Paulinho signs for Spurs!

[Blake Griffin]

Moussa Sissoko was priced at £15-18M a few seasons back but never lived up to his hype. Just as Ben Arfa who was valued at £12-14M when Spurs inquired about him 5-6 seasons back and was expected to be the "next big thing". I may even add Miguel Veloso, who's club Sporting, wanted close to £18M a few seasons back. Neither of the 3 had the attitude to take their game to the next level. Sissoko's turning 26 and is not getting any (much) better apparently; while in the Paulinho case, he's on an up-wards curve. He's a kind of unsung hero, a bit like Dembele, who's value is best know to those who see him play regularly.
And yes they both may run hard ... but it's also very much about how you make those hard runs.

sissoko is 23, younger than paulinho. i don't even care about sissoko, he was just the first comparable player i thought of. mo diame has a £3m buyout, he has the same skillset as paulinho.

i'm not saying paulinho is the worst player in the world(even if he was you lot wouldn't care anyway) but he doesn't look like a £17m player at all based on these tournament games, he also doesn't look like the player we desperately need either. i guess we are planning on just trying to overrun teams as we certainly won't be able to outplay them.

 

[Don_Felipe]

3. Bery.l
2. Moutinho
1. Damiao, should be as long as the bible by now

I believe the 11th commandment was thou shalt never quite sign Damian

 

[yawa]

3. Bery.l
2. Moutinho
1. Damiao, should be as long as the bible by now

Arshavin by a mile I'd have thought.

 

[HappySpur]

Surprised other clubs didn't make any offers.

That whole Real Madrid interest to shield our targets conspiracy that somebody came up with the other days is starting to be a much more interesting idea.

 

[sim0n]

Welcome aboard Pauline!

Dembele ................... Paulinho
................. Sandro ................

What an absolute powerhouse of a midfield, we'll literally batter teams into submission away from home!

Sandro - Paulinho - Dembele - Holtby ---- 3 out of those 4 on any given game day, horses for courses, and all that - great flexibility. Now it is time to go out and get another winger and striker: Villa and ???... maybe Iker Muniain?.... who knows

 

[etchedchaos]

Surprised other clubs didn't make any offers.

Sandro gave them a visit.

 

[Don_Felipe]

That whole Real Madrid interest to shield our targets conspiracy that somebody came up with the other days is starting to be a much more interesting idea.

That's the special deal we've got

 

[Gbspurs]

I like simple no fuss players. Look at how important Carrick is to Utd or Modric was to us. Keep the ball moving, break up play. Not suggesting Paulinho has the skill sets of the 2 mentioned but there is more than 1 way to skin a cat.

looking forward to seeing him play.

 

[greaves]

Sandro gave them a visit.

Yep. They are sleeping with the fishes.

 

[HappySpur]

sissoko is 23, younger than paulinho. i don't even care about sissoko, he was just the first comparable player i thought of. mo diame has a £3m buyout, he has the same skillset as paulinho.

i'm not saying paulinho is the worst player in the world(even if he was you lot wouldn't care anyway) but he doesn't look like a £17m player at all based on these tournament games, he also doesn't look like the player we desperately need either. i guess we are planning on just trying to overrun teams as we certainly won't be able to outplay them.

Yeah, I realize you are winding these people up. And you're doing it brilliantly.

But even you must have paused for a giggle when you typed that one.

 

[Don_Felipe]

And the Mirror's in on it: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/footb...am-transfers-paulinhos-bernards-club-2017312?

 

[Blake Griffin]

Yeah, I realize you are winding these people up. And you're doing it brilliantly.

But even you must have paused for a giggle when you typed that one.

sorry, maybe i should watch a 6 minute youtube clip which will make me see the light.

 

[dk-yid]

sissoko is 23, younger than paulinho. i don't even care about sissoko, he was just the first comparable player i thought of. mo diame has a £3m buyout, he has the same skillset as paulinho.

i'm not saying paulinho is the worst player in the world(even if he was you lot wouldn't care anyway) but he doesn't look like a £17m player at all based on these tournament games, he also doesn't look like the player we desperately need either. i guess we are planning on just trying to overrun teams as we certainly won't be able to outplay them.

 

[sim0n]

Surprised other clubs didn't make any offers.

me too in a way, but the big spenders have already spent quite a bit in the last 2 seasons and are not hot after CMs currently,... only monaco grabbed Moutinho, but I think that did Spurs a favor - too high a price on Mouts...

I like Paulinho - he's not a pussy

 

[MattWilliams]

Third best player at the Confeds behind Neymar and Iniesta. Goalscoring, tough tackling midfielder who seems to have a touch of Yaya Toure, without the laziness, to his powerhouse pass and move play. A leader on the pitch, too. Excited.

 

[Blake Griffin]

solely because he scored the winning goal in the semi final.

 

[Snarfalicious]

I think some people here (NO NAMES!) are really making a big mistake of viewing Paulinho simply on his performances in the Confederations Cup.

While I would hope that people would notice the way he and Gustavo effectively shut down Iniesta/Xavi and anyone else who tried to play through the middle of the park yesterday, I don't think people really understand that the role Paulinho played is by far his 2nd-best role.

Can he play as a DM? Shit yeah he can. He obviously showed he can play in a defensive role throughout the Confederations Cup.

But, his best role is playing as a box-to-box midfielder. Storming runs, flicks, long shots, physicality in the box are all strengths of his. And, these are by far his strengths. He's a great player who gives us a better goal-scoring version of Dembele.

I said this before, but after watching the Old Trafford win again, I do believe Dembele can function as the passer in a midfield 3 if we can spare passing range for physicality and the rampaging runs. The way he kept the attack ticking over and played quick precise passes (if not difficult, in-the-air long balls) to attacking players. It's a huge reason why we were so effective against them.

I'm still curious to see how our midfield could shape up, but claiming Paulinho isn't worthy is just absurd.

 

[DanNolan]

Seems to be a midfield general who actually leads the midfield, something we lack IMO. Sandro and him together really should help us in the games that matter against the top teams

 

[DanNolan]

When we wanted to be more solid this year we saw Livermore come in, now we have whoever doesn't play out of Dembele holtby Sandro and paulinho.... Happy days

 

[SteveH]