will we improve?

[thePessimist]

Least all of our players seem to want to be here now!

The problem with the way we operate is that we will have the exact same situation in a few years with bale/walker. Always one step behind

 

[daehanmingook]

The problem with the way we operate is that we will have the exact same situation in a few years with bale/walker. Always one step behind

hopefully we use this transition period with AVB at the helm to put is in commanding position in the future. if spurs become an attractive club to top players, bale and walker may not want to leave as much

 

[ButchCassidy]

We might have a little bit more trouble scoring than last year, as we didn't manage to pick up that marquee signing in the front. BUT all of the people freaking out on here need to stop and just look at our defense for a minute.

----------------Lloris----------------- (Friedel)
Walker-Kaboul-Vertonghen-Benny (Naughton/Gallas/Dawson/Caulker)
---------Sandro--Dembele---------- (Livermore/THudd/Parker)

That is solid. That is unbelievably solid. That is disgustingly solid. Two brilliant keepers, a back line of undoubtably world-class players, and a pair of absolute beasts winning balls in the midfield. Not to mention our player of the year in Parker, the new King in Caulker, and bucket loads of experience in Willy G/Daws/Hudd coming off the bench. We are UNQUESTIONABLY stronger in the first 1/3 then we were last season, and it's going to win us a lot of points. No more 2-1 defeats to Norwich, 1-0 to QPR, at home. We could very easily concede the least goals in the Premier League.

So yes, I think we will improve from last year. We will be very difficult to score on without parking the bus like other teams, and our speed and skill across the board will make us absolutely vicious on the counter attack. Teams are going to hate playing against us this year because we are going to beat them up at the back and outwork them in the midfield, which will give us a huge advantage going into the final third. Every game we will have one of Lennon/Siggy/Dempsey as a super sub to wreck opponent's back lines as they get tired, not to mention one of the best goal poachers we have ever known in JD. If AVB can get his system to work, and so far it looks like its going pretty smoothly, we are going to be very tough to beat.

Plus Jesus, if you think we've gotten worse imagine how you feel if you're a Liverpool fan. They have looked embarassingly bad, failed to pick up any of the big signings they needed, and got beaten by us on two of the ones they wanted most. Even Arsenal look markedly worse than last year, with huge holes at striker and defensive mid. Podolski and Giroud have looked piss-poor compared to RVP and if they don't pull it together soon their season is going to start sliding down the tubes. Newcastle are not any better either, plus as lucky as they got last season its bound to catch up with them sometime. Even Chelsea, who have once again spent silly amounts of money, look to have gaping holes (Torres/Sturridge as the only strikers??) and once teams figure out how not to give joke penalties to Hazard, their season becomes dependent on RDM getting a bunch of huge egos with decent boots to play together in a system, and I'd be shocked if he doesn't fail. If we can avoid any serious injuries in the areas where our cover is a bit thin, we are absolutely going to be right in it for 3rd and 4th again, if not running away with it.

So buck up lads! It's not the window we wanted but it could be precisely the window we needed. It'll be far to early to judge it for a few months anyway, so sit back and enjoy the magical maddening ride that is Spurs!

 

[chinaman]

We will improve if the players go onto the field knowing what is expected of them and play accordingly instead of just " runnig around a bit".

 

[WexfordTownSpur]

I think it is obvious from most of the comments on this page that most people belive that this team is not an upgrade on the team we had last year - conclusion is, we will not get 4th! We had targets and we didn't get them, such is life when you don't have CL footballl and the wage structure to compete with the big boys.

We got some good buys, not world class, but good solid players who will make us hard to play against, but lets face it, stoke and fulham were hard to play against but they will never challenge for CL football and maybe even the title - and I for one was hoping that was our ambition - seems not.......

 

[ButchCassidy]

I think it is obvious from most of the comments on this page that most people belive that this team is not an upgrade on the team we had last year - conclusion is, we will not get 4th! We had targets and we didn't get them, such is life when you don't have CL footballl and the wage structure to compete with the big boys.

We got some good buys, not world class, but good solid players who will make us hard to play against, but lets face it, stoke and fulham were hard to play against but they will never challenge for CL football and maybe even the title - and I for one was hoping that was our ambition - seems not.......

What?? We all know you believe that, and that's fine. But did you even read the comments? The majority that aren't from you are clearly quite positive. Quit moping.

And who, I would like to know, do you think is in for fourth? Arsenal? They replaced last year's best striker and a great DM with a German who can't find the goal when it isnt in Cologne, a Frenchman who I think might become one of Wenger's biggest flops ever, and Cazorla, who is admittedly a tidy player but not at all what they needed. We should have finished well ahead of them last season and we're going to have a good shot at them again. Liverpool? Their fans are suicidal with their window, and rightly so. Wouldn't be at all surprised for Everton to finish ahead of them again. Newcastle? Please.

 

[Mattbob]

Easy - not this season!! No chance

 

[hodsgod]

We will improve if the players go onto the field knowing what is expected of them and play accordingly instead of just " runnig around a bit".

I really wish it was as simple as that, as it assumes the manager has everything right every time, team, formation and tactics.

I am sure we will improve from this level, I have no idea how far though. We haven't seen the full squad yet.

 

[hodsgod]

Easy - not this season!! No chance

2 points from every three games? You are predicting we get around 26 points? Relegation?

 

[bk75]

Yes what a stupid question, some fans need to get a grip. And if any fans boo or dont like whats going on then quite frankly its
tough. This is your team support your team or fuck off.

 

[davros]

It's been a rough start but we've been without King, Kaboul, Modric, Ade, VDV and Parker for at least some of these games. Of these, the ones who have played have been unfit (Ade) or had a move away looming (VDV). We have a new system and new players, both of which take time to come together. It's been a pretty awful situation in which to begin a season.

We now have two weeks until we face Reading. Time for the new lads to settle a bit and the squad to work together, and we might finally see a team resembling the one AVB wants to put out. After that I think we're at home to QPR who look absolutely awful. Perhaps I'm being overly optimistic here but I think we can have two wins under our belt before we go to Man U. Villa, Chelsea, and Southampton follow in October, along with a few European games. If we haven't improved by the time we play Wigan at the beginning of November then I'll start to really worry. Until then, we have time and some generous fixtures in order to get things right.

 

[Dan Yeats]

Dembela for modric! Dempsey for VDV! - have we made progress ??

Dembele for modric. No, not 'progress', but modric wasn't going to stay, and Dembele is as good a replacement as we could wish for. Should we have kept Modric and let him run his contract down in the reserves instead? Ridiculous.

If Modric had scored that shift-and-shoot goal yesterday then everyone would be fecking creaming themselves. The boy is quality. If Ferguson had got him, we'd have had endless threads asking why we didn't sign him as Modric's replacement.

Dempsey for VDV. No, I'll fix that for you. Siggy for VDV. And that may not be immediate progress, but it gives us a very talented 22 year old with massive potential capable of working the whole game in place of a talismanic 29 year old who fades after 60, frequently gets injured, and is likely to go downhill to some extent in the next few years.

Dempsey is a different addition. He's more a replacement for Saha than VDV. And he's one hell of an upgrade there.

 

[Mikegold]

We might have a little bit more trouble scoring than last year, as we didn't manage to pick up that marquee signing in the front. !

I get annoyed hearing that. Why will we find it harder? Ade will score the same, Dempsey scored something like 17 PL goals, Sig in a full season will get 15, Bale 10, Lennon 5, Vets possibly 5-10, Dembele 4-5, plus random odd goals = 65-70 goals which is a lot more than last year, so minus 15 goals from my above to maybe not exagerrate and we're on the same amount of goals as last year.

 

[vuzp]

in all fairness a good window for me, of course we knew Modric was going,but for VDV also to go a pity but know the reasons why so ok,
i think the main thing for we is that all the changes we have now with Manager, staff and players that it will take time
so just have to wait and see, but i really really hope AVB gets sometime to gel everything together.

 

[Mikegold]

I get annoyed hearing that. Why will we find it harder? Ade will score the same, Dempsey scored something like 17 PL goals, Sig in a full season will get 15, Bale 10, Lennon 5, Vets possibly 5-10, Dembele 4-5, plus random odd goals = 65-70 goals which is a lot more than last year, so minus 15 goals from my above to maybe not exagerrate and we're on the same amount of goals as last year.

EDIT: I know we now lack creativty from Modric, but as people have stated, having someone like Dempsey to get on the end of Bale crosses, and having Sig taking corners to an overall big team means we'll just score goals in different ways.

PPS - This window we are basically stronger defensively and in attack, we're just weaker in creativity, which as stated above we'll need less of as we have more obvious ways to score now.

 

[Snarfalicious]

It's not looking great right now, but there's still plenty to be excited about.

Reasons to be excited:

1.) Dembele looked great despite lack of training: The guy has never been surrounded by talent that can take more pressure off of him. His goal yesterday was nothing short of brilliant and I'm not sure he could have done it any better. Crazy thing is, Modric would have never been able to pull that off.

2.) Dempsey is a goal-scoring threat that we can utilize in multiple positions: Dempsey is the signing that I wanted Dzagoev to be. He's that versatile guy that can play multiple positions and should be able to find a way to get on the pitch. If he can provide 12-15 goals for us, then his signing will be worth far more than the 6m fee.

3.) Adebayor isn't even in top-form yet: He's still working his way to full fitness. He's going to be the key cog up top. It's not a matter of if he will get the starting nod and goals, but when.

4.) Parker could be back by Reading: I love Sandro, but with the current state of the club, I believe if it comes down to one defensive midfielder, Parker should be the first-choice. We scream of a squad that needs a calming, veteran presence somewhere on the pitch, and Parker can deliver that in ten-fold. He's also a far better passer of the ball, and while Sandro is an elite defender, I think we have to go with what will give our squad the unquestioned leader and consistent presence in midfield in Parker.

Reasons to worry:

1.) Bale looks a shell of himself: He's been pretty bad the first few matches. Some states it's complacency due to lack of competition. I, however, think it's a lack of trust in Defoe. Bale linked up superbly with Adebayor last year, and he knows how to deliver the cross, but I feel as though Bale has doubts in regards to Defoe so he is often trying to do too much on his own which leads to really errant attempts.

2.) Lennon still has no end-product: Great runner on the ball. Great dribbler on the ball. Constantly makes space for himself. All great attributes in a winger. Unfortunately, he's never taking shots on goal. He's got to start taking cracks on the goal if he wants to at least keep defenders honest. They know when he squares them up that he's going to fake inside and head out to deliver a cross. He's got to at least leave it in their mind that he will take a shot if a yard is given. His crosses have been absolutely horrid as well. He has put so many crosses behind streaking attackers it's beyond frustrating. Personally, I'd love to see Townsend given a shot. To me, he's a like-for-like replacement of Lennon but he's got that willingness to cut in and take shots. To me, he was one of the few standouts in preseason as well. Reading would be a great opportunity to get Townsend on the pitch to show what he can do. If he fails miserably, Lennon can be brought on at half.

3.) Sigurdsson is picking the ball up way too deep on the pitch: I really get angry seeing Siggy taking the ball behind the midfield line. He's an advanced midfielder who has a killer shot on him. He needs to be practically in the lone strikers back pocket and find his runs. His role should not be picking up the ball at midfield and trying to distribute others to go on runs. He's a goal poacher and needs to be used as such. I think Dembele and Parker in midfield will help that as both can come from midfield into attack, which should alleviate the need for him to fall deep into the pitch.


There's plenty of other reasons to be positive (Verts looks pretty solid already, Walker has been good, Sandro still is a tackling beast, etc.) and of course, reasons to worry (Odd subs, Livermore is still playing, lack of depth on the wing, etc.). But, the thing to remember is that we are going through a transition with key players not in top-form or fitness, and if we can figure out some of the deficiencies, we should alright.

 

[Mikegold]

3.) Sigurdsson is picking the ball up way too deep on the pitch: I really get angry seeing Siggy taking the ball behind the midfield line. He's an advanced midfielder who has a killer shot on him. He needs to be practically in the lone strikers back pocket and find his runs. His role should not be picking up the ball at midfield and trying to distribute others to go on runs. He's a goal poacher and needs to be used as such. I think Dembele and Parker in midfield will help that as both can come from midfield into attack, which should alleviate the need for him to fall deep into the pitch.

Isn't he a VDV replacement and no one complained when VDV did it?

 

[sbrustad]

1.) Bale looks a shell of himself: He's been pretty bad the first few matches. Some states it's complacency due to lack of competition. I, however, think it's a lack of trust in Defoe. Bale linked up superbly with Adebayor last year, and he knows how to deliver the cross, but I feel as though Bale has doubts in regards to Defoe so he is often trying to do too much on his own which leads to really errant attempts.

I think you may be on to something here. I also cannot understand why he is given lisence to stray so far from his position. I can understand him wanting to, since Defoe isn't realistically going to link up with his crosses, but once we line up with Adebayor Bale really should keep to the left wing. The thing is that all the wasted shots are basically just gifting possesion to the opposition, and last season Bale had almost 40 shots more than Adebayor, despite only playing in a couple more matches. He did have 9 goals to show for it, but in 140 attempts that's not really stellar. We lament Adebayors lack of composure in front of goal, but at least he got 17 goals from his 100 attempts.

I also hope Bale is able to form some sort of understanding with Dembélé as VDV had some outrageous crosses for Bale to run at last season (and even vs WBA this season). I would be very pleased if Dembélé can pick those out like VDV used to.

 

[Snarfalicious]

I think you may be on to something here. I also cannot understand why he is given lisence to stray so far from his position. I can understand him wanting to, since Defoe isn't realistically going to link up with his crosses, but once we line up with Adebayor Bale really should keep to the left wing. The thing is that all the wasted shots are basically just gifting possesion to the opposition, and last season Bale had almost 40 shots more than Adebayor, despite only playing in a couple more matches. He did have 9 goals to show for it, but in 140 attempts that's not really stellar. We lament Adebayors lack of composure in front of goal, but at least he got 17 goals from his 100 attempts.

I also hope Bale is able to form some sort of understanding with Dembélé as VDV had some outrageous crosses for Bale to run at last season (and even vs WBA this season). I would be very pleased if Dembélé can pick those out like VDV used to.

The one thing I thought of as well is that I hope to see a pairing of Dembele and Dempsey in front of Sandro (And then eventually Parker) to form our midfield. Dempsey played outside at times for Fulham, and I think he could make a nice pair with Bale in terms of overlapping runs and as well as rotating on who can drift in and who needs to stay out wide. That can create a lot of headaches for defenders as both Bale and Dempsey are very good at heading the ball and also they both offer some different skillsets.

I'm not sure if Bale keeps drifting in because of how much BAE is really pushing forward this year. It seems like BAE is in attack more than defense. BAE always stays wide, so maybe Bale is pushing in to get better heading bodies in their since it was Defoe as the target man (LOL). That could have a lot to do with the lack of attack the Sandro/Livermore tandem offers and at least one of them was staying deep at all times to protect a counter attack.

I'm really curious to see how this team lines up when we get everyone back to full health or match fitness. We're talking about adding our Player of the Year last year (Parker), our leading goal scorer last year (Ade), and a guy who scored 17 goals in the PL last year (Dempsey), and we only saw 45 minutes of Dembele but boy were they awesome. That's a shitload of talent that will be coming into the first team. The time to freak out is not now. If these guys come back and after they get a couple games under them, if our play is still lacking, then I could see it as being time to worry.

 

[SteveH]

I dont get Gylfi (Sigurdsson) at all at the present time. My hope is he need to settle - but for me a strange signing.
Vertonghen is not IMHO ready to play game in game out yet. He looks like Bambi on ice at times - especially in the area.