Attacking options compared to our rivals

[JerryGarcia]

Other ways to go about improving our goal difference would be to score some from set pieces and concede less. Might sound simple but Chelsea and Utd etc always seem to score from corners and crosses from long free kicks. We waste so many that it's probably cost us about 10+ points per season for the last 25 years.

 

[Luka Van der Bale]

Completely agree with this! Our much maligned defence last season, no matter how awful at times wasn't far worse then Liverpool but.....cliche drumroll.........'goals win games'

Of course teams will look to their talisman for the bulk of their goals. Soldado is such a likeable character but I think we'd all prefer a 30 goal **** then a 10 goal BFF! and who knows what Ade will turn up next season and for how long??? My gut tells me he will struggle in a disciplined system where ego has to be put aside for the good of the collective. Maybe that's unfair but unfortunately history backs my theory as only under our 'arm round the shoulder' managers 'Arry and Dim has he looked the player we need.

I think this year more then any the 'goals from the side' (remember that itk from a few years ago lol) will be the differentiator and the Sanchez's, Hazard's, Sterling's etc etc will prove the difference. I have my fingers firmly crossed that Lamela will figure amongst that list but in all honesty all I have to go on is 45 mins in a preseason friendly against a team who don't want the game and their best player by a country mile couldn't get a kick for us! I really think we will ure missing out on Remy who as much of a twat as he comes across gets you about 15 goals a season. Where would we of been with an extra 15 goals last year?

Lennon is never going to get anywhere near the goals we need from a player in his position. The closest we had was Siggy who was pretty meh! And we've sold him. Eriksen isn't exactly a goal scorer. More an assister. He will of course bag a few but he shouldn't be relied on for them.

I can't think of anyone else in our squad who will get us half a dozen or so goals let alone double figures.

For me I want 3 things:

1) A wide left forward with an eye for goal ala Griezmann
2) A big bullying brick wall bastard of a forward who scares the ball into the net ala Bony or Lukaku
3) A tenacious little fucker who is everywhere in the box nibbling ankles chasing everything down no matter how hopeless ala Hernandez...ish can't think of anyone else.

I don't back Soldado because he's likeable. I back him because I believe in his ability on a football pitch and think he'll come good.

 

[TH1239]

We are in desperate need of a left wing forward who has pace and can shoot the ball with both feet from distance. How many players outside of Eriksen do you fancy to score outside of the box when teams park the bus? The lack of end product from the likes of Lennon and Townsend has been well documented. We don't need out and out strikers, but we absolutely do need a wing player who can get goals.

Someone like Griezmann would close the gap significantly with the likes of Arsenal. Not signing anyone will see us completely reliant on Eriksen and Lamela to bag at least 25 goals between them. If either gets injured, we are in huge trouble.

Furthermore, for those of you who are already saying we cannot compete with the top 5 and should not be compared with them.... Realize that Levy has already fired three managers for failing to secure a Champions League spot in the past 2 years. If Pochettino finishes 6th in his first year, he's going to find it exceptionally difficult to make it to year three in my opinion, as we will undoubtedly lose players next summer. I'd rather we push very hard now and spend on the best attacking option available to at least give us a real chance a top 4 finish.

 

[dontcallme]

If we can get Eriksen, Lamela and Adebayor playing and Soldado scoring then we'll be fine. Certainly what we need to be trying to do rather than more attempted transfer fixes.

Townsend still has potential and who knows if Chadli will step up. He looks like a guy with an eye for goal.

I'm not too concerned. Get us playing as a team and the individual start to shine.

 

[Lenten]

i think we are at the bottom of that list (with liverpool) on paper, past performance, talent etc. The last time we had a top-four squad on talent was 11-12. But i think everyone knows that, which is why MP's system is so important. Hopefully it will get us to overperform -- by denying the other team the ball and then making the most of our own assets a la southampton first half of last season.

 

[Blake Griffin]

Attackers don't stop goals going in.

indirectly they can help with that by giving the opposition so much to think about defensively that it affects them going forward. if you've got a blunt attacking force then your margin for error defensively is tiny, you basically have to be foot perfect and hope your attack can muster a goal between them, even then it might only be enough for a 0-0. you bang goals in and there's a greater chance of winning any game, goals win games is an old cliche but it's a true one. that's why attacking players generally go for twice as much as their defensive counterparts.

 

[Shadydan]

indirectly they can help with that by giving the opposition so much to think about defensively that it affects them going forward. if you've got a blunt attacking force then your margin for error defensively is tiny, you basically have to be foot perfect and hope your attack can muster a goal between them, even then it might only be enough for a 0-0. you bang goals in and there's a greater chance of winning any game, goals win games is an old cliche but it's a true one. that's why attacking players generally go for twice as much as their defensive counterparts.

You do realise I could swap your words around if I was making a case for defenders....if goals win games what happens when you concede them? You have a greater chance of losing if you concede. Also attacking players get paid so much because they are revered as match winners and hero's, they're the ones who get the headlines....a last ditch tackle or a save from your goalie is equally as important as a striker scoring a goal.

 

[Blake Griffin]

You do realise I could swap your words around if I was making a case for defenders....if goals win games what happens when you concede them? You have a greater chance of losing if you concede. Also attacking players get paid so much because they are revered as match winners and hero's, they're the ones who get the headlines....a last ditch tackle or a save from your goalie is equally as important as a striker scoring a goal.

scoring a goal is more important than saving a goal. if you're drawing then saving a goal saves you one point and wins you none at the end of the day, whilst scoring a goal at that point wins you two. if you have an attack that can score 3 or 4 goals a game then the error for margin you have at the back is greater than the error for margin a great defence would have with a blunt attacking game

 

[Shadydan]

scoring a goal is more important than saving a goal. if you're drawing then saving a goal saves you one point and wins you none at the end of the day, whilst scoring a goal at that point wins you two. if you have an attack that can score 3 or 4 goals a game then the error for margin you have at the back is greater than the error for margin a great defence would have with a blunt attacking game

No it isn't, it's exactly the same.

If you're winning and a goalie makes a last minute save to deny the other team a point you've gained 3 points as opposed to 1, there is no difference. What good is an attack who score 3 or 4 goals but let's in 5?

 

[Lufti]

No it isn't, it's exactly the same.

If you're winning and a goalie makes a last minute save to deny the other team a point you've gained 3 points as opposed to 1, there is no difference. What good is an attack who score 3 or 4 goals but let's in 5?

Yeah but you have to score to win. Goalkeepers can only ever stop a team from losing or drawing, they can't win you the game. A team can only get three points by scoring, therefore scoring a goal is more important than saving one

 

[Shadydan]

Yeah but you have to score to win. Goalkeepers can only ever stop a team from losing or drawing, they can't win you the game. A team can only get three points by scoring, therefore scoring a goal is more important than saving one

And it's the same concept, if you are 1-0 and your goalie makes a save you gain 3 points.

If you are drawing 0-0 and your striker scores to make it 1-0 you gain 3 points so what's the difference?

I'll ask this question again...what good is it scoring 3/4 goals if you let in 5?

 

[Lufti]

And it's the same concept, if you are 1-0 and your goalie makes a save you gain 3 points.

If you are drawing 0-0 and your striker scores to make it 1-0 you gain 3 points so what's the difference?

I'll ask this question again...what good is it scoring 3/4 goals if you let in 5?

You're missing my point though.

You can't get to being 1-0 up without scoring haha. Like I said before, goalkeepers are very important, but they can't win you 3 points. They can only stop you from blowing a lead / losing a game. Goalkeepers can not win games on their own, that's a fact (unless they score the goals themselves too)

That said, title winning sides are built on great defences

 

[Shadydan]

You're missing my point though.

You can't get to being 1-0 up without scoring haha. Like I said before, goalkeepers are very important, but they can't win you 3 points. They can only stop you from blowing a lead / losing a game. Goalkeepers can not win games on their own, that's a fact (unless they score the goals themselves too)

That said, title winning sides are built on great defences

Dude I get your point it just doesn't work.

You are 100% correct when you say you say that you can't get to being 1-0 up without scoring but at the same time the whole reason that the other team hasn't scored is because of your defence and keeper, they're the ones that have been putting in tackle after tackle and making the saves so if it wasn't for them the other team would have scored therefore the score wouldn't be 1-0.

You cannot have one without the other so putting placing a value on attackers and saying that they have a more important job than defenders is wrong, they are both equally as important (I know you're not saying this but just to conclude)

 

[spurs9]

Can you expand on this I think I was pretty fair but stand to be corrected... Our youth players have no record of scoring goals in a top league can you tell me who you would include and which youth players I uncluded for other teams?

You included Wiltshire but not Sandro (Sandro only has 2 less goals in 20 less games), You include Gnarby, who has scored 1, Sanogo and Campbell who have never scored.

 

[WiganSpur]

But no ones thought of the consequences of us potentially creating a lot more chances because of the change in management. OP has a point in some respects but it isn't taking into account the possiblity of improvement in a lot of players. It's kind of assuming that Soldado will most definitely continue to not deliver goals. Similarly that Chadli and Townsend still won't make the kind of impact on a game that we'd want.

It's what Pochettino was known for at Southampton so i'm surprised this hasn't been taken into account.

 

[ItsBoris]

I'm actually pretty happy with our striking options, what I think we need is goals from the left wing. But I'm happy with Soldado/Adebayor, Eriksen/Holtby, Lamela/Lennon/Ceballos, and Chadli/one other. Put an effective midfield and solid defense behind that and we'll be good.

 

[walton]

The sooner we stop comparing dick sizes with 5 teams who have more money than us, the better.

We can't use this argument anymore...not since Levy left the safe open in Baldini's presence.

 

[THFCSPURS19]

We can't use this argument anymore...not since Levy left the safe open in Baldini's presence.

One summer. The other teams can spend shitloads on a regular basis.

 

[chinaman]

I think we still do not have enough goals in the team and need another top striker to come in. If you look at our rival they are all much stronger in attack than Spurs.. Our goal difference is always crap and we find it hard to break down teams even when we have most of the possession. This needs to be fixed to have a successful season in my opinion... I know our defense has issues but if we score more goals and are more of a threat it will take some of the pressure off the defense.


Man City

Samir Nasri
Álvaro Negredo
Edin Džeko
Jesús Navas
Sergio Agüero
David Silva
Stevan Jovetić
Yaya Touré

Man Utd

Juan Mata
Wayne Rooney
Javier Hernández
Nani
Ashley Young
Danny Welbeck
Robin van Persie
Shinji Kagawa
Wilfried Zaha
Marouane Fellaini
Adnan Januzaj

Liverpool

Rickie Lambert
Philippe Coutinho
Daniel Sturridge
Adam Lallana
Fabio Borini
Raheem Sterling
Lazar Marković
Stephen Gerrard

Chelsea

Cesc Fàbregas
Ramires
Fernando Torres
Eden Hazard
Oscar
Victor Moses
André Schürrle
Mohamed Salah
Romelu Lukaku
Diego Costa
Willian
Didier Drogba

Arsenal

Tomáš Rosický
Mikel Arteta
Lukas Podolski
Jack Wilshere
Mesut Özil
Olivier Giroud
Theo Walcott
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Aaron Ramsey
Alexis Sánchez
Santi Cazorla
Yaya Sanogo
Serge Gnabry
Joel Campbell

Spurs

Aaron Lennon
Paulinho
Roberto Soldado
Emmanuel Adebayor
Érik Lamela
Lewis Holtby
Andros Townsend
Nacer Chadli
Christian Eriksen
Harry Kane

I think there's a latent 15 goals somewhere hidden and Poch will find them from our squad. If we gain those 15 goals, and cut 8 to 10 goals conceded, presto, we're almost ready to challenge 4th place.

 

[Shadydan]

We can't use this argument anymore...not since Levy left the safe open in Baldini's presence.

The money we spent last year was generated from player sales, as it always is with us...I'm pretty sure we actually recouped more than we spent...in any case I wasn't talking about how much we spent on players really, I was more on about how much we pay our players which is why we'd find it hard to attract the caliber of players as our rivals.