Our Squad 2015/16

[DEFchenkOE]

I take it you weren't at the Stoke game a few weeks back. Chadli went up front when Kane was taken off and that was the sole reason we lost the game. He couldn't hold the ball up, meaning we faced wave after wave of attack. I think both him and Lamela can play up front in a two, but the lone striker role in a 451 is a really difficult position and certainly not one that either Chadli or Lamela can play. I'm not informed enough to comment on whether Son could fill in. I hope so. Otherwise we better hope Poch and Levy make up with Adebayor.

Agree that Chadli isn't the answer up front neither is Lamela. And from what I've seen of Son he's a wide player. Don't see him as a central striker at all. Basically we're screwed imo and I can't for the life of me understand how the clubs priorities seem to have been so backwards once again in the transfer window.

 

[luka loopy]

I think the big question is whether Poch is prepared to move away from his favoured 4231 in some games.

If Son or N;Jie can play as a striker, then fine, no change needed maybe.

Otherwise I hope that Poch will coach the players to play a 460 style formation - its most well known use being by the Spanish a few years ago, think they won euros using it.

The great advantage is that opposition CB's really don't like defending against a side without a recognised striker, and too often fail to pick up the players rotating with each in turn acting as target men. Spurs u21's used it a couple of seasons ago when we didn't have a decent u21 striker and walloped both Chelsea and Arsenal amongst others.

With Son and N;Jie joining our existing AM's there's enough goalscoring ability to make 460 work well.

Just needs the manager to be tactically flexible....

I think that is a good idea in principle but I think a 4-6-0 has to be a main approach and specifically coached rather than just used as an option.

At times too I think our biggest issue is off the ball movement so playing a system that relies solely on it is a little terrifying!

 

[TheHoddleWaddle]

 

[Spursidol]

I think that is a good idea in principle but I think a 4-6-0 has to be a main approach and specifically coached rather than just used as an option.

At times too I think our biggest issue is off the ball movement so playing a system that relies solely on it is a little terrifying!

So far Poch has chosen to stick very firmly to a 4231 system played in a particular way, which IMO makes us too predictable

Now he's in a position where (I think) he cannot play the same system in all games - as Kane can only play say 40 of the 60 games - its possible he will recognise he needs to use several different formations during the season, and if 460 is one of the 2/3/4 systems then each of them are going to need to be coached and practiced

 

[am_yisrael_chai]

I don't follow that logic. Just because Spurs haven't signed much in January before, doesn't mean they won't if needs must this time around. Who knows, my delusion is permitting me to think that the team might actually play well.

If Spurs have a zero net spend and don't buy in January for 5 years I think you can detect a policy rather than coincidence. The only way we spend is in a panic if we are near relegation. I hope that doesn't happen.

 

[bubble07]

Lloris
Trippier Alderweireld Vertonghen Rose
Ali Beteleb
Clinton Eriksen Son
Kane

 

[slartibartfast]

Gotta laugh at the grasping of straws here.
It's a total fuckin shambles and trying to paint it any other way, chadli can do a job etc, is equally laughable.
We've ONE STRIKER FFS.
He gets injured we're right in the poop.

 

[RuskyM]

listen to yourselves people

our natural central midfielders are tom carroll, nabil bentaleb, dele alli & ryan mason. they have an average age of 22. then the straws you're grasping at include milos velkjovic, who doesn't even have a squad number, eric dier, who, whilst not looking terrible, clearly doesn't seem completely comfortable in dm (and is also far too young to rely on), and toby alderweireld, probably our best central defender. cm is one of the most important positions on the pitch, can we really rely on a bunch of kids and square pegs and round holes to transition defence to attack?

our central midfield is a mess and any team worth their salt is going to rip it apart. it was a problem that needed to be addressed and we didn't for seemingly no reason. i'd just like to know whether pochettino didn't think it was a problem, whether mitchell couldn't find anyone to fit or if levy didn't want to hand over the money, because this is something that's going to bite us in the arse and i'd like some culpability when that happens.

 

[Nebby]

What bothers me more than who we got or who we didn't get is the level of churn. Season after season we seem to make wholesale changes. What does this say about our ability to identify talent? People laugh at Arsenal because they don't spend, yet they keep finishing top four while we struggle to dispense with our seemingly endless pile of duds and deadwood. It's depressing. Something very wrong with our talent spotters.

 

[Deleted member 22380]

--------------------------Lloris--------------------------
-------------------------(Vorm)-------------------------

Walker-Alderweireld-Vertonghen-Rose
(Trippier)-(Fazio)-(Wimmer)-(Davies)

----------------Mason-Bentaleb-------------------
----------------(Dier)-(Dembele)-------------------
------------------(Alli)-(Carroll)----------------------

Lamela-----------Eriksen-------------------Son
(Townsend)-(Pritchard)----------(Chadli)

-------------------------Kane--------------------------
----------------------(Clinton)-----------------------

 

[ebzrascal]

--------------------------Lloris--------------------------
-------------------------(Vorm)-------------------------

Walker-Alderweireld-Vertonghen-Rose
(Trippier)-(Fazio)-(Wimmer)-(Davies)

----------------Mason-Bentaleb-------------------
----------------(Dier)-(Dembele)-------------------
------------------(Alli)-(Carroll)----------------------

Lamela-----------Eriksen-------------------Son
(Townsend)-(Pritchard)----------(Chadli)

-------------------------Kane--------------------------
----------------------(Clinton)-----------------------

Lamela??????? haven`t you seen enough yet!!

 

[Misfit]

Well, time for Poch to really earn that nice wage he gets each week. I'll not hold it agin him but if he doesn't have all the individuals he wants, well, try and mould what you have into a team. A single unit. Ya know, like a football coach. Obvious limitations aside and accounted for, get on with it and use it to improve as a coach. We ain't getting a new chairman anytime soon.

 

[Misfit]

What bothers me more than who we got or who we didn't get is the level of churn. Season after season we seem to make wholesale changes. What does this say about our ability to identify talent? People laugh at Arsenal because they don't spend, yet they keep finishing top four while we struggle to dispense with our seemingly endless pile of duds and deadwood. It's depressing. Something very wrong with our talent spotters.

We keep having to offload seemingly dozens of players at a time because we keep changing coaches/managers. It's self-fulfilling. Not sure I'd blame them for getting rid of the coaches etc or whatever but there it is. It all stems from not bringing in the right guy and then backing him to the fullest extent we can.

We do one or the other and in the miraculously landed upon exception that was H, other forces conspired to fuck us over there.

 

[DubSpurs]

--------------------------Lloris--------------------------
-------------------------(Vorm)-------------------------

Walker-Alderweireld-Vertonghen-Rose
(Trippier)-(Fazio)-(Wimmer)-(Davies)

----------------Mason-Bentaleb-------------------
----------------(Dier)-(Dembele)-------------------
------------------(Alli)-(Carroll)----------------------

Lamela-----------Eriksen-------------------Son
(Townsend)-(Pritchard)----------(Chadli)

-------------------------Kane--------------------------
----------------------(Clinton)-----------------------

Christ that team looks poor

Look at those central midfield options, that's bottom half stuff.

 

[DubSpurs]

listen to yourselves people

our natural central midfielders are tom carroll, nabil bentaleb, dele alli & ryan mason. they have an average age of 22. then the straws you're grasping at include milos velkjovic, who doesn't even have a squad number, eric dier, who, whilst not looking terrible, clearly doesn't seem completely comfortable in dm (and is also far too young to rely on), and toby alderweireld, probably our best central defender. cm is one of the most important positions on the pitch, can we really rely on a bunch of kids and square pegs and round holes to transition defence to attack?

our central midfield is a mess and any team worth their salt is going to rip it apart. it was a problem that needed to be addressed and we didn't for seemingly no reason. i'd just like to know whether pochettino didn't think it was a problem, whether mitchell couldn't find anyone to fit or if levy didn't want to hand over the money, because this is something that's going to bite us in the arse and i'd like some culpability when that happens.

Preach

 

[slartibartfast]

Christ that team looks poor

Look at those central midfield options, that's bottom half stuff.

Got to agree it does look so poor.
As someone mentioned yesterday, just a few seasons ago we had a squad that was being hailed as on a level or even on the verge of surpasing Arsenals.
Look at it now.
Totally decimated.
I know this will come across as scare mongering or panicking but seriously guys I cannot see us getting higher than 8th and wouldn't be surprised if we finish in the bottom half of table.
Its all well and good getting rid of your dead wood but you still need a squad. Shit even a decent starting 11 would be nice.
Suppose this is what happens when a club like us pisses £110m up the wall.
I always used to compare our buys with the top 4 teams, would they get in a top 4 side and are they better than what we have.
Look at that squad and tell me who gets in Man U, Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool or Chelski.
2 maybe 3 at most and thats just into their squads nevermind the starting 11.
To take us from finishing 4th for the 2nd time in 3 seasons and having the likes of Bale, Modric and VDV in our team to where we are now in such a short space of time really is a tragedy.

 

[Hoowl]

Christ that team looks poor

Look at those central midfield options, that's bottom half stuff.

Didn't Mason and Bentaleb perform CM roles in a team that ended up 5th last season? Hasn't Dembele played a part of a central 2 many many times in a team that's finished 5th for a number of seasons? Hasn't Dier looked promising in midfield during the last 4 games?

Yes its a shame we didn't bring in a CM but I don't see us being any weaker for not doing it. I haven't seen many shedding a tear for Capoue, Stambouli, Holtby or Paulinhio, none of whom ever became first team regulars.

 

[onthetwo]

--------------------------Lloris--------------------------
-------------------------(Vorm)-------------------------

Walker-Alderweireld-Vertonghen-Rose
(Trippier)-(Fazio)-(Wimmer)-(Davies)

----------------Mason-Bentaleb-------------------
----------------(Dier)-(Dembele)-------------------
------------------(Alli)-(Carroll)----------------------

Lamela-----------Eriksen-------------------Son
(Townsend)-(Pritchard)----------(Chadli)

-------------------------Kane--------------------------
----------------------(Clinton)-----------------------

I have absolutely no idea where that squad might finish......somewhere between 5th and 10th is my guess but if we dont pick some wins up soon i dont know where the fight will come from and i fear that it could be closer to 10th.

 

[DJS]

We should wait and see how N'Jie does if pressed up top before making judgment.

He's been hailed as Cameroon's answer to E'too so fingers crossed lol.

Shame we couldn't top off with a centre forward as we'd done well shoring up right back and centre back plus hopefully in Son finally have a good option for the right wing.

Goes to show how much our squad needed revamping though when we bought shitloads of players in and still a bit short in defensive midfield and up top.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

I'm flabbergasted when I see posts in different threads stating that we have a better squad than last season. Maybe we do, maybe we don't.

* We have sold players who didn't play last season. True. But whether they didn't play because they were too poor, or because the head coach simply couldn't be bothered to work with them, well ... I'm sure it is a combination. Hopefully, we've got more players Pochettino would want to use. But that's not necessarily empirically better.

* 1 of 5 signings has started an official match. 2 of 5 have been in the official match squad. We don't know whether 4 of 5 players are an upgrade. And as for the fifth, I don't even know if he would be starting if had enough useful CMs to play Dier at CB.

*We have no more obvious CM choices than last season, and have failed to improve this squad part.

* Kane isn't scoring these days, highlighting the flaw in the squad which was visible all last season too, but gracefully patched over.

* We've kept everybody from the starting 11 last season. But many, many cubs have signed immense improvements. Standing still is moving backwards. We are not relatively "better" from retaining players when we meet relatively improved competition.

As for formations, I see people now are saying that we have a 433 squad, like I stated throughout last season. That's not true anymore. We've got way too few obvious midfielders for relying on a CM3. The only thing we can do now as an alternative to 4231 is 460/false 9. Which I think we should try.

But our squad is not better, stronger or relatively fiercer. We have only achieved to increase the number of players Pochettino would like to use. Well, we haven't seen that proved yet, but at I hope we've achieved at least that.