Vital Spurs Debate Section

Just Wondering About Spurs

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When thinking about improving our squad, many wonder if a prospective player could get into the (very few) teams above us. Or even if some of our own players could get into those teams. Nobody ever wonders out loud if our players are too good for the 80+ clubs below us. Which they probably are.

I wonder if the 80+ teams below us think the same way. Every club in the four divisions (remember that) wants to be Pool or City. Does Stevenage wonder if their players would fit in at Anfield, or if the player they are chasing could play for Pool. Of course not. We all have hopes and dreams, but they must have an element of realism attached to them. Everything to do with football is relative. Every club is different depending on the many variables that form the base of each club.

We are not Stevenage, struggling at the bottom of Division four (there it is again). We are Tottenham, competing at the top end of the toughest league on the planet. We are not Pool or City with an obscene amount of money to spend on eleven players kicking a piece of leather around while the millions of poor around the world starve. Personally I would not want to be like that. It seems to have gone way too far, it’s almost immoral. Gradually Football has ceased being ‘the peoples game’ and has become a game for the elite, rich, and powerful. But, nevertheless, we continue to do the best we can within the capacity of our resources …. and we remain in the mix.

We have a world class striker …. but that’s not enough! We want two, just in case one gets injured, or tired. Does any sane person think this is viable or even realistic? Is another Kane really going to sit on the bench and watch the game instead of playing in it. And if he is willing to do that …. what does it say about his commitment and integrity. So, to develop a younger player to, hopefully, ease into the team for years to come seems to make sense. Or, to bring in a less skilful player who, hopefully, can do a job, also makes sense. Hope is a big word when it’s connected to the world of football.

As HT said earlier (article comments here), we have bought back-ups for Kane more than once, without great success. At the time it may have looked like a good move …. but supporters live more in hindsight than in real-time. And hindsight brings a different perspective. It lets us be critical in both a good way or a bad way depending on how it turns out. It gives any argument a very unfair advantage.

As far as THFC is concerned, we don’t look too bad. We’ve been around for a while and we’ll be around for a while longer. We’ve had good times and we’ve had bad times. That will continue, too. It is what it is.

Roll on next season.

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  • wentworth says:

    We don’t expect the earth for someone to support Kane and give him some respite. Kane is a true ,loyal team member and should be captain imho. (Lloris is not a strong captain.) However, Kane needs backup. Not a Llorente. But a Keano or Defoe. Someone who can play along side him or instead of him. But we are also desperate for an attacking midfielder. Lo Celso has been a poor appointment. We have seen enough to know he is not a goalscorer, free kick taker or decent passer. Also, Winks is tidy but totally ineffective. We need a strong presence to drive us forward. Lo Celso and Winks can be on the bench to run the clock down. Dele needs to step up again and return to the form that made him an England international. We can just get by with our defensive set up. (Just). The important positions are attacking midfield passer and goal scorer; defensive ball winner and forward (not sideways backwards) passer and after years and years someone to support Kane before his head is turned. Where are our young stars in the academy? Great facilities. Dearth of players.

  • TQ2Spurs says:

    Wentworth….. this article tells you much about the state of our academy players this season, most couldn’t even get games on loan at lower league clubs!

    https://www.planetfootball.com/quick-reads/the-13-tottenham-players-sent-out-on-loan-this-season-and-how-they-fared/

  • Niall D says:

    WW I think you just about nailed it there. It was the point I was trying to make in the last post. I think we need a, Defoe or Keane type player. Danny Ings would fill that for me and as you say doesn’t just need to play 2nd fiddle. Can play with Kane rather than Sonny and Sonny rather than Kane. The sort of player we should be going for. Agreed on your comments re the other two, though I’ll still give LoCeslo a bit of a by in his first season. As apparently this isn’t his preferred role. See what next season brings
    Wonksy brings little to the table is unimaginative in his passing, easily thrown aside defensively.
    I suppose as you say would be good to bring on to close of a game.

  • Geofspurs says:

    Most top clubs have one or two strikers that score goals on a reasonably regular basis. We have them too, Kane and Son. That partnership is up there with the best so we’re off to a good start. I agree that a Keane or Defoe are the kind of players needed to enhance an attack but I feel there are a lot more goals to come from the players we currently have that will add to what Kane and Son are capable of …. Lucas, Dele, Lamela, and LoCelso.

    I can understand some supporters being critical of Winks but I wonder if he, and other players, are being told to play the way they do by the manager. If my memory serves me well I think Winks used to drive forward more often when playing under MP. Much of it is down to what the manger demands. He seems happy with Winks so I can only assume that he has been told to be more conservative in his game.

    Jose will be managing for a full season soon and we will learn exactly the way he wants his team to play. Now that’s going to be interesting!

  • jod says:

    Good article. To me its a very good question to ask about potential signings, “would Liverpool or City sign them ?”. If the answer is no (It pretty much always is) then why do we want them ? There are valid answers to that. It may be we just need reinforcements, you need to start with two players for each position so we may just be short. They may give you something you don’t have, if your squad is slow you may want to add one or two quick players even if they aren’t the best footballers to provide a better balance. It may be a young player you think you can improve. What you tend to get on sites like this though is men with no names who will “take us to the next level”. Reading the comments people don’t seem to understand the difference between a striker and a centre forward. Kane is a target man who doesn’t just score goals, he holds the ball up and is comfortable playing with his back to goal. Anyone brought in as his understudy has to be able to do the same. Otherwise you are buying a player who will probably give you less than Son playing out of position.

  • block 108 spurs says:

    Geof… Yes… we have spent some 650m new stadium, with more to come on the remaining part of the development. So our transfer funding has taken a big hit, and will take years to catch up with Liverpool, city out of sight. Now with Covd-19 affecting income it is realistic to assume no big money incoming transfers. So we are again depending on Levy’s negotiating skills, but I do worry he overplays the bargaining ploy and loses the player… (e.g. fernandes to Man utd). We have just seen this reduced capacity transfers… with southampton last night, net 3m spend. So be prepared next dew weeks of bargain deals by Levy.

  • jod says:

    Why do people think Liverpool’s spending is even close to the Manchester clubs ? Their net spend is way, way lower. I would argue they have got more bang for their buck than anyone else for a few years now, all to do with their implementation of the moneyball approach. Something we need to copy if we ever want to catch them.

  • TQ2Spurs says:

    block…..we were assured the stadium costs would not affect our transfer budget and I actually believe that was the case however……..the covid effect inevitably will hit our income for the foreseeable future to the point where it will reduce the funds available for transfers and player wages. You have to wonder where the likes of Chelsea and Manu are finding the money to buy the likes of Werner and Sancho, assuming that goes through. There is little chance of them being investigated under FFP rules following the City debacle.

    On a more positive note………I can’t believe we are getting Hojbjerg for £15m as is being suggested in the press, surely it must be 15 plus KWP valued at 12 making total fee £27m? Pleased to see it hopefully being concluded early in the window, if we can get a replacement for JV in before the new season starts I’ll be more than happy and other positions can be filled before the end of the window.

  • TQ2Spurs says:

    On another note…….so chuffed for Scotty Parker getting Fulham promoted the the PL, a future THFC manager perhaps?

  • TQ2Spurs says:

    jod….have to agree with you regarding Liverpool, they have invested big but well in a few crucial positions. Brian Clough was one of the best exponents of this strategy, he always spent big to bring in the best goalkeeper for example and built from there.

  • Hot Tottingham says:

    Very good article Geof.

    Guys, we do have Son, Dele, Lucas, Bergwijn etc; that are all there in support of Kane who is the focal point/centre forward of our attack.

    Keane and Defoe were strikers that often played in a 4-4-2 with others and with each other. But if they were at Spurs now, playing with Kane, they would be like Son, Dele and the others. But, we would probably complain that they were not good enough in the other aspects of the game that attackers are expected to have at this time.

    I mean, Son and Lucas for example have often been criticised by supporters and pundits alike for not being good or strong enough with their defensive side of the game… But did we ever expect so much from the likes of Defoe, Keane, Crouch, Berbatov etc? Or going back further. Chivers, Peters, Crooks, Archibald? No. Mostly they were expected to just bang a few in and/or create for each other… (By the way, Defoe and Keane were often slated for not being able to play well together and getting in each others way or being selfish… Much like we see with Son and Kane now. This past season, I have read exactly the same complaints for those two that we saw with Robbie and Jermaine.

    Could Danny Ings for example, work well at Spurs? Maybe. But will he work well in a team with Kane in it? I can’t see it myself. And after a good few years of injuries and fitness problems. Barely playing and so very few goals… Ings has finally had a pretty full season, scoring many goals. Would he want to stop that now to sit on the bench? Now that he can play again at last without struggle?

    I’m not gonna go on and on again about this. But one thing I will say and have mentioned before. But people never seem to get. Is that when a club has a star goalscorer such as Harry Kane is. They very rarely get to sit on the bench to watch their understudy play. It’s not exclusive to Spurs and HK. Just look at the stats for Messi and Ronaldo. They have both played a hell of a lot of games. And they are not and have not played for clubs that were ever short of great attacking options and alternatives.

    And these days most managers expect flexibility from their attacking players. On and off the field. Starter or sub. Poch or Jose will both say it. “So and so can play right across the front” And even Harry (as jod pointed out) doesn’t just score goals. It’s never just about scoring goals. But top goal scorers do tend to do best when playing regularly. And, not usually from coming off the bench or starting just once in a while.

    Anyway, I’m not sure that most see it this way…. So, I know nothing!

  • TQ2Spurs says:

    Sorry Geof….I wandered away from the subject of your article. As always a good read and agree with the sentiments you express therein. 🙂

  • PompeyYid says:

    Thanks for the article Geof, will read it properly in a mo.

    Regards the moaning n groaning about LoCelso, how many remember the griping about certain geyser’s called Modric and Bale, the rest is history, so give LoCelso a chance, he did join a broken team so settling will take that much longer, just a thought peeps. COYS

  • wentworth says:

    We need to be aware of Kane burning out this early season with Europa qualifying, Prem and England games. The chances of him getting injured are very high. Another ankle injury could put him for the season. Therefore, an alternative/complementary striker is essential. If we are ever winning 3-0 (highly unlikely under Jose I know), the new man could come on to give Kane a break. If not a decent midfielder a la Eriksen who can score with both feet and take goalscoring free kicks. We have really deteriorated since Kane, Dele and Eriksen were dominating the midfield and opposing box.

  • Hot Tottingham says:

    Modric and Eriksen (and Bale) both had the same sort of complaints against them that Lo Celso has been getting…

    Personally I think he has been pretty good. And maybe even had better start to his THFC career than those to had.

    Going back to Defoe and Keane. I just took a look at their goalscoring stats for Spurs. And Robbie only ever scored over 20 goals in just two from eight seasons at Spurs. Defoe only scored over 20 in two seasons from 11 at Spurs. I ha ve a feeling that their average goal stats for some seasons are not that much different to Son and Dele’s. But Son and Dele are not seen as out and out strikers. Like we viewed Keane, Defoe and now Kane. But whatever their stats, it is not really fair to compare them all on just goals scored without taking so many other things into consideration….

    What I do know is that all of those guys have been called rubbish at one time and another by Spurs supporters. Especially Harry Kane….

    • PompeyYid says:

      Afternoon HT, your right/correct, I forgot to add Eriksen to my players that were moaned about in my earlier post, am with you regards LoCelso, I am impressed with him.

      The stats regards Keane and Defoe are spot bollock. COYS

  • Hot Tottingham says:

    What about Son as well Wentworth? He has played a similar amount of games to Kane.

    As long as they are both fit, I’m afraid it will probably continue as we have seen. Until they are both past their peak…

  • Geofspurs says:

    HT …. I forgot about Bergwijn, lol. We’re better than I thought!

  • TQ2Spurs says:

    I agree on Lo Celso, he has settled in much quicker than many and offers the kind of graft in central midfield that we need, if we can get Ndombele to realise his potential a midfield three of himself, Hojbjerg, and Lo Celso would be pretty tasty!

    The problem for me is that HK10 doesn’t suit a 433 or 343 formation so to accommodate him (which we surely have to) it will probably mean playing Hojbjerg in a 2 with one or other of Ndombele or Lo Celso with the other playing in a 3 in front of them and HK10 up top.

  • TQ2Spurs says:

    I guess we could rest HK10 in some games and take the opportunity to play 433 or 343 with a fluid front three of say Son, Bergwijn and Lucas?

  • Hot Tottingham says:

    It’s good points that you make TQ about how Harry works in different formations and the alternatives we have.

    In many ways, Harry is an old fashioned kind of striker. But one that is suited well to the modern game because of his all round game too. But when we look at the main goal scorers for other top teams, they are not used at all in the same way as Harry. And have not all been seen as main strikers. Sterling is a good example. A player that was frequently slated for not being good enough in front of goal. But both he and Kane can play AND score goals in the same team. You wouldn’t put Raheem on the bench just because Harry is on. the pitch. And vice versa. Football is so much different now than just 10 years ago….

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