Tottenham 2018/19: Transfers? Who needs transfers?

coremiller

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I didn't see the whole match, but I actually thought Eriksen didn't look up to his standards. He had some excellent touches sure, but his vision also looked a step slow. During the last 30 minutes, he missed Lamela several times while trying to force the ball to Arry.



You really need to squint for this to seem possible. Yes, Spurs have a chance if they take 6 points from Inter and PSV, but does anyone like their chances of doing that ATM?

As an aside, when are Alli and Aurier expected back?
They were leading against both on the road after 80 minutes. So sure, I think they can beat both at home. Doesn't mean they will, of course.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Yeah, that would require Spurs to win at Camp Nou, which is obv a much more difficult proposition.
Barcelona will likely have first place in the group clinched by that point and have an away derby against current second place (!!!) Espanyol two days previous and then another away match against current 8th place Levante five days afterward. Camp Nou is never an easy place to win but there's a good chance you end up playing Barcelona B, which would make it a lot more feasible.
 

Zososoxfan

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Barcelona will likely have first place in the group clinched by that point and have an away derby against current second place (!!!) Espanyol two days previous and then another away match against current 8th place Levante five days afterward. Camp Nou is never an easy place to win but there's a good chance you end up playing Barcelona B, which would make it a lot more feasible.
What I would expect for a Barcelona B lineup:

Cillessen
Alba/Miranda-Vermaelen-Lenglet-Semedo
Roberto/Samper
Vidal-Rafinha
Malcom-Munir-Dembele

Denis and Alena coming off the bench.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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If he's healthy enough, it's really time for Harry Winks to get more starts over the ghost of Mousa Dembele
 

coremiller

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Dele has signed a new six-year contract for 150k/week:


Great news to sign him up after locking in Kane over the summer. I think he's now Spurs' second highest-paid player after Kane (who should always be first).

Alderweireld, Vertonghen, and Dembele are all out of contract in the summer. I think only Vertonghen stays. We know Alderweireld has been seeking a big payday, and Dembele will be an old 32 and needs replacing regardless.

The next of the younger cohort that needs to extended is Eriksen, whose deal is up in 2020.

The failure to resolve the Alderweireld situation and shore up the squad depth last summer is a continuing debacle. Toby's form has mostly returned this year (although with Vertonghen out he's been partnering Sanchez and playing more on his weaker left side, where he hasn't been quite as good), but they'll lose him for nothing in the summer and there are significant holes that could have been patched with the proceeds he would have brought.
 

scott bankheadcase

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Dele has signed a new six-year contract for 150k/week:


Great news to sign him up after locking in Kane over the summer. I think he's now Spurs' second highest-paid player after Kane (who should always be first).

Alderweireld, Vertonghen, and Dembele are all out of contract in the summer. I think only Vertonghen stays. We know Alderweireld has been seeking a big payday, and Dembele will be an old 32 and needs replacing regardless.

The next of the younger cohort that needs to extended is Eriksen, whose deal is up in 2020.

The failure to resolve the Alderweireld situation and shore up the squad depth last summer is a continuing debacle. Toby's form has mostly returned this year (although with Vertonghen out he's been partnering Sanchez and playing more on his weaker left side, where he hasn't been quite as good), but they'll lose him for nothing in the summer and there are significant holes that could have been patched with the proceeds he would have brought.
Minor quibble as someone would have to pay the 25M release clause for Toby this summer, but it is still obviously way below market value.
 

Kliq

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Good win this afternoon at Wolves. The attack looked really good with Kane/Son/Lamela/Moura up top. Foyth tried to give the game away, I kind of wonder how much worse CCV could have been?
 

coremiller

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Good 3 points on the road without Eriksen, Dele, Dier, Vertonghen, Sanchez and effectively Dembele in the starting lineup. It was not a great performance defensively but that's going to happen playing a Winks/Sissoko CM pairing and Foyth. They got through it. I thought the second pen was very soft, but Wolves also had a goal wrongly ruled out on a bad offsides call, so it evened out. The attack looked solid even without 2 of their 3 best creative players.

Foyth made some costly errors, but he also looked pretty assured for long stretches and he passes well from the back. He needs playing time to develop, but he has potential. He's still only 20. He seems kind of John Stones-ish.

CM is still a mess, especially if Dembele is out for an extended period. And the FBs are still not up to snuff. Trippier is good on the ball but doesn't have the pace and defensive awareness. Davies has always just been mediocre. What happened to Aurier and KWP?
 

Mugsy's Jock

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So frustrated at the deterioration of Victor Wanyama, who was developing into such a beast last season but now gets injured more often than Ellsbury. Hurt during the preseason tour, hurt again in African qualifying, hurt again this week against West Ham.

Along the same tack i’m delighted to have been so wrong about Lamela, whom I thought would never be a steady presence after missing so much time. He looks as fluid and fast as any Spur out there.
 

coremiller

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I forgot about Wanyama, but that's another CM out. They started the season with Dembele, Dier, Wanyama, Winks, and Sissoko for two essentially two spots. That already wasn't good enough, but the first three are now all out injured. Dele and Eriksen can play some deeper in midfield also, but they've also been injured. So of the 7 players who could play in central midfield, five of them are not at full fitness. Yikes.

It was plain as day that Spurs needed to strengthen CM during the summer, but I didn't imagine the failure to do would have such instant karmic retribution.

I wonder if we'll see Eriksen and Dele playing some minutes in deepers role as they comes back, since Spurs are doing okay at the attacking spots right now. I'd be interested in how Eriksen/Dele do as "free 8s", sort of the way Man City use KDB and the Silvas -- a little more ball progression and defensive work, a little less chance creation/finishing. That's kind of the role Dele plays for England (although there it's with a back 3, so the midfielders have less defensive responsibility).
 

scott bankheadcase

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Spurs stay alive with the last minute win. Inter also grabs a point. So basically beat inter and beat Barca and Spurs are through? Or would it be goal differential at that point?
 

Kliq

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Right now Inter sits with 7 points and Spurs have 4. The simplest way is for them to beat Inter, which will tie them at 7 points apiece (Inter is currently +2 on goal differential) and then beat Barca, and hope that PSV beats or ties Inter. If Inter beats PSV and Spurs win out, then it will come down to GD.

The good news is that Barca is three points clear of Inter, so if Spurs beat Inter at Wembley; Barca will have locked up the group and hopefully play their B team against Tottenham.
 

Tangled Up In Red

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First tie-breaker (as I understand it) is GD in head to head games. So a 2-0 win would be enough, as would 1-0 (due to away goal).
 

scott bankheadcase

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If that's the case, if they get either the 1-0 or 3-1 result, they wouldn't even have to beat barca is inter doesn't beat PSV. Would just have to match their result.
 

Gunfighter 09

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Holy shit that was fun.

One down, two to go this week.

Whoever that guy is wearing the Sissoko disguise lately needs to stick around as long as possible.
 

eddiew112

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Eriksen and Dele were at their best. They dominated this game. Great performances from Dier, Son and Sissoko as well.
 

Kliq

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I thought Aurier was excellent today; that wasn’t the most experienced back line and he was huge in snuffing out any Chelsea threats.
 

Zososoxfan

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I thought Aurier was excellent today; that wasn’t the most experienced back line and he was huge in snuffing out any Chelsea threats.
He's my favorite FB on this team, and I don't say that lightly. I love his style, even if he may not be the best of the bunch. Getting everyone healthy has made a huge difference.
 

DJnVa

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And Barca has nothing to play for, they've won the group.

Of course, PSV has nothing to play for either.
 

Kliq

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Ponch deserves a lot of credit for sticking with Sissoko and believing in his talent when a lot of people would have stapled his ass to the bench or sent him away. Maybe he just needed some time to adjust and gain some confidence. The man makes some runs with the ball where he just looks so powerful; like Earl Campbell bursting through a holes
 

DJnVa

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Dortmund in the round of 16. We've had recent history playing them, but they are playing much better this season.

Not an impossible task though.
 

DJnVa

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Spurs up 2-0 on Arsenal in 60th minute in League Cup. Go find a video of Alli's goal.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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Some dipshit in the crowd threw a bottle at Dele 10 minutes afterwards.

Crowds have not been covering themselves in glory in these recent NLDs

Edit: Plastic of course, but still shitty.
 

Kliq

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Well then; if that's true it looks like Alderweireld is probably on the way out. I wonder what that would mean for Davinson Sanchez? Hummels' stock is down this year, I'm not sure if he would be ahead of Sanchez on the depth chart.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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At a time when we were playing Ben Davies at CB literally yesterday, I am all in favor of this. I'd love it as a defensive depth move, I like it less as the "goodbye in the summer Toby" move that it probably is.
 

coremiller

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Hummels just turned 30. In a vacuum he'd be an excellent addition but he will be expensive and I'd rather see the club invest those funds in longer-term solutions or in areas of bigger immediate need.
 

Kliq

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Incredible form right now for the team, can we play Dortmund tomorrow?
 

DJnVa

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I can't believe we have to lose Son again. He is in sparkling form right now
He's not going until mid-January, after the ManU game---only league games he should miss are Fulham, Watford, and Newcastle.

He'll miss some League Cup and maybe FA Cup as well, but, YMMV on those.
 

DJnVa

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Nice win yesterday, and we're poised to gain points on either Liverpool or Man City tomorrow (or maybe both). Next league game is ManU then run of mid-table or lower clubs--Fulham, Watford, Newcastle, Leicester, Burnley, with some CL thrown in.
 

Kliq

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I'm willing right now to chalk up the Wolverhampton loss to the team just running out of gas at the end. The offense has been sublime with DESK (Dele, Eriksen, Son and Kane, or Denmark, England and South Korea if you like) in form; although losing Son right now sucks because he has been a Top 10 Premier League player since Thanksgiving. I hope that they can get some depth back in their central defense, with Vertoghen, Wanyama, Dier and Dembele still all out.

Kane's goal against Cardiff gives him a goal against all 28 teams he has played against in the Premier League, the best ratio in history. Henry has 34 out of 35 and Shearer has 37 out of 39.

Also:

 

DJnVa

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What's our best outcome tomorrow? A draw letting us pick up 2 points on each? Or a win by either?
 

Kliq

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A draw makes the most logical sense since it allows us to pick up two points on both; but I'd kind of prefer to see Liverpool beat City. The season still has a long way to go, and for the last 18 months City has been this unstoppable juggernaut that Spurs at their best could never really hang with. I'd like to see some "What's wrong with City?" chatter floating around tomorrow evening. Even though Liverpool is playing extremely well, I think their ceiling is lower than City's, and I'm more confident that Spurs could catch them in a title chase than I am about their ability to catch City.
 

coremiller

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A draw makes the most logical sense since it allows us to pick up two points on both; but I'd kind of prefer to see Liverpool beat City. The season still has a long way to go, and for the last 18 months City has been this unstoppable juggernaut that Spurs at their best could never really hang with. I'd like to see some "What's wrong with City?" chatter floating around tomorrow evening. Even though Liverpool is playing extremely well, I think their ceiling is lower than City's, and I'm more confident that Spurs could catch them in a title chase than I am about their ability to catch City.
I see it the other way -- if Spurs are going to have any chance of catching Liverpool (and they have very little), they need Liverpool to start dropping points. This is Liverpool's most difficult remaining fixture; if Liverpool get 3 points there, the title race is basically over.
 

Kliq

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I see it the other way -- if Spurs are going to have any chance of catching Liverpool (and they have very little), they need Liverpool to start dropping points. This is Liverpool's most difficult remaining fixture; if Liverpool get 3 points there, the title race is basically over.
I don't really disagree with you; I think you can think any of the potential three results is the optimal one for Tottenham. I just think City has a higher ceiling than Liverpool, and as good as Liverpool is playing right now, I think Spurs can catch them if they get a couple of breaks. If VVD gets hurt, I think Liverpool could easily drop enough points for Spurs to get back into the race; almost half the season is still left.
 

veritas

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It really doesn't matter, but Liverpool winning is pretty much game over for the title race. Spurs have a 1-2% chance of winning the league now, they need every point they can get vs both of these teams, so a draw is best case scenario for them here.
 

Kliq

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Yeah you know what; if Liverpool wins tomorrow they should just end the season. Liverpool could never have a big lead in the first week of January and end up not winning the league, right?
 

veritas

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I mean, Leicester won the whole thing one year. Weird stuff happens but a 10 point lead is huge at this point and it would take an historic collapse for them to lose it. Definitely not impossible, just unlikely.

And even if that were to happen, Spurs would still need a fair amount more luck to win the league, City would be heavy favorites and Chelsea would have a chance too
 

Mugsy's Jock

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Whew, that cup game was so one-sided it wasn't even fun.
3 for Llorente + 2 for Aurier + 1 each for Son and Kane (because of course Son and Kane) =7-0
 

scott bankheadcase

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It Kane has goal bonuses in his contract that was quite some goodwill from Poch.

If he doesn’t it was insane. But no injury so add another to the tally.
 

DJnVa

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It Kane has goal bonuses in his contract that was quite some goodwill from Poch.

If he doesn’t it was insane. But no injury so add another to the tally.
One of the twitter jokes making the rounds was that Kane was pestering Poch to play today and Poch said "Yeah, sure, if Llorente gets a hat trick, you can play."
 

veritas

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After the game Poch said that he felt like the fans who paid for tickets deserved to see Kane play. Which seems ridiculous. He also mentioned (specifically about Alli) how he trusts players to manage their effort in games like this, which I found interesting. That's not going to stop someone pissed about 0-6 going in studs up on one of them though.