They'll struggle at Wembley. Look at how they did in the CL, look at how West Ham did at the Olympic Stadium. It significantly diminishes the home advantage they typically enjoy at WHL. They've lost Walker, which shouldn't be a huge blow, but it still weakens the side. Unless Levy starts to dip into his pockets they will be in a battle for top four, rather than putting themselves in the mix for the title, which they should be doing with a couple of signings. They really need a good wide player.
The Spurs thread | 2017-18 season | Serious thread - wummers/derailers will be threadbanned
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We had a ton of key injuries last season though and we coped (just about) - we do need more squad depth and I expect us to sign a couple of players before the window ends. I also believe that Wembley will make little difference to us (in fact it might actually help the way we play as Poch hated the narrow pitch at WHL when he started)
Are they gonna buy someone?
I don't think Wembley will make a significant difference. The main issue is whether they'll give Europe a proper go this time or continue to focus mainly on the league. If it's the latter I see them making top 4 with ease. Alternatively if they bulk up the squad they might be able to challenge on both fronts.
Dunno, I'd guess yes - two or three at most. Probably a right back, a wide attacker with pace and possibly a centre back if Wimmer leaves. Oh and probably Barkley.
Would you consider Barkley an upgrade on your current midfielders? For me, Everton are his level.
Yeah but not during the same period. Can't remember the last time Spurs had a serious injury crisis to contend with, unlike the rest of us who go through one seemingly every year.
I know he scored a few goals, but I can't shake the feeling that Son just isn't good enough, not even when used purely as backup to Kane. Poch should be in for Dembele in my opinion.
Well we will have to see if he signs but I think he will be a great rotation option for us and could potentially slot into Eriksen's spot if required which is something we are lacking at present. It's all about getting better squad depth now and I believe Barkley will give us that.
Spurs have a fine history of crocked players lol Last season we went without Kane, Rose, Toby A at various and prolonged times throughout the season. I don't think any club in the Premiership would be able to cope that well with 3/4 key players being out at the same time so I honestly don't think Spurs would be unique in that respect. If Utd lost Lukaku and Pogba at the same time I'd say you would struggle as well.
You are being harsh on Son, he is a brilliant squad player for us. He scores goals, can play on either side and do a job as a striker when required. He is the kind of player every club needs.
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No doubt every club on the planet feels the loss of key players, but some less so than others. Spurs for me do not have the strength in depth to contend with a severe injury crisis at this point. I had expected Spurs to signal a sign of intent this summer by purchasing a fair few squad upgrades, kind of surprised that they haven't in all honesty.
You could be right about Son, he did score goals in Kane's absence I must admit, he just doesn't strike me as a top player and I think he will fail in the long run.
(watch him win the golden boot next season
)No doubt every club on the planet feels the loss of key players, but some less so than others. Spurs for me do not have the strength in depth to contend with a severe injury crisis at this point. I had expected Spurs to signal a sign of intent this summer by purchasing a fair few squad upgrades, kind of surprised that they haven't in all honesty.
You could be right about Son, he did score goals in Kane's absence I must admit, he just doesn't strike me as a top player and I think he will fail in the long run.
(watch him win the golden boot next season
I don't think we will signal a sign of intent in the sense that I think you mean - the market has gone insane and mostly out of our range for now. What I expect us to do is fill any gaps we have in our squad with young players who have potential to be great - I'm thinking Barkley as an obvious one and probably a couple of others before the transfer window closes. None of them will be 'world class' players and I doubt any of them will cost more than £25-30 million either. May not be very exciting but the main thing this summer was holding on to our real stars, which it looks like we will. If we can do that, integrate a few academy kids and bring in one or two decent squad options then I'd be more than happy with this window.
That's for sure. Barkley is good for squad depth in the end.
The Spurs dream ticket would be the return of Bale playing up front with Harry Kane a partnership to strike fear into all the top sides. Bale would eat up the Wembley turf, while fit.
I don't see it happening though fun to speculate and like some I also think Son is a quality substitute.
I don't see it happening though fun to speculate and like some I also think Son is a quality substitute.
That would be awesome - sadly I can't ever see it happening due to the wages, etc. although I honestly think if we could afford him and he wanted to move back to the Premiership we would be in with a shout.
Would be a dream signing for sure. And as you hint towards, the stumbling block would be the wages, not the fee (if he in fact wanted to come back).
Don't quite agree with you on Barkley though. He's a decent player, but I for the money quoted (or even half of it) I'd rather see us spend on other players. I personally don't think he got what it takes to improve much more and I think he'll just be another expensive squad option on high wages like Sissoko.
Yeah, clearly we're getting nowhere with regard to the purchase of Dier. Levy is staying true to his word in that he won't be releasing players he considers key to the team, guess he deserves credit for that. Still think he's playng a dangerous game pricing his players out of the market, remains to be seen whether it will come back to bite him in the ass.
Barkley would be a smart purchase, it'd keep Eriksen on his toes anyway. Doubt he'd cost the earth either, around £30m maybe?
Doubtful considering his wage demands. United could barely afford to pay his upkeep, so Spurs, whom are considerably weaker financially, would have no chance. That's without fronting the £100m he would no doubt cost.
Kane
Bale Alli would be devastating though.
Levy doing what Levy does. Waiting until the last minute just to save a few quid, all the while having a detrimental impact on the team.
Spurs are getting left behind at the minute. Everyone else is stronger and Spurs are arguably weaker. Don't see them sustaining their little run as a top 4 side any longer.
Spurs are getting left behind at the minute. Everyone else is stronger and Spurs are arguably weaker. Don't see them sustaining their little run as a top 4 side any longer.
It's not a race to see who can sign the biggest number of - or most expensive - players. If you have a good team/squad to start with, then stability and continuity is a positive, not a negative ... all the more so when the average age is young.
You must surely want to see Levy be a bit more proactive in the market?
All bias aside you have a very good side but are just missing 1/2 to take you on the next level. It does always seem you're last minute and reactive rather than eyeing up your targets and taking care of business.
True, but 'standing still' while other competitors improve can be a risky and somewhat complacent strategy.
If that was the case, why do teams that win the league and champions league always spend money on players ahead of the next season?
You weren't good enough to win the league last season, you've weakened yourself by selling your best right back (and strengthened a direct rival as a result) and you haven't yet brought anyone in to improve you. You've gone backwards since May.
The window ain't closed yet. Let's see what happens.
You have a great manager and a very good team. To make the last step you need to buy 2 players at least.
Haven't said you won't strengthen, in fact I'm fairly certain you will, point was that it looks like Levy is playing poker again for the sake of a few mil.
We had more than our fair share of injuries last season. Can someone please explain to me this "over-achieving" term? We will make signings I have no doubt.
Maybe they've already achieved their goal? Maybe a club like spurs is happy to be doing what they're doing, not actually wanting to take that next step if it involves spending such large sums. Maybe they're happy to not put that kind of pressure on themselves and stay out of the heat of the spotlight.
But then no one will remember their 2nd sposts. It's like at Arsenal.
Well, we signed Wanyama on June 23rd last summer, or Trippier on June 19th and Alderweireld on July 8th the summer before that.
But last-minute deals can also pay off: Son was signed on August 28th two summers ago. And Alli was signed in the last hours of the winter window that same year.
And some deals will necessarily only occur quite late if you want to save a lot of money. If we sign Barkley then that will be a case in point: Everton clearly want to wait to see if another club - that Barkley is willing to go to - will offer more than Spurs. They're asking for £50m, but won't get that anything near that from Spurs.
We don't have the finances to do it, we are slowly building up as a club to increase income. We're owned by an investment company not sugar daddy.
Not convinced that's really true. You'll be getting in the region of 130 mil in TV money alone for the coming season. Plus you just got 50mil for Walker.
Agree with the first bit to an extent. Not the biggest fan of Levy's timelines in the transfer market.
The second bit was what everyone was saying last season as well. Spurs were getting left behind when United brought in Mourinho and Pogba and Mhiki, when City brought in Pep and Sane and Gundogan, when Liverpool had another year of Klopp and brought in Mane and all Spurs brought in was Janssen and Sissoko. Yet, regardless of the players other clubs signed and Spurs didn't, Spurs improved, players developed further, Pochettino continued entrenching his philosophy, and the team finished 2nd, well ahead of several of the teams that spent all this money and were predicted to finished ahead of them.
I'm certainly not saying the same is guaranteed to happen again this season, but I am a bit surprised at how quickly some are to write Spurs off because other teams are spending tons of money. The circumstances were the same a year ago and we all saw how that turned out.
Wanyama too. So that's 3 players versus none this summer. Plus you've lost your best right back.
Not entirely comparable with last summer.
Because they have lots of spare money. Spurs don't. And you could equally well ask why do some teams spend lots of money on players ahead of the season but still do badly in the league?
As for the rest, we finished behind a team that didn't have to play in Europe - a distinct advantage that they won't have this time around. And the time to make judgements on who is stronger and who weaker is at the end of the transfer window, not in the middle: it's not a race to see who can sign the most players the quickest.
In any case, a lot of people on this forum are obsessed with the arrival of new players from outside the clubs concerned. Maybe they should pay a bit more attention to the arrival of new players from inside the clubs before talking about "haven't yet brought anyone in to improve you" - Spurs have/will be featuring a few of these in pre-season friendlies.
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You've even said yourself you think we'll strengthen....likely with 2 or 3 players. That would make it awful similar to last summer, no? Maybe not entirely comparable, but pretty dong close.
Well no, not yet, because it hasn't actually happened yet (if it will at all). And if it does it's already much later in the window. Season starts in 2 weeks man.
Well, that's if people equate signing fewer new players than your rivals with "standing still". But if several of your younger players will improve with accumulating experience and coaching, then that's not standing still - it's progress.
Lol ... we're spending £750m on a new stadium complex.
So, in your estimation, losing Walker and having not signed Sissoko, Janssen, and Wanyama-level players as of yet is enough to take Spurs from 2nd to 5th-6th? Just trying to clarify your position.
Also, I'm still curious as to how you explain what happened last season, as you didn't respond to that part of my post. Teams spent big money to sign big-name players while also bringing in world class managers, yet Spurs still managed to finish ahead of many of them despite not doing so. Do you just chalk that up to luck? A one-off anomaly??
I don't think it was a one off anomaly, last summer your stability really worked in your favour because of all the instability elsewhere. New managers at United, City and Chelsea.
You're starting to get a bit touchy. I'm not saying you're suddenly going to get relegated, but the suggestion that not signing any players could potentially be a good thing just because it happened to turn out well last season is a bit daft.
There's a reason clubs always look to sign players.
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