LukeBB
Well-Known Member
- Aug 4, 2013
- 488
- 1,793
"It is better to fail aiming high than to succeed aiming low and we of Spurs have set our sights very high, so high in fact that even failure will have in it an echo of glory." - Bill Nicholson
"The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom." - Danny Blanchflower
"If we've got the ball, they can't score." - Danny Blanchflower
I have no interest in further discussing the failures of this season as I'm sure you're sick of reading them. Unlikely we'll catch up with the top four and extremely unlikely to overturn that 3-1 scoreline in Lisbon and we're already out of both domestic cups. So I want to focus on the future.
Naturally, I'm excited by next season, as this season has been a huge kick up the ass to everyone at the club. I fully expect a new manager to be in charge come the summer, someone who can capture the imagination of a demanding and fickle fan-base, someone who will demand respect from anyone within the club and someone who can implement a winner's philosophy and mentality, an identity from which players can associate themselves with and fall in line with.
I refuse to accept that the 'Spurs way' is a 4-4-2, the 'Spurs way' is stated above, it's about playing with style, with a dominating and attractive brand of football which guarantees victory and glory. The 'Spurs way' is something so much more, which should apply to all aspects of life. These are our morals by which we should live by and lead with. We are the most attractive brand of people, we are intelligent, we are glorious, we want more for ourselves and for our club, we realise that winning goes without saying and what we strive for is the style, the elegance, the identity and the beauty.
These last few seasons have been a little disillusioning. We've been stuck in an seemingly endless period of transition and now our optimism is turning into expectation. We used to be able to shrug off poor results because we recognised Spurs as a sleeping giant, the glory days would return. The giant still sleeps and we've become frustrated by the various and growing number of attempts to re-awaken the beast. The apparent quick-fit pills (AVB, Sherwood, Ramos, Redknapp) haven't worked and its with the greatest importance we consider carefully who our next man is. It is also vital that this man is someone who is charismatic, confident, idealistic and brave, this man must be our leader who is backed, supported and followed for at least 2-3 seasons, otherwise the exercise is pointless and the vicious cycle of transition keeps turning.
Spurs are being constantly linked with Louis van Gaal, this is a man who I see who ticks all the boxes but for one. The man is 62 and he seems all set to retire after the World Cup... unless an English team comes calling. I crave stability for our beloved Spurs and while I would love to see van Gaal in charge, I just can't see him being the man for more than 2 seasons but... you never know in football.
What is clear is that if van Gaal took charge of our first team is that he would keep various members of our coaching staff which is important both for him familiarising himself to the team and for the stability of our club. I can easily see staff like Chris Ramsey and Tony Parks keeping their jobs and helping van Gaal settle in with the players, also recommending any products of our academy. What I would like to see is Tim Sherwood retain a place at the club, and learn off van Gaal, this would also give Tim a chance to complete his coaching badges. It's clear to see Tim's passion and he's a young English coach who shows promise and who deserves a chance, so I would love to see Van Gaal take the reins for now and when he decides to retire Tim can come in with more knowledge, experience and ideas.
We have a fantastic opportunity at Spurs to build for the future, not only do we have exceptional young players to build around in Lloris, Sandro, Eriksen and Lamela, we have a fantastic young coaching staff in Parks, Ramsey and Sherwood. Everything is in place for Spurs to build for the future, we just need the right man to lead them.
(I also wonder with his Dutch connections, whether van Gaal could tempt other coaches such as Meulensteen to Spurs)
To build for the future you need the right tactics, something which encourages intelligence, bravery and tactical awareness. I believe variations of the 4-3-3 can do this.
(Player numbers do not represent current squad members at Spurs)
As you can see the arrows represent movement patterns of the players and as you can see the attacking players are awarded much more freedom with their movement and the defensive players have a much more strict movement pattern. This is important for developing players, young, inexperienced defenders need to know what to do and they shouldn't wonder from their positions or responsibilities, it is vital that young defenders are aware of their positioning and where they need to be at the right time. Young attackers should be allowed to explore and express their abilities as they are allowed to make a mistake as their mistakes take place further up the pitch away from the goal, a privilege young defenders and keepers aren't granted.
It is also important that for a top team to dominate a game, their passing play must be exact, clever, efficient and fluid. The 4-3-3 positions players so as to make sure everyone on the pitch is available for a pass. Most passing will go through the number 6 and he numbers 8 and 10. Through this midfield 3 the whole pitch can be opened up and each player knows he always has an option to keep, recycle and move on possession. This is also important for young players as they need constant support and reassurance as they are usually targeted by the more experienced players.
These passing lines show how the 4-3-3 makes the passing game easier for the players. We can see how the ball can be moved quickly and effectively forwards towards the opposition goal.
This next diagram shows how Spurs could pass out of the back and create dangerous, attacking movements from the back 3 (the number 4, 5 & 6)
Van Gaal has implemented variations of these tactics with many of his previous teams, the most notable being Barcelona. With this tactic Spurs can forge themselves an identity on the pitch, whilst remaining true to the tradition of the club regarding style. Obviously it will take time to implement such tactical ideology and no doubt it could cause frustration among fans if results aren't produced quickly but this should be the future for Spurs, as this tactic suffocates opponents, promises many chances for our attackers and gives our players the best chance of fighting on all fronts (possession meaning our players don't have to do as much running during games leading to fresher legs in the second half of the season, where we can take advantage of more jaded and fatigued teams).
Van Gaal may struggle to implement this tactic, the English media love to portray it as 'boring' and the pitch at White Hart Lane is a too small, ideally it should be larger and with shorter grass to guarantee space to utilise and the ball to run smoothly. This is one thing I hope for the new stadium, that we grant ourselves enough space to grow a larger pitch so as to make it easier for our players to find space, this is why pitches in Spain and Holland are so vast.
Onto the players...
I don't wish to see the image of our club tarnished further by cutting our losses on most of our summer signings and to be fair to our squad, there's only a few positions in need of an upgrade. The most important thing for next season is to get the players attitude right and to reignite their hunger and drive after what has been a soul-crushing season so far. While I believe that attitude is arguably the most important factor regarding a player, and that the attitude of some players this season (Vertonghen, Paulinho, Rose) has been poor, we have criticised them a bit harshly in this sense. You have to remember that a lot of the innocence of the game has been ripped out by large sponsors and bastard agents, these players are used to get everything they want 90% of the time very quickly, they earn thousands a week, they attract the hottest women, everyone wants to know them etc that when things go wrong ie a poor result, a natural response from the player is to become disheartened or moody and its up to the coach to bring them back down to earth and get them ready for the next fight so this season with the sacking of AVB and the criticism from Tim, the players have found it hard to react in a positive manner. Whilst we all want to see moody players given a bollocking, those days are gone and players need to be treated like children.
Here's a rough idea of the team I'd like to see next season...
Starting with the GK, I've gone for a first choice of Lloris. Undeniably one of the best GKs in the Prem, and his sheer speed, reading of the game and rushing out has saved our back line on numerous occasions (even if it has caused the odd cock-up). His cat-like reflexes and leadership qualities are crucial to any success we would have in keeping clean sheets. My only issue with Lloris is his distribution, we can all see he struggles with kicking and even his throws can be a bit scruffy, however I'm sure this can be improved on the training pitch and if he struggles we should focus on getting very competent Ball-Playing Centre backs.
For Back-up I've recommended Matthew Ryan (Australian GK currently at Club Brugge) the club has seen him before, we had him on trial during 2012 however we decided against signing him. I don't know why we rejected him, he's a confident young lad who has excellent distributing abilities and who will no doubt become Australia's No1 in the future. Granted, he's not the tallest keeper around but I'm sure the lad could compensate with improving his positioning, I'm sure Parksy could make something of him. I can only assume he either has a poor attitude or that Central Coast Mariners were demanding too much for him (Club Brugge still paid CCM a transfer fee even though when they signed him, he only had a day left on his contract). Alternatively, I reckon we should aim for Diego Lopez of Real Madrid, I'm sure they'd be willing to sell if they got Courtouis or another GK and if he grasped English quickly, he could be an important influence on the training pitch. (Or Valdes... worth a punt surely)
For the CB's I believe we should aim for 2 new CB's, most likely to replace Dawson and Kaboul. Dawson is our captain and while I would hate to see him leave, the high line and his lack of pace exposes him dreadfully. The poor lad is forced to pick up yellow cards by rugby tackling strikers who simply knock it past him. He also contributes very little to the attack, his ball play isn't very intelligent and his biggest asset are his blocks and his diagonal long balls. It's a harsh criticism but we need to upgrade, there's no room for sympathy anymore. I've suggested Virgil Van Dijk (Dutch CB of Celtic) this lad is very exciting, loves to burst forward in a Vertonghen/Kaboul-esque fashion, comfortable with both feet, young, strong, pacey. Comfortable with both feet, got a wicked free kick on him and considering Celtic paid 2 mil for him, I reckon a bid of around 10 mil would convince them to take the profit.
Kaboul I don't see as having a future at Spurs, which kills me. 2 years ago he was a monster in attack and defense just about to enter his prime and could've been world class, but injuries have devastated his body and he no longer appears to be able to play on a consistent basis. To replace him there's a tempting number of young CB's who can both contribute to our defense and attack, Caulker and Fabian Schar to name two. However, I believe he still has a year on his contract, so hopefully he can turn it around in time. C'mon Younes!
As you can see I have no faith in the left side of our team. Rose just seems to raw, and he hasn't fully adapted to the defensive duties of his LB role. His constant whinging whenever he's out of the team or we're linked with a new LB also is something I don't want to see at the club. His attacking play also lacks intelligence and he covers this up using his pace and exploiting the fact that he's only competing with Fryers. Fryers... I don't know what to do with. He's got pace... he's big... but he cant cross, he lacks confidence, he never dominates opposing wingers using his size, but these on paper are easy faults to fix. In the meantime there are various LB's who would be available to us to offer an immediate impact. I'm thinking of Coentrao, Rodriguez (of Wolfsburg), Shaw's too clever to leave Southampton, Evra (out of contract in the summer... why not? good for a season or two and a big influence in training and on youngsters) etc.
RB, like it or not Walker will be our RB for at least the next 5 seasons and deservedly so, his passion and loyalty to the club is superb and he has all the assets to become World Class. Naughton needs to go and forge a career for himself elsewhere. He'll never oust Walker and he has no faith in his own attacking ability, he's not the marauding full back we love to see. For a replacement though I'm not sure who to target. I'm interested in seeing how Ryan Fredericks would do given a chance (but I don't hold too much hope, he doesnt seem to be setting the world alight at Millwall, but we'll see)
For the midfield 3 I believe we already have all we need at the club. Sandro and Capoue are both competent number 6's, both are strong players who are excellent tacklers, Sandro is more disciplined, Capoue has a larger passing range and if one falls ill of injuries or Levy then Bentaleb can easily play in the 1st team, he can dribble, composed passer, drive the ball forward, he brings everything to the pitch Dembele can at the moment (bar raw strength). However saying this, I have a sneaky suspicion Holtby's long term future at the club lies in this role or Bentaleb should be played here more and Sandro pushed further up in the place of the number 8. I say this because Holtby has a better passing range than the both of them, he is enthusiatic in the tackle and he cant compete with Eriksen for the number 10 role, and as the number 6 would see a lot of the ball I think Holtby could excel in this role. Sandro could also pressure teams higher up the pitch and use his power closer to the opposing goal.
Dembele/ Paulinho/ Eriksen's inclusions dont need to be justified further. Eriksen is someone who we must build around. This is someone who can become our next Modric, his dribbbling and passing abilities can only get better, his free-kicks are deadly and he flourished in this CM role in a 4-3-3 at Ajax. One player I would target would be Ravel Morrison (very Clough-like transfer) West Ham seem to be losing their interest in him and I wonder if they'd take 6-8 million and run, obviously has bags of potential and would be a great statement if our coaches could turn his attitude around.
For the LW... Chadli just doesn't seem good enough. His passing and finishing leave a lot to be desired and considering his height and power he hasn't utilised this enough at corners or running against opposing full backs. Townsend doesn't work nearly as well on the left as he does on the right. It's the reason we loaned out to a billion different clubs before Redknapp settled him on the right at QPR. I believe its because Townsend doesn't really know what to do on the left, his goal threat is lacking cutting in on his right foot and FB's find it easier to shepherd him to the byline rather than defend his cut ins.
As for possible targets, I can suggest Lallana, who has excelled this year and his creativity and technical ability is something we desperately lack on our wings. Unfortunately, it'll be a struggle to get him for a decent price with him on top form and being English. Outside that I wouldn't be opposed to wither Eriksen or Sigurdsson being played here until someone better becomes available, as their link up play from the flanks could help our chance creation. Alternativley it'd be interesting to see if we could bring in either Isco or Jese on loan from Real Madrid (doubt it).
Right Wing, we are blessed with two promising wingers who have bags of pace and potential and who could both be first team starters for many years to come. We all know about Townsend. Lamela is very exciting, I know his first season has been a bit anti-climatic but we have to remember, even though we paid 26 mil for him it doesn't change the fact his a young Argentine lad moving to new country. There's a reason he commanded such a fee and a reason why everyone at the club, even Sherwood, say he has a bright future at the club. Lennon would have it tough fighting with these two if both were fit but none-the-less Lennon is a proven starter for our club who has been a wonderful servant who we cant afford to flog off to another premier league team.
Soldado will come good, even in bad form with no luck he's managed over 10 goals with 12 odd games to go in his first season, a good holiday and effective pre-season and I'm sure bobby soldier can justify the price tag Valencia negotiated so aggressively over. I have faith in Kane and I think he'll soon prove himself to be at least a 10 goal a season striker.
Adebayor... I just think he's poison... a real mercenary. Every manager he's had has had problems with him and what kind of player, after agreeing a move to us, stays at Man city in spite in order to get a bigger pay off. Does anyone really think, after all he went through at Chelsea, that AVB didn't have a good reason to freeze him out. I suggest at the end of the season we take any money coming in for him and run, his goals are easily replaceable. Strikers I quite like include Siem de Jong (Ajax de Jong, not Newcastle de Jong) and unfortunately I like Andy Carroll. Maybe its the Englishman in me but I just believe in him, his size is incredible as is his heading ability and I think he'd be a fantastic asset to the team as a plan B who under the right management could get bags of goals. (However I realise many of you will disagree with me on this point)
No matter who I suggest, it is crucial we sort out and start improving our scouting network and transfer philosophy. Baldini's eye for a player seems a bit hit & miss and bringing Broomfield back is a step in the right direction, though to compete with other clubs I believe we need a much larger scouting network composing of at least another 5 scouts and each transfer should be discussed and agreed at a transfer committee within the club consisting of at least Levy, Baldini, the manager, Broomfield, Sherwood and at least two other coaches or scouts. Multiple heads are always better than 1 and helps improve communication within the club.
We have such an important season ahead of us, one that could define the next 10 years of the club (and I do not exaggerate that point) so lets sit back and enjoy the ride and most of all support the club. Our wonderful club. Our beautiful, glorious club.
"Ideas are very funny things. They never work unless you do." - Danny Blanchflower
"The game is about glory, it is about doing things in style and with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom." - Danny Blanchflower
"If we've got the ball, they can't score." - Danny Blanchflower
I have no interest in further discussing the failures of this season as I'm sure you're sick of reading them. Unlikely we'll catch up with the top four and extremely unlikely to overturn that 3-1 scoreline in Lisbon and we're already out of both domestic cups. So I want to focus on the future.
Naturally, I'm excited by next season, as this season has been a huge kick up the ass to everyone at the club. I fully expect a new manager to be in charge come the summer, someone who can capture the imagination of a demanding and fickle fan-base, someone who will demand respect from anyone within the club and someone who can implement a winner's philosophy and mentality, an identity from which players can associate themselves with and fall in line with.
I refuse to accept that the 'Spurs way' is a 4-4-2, the 'Spurs way' is stated above, it's about playing with style, with a dominating and attractive brand of football which guarantees victory and glory. The 'Spurs way' is something so much more, which should apply to all aspects of life. These are our morals by which we should live by and lead with. We are the most attractive brand of people, we are intelligent, we are glorious, we want more for ourselves and for our club, we realise that winning goes without saying and what we strive for is the style, the elegance, the identity and the beauty.
These last few seasons have been a little disillusioning. We've been stuck in an seemingly endless period of transition and now our optimism is turning into expectation. We used to be able to shrug off poor results because we recognised Spurs as a sleeping giant, the glory days would return. The giant still sleeps and we've become frustrated by the various and growing number of attempts to re-awaken the beast. The apparent quick-fit pills (AVB, Sherwood, Ramos, Redknapp) haven't worked and its with the greatest importance we consider carefully who our next man is. It is also vital that this man is someone who is charismatic, confident, idealistic and brave, this man must be our leader who is backed, supported and followed for at least 2-3 seasons, otherwise the exercise is pointless and the vicious cycle of transition keeps turning.
Spurs are being constantly linked with Louis van Gaal, this is a man who I see who ticks all the boxes but for one. The man is 62 and he seems all set to retire after the World Cup... unless an English team comes calling. I crave stability for our beloved Spurs and while I would love to see van Gaal in charge, I just can't see him being the man for more than 2 seasons but... you never know in football.
What is clear is that if van Gaal took charge of our first team is that he would keep various members of our coaching staff which is important both for him familiarising himself to the team and for the stability of our club. I can easily see staff like Chris Ramsey and Tony Parks keeping their jobs and helping van Gaal settle in with the players, also recommending any products of our academy. What I would like to see is Tim Sherwood retain a place at the club, and learn off van Gaal, this would also give Tim a chance to complete his coaching badges. It's clear to see Tim's passion and he's a young English coach who shows promise and who deserves a chance, so I would love to see Van Gaal take the reins for now and when he decides to retire Tim can come in with more knowledge, experience and ideas.
We have a fantastic opportunity at Spurs to build for the future, not only do we have exceptional young players to build around in Lloris, Sandro, Eriksen and Lamela, we have a fantastic young coaching staff in Parks, Ramsey and Sherwood. Everything is in place for Spurs to build for the future, we just need the right man to lead them.
(I also wonder with his Dutch connections, whether van Gaal could tempt other coaches such as Meulensteen to Spurs)
To build for the future you need the right tactics, something which encourages intelligence, bravery and tactical awareness. I believe variations of the 4-3-3 can do this.
(Player numbers do not represent current squad members at Spurs)
As you can see the arrows represent movement patterns of the players and as you can see the attacking players are awarded much more freedom with their movement and the defensive players have a much more strict movement pattern. This is important for developing players, young, inexperienced defenders need to know what to do and they shouldn't wonder from their positions or responsibilities, it is vital that young defenders are aware of their positioning and where they need to be at the right time. Young attackers should be allowed to explore and express their abilities as they are allowed to make a mistake as their mistakes take place further up the pitch away from the goal, a privilege young defenders and keepers aren't granted.
It is also important that for a top team to dominate a game, their passing play must be exact, clever, efficient and fluid. The 4-3-3 positions players so as to make sure everyone on the pitch is available for a pass. Most passing will go through the number 6 and he numbers 8 and 10. Through this midfield 3 the whole pitch can be opened up and each player knows he always has an option to keep, recycle and move on possession. This is also important for young players as they need constant support and reassurance as they are usually targeted by the more experienced players.
These passing lines show how the 4-3-3 makes the passing game easier for the players. We can see how the ball can be moved quickly and effectively forwards towards the opposition goal.
This next diagram shows how Spurs could pass out of the back and create dangerous, attacking movements from the back 3 (the number 4, 5 & 6)
Van Gaal has implemented variations of these tactics with many of his previous teams, the most notable being Barcelona. With this tactic Spurs can forge themselves an identity on the pitch, whilst remaining true to the tradition of the club regarding style. Obviously it will take time to implement such tactical ideology and no doubt it could cause frustration among fans if results aren't produced quickly but this should be the future for Spurs, as this tactic suffocates opponents, promises many chances for our attackers and gives our players the best chance of fighting on all fronts (possession meaning our players don't have to do as much running during games leading to fresher legs in the second half of the season, where we can take advantage of more jaded and fatigued teams).
Van Gaal may struggle to implement this tactic, the English media love to portray it as 'boring' and the pitch at White Hart Lane is a too small, ideally it should be larger and with shorter grass to guarantee space to utilise and the ball to run smoothly. This is one thing I hope for the new stadium, that we grant ourselves enough space to grow a larger pitch so as to make it easier for our players to find space, this is why pitches in Spain and Holland are so vast.
Onto the players...
I don't wish to see the image of our club tarnished further by cutting our losses on most of our summer signings and to be fair to our squad, there's only a few positions in need of an upgrade. The most important thing for next season is to get the players attitude right and to reignite their hunger and drive after what has been a soul-crushing season so far. While I believe that attitude is arguably the most important factor regarding a player, and that the attitude of some players this season (Vertonghen, Paulinho, Rose) has been poor, we have criticised them a bit harshly in this sense. You have to remember that a lot of the innocence of the game has been ripped out by large sponsors and bastard agents, these players are used to get everything they want 90% of the time very quickly, they earn thousands a week, they attract the hottest women, everyone wants to know them etc that when things go wrong ie a poor result, a natural response from the player is to become disheartened or moody and its up to the coach to bring them back down to earth and get them ready for the next fight so this season with the sacking of AVB and the criticism from Tim, the players have found it hard to react in a positive manner. Whilst we all want to see moody players given a bollocking, those days are gone and players need to be treated like children.
Here's a rough idea of the team I'd like to see next season...
Starting with the GK, I've gone for a first choice of Lloris. Undeniably one of the best GKs in the Prem, and his sheer speed, reading of the game and rushing out has saved our back line on numerous occasions (even if it has caused the odd cock-up). His cat-like reflexes and leadership qualities are crucial to any success we would have in keeping clean sheets. My only issue with Lloris is his distribution, we can all see he struggles with kicking and even his throws can be a bit scruffy, however I'm sure this can be improved on the training pitch and if he struggles we should focus on getting very competent Ball-Playing Centre backs.
For Back-up I've recommended Matthew Ryan (Australian GK currently at Club Brugge) the club has seen him before, we had him on trial during 2012 however we decided against signing him. I don't know why we rejected him, he's a confident young lad who has excellent distributing abilities and who will no doubt become Australia's No1 in the future. Granted, he's not the tallest keeper around but I'm sure the lad could compensate with improving his positioning, I'm sure Parksy could make something of him. I can only assume he either has a poor attitude or that Central Coast Mariners were demanding too much for him (Club Brugge still paid CCM a transfer fee even though when they signed him, he only had a day left on his contract). Alternatively, I reckon we should aim for Diego Lopez of Real Madrid, I'm sure they'd be willing to sell if they got Courtouis or another GK and if he grasped English quickly, he could be an important influence on the training pitch. (Or Valdes... worth a punt surely)
For the CB's I believe we should aim for 2 new CB's, most likely to replace Dawson and Kaboul. Dawson is our captain and while I would hate to see him leave, the high line and his lack of pace exposes him dreadfully. The poor lad is forced to pick up yellow cards by rugby tackling strikers who simply knock it past him. He also contributes very little to the attack, his ball play isn't very intelligent and his biggest asset are his blocks and his diagonal long balls. It's a harsh criticism but we need to upgrade, there's no room for sympathy anymore. I've suggested Virgil Van Dijk (Dutch CB of Celtic) this lad is very exciting, loves to burst forward in a Vertonghen/Kaboul-esque fashion, comfortable with both feet, young, strong, pacey. Comfortable with both feet, got a wicked free kick on him and considering Celtic paid 2 mil for him, I reckon a bid of around 10 mil would convince them to take the profit.
Kaboul I don't see as having a future at Spurs, which kills me. 2 years ago he was a monster in attack and defense just about to enter his prime and could've been world class, but injuries have devastated his body and he no longer appears to be able to play on a consistent basis. To replace him there's a tempting number of young CB's who can both contribute to our defense and attack, Caulker and Fabian Schar to name two. However, I believe he still has a year on his contract, so hopefully he can turn it around in time. C'mon Younes!
As you can see I have no faith in the left side of our team. Rose just seems to raw, and he hasn't fully adapted to the defensive duties of his LB role. His constant whinging whenever he's out of the team or we're linked with a new LB also is something I don't want to see at the club. His attacking play also lacks intelligence and he covers this up using his pace and exploiting the fact that he's only competing with Fryers. Fryers... I don't know what to do with. He's got pace... he's big... but he cant cross, he lacks confidence, he never dominates opposing wingers using his size, but these on paper are easy faults to fix. In the meantime there are various LB's who would be available to us to offer an immediate impact. I'm thinking of Coentrao, Rodriguez (of Wolfsburg), Shaw's too clever to leave Southampton, Evra (out of contract in the summer... why not? good for a season or two and a big influence in training and on youngsters) etc.
RB, like it or not Walker will be our RB for at least the next 5 seasons and deservedly so, his passion and loyalty to the club is superb and he has all the assets to become World Class. Naughton needs to go and forge a career for himself elsewhere. He'll never oust Walker and he has no faith in his own attacking ability, he's not the marauding full back we love to see. For a replacement though I'm not sure who to target. I'm interested in seeing how Ryan Fredericks would do given a chance (but I don't hold too much hope, he doesnt seem to be setting the world alight at Millwall, but we'll see)
For the midfield 3 I believe we already have all we need at the club. Sandro and Capoue are both competent number 6's, both are strong players who are excellent tacklers, Sandro is more disciplined, Capoue has a larger passing range and if one falls ill of injuries or Levy then Bentaleb can easily play in the 1st team, he can dribble, composed passer, drive the ball forward, he brings everything to the pitch Dembele can at the moment (bar raw strength). However saying this, I have a sneaky suspicion Holtby's long term future at the club lies in this role or Bentaleb should be played here more and Sandro pushed further up in the place of the number 8. I say this because Holtby has a better passing range than the both of them, he is enthusiatic in the tackle and he cant compete with Eriksen for the number 10 role, and as the number 6 would see a lot of the ball I think Holtby could excel in this role. Sandro could also pressure teams higher up the pitch and use his power closer to the opposing goal.
Dembele/ Paulinho/ Eriksen's inclusions dont need to be justified further. Eriksen is someone who we must build around. This is someone who can become our next Modric, his dribbbling and passing abilities can only get better, his free-kicks are deadly and he flourished in this CM role in a 4-3-3 at Ajax. One player I would target would be Ravel Morrison (very Clough-like transfer) West Ham seem to be losing their interest in him and I wonder if they'd take 6-8 million and run, obviously has bags of potential and would be a great statement if our coaches could turn his attitude around.
For the LW... Chadli just doesn't seem good enough. His passing and finishing leave a lot to be desired and considering his height and power he hasn't utilised this enough at corners or running against opposing full backs. Townsend doesn't work nearly as well on the left as he does on the right. It's the reason we loaned out to a billion different clubs before Redknapp settled him on the right at QPR. I believe its because Townsend doesn't really know what to do on the left, his goal threat is lacking cutting in on his right foot and FB's find it easier to shepherd him to the byline rather than defend his cut ins.
As for possible targets, I can suggest Lallana, who has excelled this year and his creativity and technical ability is something we desperately lack on our wings. Unfortunately, it'll be a struggle to get him for a decent price with him on top form and being English. Outside that I wouldn't be opposed to wither Eriksen or Sigurdsson being played here until someone better becomes available, as their link up play from the flanks could help our chance creation. Alternativley it'd be interesting to see if we could bring in either Isco or Jese on loan from Real Madrid (doubt it).
Right Wing, we are blessed with two promising wingers who have bags of pace and potential and who could both be first team starters for many years to come. We all know about Townsend. Lamela is very exciting, I know his first season has been a bit anti-climatic but we have to remember, even though we paid 26 mil for him it doesn't change the fact his a young Argentine lad moving to new country. There's a reason he commanded such a fee and a reason why everyone at the club, even Sherwood, say he has a bright future at the club. Lennon would have it tough fighting with these two if both were fit but none-the-less Lennon is a proven starter for our club who has been a wonderful servant who we cant afford to flog off to another premier league team.
Soldado will come good, even in bad form with no luck he's managed over 10 goals with 12 odd games to go in his first season, a good holiday and effective pre-season and I'm sure bobby soldier can justify the price tag Valencia negotiated so aggressively over. I have faith in Kane and I think he'll soon prove himself to be at least a 10 goal a season striker.
Adebayor... I just think he's poison... a real mercenary. Every manager he's had has had problems with him and what kind of player, after agreeing a move to us, stays at Man city in spite in order to get a bigger pay off. Does anyone really think, after all he went through at Chelsea, that AVB didn't have a good reason to freeze him out. I suggest at the end of the season we take any money coming in for him and run, his goals are easily replaceable. Strikers I quite like include Siem de Jong (Ajax de Jong, not Newcastle de Jong) and unfortunately I like Andy Carroll. Maybe its the Englishman in me but I just believe in him, his size is incredible as is his heading ability and I think he'd be a fantastic asset to the team as a plan B who under the right management could get bags of goals. (However I realise many of you will disagree with me on this point)
No matter who I suggest, it is crucial we sort out and start improving our scouting network and transfer philosophy. Baldini's eye for a player seems a bit hit & miss and bringing Broomfield back is a step in the right direction, though to compete with other clubs I believe we need a much larger scouting network composing of at least another 5 scouts and each transfer should be discussed and agreed at a transfer committee within the club consisting of at least Levy, Baldini, the manager, Broomfield, Sherwood and at least two other coaches or scouts. Multiple heads are always better than 1 and helps improve communication within the club.
We have such an important season ahead of us, one that could define the next 10 years of the club (and I do not exaggerate that point) so lets sit back and enjoy the ride and most of all support the club. Our wonderful club. Our beautiful, glorious club.
"Ideas are very funny things. They never work unless you do." - Danny Blanchflower
