The Daily ITK Discussion Thread - POST MORTEM - 1st February 2022

[JOLLHURN]

If we dont spend all that money weve saved (and spend it well) in the summer this window will have been one of the worst in history

 

[wrd]

The thing with saying we fell short and we need certain positions filled is it ignores the fact that you need clubs and players to willingly be sold and to come to us. We don’t operate in a vacuum.

I am sure the club would have signed a CB and striker if there was one available, but there wasn’t? So what can we do?

Newcastle for all their money signed Chris Wood. Arsenal need one more than us and signed nobody. United are down two with martial and greenwood and haven’t replaced.

I don’t think the need for a CB is as desperate as some make out. Davies has done well and we have Dier Romero coming back plus Sanchez as back up. Let’s wait to the summer when we may have a chance of signing a Kounde or a Torres rather than a second rate CB.

RWB is the obvious gap but there isn’t loads of them around and if for example Lamptey is a top target but not available until the summer, what can we do? I’d rather the club is deliberate and patient in signing targets so we don’t end up with a load of deadwood which got us into this mess in the first place.

Don’t get me wrong, everything is in the context that summer we go large. If we don’t I’ll be the first one to criticise the club, there can’t be any excuses if summer ends up being a shit show but based on January, I don’t think it is.

The club is clearly listening to Conte, and Paratici has signed players who clearly fit into Contes system. Like he did for Nuno too. I feel confident for the summer.

Look at you Mr Positivity

I agree completely

 

[WaldotheCat]

I'm sad to see Dele go (I have an overly sentimental side). He was such an exciting player for us for a while, a true flair player in the classic Spurs tradition. Even in the last few seasons there were flickers, but it is true the flame had gone. He will probably score the winning goal next time we play Everton.....

 

[Real_madyidd]

If we dont spend all that money weve saved (and spend it well) in the summer this window will have been one of the worst in history

Wrong.

 

[jpascavitz]

Kulusevski to me is the Bale replacement from last Summer that many moan about. The fact that he's 21 is even better, his best years are ahead of him and he works his socks off.

His best season saw his heatmap picking up a lot of central areas. Where at Juve he was forced to play deeper and wider which is why he never picked up form combined with manager churn and inconsistent play time.

 

[Wsussexspur]

Anyone know what Lo Celso's buy option is?

There isn’t one

 

[Teddy Klinsmann]

Couple of things from this window and moving forward.

1. Of the 4 players shifted yesterday, 3 will still be Spurs players in 6 months and the work to find them clubs begins again. Wages saved yes. But transfer fees aren’t in the pot yet for 3 of them.

2. Probably 2-3 players in that squad that still need to be moved on. Doherty etc - hopefully that can happen early in the summer window.

3. Feel there is a need for FP to look closer to home for players too. Relying a lot on players who’ve never kicked a ball in England. Often our best transfers have been established PL players - I hope we visit deals in the summer like Lamptey, Bousoma etc who can have an immediate impact and know the league.

 

[Guernman]

A mixed window, but one which achieved what we needed it to. Conte has been backed enough to change the tired narrative being spinned by the media that he's about to walk. That's important. And more importantly we had a better window than our top 4 rivals.

United did nothing, and now have the Greenwood situation to further rock an already fragile dressing room. Arsenal had an embarrasing time of it losing their captain and star striker in the manner in which they did. Yes, he was toxic and they are likely better off with him gone, but they still clearly didn't plan to be without a replacement for Aubameyang for the rest of the season. Meanwhile West Ham did nothing either, despite clear signs that their squad doesn't have the depth to sustain a European campaign and a top 4 challenge.

The fact is, our form since Conte arrived has only been bettered by City, so the pressure was on the other teams around us to change that with smart reinforcements during this window. We've ended up doing the best business of the lot, so I feel the top 4 is ours to lose now.

In any case, Conte will be appeased for the time being, and he is already working wonders with this squad.

It was a particuarly good window for Levy and hopefully those who attack him incessantly will at least acknowledge this. He has clearly taken a back seat to let Paratici run the footballing side of things, and for him to sign off on the loss of so many assets, and at least in the case of Dele at a valuation well below what he would have normally demanded or held off, would have been a painful - and completely novel - experience for him! Well, he did it, and that for me was the most positive aspect of this window.

For Paratici though, there are still massive concerns for me. We have ended up with two botched transfers with the mitts of Mendes all over them, and two deals from his old club which he could have pulled out of the hat if this was his first week on the job. I agree that they both look like players who could fit in to the premier league physically and they look like grafters which will suit Conte.

His ties to Juventus were always going to be a handy bonus in a tight situation, but along with the Romero deal, Paratici has now played these cards. He needs to start doing what he was really brought here to do, and transform our scouting processes from the bottom up. Hopefully this window will serve to lessen his ties to Mendes and other super agents, but his ability to scout talent from outside of Italy needs to improve considerably and quickly.

So far, we paid £22 million plus Lamela for a player who hasn't looked close to being worthy of just a straight swap for the Argentine, while Emerson Royal, his other key signing this summer is another we desperately need to replace already. So of the three key figures in our all important Tottenham Triumvirate, Levy and Conte have so far delivered, and it is Paratici who is starting to look like the weakest link and must now really step up and build towards the summer.

 

[Timberwolf]

If we dont spend all that money weve saved (and spend it well) in the summer this window will have been one of the worst in history

Regardless of what happens in the summer, we've had countless windows many times worse than this one. Frazier Campbell and Super Pav for Keane and Berba anyone?

We've must've had like 10 January windows where we haven't made a single signing FFS.

 

[H-SF]

Couple of things from this window and moving forward.

1. Of the 4 players shifted yesterday, 3 will still be Spurs players in 6 months and the work to find them clubs begins again. Wages saved yes. But transfer fees aren’t in the pot yet for 3 of them.

2. Probably 2-3 players in that squad that still need to be moved on. Doherty etc - hopefully that can happen early in the summer window.

3. Feel there is a need for FP to look closer to home for players too. Relying a lot on players who’ve never kicked a ball in England. Often our best transfers have been established PL players - I hope we visit deals in the summer like Lamptey, Bousoma etc who can have an immediate impact and know the league.

To be fair you are suggesting we will try and sell Gil in the summer, I don't think that's necessarily the case at all.

 

[vegassd]

Don’t get me wrong, everything is in the context that summer we go large. If we don’t I’ll be the first one to criticise the club, there can’t be any excuses if summer ends up being a shit show but based on January, I don’t think it is.

Totally agree, and I think this context has to be kept in mind for now and in the summer. We can maybe consider ourselves 1-0 up at half time after a workmanlike performance, so a good start but with more to do.

I think it was Trix who said that AC/FP were looking at the windows in combination rather than expecting a flurry of solutions in January, and that appears to be what happened.

Like you say, if we have a let down in summer then it makes this window look much worse. Lots of unknowns and plenty to play for (as it should be) but the real hopeful factor for me is how un-Levy-like the window felt.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

If we dont spend all that money weve saved (and spend it well) in the summer this window will have been one of the worst in history

How much have we saved? £5M in salaries?

 

[AtoubaToothpaste]

For me, I'd rate the window as a solid 5/10. Well done to FP for getting rid of the wantaways. That alone will improve the harmony of the squad and make the dressing room a more cohesive place. Conte will no doubt be chuffed with that. I know two of them will be back next summer, but let's not get worried about that; they won't be staying.

As for the signings, they are for me underwhelming. I don't think they're bad players; you don't play that many times for Juve if you're flat-out bad, but they've both had form issues for quite a while now and they're also new to the league. That's always a risk. Maybe they'll work out, maybe they won't. Either way, I don't think they improve our first X1 significantly and we're still left with all the glaring issues we had at the beginning of the window.

Yes, January is difficult, but we also definitely need UCL qualification if the summer is to give us the opportunity to build a really strong squad. It's make or break. If these signings don't work out and we can't strengthen appropriately in the summer, we could be set back again another year. So, we'll just have to wait and see how things go.

 

[Tiffers]

bye everyone- see you all again in June

 

[Freddie]

bye everyone- see you all again in June

Wait, it doesn't have to be over yet. Musacchio is still available on a free. We can finally get our man!

 

[Fergus]

Subjectively: 6/10 - would have loved a marquee RWB and a CF who offers something different to but also complementary to Kane.

Objectively: 9/10 - very good under the circumstances. If you were Adama Traore, wouldn't you choose Barcelona over Spurs? And who can blame Diaz for preferring Liverpool? Many posters seem to forget that players have the final say over where they end up.

 

[WiganSpur]

No excuses can be made now for summer business. With Dele gone and hopefully at least one of Tanguy and GLC making permanent moves out, there is a lot of room to bring players in. Combine that with the sheer number of quality players who will either be free transfers or have 12 months left. The club can't claim to be skint either, because most of what we'll pay will be wages and we don't have players who are not contributing taking up all that financial wriggle room any more.

2022 contract expiry:

Contracts expiring

This overview shows all players whose contracts expire in the upcoming summer, sorted by their current market value.

www.transfermarkt.co.uk

2023 contract expiry:

Contracts expiring

This overview shows all players whose contracts expire in the upcoming summer, sorted by their current market value.

www.transfermarkt.co.uk

If we get top 4, we can go big on some of these players, and there are simply not enough top clubs to accommodate them all, so there will definitely be opportunities if we can pay the wages.

 

[dagraham]

The thing with saying we fell short and we need certain positions filled is it ignores the fact that you need clubs and players to willingly be sold and to come to us. We don’t operate in a vacuum.

I am sure the club would have signed a CB and striker if there was one available, but there wasn’t? So what can we do?

Newcastle for all their money signed Chris Wood. Arsenal need one more than us and signed nobody. United are down two with martial and greenwood and haven’t replaced.

I don’t think the need for a CB is as desperate as some make out. Davies has done well and we have Dier Romero coming back plus Sanchez as back up. Let’s wait to the summer when we may have a chance of signing a Kounde or a Torres rather than a second rate CB.

RWB is the obvious gap but there isn’t loads of them around and if for example Lamptey is a top target but not available until the summer, what can we do? I’d rather the club is deliberate and patient in signing targets so we don’t end up with a load of deadwood which got us into this mess in the first place.

Don’t get me wrong, everything is in the context that summer we go large. If we don’t I’ll be the first one to criticise the club, there can’t be any excuses if summer ends up being a shit show but based on January, I don’t think it is.

The club is clearly listening to Conte, and Paratici has signed players who clearly fit into Contes system. Like he did for Nuno too. I feel confident for the summer.

Have you taken some Valium since the transfer window closed?

 

[Hoddlegenius]

Wrong.

Transfer window summer 2011:

Hoddlegenius;2398874 said:
Spoiler
Told Modric is definitely going... I've had the hump all day! :-(...Come back and chat to me after he's gone! I'm not one of those ITK bull**** merchants who post SO MUCH nonsense!

Where has he gone?

I'm here!

 

[worcestersauce]

For me, I'd rate the window as a solid 5/10. Well done to FP for getting rid of the wantaways. That alone will improve the harmony of the squad and make the dressing room a more cohesive place. Conte will no doubt be chuffed with that. I know two of them will be back next summer, but let's not get worried about that; they won't be staying.

As for the signings, they are for me underwhelming. I don't think they're bad players; you don't play that many times for Juve if you're flat-out bad, but they've both had form issues for quite a while now and they're also new to the league. That's always a risk. Maybe they'll work out, maybe they won't. Either way, I don't think they improve our first X1 significantly and we're still left with all the glaring issues we had at the beginning of the window.

Yes, January is difficult, but we also definitely need UCL qualification if the summer is to give us the opportunity to build a really strong squad. It's make or break. If these signings don't work out and we can't strengthen appropriately in the summer, we could be set back again another year. So, we'll just have to wait and see how things go.

Really 5/10?
What would you count as 10/10?
It's a genuine question as my 10/10 would be in the context of us having a fair few places to fill but it being January there aren't the players of the right quality to fill them.