Tottenham Talk on Thursday 2nd Sept
Tottenham Talk on Thursday 2nd Sept
Good morning to all the glass half-full people enjoying being top of the Premier League with no goals conceded and welcome to Tottenham Talk on Thursday 2nd Sept.
Running late today, as with the closure of the transfer window and the international break, I can give the eye ulcer that has developed in my left eye some rest from the hours of research on the laptop.
The cure is to keep the eye in the dark for a few days but it will leave another scar on the bottom left hand corner of the eye.
Today we'll chat about changing an ageing squad.
Fans want finished articles all the time, so 27-year-olds, generally considered to be when a player is at their peak.
The trouble with this strategy is that you than have an ageing squad reducing in value that all need replacing in perhaps three years.
It is very draining on resources if you are not making back what you spend on transfers, even the likes of Chelsea sell players to raise money, far more often than Spurs fans realise.
It isn't something we have mastered at the level we would like to master it at.
West Ham, Burnley and Crystal Palace were the only sides in the Premier League to have older squads than Tottenham (27.5 years).
We were one of just three teams not to play a player aged under 21.
In 2014/15 under Pochettino the average age was 25 and 8.1% of playing time was given to players under 21.
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| Source: CIES Football Observatory |
You can see in the graph the minutes played by under 21 players has dropped dramatically over 5 years, which highlights that the squad age needed to be reduced.
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| Source: CIES Football Observatory |
Until the money starts coming in from the stadium being full all season and the 24 non-footballing events kick in, then Tottenham can't afford to buy superstars, we have to make them.
That Daniel Levy admitted to the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust (THST) but it isn't something our fans have had explained to them.
If we want fans to be informed then the club or the supporters groups should be sending this money out to every official supporters groups we have around the world.
Email makes this possible and they can distribute it, but we don't do we.
The job of replacing an ageing squad has fallen to Fabio Paratici and Nuno Espírito Santo.
This window has been the start of that and it'll continue next summer.
Players Out:
Aurier (28)
Alderweireld (32)
Hart (34)
Lamela (29)
Sissoko (32)
Rose (30)
Gazzaniga (29)
Bale (31)
Vinicius (26)
Foyth (23)
Average age: 29.4
Players In:
Gil (20)
Emerson (22)
Gollini (26)
Romero (23)
Sessegnon (21)
Pape Sarr (18)
Skipp (20)
Average age: 21.4
I believe we now have the fifth youngest squad in the Premier League, not bad for someone who has only been in the job 10 weeks.
OK on to other matters.
I have been asked about wages and how much we have saved with our transfer business this summer, so let's have a look at that.
The figures are rough and from various sources but they give us a guideline
Players Out:
Aurier £70,000
Alderweireld £85,000
Hart £27,500
Lamela £80,000
Sissoko £80,000
Rose £60,000
Gazzaniga £19,000
Bale £240,000
Vinicius £20,000
Foyth - wages paid by Villarreal
Carter-Vickers £20,000
Whiteman £3,846
Cirkin £2,400
Total £707,746
Players In:
Gil £41,285
Emerson £41,285
Gollini £25,000
Romero £50,000
Sessegnon £15,000
Pape Sarr (18) out on loan
Skipp £24,000
Total £196,570
Total wages saving £511,176
That is a rough guide.
The next question was about free agents.
It isn't a route I think we'd be looking to go down as in 4 months there is another window where there mat well be clubs still in difficulty and needing to raise some capital, so there might be chances to add to the squad then.
It is however, a much reduced market as clubs are usually only looking to rid themselves of deadwood and Premier League clubs struggle to shift deadwood abroad, equally do we want another clubs deadwood?
Son has 49 goals and assists in 56 games as a central striker so clearly can move to that position if Kane is injured and we will be using Dane Scarlett in games to develop him too.
I hear the argument for stopping his development and having a player sit on the bench doing nothing awaiting for Kane to get injured.
Carlos Vinícius played 308 Premier League minutes last season, 2 minutes in the EFL Cup, 545 minutes in the UEFA Europa League and 170 minutes in the FA Cup.
Total 1,025 minutes.
Playing time, that's what we are looking to replace.
Harry Kane has won the Golden Boot three times and you don't do that by being out injured for long periods every season, indeed I think he missed 17 days last season.
Where was this inevitable injury then?
We got knocked out of competitions last season because the players couldn't be arsed, not because we had anyone missing.
I'd expect Dane Scarlett to play 270 minutes in the UEFA Conference League, perhaps 180 minutes in the FA Cup and 45 minutes in the League Cup.
Total 495 minutes.
Going on last season's minutes, we need to replace just 530.
Well that's it folks.
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