Tottenham Talk on Wednesday 1st Sept - The Transfer Window
Tottenham Talk on Wednesday 1st Sept - The Transfer Window
There are a couple of things I have continually raised over the last few years and when we have a new manager.
One is time.
I always refer back to Brendon Rogers here and his spell at Liverpool.
In his first season Liverpool were learning how he wanted them to play and it took a season to achieve what he wanted.
The following season they finished second when they should have won it quite frankly.
The same thing is happening at Spurs.
We have a new manager and what he wants will take us time to master, we will make mistakes, we will learn the timing and angle of runs, we will learn to be more efficient and clinical in front of goal and to defend as a team better.
The fact that we are two points clear at the top of the Premier League after two games simply gives us some breathing space.
It is hard to evaluate where we will end up as we have found a way to win three tight games.
The second point is about movement.
If you are a defender with the ball and there is no movement ahead of you then you have few passing options and football is about have passing options.
If you are a midfielder and there is no movement ahead of you then you can't play a creative pass.
Nuno seems to be teaching Spurs players where to run in and around the box.
We are actively looking to play the ball inside full-backs for an on-running full-back or winger.
Manchester City have scored a stack of goals by getting behind a full-back and putting the ball across the 6-yard box.
We are getting there but not quite managing the final ball or finishing the chances we do create.
The final ball and clinical finishing, two aspects to work on and with the greater movement the players are being taught will come a greater number of chances.
It is encouraging.
Watford had all 11 men behind the ball, remaining compact to avoid leaving space for us to exploit but we created enough to have scored more.
Again, in an area where we have struggled that is encouraging, going forwards, again.
As someone who grew up playing football in the 60's and 70's I'm loving the referees now allowing a lot more physical contact.
Letting the game flow is so much better than a free-kick every 30 seconds which just allows a side to put every man behind the ball and get into shape.
Allowing the game to flow allows gaps and space to appear, a player can no longer roll around on the floor feigning injury because he could cost his side.
At last we will see grown men acting like grown men. You aren't hurt so get up.
The problem will arise in Europe, if they are not adopting the same refereeing guidelines.
Foreign referees may well interpret the law differently which makes it tougher for our sides but simply something we have to adjust too.
A welcome change back to proper football with more passion and more excitement.
Not quite back to the 'good old days' but a step in the right direction.
Top of the Premier League
I can't believe we are sitting on top of the Premier League and so called supporters on social media are doing nothing but complain.
Further proof that no matter what success Tottenham may have, these people will still complain.
Try enjoying life sometimes fellas.
Central Attacking Midfielder
A portion of our fans seem obsessed with a central attacking midfield, even though they don't fit in the system we are playing.
We have Skipp as our defensive midfielder.
Either side of him we have box-to-box midfielders in Højbjerg and Dele.
Ahead of them we have an attacking three, Kane and two wide attackers with pace, Son, Bergwijn or Moura at the moment.
The role of the attacking five is to make chances for each other and to share the goalscoring around, rather than direct it all to Kane.
To play a central attacking midfielder the system would have to change, which it isn't going to do, so we don't need a central attacking midfielder, merely people with creative passing ability, which is what Giovanni Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele both have.
Transfer Window
There have been advantages and disadvantages to this transfer window.
The main advantage is that clubs are broke, have been put in financial trouble by the pandemic, meaning reduce revenue without fans in the stadiums.
Clubs have to sell which means bargains are available.
Barcelona couldn't afford to keep Messi, Juventus needed to reduce their wage bill and Ronaldo moved, Real Madrid couldn't offer Varane the wages he wanted so off he went to United.
Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique have all taken pay cuts to comply with LaLiga constraints and allow Sergio Aguero to be registered and thus able to play when he recovers from injury.
The problem though was that nobody had any money to buy the players we wanted to get rid of and we needed to move players on, to bring players in to replace them.
Tottenham have not put inflated price tags on players, apart from arguably Harry Kane, in an effort to move them on so Daniel Levy hadn't priced them out of the market, as his detractors would claim he has before.
The other problem we encountered is wages.
Clubs abroad simply can't afford to pay wages anywhere near Premier League level and players have been unwilling to take pay cuts.
It was obvious something was going to happen with Serge Aurier as we bought Emerson from Barcelona, releasing him was unexpected.
The rebuild has begun.
Players removed:
Aurier (28)
Alderweireld (32)
Hart (34)
Lamela (29)
Sissoko (32)
Rose (30)
Gazzaniga (29)
Bale (31)
Vinicius (26)
Foyth (23)
Average age: 29.4
Loaning out:
Carter-Vickers (23)
Pape Sarr (18)
Whiteman (22)
Replaced with:
Gil (20)
Emerson (22)
Gollini (26)
Romero (23)
Sessegnon (21)
Pape Sarr (18)
Skipp (20)
Average age: 21.4
Income: £29.43m
Expenditure: £60.21m
Balance: -£30.78m
We have:
A replacement for Lloris (26)
The best centre-back in Italy (23)
A highly-rated midfield youngster from France (18)
A young Spanish international winger (20)
A Brazilian right-back that Barcelona activated a buy-back clause for (22)
The return from loan of a left-sided attacker/midfielder/defender (21)
The return from loan of a defensive midfielder (20)
The promotion of a young goalkeeper (Austin 22)
The promotion of a young striker (Scarlett 17)
We have reduced the age of the squad, bought players for the system we are playing this season, not a system we played 2 managers ago.
Half-empty people (unachievers): Unsatisfied
Half-full people (achievers): Satisfied
The start of the season has seen an upward curve and the optimism for the season is for an upward curve, with the very real opportunity of a trophy.
Well that's it folks.
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