Levy

[Misfit]

Ooops, unfair on Parker. Been quality and just what was needed but not a sit up and drool megastar signing. You know what I mean, innit blud? Loanees and experience.

 

[Kingstheman]

Yep. VDV is the only really tangible signing - an upgrade, if you will, of real quality.

I'd include Ade too but he's not really our player.

I'd say Gallas and Parker have had their uses, but some of the others are sticky plasters at best.

 

[Misfit]

I'd say Gallas and Parker have had their uses, but some of the others are sticky plasters at best.

Aye, corected myself over Parker.

Experience is never a bad thing but you have to shake it up a litle right? Short-termism at best and you can live with that if it gets results in the short-term. If it doesn't, well, man the harpoons time.

 

[Krafty]

At the start of the season everyone was saying we had the second best squad in the Premiership!!

Without wanting to bash the man or jump on a bandwagon, I think you have to look at Harry. He has his first choice players, he gets a system going with those first choice players, but he finds it very hard to be flexible tactics wise or rotate and use his squad. Krancjar never gets a game - you could rightfully so because his performances haven't been good enough to warrant selection, but because he doesn't play he isnt sharp when he comes in, and because he is a different kind of player to the one he replaces and Harry doesn't seem to prep the team for these differences, he struggles. Same with Pienaar, same with Defoe, same with a midfield two of Parker and Sandro, same with VDV playing on the right of a 4 man midfield, same with the move from 4-3-3 to 4-4-2 today.

When the team is flying you can be less stringent on the finer details, and when Harry puts his mind to it he can come up with the tactics to get a result (Milan away and home, Chelsea away, Liverpool to a certain extent). While I appreciate why he will tell the side that they are the better team and just got out and play, there has to be some foresight and planning to make sure the team hits top gear.

I don't think a lack of investment in the winter has been the main cause for our troubles, although I will say I think Saha has been used too much and isn't that good a player. However our striker problems have been around for a while and I don't think Levy has told Harry no every single time he wants to sign a player.

 

[hybridsoldier]

Whoever decided to loan out Pienaar needs a dry slap.

I think Harry said he agreed to it at the last minute, the boy was absolutely brilliant today. Can't say I have seen as dynamic a performance from Modric?

 

[Kingstheman]

Whoever decided to loan out Pienaar needs a dry slap.

I think Harry said he agreed to it at the last minute, the boy was absolutely brilliant today. Can't say I have seen as dynamic a performance from Modric?

When was the last game Modric dominated in the midfield?

I really want someone to trigger my memory on this.

 

[jonathanhotspur]

When was the last game Modric dominated in the midfield?

I really want someone to trigger my memory on this.

A lot of people were spilling their seed on the ground when he "ran the show" against 10 man Bolton back in December.

 

[Krafty]

Whoever decided to loan out Pienaar needs a dry slap.

I think Harry said he agreed to it at the last minute, the boy was absolutely brilliant today. Can't say I have seen as dynamic a performance from Modric?

That's the thing, Pienaar wouldn't work in the role we have Modric playing in at the moment, he is more a wide/floating attacking midfielder with license to roam, especially on the counter. Now that we have started using 4-3-3/4-5-1 he might have got more of a look in, but he would be competing with Bale, VDV, and Lennon, and probably wouldn't have got off the bench, if he did get on it in the first place.

He is getting regular games in a hard working team, which suits him down to the ground. If he was selected ahead of Bale et al and didn't produce the goods immediately you can bet your bottom dollar the fans would have been on him and Harry and demanded the others started ahead of him.

Why we signed him in the first place is the question that needs asking.

 

[jimmy-jojo]

Um. I do have a problem with this "weaken" business. Mainly because it's a lazy analysis.

Saha > Pav.

Nelsen > Bassong.

Maybe slightly with Pienaar. But not one of you would rather Pienaar started over Kranjcar - so we're talking subs here. We've mixed up our subs a bit. Our first team has not been weakened; hell, Saha's made a tangible impact.

We're not talking about 'subs'...we're talking about the squad. The top clubs rotate their squads effectively which helps them maintain their performance level across the entire season. IMO, Redknapp doesn't do this and it results in the players becoming jaded at the business end of the season.

You also forgot about letting Corluka go. It's scandalous that we have only one recognised right-back, let alone one that is relatively inexperienced and playing only his first full season of top-flight football.

 

[striebs]

When was the last game Modric dominated in the midfield?

I really want someone to trigger my memory on this.

What used to distinguish Modric from almost everyone at the club was his absolute single mindedness will to win at all costs and complete ruthlessness towards team-mates which made me think he must be an absolute bastard BUT A WINNER .

This is the distinguishing quality which makes him a Man Utd type player .

Unfortunately we haven't seen that Modric much this season . All we've seen is a Modric who has been happy to cruise .

We have to accept that he has given a couple of good years to Tottenham but must now move on to a bigger club to fulfil his potential .

I think we need to assemble a critical mass of quality players in one go , big bang style if we are ever to be more than a stepping stone club .

 

[Kingstheman]

What used to distinguish Modric from almost everyone at the club was his absolute single mindedness will to win at all costs and complete ruthlessness towards team-mates which made me think he must be an absolute bastard BUT A WINNER .

This is the distinguishing quality which makes him a Man Utd type player .

Unfortunately we haven't seen that Modric much this season . All we've seen is a Modric who has been happy to cruise .

We have to accept that he has given a couple of good years to Tottenham but must now move on to a bigger club to fulfil his potential .

I think we need to assemble a critical mass of quality players in one go , big bang style if we are ever to be more than a stepping stone club .

That puts us back to Santini and Arnesen then?

I'm almost thinking we'll have to buy a lot of under 21s and promote a load of academy products and get a manager like Rodgers in.

 

[Spursidol]

Pretty pointless thread

Lets revisit the transfer window that OP wants one last time before we get onto the last few games

• After January we had 1 premiership game a week scheduled (apart from 2 over Easter in a week) plus the few games in the FA Cup - why do we need a 25 man squad ? One game a week and we need more than about 20 players ?
• Apart from Cisse and Cahill and maybe one or two who else did clubs in top 6 buy ?
• Did Nelsen put a foot wrong today ? Pav had so many people on his back before he left he couldn't move - is Saha worse ?
• Harry bought Krancjar but how often has he played since January (or indeed earlier) - would he have played Pienaar (who played poorly in a few games for Spurs in the autumn but has been a revelation at Everton)
• Etc.

Lets look at the run of games which is the real problem :

1 Away against Aresenal we play 442 - guess what, Wenger and Arse players are surprised for 30 minutes and we go 2 up, then when we are overun in midefield with 2 v 3, Arsenal go for it. Stupid formation - a draw was enough, the formation was a thrpw of the dice to go all out for a win. Nice if it comes off (likeliehood 1 in 10), when it didn't we lose the point we could have got from a draw and more to the point - all the player's confidence from winning drain away.

2 Harry changes 3 players from the Arsenal debacle )if we had won he probably would not) and despite playing well Spurs lose badly - knocking frail confidence still further.

3 Since then Spurs lack of confidence has been evident in all the games - and refected in some of the results where we have drawn rather than won.

4 Today, pre-match Harry reports no injury worries (other than long term ones), so instead of lining up 451 (as usual) to take 3 points Harry lines up 442 playing a very open game - but Norwich's narrow 442 means we never control midfield. We know the result. Team shape was flawed from the first moment. Spurs squad is light years better than Norwich squad but Lambert lined up his team so as to defeat a 442.

Capello's resignation in mid February has certainly not helped either. However one thing for sure, the run of results since mid February has nothing to do with the transfer window.

 

[StartingPrice]

Stoof, I admire your optimism. But sometimes I fear your faith is blind. But saying that, Levy is one of the best chairmen in the PL. So very much disagree with the OP

I have often been an advocate of Pienaar, would have filled in well for Lennon/Modric/VDV/Bale when needed.

THIS...the only thing I agree with in the OP is that we should have kept Pienaar (and maybe Corluka, too).

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

We're not talking about 'subs'...we're talking about the squad. The top clubs rotate their squads effectively which helps them maintain their performance level across the entire season. IMO, Redknapp doesn't do this and it results in the players becoming jaded at the business end of the season.

Rotation? Players jaded? Sorry i'm not a fan or either.

EPL and FA Cup we've played 37 games (I've not counted the first 2 games as we hadn't signed Parker and Ade, but meh, add them if you want) in seven months. Call it 40 games if you like. If playing 5 games a month gets you jaded then professional footballers are being wrapped in far too much cotton wool. Of course, had we been playing CL too then yeah the games come a lot thicker and faster and I can understand it a bit more.

As i've been saying elsewhere, I think it goes beyond and magic single thing and questions should be being asked not only of Harry but the players character and ability to perform under pressure. What United have the luxury of being able to do is to bring in a player with character who can perform to a certain standard when the heat is on, week in week out. IMO we don't have too many players of that ilk.

*Takes cover in bomb shelter

 

[StartingPrice]

Last year's implosion when we really should have finished top four was blamed on CL participation.
We have no such excuse this season.

 

[sunnydelight786]

If you spoke to any Villa fan last summer they would have told you Young would go missing in a lot of the games, yet he rocks up at United and is doing it week in week out. Why is that then? Why can't our players perform on a weekly basis, that is the bare minimum you expect of them right? How can a Newcastle team of inferior players "turn" up against the big sides and give a good account of themselves yet our team of so called superstars go into their shells? That is the job of the coaching and management team to motivate these Players not Levys....

 

[shelfmonkey]

No quality forwards that are ours.

No cover for Lennon, Bale, Disco, Modders, Walker.

1st choice keeper is 40yrs old.

Looks good for next season doesn't it?, unless we spend about £100m.

Oh and Ledley has to be considered a bit part player now.

 

[StartingPrice]

No quality forwards that are ours.

No cover for Lennon, Bale, Disco, Modders, Walker.

1st choice keeper is 40yrs old.

Looks good for next season doesn't it?, unless we spend about £100m.

Oh and Ledley has to be considered a bit part player now.

I'm as peeved as the next Yid...but I still think things are on the up, overall.

The striker situation absolutely must be resolved this Summer, it has dragged on for far too long.

We do actually have some cover for the flanks - no, not David Bentley, smartarse I'm thinking Steven Pienaar - but, there again, Wobbly Chops decided to loan him out just when we could actually do with him Ditto for Walker - oh, wait, Twitcher decided to loan him out, too Rose is supposed to cover Benny, and I think he does it reasonably enough, and Kyle Naughton, who I hope to see back at the lane next season, can play right as well as left. No, we have no real cover for Modric - the hope is, I think, that Carroll will mature into that role - but will we still even have the Chicken Badge Hater by that stage? Not sure what to say about Friedel, as I thought it was a shrewd move, and has shored things up this season, but he is in the absolute twilight of his career, and I would prefer it if he wasn't 1st choice next season.

But we still have a young squad and plenty of talent coming up - Walker is 21, Bale 23, Kaboul is mid-twenties, even Modric and Benny are only 26/27 (I think), Lennon is still only mid-twenties too, I think - as is THudd, who we could have done with. We still have a brand spanking new state-of-the-art training facility, we have work begun on a new stadium, and allegedly money to spend on new players (this last is in the pending box, awaiting proof-positive).

Don't think it's time to throw the towel in just yet.

 

[jonathanhotspur]

If you spoke to any Villa fan last summer they would have told you Young would go missing in a lot of the games, yet he rocks up at United and is doing it week in week out. Why is that then? Why can't our players perform on a weekly basis, that is the bare minimum you expect of them right? How can a Newcastle team of inferior players "turn" up against the big sides and give a good account of themselves yet our team of so called superstars go into their shells? That is the job of the coaching and management team to motivate these Players not Levys....

I am glad someone made this point. At Utd, players are under no illusions as to what is required from them from the minute they walk in the door. Whether it's a clip round the ear from the old master Fergie or senior players telling you to pull your socks up, there's no hiding place.

 

[Ionman34]

A lot of names on this thread that have been rather quiet since our first two games of the season.


Must have been extremely frustrating, waiting all this time for the opportunity to whine.