Yevhen Konoplyanka

[Ledleys Knee]

So cheep that I am starting to wonder why he hasn't be bought yet, there must be more to it.

There's a war going on in east Ukraine. Transfer dealings might not be the club's priority at the moment?

 

[gibbospurs]

Didn't he want 150 k a week when he was gonna sign for LFC ?

 

[DaSpurs]

So cheep that I am starting to wonder why he hasn't be bought yet, there must be more to it.

Was an ITK a week or so ago implying his contract was pretty complicated. What that means I've no idea, but it could explain quite a bit, including why he hasn't left yet and why Ayre wasn't able to pull him out in January despite being physically present for close to 24 hours.

 

[HibeeSpur]

Out of the left winger options we've been linked to i would want them in the order below:
4. Depay
3. J. Rod
2. Kono
1. Griezmann

 

[sundanceyid10]

Griezmann would be epic!

 

[LiamJM10]

There is absolutely nothing but buzz talk to say that he's any better than Chadli. We signed Chadli as an exciting winer who'd done very well in Holland. Kono has done less than Chadli, would cost more, and may need time to settle in due to the physicality of the league.

£12m for Kono.
£0 on persevering with our current options.
Or stump up another £10m and go for Griezzman who would genuinely be a significant upgrade.

Same reason I don't see a point in Schneiderlin. We've got 2/3 players in his position who are already better than him, yet he'd cost £15m. Madness. If we're to sign anyone for that much, they MUST be improvements, significantly.

 

[DaSpurs]

There is absolutely nothing but buzz talk to say that he's any better than Chadli. We signed Chadli as an exciting winer who'd done very well in Holland. Kono has done less than Chadli, would cost more, and may need time to settle in due to the physicality of the league.

£12m for Kono.
£0 on persevering with our current options.
Or stump up another £10m and go for Griezzman who would genuinely be a significant upgrade.

Same reason I don't see a point in Schneiderlin. We've got 2/3 players in his position who are already better than him, yet he'd cost £15m. Madness. If we're to sign anyone for that much, they MUST be improvements, significantly.

I'm curious, how has Chadli "done more?"

Time in the Prem maybe, but other than that I see nothing that suggests he's built a stronger individual "portfolio" than Kono has. We also have no other options of proven quality after Chadli; and not even a single player, including Chadli, that actually prefers playing the position. It has to be addressed if we're to push on, and I'm glad to see the links of us with players at the position and the multiple reports of ITK suggesting Poch has identified it as a position needing to be addressed.

 

[danielneeds]

There is absolutely nothing but buzz talk to say that he's any better than Chadli. We signed Chadli as an exciting winer who'd done very well in Holland. Kono has done less than Chadli, would cost more, and may need time to settle in due to the physicality of the league.

£12m for Kono.
£0 on persevering with our current options.
Or stump up another £10m and go for Griezzman who would genuinely be a significant upgrade.

Same reason I don't see a point in Schneiderlin. We've got 2/3 players in his position who are already better than him, yet he'd cost £15m. Madness. If we're to sign anyone for that much, they MUST be improvements, significantly.

Chadli has no pace and doesn't beat men, in the PL that is a disadvantage. Because Chadli has no pace and doesn't beat men he prefers to play in central midfield, where he did in the 2nd half of last season, performing much better than on the left.

Kono's forte is beating his marker and taking on defenders, whether he can do it in the PL, who knows?

The reason Poch wants Schneiderlin is that he has spent 18 months coaching him, that the player knows the pattern of play that he's trying to coach at Spurs, and having someone right in the engine room to direct and prompt others will make the transition much more seamless.

 

[Strikeb4ck]

There is absolutely nothing but buzz talk to say that he's any better than Chadli. We signed Chadli as an exciting winer who'd done very well in Holland. Kono has done less than Chadli, would cost more, and may need time to settle in due to the physicality of the league.

£12m for Kono.
£0 on persevering with our current options.
Or stump up another £10m and go for Griezzman who would genuinely be a significant upgrade.

Same reason I don't see a point in Schneiderlin. We've got 2/3 players in his position who are already better than him, yet he'd cost £15m. Madness. If we're to sign anyone for that much, they MUST be improvements, significantly.

Nah come on, we could tell from just highlight videos alone that Chadli at Twente and Konoplyanka are different sorts of wingers.

Chadli is never going to be the one blazing past his man and crossing/shooting. Konoplyanka can do that with his pace alone. Chadli plays CM for Belgium, there's no way Konoplyanka would be playing CM. 2 very different players and how they approach the LW position is also very different.

Konoplyanka would be a massive upgrade and would make us genuine top 4 threats. Without him our attack will come down to Eriksen once again, and hope that Lamela can contribute. If we had Lamela, Eriksen, and a proper threat on the left, it'd be a different story.

 

[LiamJM10]

I'm curious, how has Chadli "done more?"

Time in the Prem maybe, but other than that I see nothing that suggests he's built a stronger individual "portfolio" than Kono has. We also have no other options of proven quality after Chadli; and not even a single player, including Chadli, that actually prefers playing the position. It has to be addressed if we're to push on, and I'm glad to see the links of us with players at the position and the multiple reports of ITK suggesting Poch has identified it as a position needing to be addressed.

Well he's a regular for his country, played in the champions league and europa league and has played in two divisions of superior quality to Kono. What has Kono done to imply he's any better aside from generate a little buzz? They're the same age. Chadli's stronger, more versatile and a better goalscorer. He got 18 in 38 before he joined us. In a superior league to Konos Ukraine. 12m is a decent fee admittedly, but unless it's absolutely necessary, ie: we had no left wingers at all.

 

[Barry Mead]

Chadli has no pace and doesn't beat men, in the PL that is a disadvantage. Because Chadli has no pace and doesn't beat men he prefers to play in central midfield, where he did in the 2nd half of last season, performing much better than on the left.

Kono's forte is beating his marker and taking on defenders, whether he can do it in the PL, who knows?

The reason Poch wants Schneiderlin is that he has spent 18 months coaching him, that the player knows the pattern of play that he's trying to coach at Spurs, and having someone right in the engine room to direct and prompt others will make the transition much more seamless.

To be honest I thought Chadli was totally unsuited in central midfield and was awful played there. He has tended to be an attacking player and if anything more suited to playing behind the main striker, but in terms of playing wide striker I agree he lacks the pace and tends to be a bit "stiff" for want of a better word, he just doesn't appear quick or agile enough.
I have to say I was surprised we bought him although maybe the idea was a versatile cover player who could play the wide or more central second striker role, but it's difficult to see how or where he would fit into Poch's team
Schneiderlin I understand why Poch would want to add him, he's a good player that looks a pretty complete midfielder. Obviously he was an important cog in the Soton wheel but I think maybe one of the reasons that Poch might prefer him to a deep lying playmaker is because he likes his team to press and Schneiderlin tends to play that bit more advanced and so can press earlier
I think one of the interesting things will be how he sets up his midfield, to me we need that playmaker to pull the strings and get the ball forward quickly and accurately, but that puts a bigger onus on the attacking players to close and press more
I actually like the fact that we are getting linked with Sergi Roberto now with Schneiderlin's arrival maybe in the balance because of the competition for his signature. Obviously he doesn't have the experience never mind PL experience that Schneiderlin has but the lad looks to have a huge amount of quality and just needs to be playing more regularly and given a bit of time to find his feet before becoming a really classy player. Obviously given a choice I'd prefer Pjanic for that role but that looks out of the question and I think Clasie is much further down the developed experienced path, but again possibly a target with lots of competition for his signature.
I think Poch will want us to keep trying for Schneiderlin as his first choice and can understand that, but if that doesn't happen it will be fascinating to see who he might then target

 

[St José Dominguez]

I honestly think we should leave the attack alone this transfer window. There's a variety of different options in the attacking positions for Pochettino to work on. I'd much rather see how he can improve Lamela, Eriksen, Paulinho, Townsend, Chadli, Holtby and even someone like Cebellos than throw money on someone that'll need that alleged settling in period and may not work. We have Adebayor, Soldado and Kane for the striker berth too. I'm comfortable with our attacking options, feel all these players who'll be competing for front 4 spaces have room for improvement and yet to see best from them. It's the defence that terrifies me.

 

[Big Jeff]

There is absolutely nothing but buzz talk to say that he's any better than Chadli. We signed Chadli as an exciting winer who'd done very well in Holland. Kono has done less than Chadli, would cost more, and may need time to settle in due to the physicality of the league.

£12m for Kono.
£0 on persevering with our current options.
Or stump up another £10m and go for Griezzman who would genuinely be a significant upgrade.

Same reason I don't see a point in Schneiderlin. We've got 2/3 players in his position who are already better than him, yet he'd cost £15m. Madness. If we're to sign anyone for that much, they MUST be improvements, significantly.

It would be very hard to argue with any of that, especially the last 13 words. This has to be our objective with any transfer, to improve on what we have already, and until we fully know how good the players we signed last summer really are, we shouldn't consider signing anyone just for the sake of keeping the fans happy that we've made another signing.

If we fail to recognise the importance of improving our squad with every purchase, we're as good as fuct.

 

[LiamJM10]

Chadli has no pace and doesn't beat men, in the PL that is a disadvantage. Because Chadli has no pace and doesn't beat men he prefers to play in central midfield, where he did in the 2nd half of last season, performing much better than on the left.

Kono's forte is beating his marker and taking on defenders, whether he can do it in the PL, who knows?

The reason Poch wants Schneiderlin is that he has spent 18 months coaching him, that the player knows the pattern of play that he's trying to coach at Spurs, and having someone right in the engine room to direct and prompt others will make the transition much more seamless.

Chadli does beat men. Just because he's not throwing in stepovers for fun or doing a trick doesn't stop that. He may no obliterate them with a push of pace, but he does beat his man.

We already have two wingers identical to Kono almost. And we don't rate them. Chadli's probably our best crosser of the ball in terms of our wingers too. Don't think Chadli prefers the midfield either. Sandro and Capoue was injured, as was Dembele. Holtby was loaned out. The irony of our mass of midfielders resulted to injuries and we had no options at times aside from Sig playing there, Chadli playing there and Nabil.

I really think we have 3 options in regard to the LW. Either sign the marquee Griezmann, and undoubted step up in quality, persevere with what we've got, or take a punt on Valbuena (no links sadly, going for 5.5m, only Dinamo Moscow are interested).

 

[DaSpurs]

Well he's a regular for his country, played in the champions league and europa league and has played in two divisions of superior quality to Kono. What has Kono done to imply he's any better aside from generate a little buzz? They're the same age. Chadli's stronger, more versatile and a better goalscorer. He got 18 in 38 before he joined us. In a superior league to Konos Ukraine. 12m is a decent fee admittedly, but unless it's absolutely necessary, ie: we had no left wingers at all.

"Generate a little buzz?" The guy's scored one in four in his international performances from the left wing, while Chadli has played internationally the same length of time and scored all of two goals in 24 appearances despite even playing as a striker on a few occasions. Better goalscorer then? Keep in mind Kono also scored as many goals against us in two performances as Chadli did in an entire season of Prem play. Keep in mind those 25 he scored at Twente in 84 also include quite a few performances at striker, so his count should be expected to be higher than a player that plays strictly left wing. So "better goalscorer" is certainly debatable.

The point here is not to necessarily put Chadli down, as I do rate him actually, but he alone is insufficient basis to avoid an improvement. It's a four front season, and Chadli can't play them all. There's a very good reason we've been linked with several LW's and ITK has suggested on several occasions that we're looking at LW's. For the first time in awhile, I'm elated to see the coaching staff correctly identify positions of need.

 

[Nanky_1988]

Kono is a good player but we severely lack defensively! LB appears to have been addressed but we need a first choice CB IMO.

Kabouls form will hopefully return with a full preseason but if it doesn't we have Vlad and Jan! We could also do with a young top prospect CB also.

Defensive midfield is also a concern we look to be selling Sandro so i'd schneiderlin to be signed as a replacement!

Personally I think LWF is not a priority atm we have good players there but not a top player I agree!

 

[allatsea]

Can someone explain why no Champions League sides want this guy when he is available for such a reasonable amount ?

 

[Kendall]

I would love this guy. I think he looks a lot more clever on the ball. He's got his tricks, but has good vision as well. Which already makes him an upgrade on a number of our wide players.

He also looks like he could rotate positions with Lamela/Eriksen/Holtby and maybe even Chadli to an extent.

 

[Nanky_1988]

Can someone explain why no Champions League sides want this guy when he is available for such a reasonable amount ?

I dont know lol the guy looks class on the ball but if he goes to West Ham (Yes they are interested) i'll be annoyed!!

 

[DaSpurs]

Can someone explain why no Champions League sides want this guy when he is available for such a reasonable amount ?

He's been linked with quite a few in the past year, although it's certainly possible they've been fabricated by his agent. And again, multiple folks (including our own ITK) have said he had a bizarre contract. Remember Ian Ayre spent close to 24 hours physically present in Ukraine trying to pull it off, and failed.