Etienne Capoue

[SpurSince57]

From the Metro sports desk, probably whored from an even dodgier Italian source:

http://metro.co.uk/2014/01/08/etien...-tottenham-to-rafael-benitezs-napoli-4254268/

Tottenham’s Etienne Capoue has been linked with a move away from White Hart Lane – just five months after arriving from Toulouse.

Rafael Benitez has apparently turned his attentions to the Spurs man after his efforts to bolster his Napoli midfield with Radja Nainggolan were scuppered when he signed for Roma.

 

[EQP]

Could see this happening just because it seems TS doesn't rate Etienne. And looking at our crop of midfielders, i would rather lose Etienne than Holtby.

 

[Snarfalicious]

Could see this happening just because it seems TS doesn't rate Etienne. And looking at our crop of midfielders, i would rather lose Etienne than Holtby.

How do you figure? We have been without Sandro and Capoue was working back from injury which resulted in us not being able to play either at times. Without one of those two in our midfield against teams worth a damn, we might as well forget about doing anything of note in midfield.

 

[Tottenham_God]

I would keep Capoue over Holtby every day of the week.

Keep them both tho

 

[Syn_13]

Had a little dig around about this rumour and found this article written earlier today on the Italian version of Goal.com

http://www.goal.com/it/news/7/calci...-virata-nel-calciomercato-del-napoli-capoue-e

It claims that Napoli, after failing to get anywhere with Gonalons, are looking at Capoue. It claims that we bought him for €10m and Napoli will offer us €9m for him. Also, it says his agent is Mino Raiola (Balotelli, Pogba, Matuidi, Ibrahimovic, Hamsik), who is well known in Italy as one of football's biggest ****s. He's a greedy shit who is constantly flirting with other clubs to drum up interest for his players, and often uses the press as a tool to drive a wedge between his players and the clubs they play for.

 

[TheAmerican]

Had a little dig around about this rumour and found this article written earlier today on the Italian version of Goal.com

http://www.goal.com/it/news/7/calci...-virata-nel-calciomercato-del-napoli-capoue-e

It claims that Napoli, after failing to get anywhere with Gonalons, are looking at Capoue. It claims that we bought him for €10m and Napoli will offer us €9m for him. Also, it says his agent is Mino Raiola (Balotelli, Pogba, Matuidi, Ibrahimovic, Hamsik), who is well known in Italy as one of football's biggest ****s. He's a greedy shit who is constantly flirting with other clubs to drum up interest for his players, and often uses the press as a tool to drive a wedge between his players and the clubs they play for.

Sounds like the type of guy that would love to get two agent's fees within 6 months

 

[Spurger King]

Capoue really needs to stay. He's a player I was hoping we would sign in the summer, and was a bit shocked when it actually happened.

He's a great upgrade on Hudd. Defensive minded, but has a great range of passing. I wouldn't judge him on his recent performances, as he's a player that relies on a familiarity with the team in order to pick out runs. He's also a decent (not great) option as a backup CB.

In fact I wouldn't sell any of our summer signings without giving them at least another year. Every one of them has something to offer.

 

[EQP]

How do you figure? We have been without Sandro and Capoue was working back from injury which resulted in us not being able to play either at times. Without one of those two in our midfield against teams worth a damn, we might as well forget about doing anything of note in midfield.

Let us consider the facts
- Capoue has been fit to play since Dec 15th when he started at CB versus Liverpool
- Capoue then played CB at Westham few days later, so essentially he was still fit.
- Capoue did not play against Southampton,instead Nabil came on for Moose and afterwards TS was quoted as saying "i don't know Capoue, i know Nabil" as if to say he would need to see Etienne in training to see what he could offer.
- Capoue then plays 45 mins in a behind doors friendly as TS is watching, that weekend he is not picked to play but does make the subs bench.
- Week goes by and come Stoke game, Capoue comes on for an injured Paulinho who mind you TS had not seen play but started him regardless. Post match comments from TS " I didn't know Paulinho had that in his locker , i've only just seen him training but he was superb in the game etc"
- TS then starts Capoue against Manu but subs him in the 64th minute for Nabil. Again Capoue was not injured when he was subbed.
- Then against Arsenal Nabil is picked over Capoue. Etienne does not feature at all in the game.
- Cut to Tuesday Jan 7th, Capoue plays the full 90 mins in a behind doors friendly against Charlton.

Now given all that i can see Etienne being sold because it doesn't look like TS rates him. Do i want him gone? NO. If given the choice between Lewis and Etienne who would i prefer to keep? Lewis. Simple.

 

[Wolf_Autopsy]

He was the best defensive player in Ligue 1 last season, by pretty significant margins. Think he was #1 in every defensive stat imaginable. Definitely needs to stay in our squad given how prone to injuries Sandro is. Would be a terrible idea to let him go.

Don't know why Holtby is really being brought up though..completely different players. At the moment, the only solid position in our team is midfield; alot of depth and options between dembele/paulinho, eriksen/holtby, and sandro/capuoe. The only reason to offload any of them (especially mid season, and considering we've been getting smacked with injuries pretty nicely) would be to bring in another CM, which would be completely idiotic. Strikers, Wingers, Defenders..the only ins/outs that should be discussed. Leave the center as is.

 

[EQP]

He was the best defensive player in Ligue 1 last season, by pretty significant margins. Think he was #1 in every defensive stat imaginable. Definitely needs to stay in our squad given how prone to injuries Sandro is. Would be a terrible idea to let him go.

Don't know why Holtby is really being brought up though..completely different players. At the moment, the only solid position in our team is midfield; alot of depth and options between dembele/paulinho, eriksen/holtby, and sandro/capuoe. The only reason to offload any of them (especially mid season, and considering we've been getting smacked with injuries pretty nicely) would be to bring in another CM, which would be completely idiotic. Strikers, Wingers, Defenders..the only ins/outs that should be discussed. Leave the center as is.

Well considering TS seems to favor a "No DM" formation and Lewis seems to be on the fringes aswell (including talk of recalling Carroll) one can only assume that someone in the midfield would suffer reduced playing time. I only inserted that between Etienne and Lewis, if one had to leave/was going to leave i'd rather Lewis stayed and Etienne was sold. In a perfect world neither would go and we would have immense depth in the team.

 

[Snarfalicious]

Let us consider the facts
- Capoue has been fit to play since Dec 15th when he started at CB versus Liverpool
- Capoue then played CB at Westham few days later, so essentially he was still fit.
- Capoue did not play against Southampton,instead Nabil came on for Moose and afterwards TS was quoted as saying "i don't know Capoue, i know Nabil" as if to say he would need to see Etienne in training to see what he could offer.
- Capoue then plays 45 mins in a behind doors friendly as TS is watching, that weekend he is not picked to play but does make the subs bench.
- Week goes by and come Stoke game, Capoue comes on for an injured Paulinho who mind you TS had not seen play but started him regardless. Post match comments from TS " I didn't know Paulinho had that in his locker , i've only just seen him training but he was superb in the game etc"
- TS then starts Capoue against Manu but subs him in the 64th minute for Nabil. Again Capoue was not injured when he was subbed.
- Then against Arsenal Nabil is picked over Capoue. Etienne does not feature at all in the game.
- Cut to Tuesday Jan 7th, Capoue plays the full 90 mins in a behind doors friendly against Charlton.

Now given all that i can see Etienne being sold because it doesn't look like TS rates him. Do i want him gone? NO. If given the choice between Lewis and Etienne who would i prefer to keep? Lewis. Simple.

I think it's a huge error if we decide to sell a player this transfer window off Sherwood's decision he doesn't rate them. Sure, that player is probably going to grow upset after not being picked consistently, but Sherwood has already made some baffling decisions (like some of the points you have already outlined). In all honesty, bringing on Bentaleb for Capoue was idiotic against United away from home.

The ONLY way you could justify that move was that Capoue wasn't quite good to go 90. And, the fact he didn't start against Arsenal leads me to believe that's the case. And, the other reason I believe that is the fact that he still made the bench, yet wasn't subbed on at half. We were calling out for a defensive midfielder against Arsenal and it simply didn't happen quick enough as we went down 2-0.

I also don't buy the stuff about "I don't know that player." I'm sure you can recall Sherwood saying "if you cut me open I bleed white and blue" or whatever. Well, as far as I'm concerned I would hope a person that says that actually watched our league matches prior to taking over. Had he been doing that, he would have watched Capoue a couple times already for us. Also, Sherwood apparently has some hand in transfers so I highly doubt he wouldn't be informed of a Capoue scouting report. That quote just seems absolutely bananas to me.

As for picking between Holtby and Capoue, it seems kind of silly to pick between the two as they aren't players with anywhere near similar attributes. Holtby can't play in a defensive role as he simply doesn't have the positional awareness to do it. He's a fantastic playmaker and he's not a deeper central midfielder in the EPL (in before "But Lewis says he sees himself in that role"). He should be playing in behind the striker or with a partner in front of a destroyer in the inverted triangle of a 4-3-3. And his biggest competitor for playing time should be Eriksen as that is the type of competition that can bring the best out of players.

As for Capoue, he's a deeper-lying defensive midfielder with the ability to distribute the ball all over the pitch. He can function as a sole midfielder in front of the defense as a destroyer. He can also function in a double-pivot.

They simply are two very different players and as far as I'm concerned I want no sales of players to be happening unless it's on a club level decision. Sherwood is not a long-term answer. I tend to hope he is but I think there are still a lot of questions for him to answer before that happens.

 

[EQP]

I think it's a huge error if we decide to sell a player this transfer window off Sherwood's decision he doesn't rate them. Sure, that player is probably going to grow upset after not being picked consistently, but Sherwood has already made some baffling decisions (like some of the points you have already outlined). In all honesty, bringing on Bentaleb for Capoue was idiotic against United away from home.


As for picking between Holtby and Capoue, it seems kind of silly to pick between the two as they aren't players with anywhere near similar attributes. Holtby can't play in a defensive role as he simply doesn't have the positional awareness to do it. He's a fantastic playmaker and he's not a deeper central midfielder in the EPL (in before "But Lewis says he sees himself in that role"). He should be playing in behind the striker or with a partner in front of a destroyer in the inverted triangle of a 4-3-3. And his biggest competitor for playing time should be Eriksen as that is the type of competition that can bring the best out of players.


They simply are two very different players and as far as I'm concerned I want no sales of players to be happening unless it's on a club level decision. Sherwood is not a long-term answer. I tend to hope he is but I think there are still a lot of questions for him to answer before that happens.

Well considering TS seems to favor a "No DM" formation and Lewis seems to be on the fringes aswell (including talk of recalling Carroll) one can only assume that someone in the midfield would suffer reduced playing time. I only inserted that between Etienne and Lewis, if one had to leave/was going to leave i'd rather Lewis stayed and Etienne was sold. In a perfect world neither would go and we would have immense depth in the team.

 

[The Watcher]

Sure I read somewhere that he'd picked up a dead leg in the Man U game, and therefore wasn't really fit enough for Arsenal. Some might question why he was on the bench at all in that case, but judging by the number of youngsters there we clearly were stuggling to fill it!
We shouldn't jump to negative conclusions just yet, Sherwood started him away against United so that seems to be a vote of confidence.
Agree it would be madness to sell though, he's perfect for this league.

 

[Spurger King]

Well considering TS seems to favor a "No DM" formation and Lewis seems to be on the fringes aswell (including talk of recalling Carroll) one can only assume that someone in the midfield would suffer reduced playing time. I only inserted that between Etienne and Lewis, if one had to leave/was going to leave i'd rather Lewis stayed and Etienne was sold. In a perfect world neither would go and we would have immense depth in the team.

I doubt it matters what Tim thinks. Barring a miracle he's not going to be here next season anyway.

 

[EQP]

Like i said going by TS actions and decisions, it is not too far fetched to believe that Etienne might leave. I personally want him to stay and play him a in 3 man midfield but as things stand TS prefers 2 man midfield. Hopefully this changes.

 

[EQP]

I doubt it matters what Tim thinks. Barring a miracle he's not going to be here next season anyway.

Well if TS continues to give Nabil more gametime over Etienne, it will clearly play on Capoue's head. Also considering that this year is a WC year and Etienne is trying to make the French team, having a 19 year old upstart chosen over you is enough to make you question what you've done wrong or ways you can fix the situation (be it loan/sale).

 

[Spurger King]

Well if TS continues to give Nabil more gametime over Etienne, it will clearly play on Capoue's head. Also considering that this year is a WC year and Etienne is trying to make the French team, having a 19 year old upstart chosen over you is enough to make you question what you've done wrong or ways you can fix the situation (be it loan/sale).

Very true; I was thinking from the perspective of the manager, but you're right - Capoue's take on the current situation is likely to be pretty negative.

 

[not_tenth-again]

Madness to sell... and I'm sure we won't.

 

[Curtis Peterson]

Selling Capoue would be a terrible idea. He is a very good defensive midfielder and can provide adequate cover at CB. There is plenty of playing time to rotate him, Dembele, Paulinho and Sandro.

 

[Wolf_Autopsy]

Well considering TS seems to favor a "No DM" formation and Lewis seems to be on the fringes aswell (including talk of recalling Carroll) one can only assume that someone in the midfield would suffer reduced playing time. I only inserted that between Etienne and Lewis, if one had to leave/was going to leave i'd rather Lewis stayed and Etienne was sold. In a perfect world neither would go and we would have immense depth in the team.

Yep fair enough man, wasn't insinuating anyone really wanted him to leave (or either of them for that matter). Just mean that it would be a pretty ridiculous move on the part of management; point is, we don't have strong enough strikers, or creative enough midfielders, to run an effective 4-4-2. If timmy really wants this as a long term option for the club, hed be best to stay flexible for the rest of our season, and play our players accordingly. If he wants to rearrange the team in the summer (ie. offload some midfield, tighten the wings/strikers), then this would definitely make sense. I agree that 1-2 of our CM's will probably leave before next season.

Hoping timmy is more open minded than the last bloke, he needs to keep playing the hand he was dealt before he can buy back in with some fresh cards, if ya know what i mean.