Dropped points and Tottenham Transfer Talk
Dropped points and Tottenham Transfer Talk is the subject of today's Tottenham Hotspur Blog News (THBN) post with news of scouting other sources may not be aware of.
Group D will be decided tonight and a look at the Marseille tactics is in the link below.
COYS
FURTHER READING
VAR, Udogie, Marseille and Tottenham Transfer Talk - 1,444 words
This article asks, Is VAR just a marketing tool and looks at the tactics of Marseilles head coach Igor Tudor.
Spurs Chat
Dropped Points
Spurs are not the only team dropping points in what is a difficult start to a season, more so for some clubs than others.
Arsenal 1pt
Manchester City 3pts
Tottenham Hotspur 6pts
Newcastle United 1pt
Manchester United 5pts
Chelsea 5pts
Liverpool 9pts
Arsenal have weak UEFA Europa League football so can rotate easier and play more squad players to rest the 1st XI reducing fatigue problems.
Manchester City have a massive squad and are able to rotate better, being able to pay higher wages, thus reducing fatigue-related problems.
Tottenham Hotspur lacks the squad depth to confidently rotate, especially with fatigue-related injuries making matters worse. Spurs will continue to battle against fatigue right up until the World Cup.
Newcastle United have no European football and can rest players all week to keep them fresh and fatigue free.
Manchester United are also in the lesser European competition, the Europa League and thus have less challenging games, both physically and mentally, thus reducing the affects of fatigue.
Chelsea are in the UEFA Champions League and have a larger available quality depth than Spurs, but are below us in the table.
Liverpool are in the Champions League and are currently 10 points below Tottenham.
I'm afraid many of our fans think players are robots and totally ignore the effects of fatigue, totally ignore.
All that is happening now is doing the best you can before the FIFA World Cup, then assessing the fatigue of the player's World Cup when they get back.
This is not a normal season, it is totally different, it's a one-off and the same expectations shouldn't apply.
Spurs have a better goal difference than Man Utd and Chelsea and are the Premier League's third-highest goalscorers this season, plus are the best team from set pieces with 9 goals.
Tottenham Transfer Talk
Giovanni Lo Celso
are hoping to offload Argentinian midfielder Giovanni Lo Celso in January and are asking Villarreal to pay £17.2m (€20m) to get him and his wage off the books.
He is currently on loan at Villarreal but Spurs will happily accept a bid from other interested parties.
Lo Celso turned Fiorentina down in the summer because he wanted to play for the Spaniards. That stumbling block may remain.
Antonio Conte
Juventus are actively pursuing Antonio Conte to take over at Juventus next summer, he is the first choice of Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli and vice-chairman Pavel Nedvěd.
The breakdown in the relationship between Conte and president Agnelli has been repaired the Italian press suggest.
Gazzetta dello Sport suggests the Juventus hierarchy has offered to buy midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and centre-back Alessandro Bastoni for him.
There is no indication that Conte is unhappy at Spurs and he has been talking in the long term, although lately when asked the specific question of his contract, he bats it away with answers that he and Tottenham will find the right solution for both parties later.
Juventus is obviously a pull and managing the biggest club in your home country is again obviously a big pull, but he also has a winning mentality and such people do not give up and run.
When faced with a challenge they see it through so the contract discussions could go either way with Mauricio Pochettino waiting in the wings.
That doesn't mean a contract will be signed then, but indications about intentions being given.
From Spurs' point of view, Conte knows the stadium is generating revenue and will continue to do so, thus he knows the level of the availability of ongoing transfer funds.
Either way, I think there are positives for Spurs fans to take from our managerial future.
Destiny Udogie
Destiny Udogie spoke to Sky Sports Italia after the weekend game against Cremonese, which ended in a draw.
"Now I'm here at Udinese, I'm focused. From next year I'll think about Tottenham."I know it's the most difficult, beautiful and intense league. I follow the team, to see how they play and what players there are."
Harry Kane
Harry Kane has postponed talks on a possible new contract until after the World Cup in Qatar.
There are several factors involved.
Bayern Munich wants him and will want him on a free transfer if he is too expensive this summer.
His future could depend on Antonio Conte staying or continued investment in the team, but he is also the England captain and England would Vant the England captain playing in England.
It isn't good for marketing or PR if your captain plays in a different country.
The fate of Gareth Southgate and Kane's future as England captain may also therefore be a contributory factor to discussions and his decision.
Alan Shearer's all-time Premier League goalscoring record is perhaps another factor Kane will consider as well as Tottenham's ability to continue to grow and challenge for trophies.
Vitor Roque
Tottenham, Real Madrid and Barcelona are closely following the young 17-year-old (18 next February) attacking phenomenon of Athletico Paranaense, Vitor Roque.
The Brazilian club are looking for £30-34.50m (€35-40m) for the Brazil U-20 centre-forward.
I can't see that one happening.
Weston McKennie
Juventus were bundled out of the UEFA Champions League in midweek which raises question marks over the future of American international midfielder Weston McKennie.
He has been wanted by Fabio Paratici for Antonio Conte at Spurs after the Italian moved to us from Juventus where he had previously signed McKennie.
His style of play is thought to suit Conte's system, but Juventus see him as another reason why Conte should leave Spurs and rejoin them.
Another player Juventus think suits the Conte system is Adrien Rabiot, who Spurs have previously sought and whom Chelsea have made an inquiry for.
Goalkeepers
Tottenham continues the search for a long-term successor to club captain Hugo Lloris and two keepers the Spurs scouting team are following are Marco Carnesecchi of Italian side Cremonese and Guglielmo Vicario of fellow Serie A side Empoli
Marco Carnesecchi is a 22-year-old (23 in July) Italian and Guglielmo Vicario is a 26-year-old (27 next October) Italian.
Carnesecchi has 18 caps for the Italian Under-21 side.
Vicario was on the bench for the Italians' UEFA Nations League games against England and Hungary.
Hugo Guillamón
Finally today, Spurs are also tracking 22-year-old (23 next January) Valencia midfielder Hugo Guillamón.
Guillamón is a full Spanish international, with 3 caps (1 goal, 1 assist) where he has played as a centre-back, although he is a defensive midfielder who is also good in attacking situations.
He has 3 assists in 11 games in LaLiga as a defensive midfielder this season and played 73 LaLiga games so far.
1,230 words
COYS
FURTHER READING
THBN asks questions about the laws of the game and asks if they should be changed?
A discussion on zones helps you to understand each player's role & Conte's system better.
An article that talks about Lloris, Sánchez, Conte and talks about xT (expected Threat), expected crossing threat and figures showing the expected threat from each player.
This article asks, Is VAR just a marketing tool and looks at the tactics of Marseilles head coach Igor Tudor.
7 comments
Where are you now, PEH moaners & Lengolet loathers? Well done also, Stellini & crew. He was spot on when he said it was a "hot crowd".
That was a little close for comfort from my perspective, but I have to agree that we managed to get through under particularly trying circumstances :-)
Cuti & Richi out already - which ongoing situation is causing us serious issues - and Sonny added to that list, for most of the game yesterday at least - I sincerely hope that is a very temporary issue. Nevertheless we managed in a very tough atmosphere to take away the points. Full marks.
There were errors made - often the way when approaching a game as we regularly do - with a holding approach rather than a demanding & aggressive one. I find I get very nervous whenever I see Sessegnon involved with the play.
I had to laugh, yet again, when the commentator (Not Glenda so much as the actual commentator.) was talking about their bad luck when not going ahead near the end, completely ignoring that PEH had only been stopped putting us out of reach a minute or so earlier by the woodwork. A far closer attempt th…
That means recovery time as well as, presumably, a protective mask for a while.
Get well soon Sonny!
COYS!!
We have players that will continue to battle to the end certainly. We also have more holes in our set of players than anyone would want - especially up against Liverpool. They are a great team & club without question, of course, but their current form is some minimal ground for hope. That and an unprecedendet five-day gap for recovery. Lucas is fit & well again. He's no Sonny but brings his own set of skills to a game.
What worries me more is that when we're on the back foot, and we'll be more so for Liverpool than any other game recently, we invite pressure on and we make too many mistakes under pressure. We'll have to see how it plays out of course. We're due some good news on the injury fronts soon.
COYS!!
My small fantasy is that the players come out of the WC unbroken, and we see a renewed Tottenham Hotspur firing on all cylinders (will it be 4, 6 or 8?) to use a fossil-fuel-tainted metaphor, after the fat lady of FIFA has warbled stridently to conclude the final scene and as they run out, renewed onto the green and verdant pitch of Hotspur Way. COYS!