- May 8, 2005
- 41,857
- 25,920
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- #1
We all love the transfer window, particularly the summer window. No football to worry about, ITK-a-plenty, and the delight that is the human yo-yo Mr. Pink. Having kept an eye in a number of the threads in the Transfer Rumours forum, and watching the ITK plod on the same thing seems to keep coming up. In fact it's not even that it's just happening this year, it's the same kind of comments we've had for the past few seasons. Many seem to be saying that we're approaching the first games of the season without the players we needed. We're under-prepared and under-equipped, we're not ready.
This refrain seems most prominent surrounding the transfers of Mateo Musacchio, and to a slightly lesser degree, Morgan Schneiderlin. The outcry is that yet again we are left going into a new season hamstrung by our 'penny-pinching' chairman as he tries to extract the best possible deals for key players to all we might hope to achieve. Some go as far as stating that in Levy's mind the first three games of the season before the window shuts are write-offs. These people love to point back to past seasons where we've made deals at the end of the window and dropped points in those opening games (these people's favourite part is when they point out that we missed out on CL football in those years by a mere matter of points, the very points we dropped in those opening games. All Levy's fault). This season though appears different.
Coming out of last season the most obvious change that was needed was a new head coach. Someone with a clear attacking approach that would be able to be translated from tactics board to the pitch. Someone who could unlock the untapped potential of a squad that had finished just points off it's highest points total ever in spite of the management over them.
After that, it was clear that we needed a minimum of two players to come into the playing squad. A left back had been needed for a year after Benoit Assou-Ekotto's shipping off to QPR, and a younger, more comparable back up to Lloris was needed to take the place of Freidel.
Having appointed Mauriccio Pochettino as head coach, and signed Ben Davies and Michel Vorm from Swansea, I want to argue that we are infact ready to go this season. We have a man at the helm who appears, at least by his successful tenure at Southampton, to be able to install a clear positive mentality to a football team, and quickly. In Ben Davies we have signed a very competent left back who will hopefully not only himself improve, but push Danny Rose to rediscover some of the form that had Sunderland fans wishing they could sign him permanently. One of the biggest plus sides to this transfer isn't that Danny Rose won't play anymore (he's not as bad as most of you make out), but rather it means that no longer will one injury see our best centre back shoved out to left back. Less than two seasons ago Michel Vorm was viewed as one of the best 'keepers in the league, and now we have him as a backup. He ticks almost every box in terms of what we could have hoped for in terms of a backup for Hugo, and hopefully now the team can comfortably play one system regardless of who is in goal.
People seem to think that without the signings of Musacchio and Schneiderlin Pochettino will have been shafted by Levy. But if you take even a moment to look at how well stocked we are in both central defence and midfield then it's quite clear that neither of these transfers are as imperative as many make out. We will not be screwed if neither transpires, and we won't even need to go scrabbling around to find alternatives. In fact, as far as things stand, we're probably over-populated in each of those positions. With Vertonghen, Kaboul, Chiriches, Dawson, and Dier, we have five good centre backs. If two go, we'll need another. The same is probably true of the midfield and Schneiderlin.
All in all, I'd say that in fact we are ready. The head coach has been backed in the transfer window with the players that he needed. I don't think that no more signings means Pochettino hasn't been backed. We got what we need quickly and with relatively little fuss, and if anything else is to happen it is a bonus. We should have a squad that is relatively settled, and potentially adding one or two even after the season has started shouldn't impact us negatively at all.
Hopefully that's some food for thought, are we better placed than we think?
Are we ready?
This refrain seems most prominent surrounding the transfers of Mateo Musacchio, and to a slightly lesser degree, Morgan Schneiderlin. The outcry is that yet again we are left going into a new season hamstrung by our 'penny-pinching' chairman as he tries to extract the best possible deals for key players to all we might hope to achieve. Some go as far as stating that in Levy's mind the first three games of the season before the window shuts are write-offs. These people love to point back to past seasons where we've made deals at the end of the window and dropped points in those opening games (these people's favourite part is when they point out that we missed out on CL football in those years by a mere matter of points, the very points we dropped in those opening games. All Levy's fault). This season though appears different.
Coming out of last season the most obvious change that was needed was a new head coach. Someone with a clear attacking approach that would be able to be translated from tactics board to the pitch. Someone who could unlock the untapped potential of a squad that had finished just points off it's highest points total ever in spite of the management over them.
After that, it was clear that we needed a minimum of two players to come into the playing squad. A left back had been needed for a year after Benoit Assou-Ekotto's shipping off to QPR, and a younger, more comparable back up to Lloris was needed to take the place of Freidel.
Having appointed Mauriccio Pochettino as head coach, and signed Ben Davies and Michel Vorm from Swansea, I want to argue that we are infact ready to go this season. We have a man at the helm who appears, at least by his successful tenure at Southampton, to be able to install a clear positive mentality to a football team, and quickly. In Ben Davies we have signed a very competent left back who will hopefully not only himself improve, but push Danny Rose to rediscover some of the form that had Sunderland fans wishing they could sign him permanently. One of the biggest plus sides to this transfer isn't that Danny Rose won't play anymore (he's not as bad as most of you make out), but rather it means that no longer will one injury see our best centre back shoved out to left back. Less than two seasons ago Michel Vorm was viewed as one of the best 'keepers in the league, and now we have him as a backup. He ticks almost every box in terms of what we could have hoped for in terms of a backup for Hugo, and hopefully now the team can comfortably play one system regardless of who is in goal.
People seem to think that without the signings of Musacchio and Schneiderlin Pochettino will have been shafted by Levy. But if you take even a moment to look at how well stocked we are in both central defence and midfield then it's quite clear that neither of these transfers are as imperative as many make out. We will not be screwed if neither transpires, and we won't even need to go scrabbling around to find alternatives. In fact, as far as things stand, we're probably over-populated in each of those positions. With Vertonghen, Kaboul, Chiriches, Dawson, and Dier, we have five good centre backs. If two go, we'll need another. The same is probably true of the midfield and Schneiderlin.
All in all, I'd say that in fact we are ready. The head coach has been backed in the transfer window with the players that he needed. I don't think that no more signings means Pochettino hasn't been backed. We got what we need quickly and with relatively little fuss, and if anything else is to happen it is a bonus. We should have a squad that is relatively settled, and potentially adding one or two even after the season has started shouldn't impact us negatively at all.
Hopefully that's some food for thought, are we better placed than we think?
Are we ready?
