The Daily ITK Discussion Thread - 4th January 2013

[Snarfalicious]

If we want to raid Brazil it should be for Felipe Anderson (Winger/CM/AM similar to Willian but with a little more strength and he's got a an absolutely beautiful shot with major upside to score lots of goals at only 19 years old) and Leandro Damiao.

Creativity/pace/versatility (Anderson) and a true CF (Damiao) and goals from both additions.

 

[Spurs 1961]

Some good info here on Holtby. The purchase really seems a no brainer. We buy a decent player who might progress well but at the very least will pay for a few seats in the new stadium.

 

[arunspurs]

Holtby's agent says January deal is not discussed, meaning something on the line could even happen provided Spurs & player aree interested in early move. I believe if we dont get Moutinho we might sign him in Jan itself giving Schlke some money.

 

[klink]

That's difficult to say. And Julian Draxler is a fantastic player there's no doubt about that. It's a huge reason why they won't feel so worried about him leaving. However, it's really difficult to say Holtby has regressed simply because he's had such big shoes to fill with Raul leaving for the Q-League. A lot's been expected of him, and I think the expectations were so high simply because of the position and shoes he was expected to at least come close to filling.

That being said, he has had a pretty solid season to date. I think they'd like to see more goals, and I think he's definitely capable.

I've now watched the first 3 matches of the season in succession (as well as the Montpellier away match and Arsenal home match in the CL) for Holtby and he's got so many different styles of play. One moment he's dropping deep and taking the ball to move forward/gain more space on the pitch, the next he's playing way up the pitch almost as a partner to Huntelaar then the next he's out wide. He can go from taking the ball forward to simply playing one-touch balls and trying to hit teams on the counter quickly. He's a tough little shit that isn't scared to mix it up and will make challenges all over the pitch. He's got the whole "German" thing down in that he's really a direct player who when he goes down it's usually for good reason and he won't stay down for long.

I think the most valuable thing for him would be finding a position that suits him best. Personally, I see him either with a guy like Dembele sitting in front of Sandro in the more advanced role in the 4-3-3 or in the hole in the 4-2-3-1.

The only other issue I see with him is the tendency to fade out of a match for periods of time. He's always attempting to make himself available, but he's not necessarily screaming for the ball (which I'd prefer to see more). When he gets the ball he's usually got the vision to know where to go with it immediately and as a result he will put defenses on their heels. It's funny though, because when he has those lapses in his impact on the match, he suddenly will burst into the game and it almost catches you off-guard how great he can be because it almost comes out of nowhere.

He's the type of player that I think once he matures more, becomes a little more sure of the position he's playing, that he will really blossom. As it stands, he's a very very very (very) talented young guy who is showing the rare ability to see the whole pitch and what's unraveling around him and he can pick out dangerous, quick passes. He's capable of that 'wow' moment and when he exerts himself on a match and is being fed constant touches the whole attack of the side appears to become quicker, sharper and a little more lethal.

I posted a .gif of his first assist in the Arsenal match to Huntelaar in the Holtby Scouting Thread ( http://www.spurscommunity.co.uk/index.php?threads/the-lewis-holtby-scouting-thread.93552/ ) on here in the Spurs Chat section. Those are the types of moments I'm talking about. That's an incredibly technical pass that he makes and it's absolutely inch-perfect.

If only you could have committed to that fourth very, you would have convinced me. NOW I THINK YOU ARE A WUM!!!!

Really, thanks for all your insight. I am a lurker by trade, but I do have a shortish list of the members here to which I pay particular attention. Recentlly, I've read a lot of your posts with interest. I'm married with 2 young kids, conseqeuntly (I'm Iriish) I watch live Spurs, live Leinster and live Munster and little else. Outside of that I would be risking divorce. So I really do value insights such as yours.

 

[HobokenSpur]

Selling Parker would be such a poor move.

Seems that AVB is winding up Harry...

 

[Ionman34]

Also says that all signs his end so no about Moutinho.

Thats from the portuguese end

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

Please could you let me know which part was written in an obscure dialect of mandarin? Just so I can clear it up and avoid any future misunderstandings.

It's this bit i think:

 

[Toela65]

Snarf I've been seeing you've been posting all week about Holtby and seem largely the most clued up here. I did a bit of whoring on Schalke's main fan forum which is in German so slightly hard to decipher. Anyway, the majority seem to feel Holtby has regressed a lot this season and I don't know whether its just bravado cos he's chose to leave but many feel Draxler can quite adequately if not better fill in the gap Holtby leaves?

Wasn't going to comment but since you have signed Holtby for definite now, and as a disappointed sort of Schalke fan, and a bit drunk, thought I'd offer my tuppence worth.

Schalke are my Bundesliga team and I've been following them in depth watching the vast majority of games online since 2010 when I really became engrossed in the Bundesliga (fantastic league on and off the field of play).

A wee bit intoxicated so won't go into detail, but as a pseudo Schalke fan, I'm disappointed to lose him. Basically the fact that there is still Draxler is a massive soothing factor for the loss and I can defintiely say that Schalke fans are being very sincere when they say Draxler is their 'one'.

Basically, Holtby is very good and with the right coaching could become class, but Julian Draxler is the 'great hope' of the Schalke fans and they would rather have lost Holtby than Draxler.

This doesn't been anything negative to Holtby, he is class. Its just Draxler is a little bit classier. Hope he stays at Schalke but will probably be poached by a top top club ( like a Munich or Madrid etc) in the next couple of years.

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

Yeah I'm with you. I don't quite know why as I've only seen him a handful of times alongside compilations; I just can't get that excited. Don't get me wrong he looks a good player with huge potential but quite similar in some respects to Sigurdsson.

Yer the Germany side is full of shite players aren't they.

He Captained the German under 21's and has played five times for the senior squad. Freund has coached him so i guess he must rate him and though i have only watched every bit of video i can find on him today he's a far, far better player than Sigurdsson in my opinion. He ain't coming here in July to start on the bench next season. He's far too good to be a bench warmer. This kid makes Modric look like Jenas on a bad day.

 

[JayB]

Since my full-game cut up of Holtby was removed by YouTube, any awesome moments I see from Holtby in matches I'll just make gifs and post them to the Holtby scouting thread.

Have you tried uploading your videos on Vimeo or Dailymotion? A lot of the clips I see on highlights aggregators come from those two sites, you might have better luck avoiding copyright protection there.

 

[King Yid]

Sorry, he has links in portugal. they seem certain that he wont be joining in january.

Sorry i wrote that too quick

We showed an interest in Nani but Levy wouldnt pay the wages required. Levy also wont pay the fee for Willian. 24m+ by all accounts

We also started to do the ground work on a deal for Zaha but uniteds strong interest has meant we have stepped back a bit

Why would we step back because of another clubs interest? Does the enquiry process cost money??

 

[PhilosoSPUR]

This kid makes Modric look like Jenas on a bad day.

I'm having a hard time picturing this other than by imagining Lionel Messi.

 

[Ossie85]

Wasn't going to comment but since you have signed Holtby for definite now, and as a disappointed sort of Schalke fan, and a bit drunk, thought I'd offer my tuppence worth.

Schalke are my Bundesliga team and I've been following them in depth watching the vast majority of games online since 2010 when I really became engrossed in the Bundesliga (fantastic league on and off the field of play).

A wee bit intoxicated so won't go into detail, but as a pseudo Schalke fan, I'm disappointed to lose him. Basically the fact that there is still Draxler is a massive soothing factor for the loss and I can defintiely say that Schalke fans are being very sincere when they say Draxler is their 'one'.

Basically, Holtby is very good and with the right coaching could become class, but Julian Draxler is the 'great hope' of the Schalke fans and they would rather have lost Holtby than Draxler.

This doesn't been anything negative to Holtby, he is class. Its just Draxler is a little bit classier. Hope he stays at Schalke but will probably be poached by a top top club ( like a Munich or Madrid etc) in the next couple of years.

I've read that Schalke fans are not too fussed about this because they have a kid who's almost ready for the first team, that is going to be the next big thing in Germany. Max Meyer

 

[Danners9]

I've read that Schalke fans are not too fussed about this because they have a kid who's almost ready for the first team, that is going to be the next big thing in Germany. Max Meyer

He is meant to be a good prospect, but he is only 17 and looking on transfermarkt it seems he hasn't played for them yet. He is at the winter training camp though.. maybe they will introduce him this year but it could be like fans on Spurs forums who say 'why isn't Coulibaly playing?!?!1111!1'

 

[DezFitz]

If we want to raid Brazil it should be for Felipe Anderson (Winger/CM/AM similar to Willian but with a little more strength and he's got a an absolutely beautiful shot with major upside to score lots of goals at only 19 years old) and Leandro Damiao.

Creativity/pace/versatility (Anderson) and a true CF (Damiao) and goals from both additions.

I have wondered about Anderson as i have seen us linked. Is he as quick and explosive as Willian?

 

[mill]

If we want to raid Brazil it should be for Felipe Anderson (Winger/CM/AM similar to Willian but with a little more strength and he's got a an absolutely beautiful shot with major upside to score lots of goals at only 19 years old) and Leandro Damiao.

Creativity/pace/versatility (Anderson) and a true CF (Damiao) and goals from both additions.

Someone wishes they were an agent lol, no disrespect meant, I'm always interested in your posts but I think you missed your calling in life

 

[moomin]

or how about wellington nem?

 

[Snarfalicious]

or how about wellington nem?

Oh man, good call. I love Nem, too. I think half of my adoration is his name. Wellington Nem. It just feels right.

 

[Snarfalicious]

I have wondered about Anderson as i have seen us linked. Is he as quick and explosive as Willian?

He's got a "longer" frame so I think he may look as though he's not as quick-twitched but he can really get moving. The way he can stop, turn, and then show off his quick turn of pace reminds me of Dembele but where Dembele looks like a freight train Anderson looks a little more smooth and almost like he's just smoothly switching gears.

Dual-footed as well and actually will take free kicks/corners from either foot from time to time.

He's probably my favorite young Brazilian that I think is a feasible catch for us should we show the interest.

 

[Cyspurs]

Good morning people. Damiao announced today. Moutinho on monday.

Goodnight!