somewhere across the continent if a player is out of favor. A few players I'll be watching closely for January and next summer, who fit our needs, are Malcom Silva, Nabil Fekir and Maxwell Cornet.

Llorente will be effective against the bus parkers. Teams won't want to drop too deep and let him get too close to goal for flick ons and headers on goal. Just a shame we don't have too many pacey options to exploit the extra space we may be given in behind.

talkshowhost86 said:

I should point out that I'm not criticising the club for not being able to match the likes of City, United and Chelsea.

We've really got no right to even be near them considering the money they've spent and we've done brilliantly to be in the mix.

Click to expand...

If you have a close look at the City squad announced today, they only have 18 plus a bunch of kids Phil Foden and the like, virtually no first team experience for any of them. In the 18 are Mangala. Delph..and Fernando who have hardly played or been loaned out last season. If they get a few injuries they may struggle , especially at the back . Kompany may have to play most of the games if he doesn't,t break down.

An excellent window with one caveat.

Sanchez is such a good choice. We've made the best defence better in a stroke though he might take a while to settle.

Our b team will be lethal. Tripper crossing for llorente will rip lesser teams apart.

Aurier is like for like with walker and exactly what we need for our a game.

Caveat. Gomes would have provided skill and passing to our cm. I believe in winks but Gomes, confidence issues apart, is the player we needed the most to elevate our cm from control to penetrative play.

Very happy though.

Yes in general although the two players we chased early in the window in Barkley and Zaha would have made it special and left us with a pretty much completed squad.

TH1239 said:

Apart from that, there are a couple other things this window showed definitivelyk. Firstly, this age old belief I've seen people continue to push here, even recently, that waiting until the end of the window results in a total collapse of prices and bargain basement deals, simply isn't true. It has been true for a few seasons now, and once again, we see absolutely ludicrous fees on the final day for clubs desperate to do deals (Sakho for 28 million pounds and Drinkwater for 35 million). Doing business earlier in the window should be considered in the future before the market is set by moves like the Neymar one (AC Milan did brilliantly this window without paying over the odds for anyone, because they did all their signings in June/July). That doesn't preclude you from being opportunistic in the final days of the window if something like the Llorente or Van der Vaart deals pop up.

Click to expand...

Good post but I'm sure people have been advocating us leaving it late to secure deals and not other clubs. Comparing our deals with the obvious panic buying doesn't work especially as the process buying players aren't all mutually exclusive for all football clubs. For example Barkley would have been half price if Chelsea hadn't come in for him as opposed to the ridiculous valuation of £50m.

I think we work on these deals and have a strategy to act late and back clubs into a corner, Levy did the same with with Lloris and we got him on the cheap so it clearly does work.

mpickard2087 said:

Satisfied with the signings made. All make sense.

Not bothered about some pace merchant that virtually everyone has droned on and on about all summer.

I am concerned though that we haven't got any alternative to Eriksen and the role he plays. I think that's what fans should be worried about. If he is out for any significant period of time I think we're in quite a bit of trouble.

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That's it for me, another playmaker is the only area where I feel we are light TBH. I have high hopes for Winks, and even Onomah, but they're a few years away from being as influential on the pitch as Eriksen is, and that is a concern for the immediate future, albeit a relatively minor one.
I'm not alluding to Barkley here either, as I'm not totally convinced he will be the answer, but only time will tell there. We will, hopefully, have Lamela coming back soon, but I'm expecting him to have a number of niggling injuries that will hamper his return, as that seems to happen to most players who've had very long lay offs, so we are kind of reliant on Eriksen remaining fit to ensure our creativity. I guess the club have marginal concerns here too, hence the interest in Gomes and the potential acquisition of Barkley in the new year.

I'm delighted.

Too many signings will shift pressure to showing value. That will impact the likes of Winks and Edwards who seem to have bright futures. We have a top quality starting eleven and a bench with mixture of young talent and a Sissoko.

If Winks isn't impacted by his injury then he could have a big season rotating anywhere in centre midfield.

If he could be our new Modric as he is clever with the ball and good at manoeuvring the ball and himself. I don't want any signing that blocks his way.

BringBack_leGin said:

Thing that interests me most here is that an overwhelming majority are happy with our squad according to the poll, yet if you went by the posts in the Transfer forum and itk discussion thread you'd think the club was in a state of ruin. There can't even be any accusation of leading in my OP, I merely asked the question and posted a squad list.

I guess the lunatics haven't taken over the asylum after all

Click to expand...

I'm not sure that's completely true. I was eager for that 'pacey' WF throughout the window and shouted it out like a raving loon on transfer day but overall the squad is stronger than last year. If we add Barkley in January, a decent WF next summer and secure a few key players to longer contracts, all of which seem possible then things look very good for us.

Certainly the post-mortem thread is an exercise in balanced reflection

BringBack_leGin said:

Thing that interests me most here is that an overwhelming majority are happy with our squad according to the poll, yet if you went by the posts in the Transfer forum and itk discussion thread you'd think the club was in a state of ruin. There can't even be any accusation of leading in my OP, I merely asked the question and posted a squad list.

I guess the lunatics haven't taken over the asylum after all

Click to expand...

School holidays tend to bring the spoilt kids out.

we were clearly after Balde who would have covered left wing and striker and secondary striker. we didn't get him. We still lack that player. Martial, again, left wing and striker. technical, lethal players. I'm sure Poch is thinking along those lines. Interestingly, it's right wing/inside forward that needs addressing. Barkley may help that and I suspect he is the cover for Eriksen in Jan. But Poch prefers to recruit players who can play in multiple positions. He has my full backing on that.

When we are struggling to break teams down despite our possession stats, that is where you could say we need that technical and pacy player. Whoever we buy also has to tick DL's sell-on value checkbox. It's not an easy task, and if we can't achieve that then it may be better not to bother recruiting for the position. It's a long-term strategy for the club and the team.

Hopefully things will change once we are in the new stadium. Not convinced on Llorente - yet.

WiganSpur said:

Llorente will be effective against the bus parkers. Teams won't want to drop too deep and let him get too close to goal for flick ons and headers on goal. Just a shame we don't have too many pacey options to exploit the extra space we may be given in behind.

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I feel like Alli will enjoy playing with him. Hes not having the best start to this season but he still makes some of the most intelligent runs in our team.

I Don't know who voted no, whoever voted no can go Support Colorado Rapids though, I support this club through the good and bad and I cannot understand how you are not happy with this squad, is this the best we could have done no, we never added any pace to the Attack like Keita Baldé Diao and I was a big advocate for him coming in, ITK said he is not coming, I cried a little but this is a great squad in general , we did some good business in the Window I must say, Davinson Sanchez =better than Wimmer, Juan Foyth=hot prospect and Serge Aurier=Walker Replacement, they are nothing to be ashamed of, they are some good young players.


Fernando Llorente has me scratching my head, is he better than Janssen well yeah but I'm not sure how he is going to fit in only time will tell. Can he help light a fire under Janssen I really hope so.

Are you happy with our squad?
uhh yes always till I die, how can I not be I support this Club only 100%

bubble07 said:

Also another net profit!! woo hoo

IN:
Davinson Sanchez (Ajax, 42m)
Paulo Gazzaniga (Southampton, 3m)
Juan Foyth (Estudiantes, 10m)
Serge Aurier (PSG, 23m)
Fernando Llorente (Swansea, 12m)

TOTAL: 90M

OUT:
Kyle Walker (Manchester City, £50m)
Nabil Bentaleb (Schalke, £16m)
Clinton Njie (Marseille, £6m)
Federico Fazio (Roma, £3m)
Kevin Wimmer (Stoke, £18m)

TOTAL 93M

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Add Tom Carrol to that figure at £8 million.

Yes, but only if we utilise N'Koudou more and introduce Edwards on a regular basis. We still need pace and trickery, these 2 in particular could be X-factors for us but they need to be involved, obviously

Aurier will be huge for us I feel, potentially the bargain of the window