Transfer Discussion Thread

[teddy_sheringham_125]

A top draw CB is vital, it would transform our team and the way we can play (more attack minded midfield)
CM with vision and good RB would then put us at the top level.
After that, I don't see the need for massive changes, unless particularly good options become available.

 

[richard_gleeson]

Skriniar was the one. Top class. But yes we also need:
1) a striker (Vinicius so far looks well off the pace),
2) a wide forward (to replace Bale, Lucas and Lamela - despite how much I love Lamela he's just never fit )
3) a box to box centre mid to replace Sissoko (who is worth keeping as a backup)
4) a right back

 

[jimmyh]

We are all talking about quality CB but Liverpool last night didn't even have 1 centre back playing and because of the way our own manager set us up we didn't really trouble them. My point is we can buy whoever we want but unless the manager tries to get us on the front foot to attack teams signings aren't going to make a blind bit of difference until the mentality of the manager changes to have a go at teams and try to play to our strengths.

Why does everyone think that the signings are going to make a difference under this manager.

 

[DiVaio]

We are all talking about quality CB but Liverpool last night didn't even have 1 centre back playing and because of the way our own manager set us up we didn't really trouble them. My point is we can buy whoever we want but unless the manager tries to get us on the front foot to attack teams signings aren't going to make a blind bit of difference until the mentality of the manager changes to have a go at teams and try to play to our strengths.

Why does everyone think that the signings are going to make a difference under this manager.

Because from 2nd to 45+3 minute the game yesterday was very equal.

 

[SpartanSpur]

We are all talking about quality CB but Liverpool last night didn't even have 1 centre back playing and because of the way our own manager set us up we didn't really trouble them. My point is we can buy whoever we want but unless the manager tries to get us on the front foot to attack teams signings aren't going to make a blind bit of difference until the mentality of the manager changes to have a go at teams and try to play to our strengths.

Why does everyone think that the signings are going to make a difference under this manager.

The reality is to play the way you are asking we need CBs that can cope with the likes of Liverpool's front three without the whole team protecting them, certainly not ones that constantly flounder in that situation.

I think it's becoming very clear that Mourinho can't coach attacking play (google 'Mourinho's Peking Manual') so the only way he's going to work consistently is if he gets the players he needs for his style. He didn't get the defenders he needed at Utd and it's the same here.

I think most fans would rather give another manager a chance instead considering the style of play has been so poor but sadly I don't think Levy sees it that way. Therefore our best hope is that Levy gives him better tools to work with if we want Spurs to do well.

 

[rossdapep]

We are all talking about quality CB but Liverpool last night didn't even have 1 centre back playing and because of the way our own manager set us up we didn't really trouble them. My point is we can buy whoever we want but unless the manager tries to get us on the front foot to attack teams signings aren't going to make a blind bit of difference until the mentality of the manager changes to have a go at teams and try to play to our strengths.

Why does everyone think that the signings are going to make a difference under this manager.

First half we were threatening and were causing issues - Klopp was going barmy so that shows we were doing something right.

The second half Liverpool got the second goal so fast and then they proceeded to drop deep with two banks of 4 - I posted a video showing this.

Therefore their defence were largely protected at 2-0. Thats why we couldn't cause them issues. They basically Mourinhod us, without the added inability we already had in midfield.

 

[TheAmerican]

First half we were threatening and were causing issues - Klopp was going barmy so that shows we were doing something right.

The second half Liverpool got the second goal so fast and then they proceeded to drop deep with two banks of 4 - I posted a video showing this.

Therefore their defence were largely protected at 2-0. Thats why we couldn't cause them issues. They basically Mourinhod us, without the added inability we already had in midfield.

I instantly thought we’d lose when Lamela and Winks came on. As others have said we need better options, it’s a shame we likely won’t see them this season.

 

[spursfan77]

Skriniar was the one. Top class. But yes we also need:
1) a striker (Vinicius so far looks well off the pace),
2) a wide forward (to replace Bale, Lucas and Lamela - despite how much I love Lamela he's just never fit )
3) a box to box centre mid to replace Sissoko (who is worth keeping as a backup)
4) a right back

Trouble is, we ain’t even going to get half of that in without fans 100% coming back to stadiums next season and for the whole season. Too much debt, not enough spare cash.....without selling players of course!

 

[Snarfalicious]

Call me cynical but I don’t think any signing we make will make Mourinho drastically change his tactics. It may make them more effective (CB), but by and large I still think we will see the same style of play. I’m all for results, though, so if it is transformative in that regard, I really don’t care. Right now we generally suck to watch and really aren’t even that good. No bueno.

 

[Strikeb4ck]

We are all talking about quality CB but Liverpool last night didn't even have 1 centre back playing and because of the way our own manager set us up we didn't really trouble them. My point is we can buy whoever we want but unless the manager tries to get us on the front foot to attack teams signings aren't going to make a blind bit of difference until the mentality of the manager changes to have a go at teams and try to play to our strengths.

Why does everyone think that the signings are going to make a difference under this manager.

Huh? Since when is Matip not a center back? Same with Phillips...

 

[stormfly]

We are all talking about quality CB but Liverpool last night didn't even have 1 centre back playing and because of the way our own manager set us up we didn't really trouble them. My point is we can buy whoever we want but unless the manager tries to get us on the front foot to attack teams signings aren't going to make a blind bit of difference until the mentality of the manager changes to have a go at teams and try to play to our strengths.

Why does everyone think that the signings are going to make a difference under this manager.

Maybe Liverpool just have players that a mentally stronger than ours? That type of coaching takes a lot longer to sort out and not something a formation or game plan will sort.

 

[Locotoro]

As Fergie used to say "a strong attack will win you matches, a strong defence will win you titles"

 

[S17PUR]

We wanted Milan Skriniar, Ruben Dias, Jack Grealish, James Maddison, Bruno Fernandes, Ricardo Pereira, and many more but it was the same story every time. If we had signed 2-3 of them we'd probably be in a title race right now.

What I saw last night just confirmed to me that whilst I've been impressed with the depth of our squad the defence is seriously lacking. Give Jose the back 4 Poch had in his prime and we'd be very good right now. I'm not convinced he would have done nearly as well with Dier, Aurier and Davies in place of Walker, Rose and Jan. In fact most of them were a big part of his downfall (along with the Winks/Sissoko CM which we have done something about). He had Toby in his prime too. That's how glaringly weak those players are at times IMO.

Poch made Walker and Rose, and to a much lesser extent Jan and Toby, the players they were so I don't think you can make that comparison.

I agree that we're always going to be a few players short in the way that you suggest, but the beauty of Poch (and other managers who employ a certain philosophy) is that they get the team peforming better than the sum of its parts. Jose doesn't or at the very least, hasn't. Not his fault, as that's never been his style, it just makes his appointment all the stranger.

I don't think the squad is as bad as everyone suggests though to be honest - in fact on paper it's the strongest it's been in years. If we had someone like Klopp in charge, I think we'd be significantly higher in the table.

Given that I think we'll only strengthen one position at the very most in the short term, I honestly don't know where I'd look to reinforce. You can say we lost the Liverpool game due to individual defensive errors, but we created nothing either (0.11xG is awful) and that's not isolated.

 

[SpartanSpur]

Poch made Walker and Rose, and to a much lesser extent Jan and Toby, the players they were so I don't think you can make that comparison.

I agree that we're always going to be a few players short in the way that you suggest, but the beauty of Poch (and other managers who employ a certain philosophy) is that they get the team peforming better than the sum of its parts. Jose doesn't or at the very least, hasn't. Not his fault, as that's never been his style, it just makes his appointment all the stranger.

I don't think the squad is as bad as everyone suggests though to be honest - in fact on paper it's the strongest it's been in years. If we had someone like Klopp in charge, I think we'd be significantly higher in the table.

Given that I think we'll only strengthen one position at the very most in the short term, I honestly don't know where I'd look to reinforce. You can say we lost the Liverpool game due to individual defensive errors, but we created nothing either (0.11xG is awful) and that's not isolated.

I do agree a top modern coach would probably get more out of this group but our defenders do make too many errors when exposed. They would still cost them results. Look at City this season until Dias and Stones settled in together. The same happened to Poch in the end as his best team fell away.

Poch also does deserve credit for making that back 4 as good as it was but the point stands that those 4 were much better than what we have now. Its a valid point when comparing his best squad to ours.

I think the overall squad depth is better than Poch ever had but the first XI is lacking in a few certain areas.

100% agree Jose has to show an answer to these terrible xG figures we've had since December, yesterday was embarrassing 2nd half and I don't think anyone would argue that. I do think the players lost their heads yesterday though which hasn't been the case in prior games. Half time bust up may have played a part, I hope it's not going to cause ongoing issues.

 

[jimmyh]

Huh? Since when is Matip not a center back? Same with Phillips...

Jordan Henderson!!!!!!

 

[rossdapep]

I instantly thought we’d lose when Lamela and Winks came on. As others have said we need better options, it’s a shame we likely won’t see them this season.

My great hope, and it's probably not so likely, is that we can at least see Lo Celso back soon and get him and Ndombele in the same team week in week out. With Kane out, it's a chance to mould something around them two and build our attack on top of them. Have Hojbjerg sit and cover. Ndombele and Lo Celso learn to alternate movements/support defence/attack etc.

As we go on in Europa, start to prioritise it. I'd happily persist with Lo Celso and Ndombele in the centre to blend if the end result meant we could got to the latter stages of the cups, even if league position became a risk.

The reason I say that is because they need time to gel and that may mean some poor results, secondly they won't both manage a game every 3 days and I'd rather they be used for cup games instead of the league.

 

[Andrew Fineberg]

The problem we have is that Levy needs to receive bids he thinks are acceptable for any of the players we want to leave, which is even more difficult due to the pandemic and the effect on finances.
Those players have to agree to go and accept moving to a lesser club or at least lower wages.

We have a full 25 man squad and are above our HG quota for Europe. Until we sell a number of non-HG players like Aurier, Sanchez, Moura, Lamela, then we will struggle to find replacements.

The summer saw us bring in 7 players and it was meant to provide strength in depth across all areas, but it hasn't worked out.
Mourinho is using tactics that don't fit the players we have and our defence isn't good enough to hold out for 90 mins, as we constantly defend.

This team needs to dominate possession, attack teams and pressure teams. We can't play the high line due to a lack of pace in defence and that's why we drop deep.

In effect, Mourinho is trying to play a certain way, but he doesn't have the squad to do it, regardless of how much training or how many games they play.
We make far too many errors, mentally switch off towards the end of games and our counter attacks aren't ruthless or accurate enough.

I see 3 scenarios moving forward:

1. Go back to how we used to play under Poch inc. crosses into the box, 30 shots a game, high press, but with better defensive shape.

2. Mourinho leaves, as he'll never get the best out of the team and we bring in a new manager

3. Mass clear out in the summer and Mourinho brings in numerous players to play his system, with a focus on players with pace and scoring ability, and we can start playing the high line.

 

[poc]

Not surprising snippet from Dan Kilpatrick

We need it yea but who could we get?

 

[purple8]

Jordan Henderson!!!!!!

Dier!!

 

[hellava_tough]

I don't think our squad is that bad, tbh.

Sure it could be upgraded in certain positions and you always have to be mindful of contact situations, but it's better than the league results suggest.

With a little more desire and adventure, we should have beaten the likes of West Ham, Palace, Fulham. That would see us 3rd and a game in hand; basically right in the mix.

And then there were the Newcastle and Wolves results.

Sure, we might not win them all, but I think we could have competed better in all those games.

We should be going hell for leather in the first half against so called 'weaker' sides, and a more cautious tactical approach against the stronger teams. Currently, we seem to...well, I'm not sure what we're doing, but it's not pretty.