Tottenham Hotspur 20/21: José se foi.

Zososoxfan

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I had to look up the Faroe Islands and double check Azerbaijan (I was wrong). But, after looking at these clubs and where they're located, I'm positively shocked that Kazakhstan is allowed in UEFA. It's quite far from Western Europe.
 

coremiller

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There is definitely an optimistic case to be made for things coming back together and clicking once again and I think you're right that N'Dombele would likely be key in that scenario. My football predictions have been awful recently so I'm loathe to double down too much on the contrary.

In other news....

View: https://twitter.com/DaleJohnsonESPN/status/1289641903244353536
You could tell me that half of these were made up and half were real, and I would have no idea which ones were fake and which were real.
 

Zososoxfan

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Potential thread titles:
  • Struggling for Fitness
  • Sons of Heung min-Son
  • Love for the Low Block
  • It's Pronounced Jose (allusion to picture above)
  • The North London Special / The Special Comes to North London
  • We Have a Counter to That
 

Gunfighter 09

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The North London Special is pretty great, though the title should probably allude to playing matches in Kazakstan or some such Europa league nonsense.
 

Kliq

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I had a dream last night I was playing for Spurs against some nameless team. Jose was the coach and the other players were a combination of current Spurs players and my teammates from youth soccer. I kept blowing easy chances to score like I was Alvaro Morata and at one point one of my old teammates, someone I haven't thought about in a decade, fired in a sweet backheel pass and I completely flubbed it and everyone got really mad at me, including Jose for wasting that beautiful pass. We ended up crushing the other team 11 to 0 and the other coach got in a fight with Jose over us running up the score. I did manage to bungle home two goals at the end, and I remember that Son and Lucas had hat tricks. Also the soccer field was in my grandma's backyard.
 

DJnVa

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coremiller

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Seems to have either undervalued Hojberg, overvalued KWP, or both.
Fwiw, transfermarkt has them valued at £18 and £7.2, respectively.
Supposedly Everton offered more for Hojberg but he turned them down and wanted Spurs instead, which limited Southampton's' leverage.

This is a very good deal for Spurs. PEH for 3m and a player who was clearly not in Spurs' future plans is excellent business.

Now the biggest transfer priority has to be right back.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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BBC claims that Hojbjerg fee is agreed but closer to 25M (not really clear what exactly).

Southampton and Tottenham have agreed a fee for Saints midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg after weeks of negotiation.

Spurs initially fell short of Southampton's £25m valuation of the Danish international, who has one year left on his contract.

The two clubs have now finally agreed a fee that is less than that, but a lot more than Spurs' initial £15m offer.
 

DJnVa

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3m net difference is pretty amazing--for whatever reason it didn't look like KWP was going to crack into the lineup here, and PEH seems like what we need.

And wow--a rare Spurs move with no drama at all.
 
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Tangled Up In Red

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PEH for KWP + 3m is a crazy good deal (and I rate KWP).
If Hojbjerg can unlock Ndombele (and further free GLC), he's worth even more than just being a solid CM.
 

DJnVa

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https://theathletic.com/1980973/2020/08/08/hojbjerg-spurs-tottenham-analysis-winks-mourinho-lo-celso/
Hojbjerg’s headline-grabbing statistic is the less-than-glamorous “ball recoveries” – winning back a loose ball, for example after a clearance or duel — and this past season he made 510, according to StatsBomb, more than any other player in the Premier League.
Often, he receives the ball under some pressure from the defence, shifts it back and moves to take a higher position between the lines to show as another passing option. So he’s good at keeping the ball moving, and busy when it comes to getting into position. Around a fifth of his passes are made under pressure (according to StatsBomb data) indicative of his role in keeping play moving in midfield before another player plays a more direct pass forward.
In some ways, the most exciting prospect is him playing alongside Giovani Lo Celso, who shows up extremely well in pressing metrics and moves the ball forwards in a similar way to Hojbjerg, but with more line-breaking ability. This would give Tottenham a dynamic, pressing double pivot, although perhaps without the sheer athleticism Mourinho wants in at least one of the deeper midfielders.

Although Tanguy Ndombele seemed to end the season out of favour, he too could work neatly with Hojbjerg, bringing similar passing numbers but greater ball carrying.
 

veritas

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Promising kid, I'm glad he's going to get PT although I'm surprised they didn't find takers in the EPL.
I think even if they found someone in the EPL who wanted him, it would have been a big risk that he didn't end up playing much.

Also, tactically, Norwich should have a ton of possession in the championship next season. That is a better situation for his development than most bottom of the premier league teams.
 

Zososoxfan

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Moving some of the Doherty chatter here. Everything people have said about him in the summer transfer thread is accurate. He's a veteran hardworking wingback that Spurs will have to pay a premium for. I'm A-FUCKING-OK with this. Say this for Spurs, they have a plan and a direction and they're following it whether it's ill-advised or not. The club have decided to make a go of it for the next 2 seasons with Mou and Doherty is the exact type of signing (<20M presumably, high floor, low ceiling) that will hopefully allow the shiny toys to you know, actually shine. Having a clear first choice at RB will help Mou get his style implemented correctly, and then Spurs can figure out whether any of their young versatile/positionless/not-quite-good-enough-yet defenders (e.g. Tang, Foyth, Gedson?) can be transitioned there.

Even assuming the Serge transfer goes thru at some point, the club still have a fair amount of outgoing transfer business to complete. I'm specifically thinking about players like Rose, CCV, Lamela, and Dier (just making sure you're still paying attention!). While I'm no fan of Davies, I don't think he's moved. I think there's a real chance the club is looking to move Sissoko to get some money from him before his age truly catches up to him (unless Mou really does like him in the XI, a real possibility IMO). Alternatively, the club may just decide that values are too wonky this year and getting the books in decent shape is sufficient to bridge the gap to next summer.
 

Kliq

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I can't believe there is such a bidding war for a RB that doesn't defend, and makes a bunch of runs up the field only to bungle cross after cross attempt into the box, and has nine assists in three years, despite most of that time playing with a world class finisher who wins balls in the air. If we can sell Aurier for a hefty amount and also land Doherty, and perhaps invest some of the remaining money in a younger FB that is showing some promise and can come off the bench, it will be a good window.
 

veritas

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Some of Spurs twitter thinks Jose is trying to see if he can play there in a pinch or if they need to purchase another guy.
Yeah, I think it’s totally reasonable, didn’t have time to add any commentary. In general I think big clubs undervalue positional versatility. If Gedson Can play 500 minutes there that’s valuable and good to know.

What we’ve seen from Jose so far, he’s played a very unbalanced back four, with the LB usually not getting forward and the RB as more of a wingback. It’s a safe spot to hide someone like Gedson or Sissoko or even Lucas who aren’t natural defenders.
 

Zososoxfan

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Windy from The Extra Inch always says he likes it when FBs are swords not shields. While that won't be true for every club, for the true elite I think it's very true. Think of all the UCL winners of the last 5-10 years. Most of the FBs are offensive weapons. Kimmich/Davies, TAA/Robertson, Marcelo/Carvajal, Alves/Alba, etc. If you have the workrate, are fast enough to cover speedy wings, and have decent ball-winning skills, it's a great spot on the field to attack from because you usually are playing facing goal around midfield or making runs in behind where you're less likely to be marked. In other words, the position has an attractive skill profile for wingers who may not be adept at playing with their backs to goal or shaking markers.
 

Tangled Up In Red

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Windy from The Extra Inch always says he likes it when FBs are swords not shields. While that won't be true for every club, for the true elite I think it's very true. Think of all the UCL winners of the last 5-10 years. Most of the FBs are offensive weapons. Kimmich/Davies, TAA/Robertson, Marcelo/Carvajal, Alves/Alba, etc. If you have the workrate, are fast enough to cover speedy wings, and have decent ball-winning skills, it's a great spot on the field to attack from because you usually are playing facing goal around midfield or making runs in behind where you're less likely to be marked. In other words, the position has an attractive skill profile for wingers who may not be adept at playing with their backs to goal or shaking markers.
But, the reason CL winners can have attacking FBs is because they are so strong in the other areas of the pitch. You can afford to take the risks associated with pushing the FBs forward (and they, themselves, must do so intelligently).
So, I'm in agreement, but it's not as if any squad can be successful pushing the FBs forward AND it takes a special FB for that role. I don't think TAA would be as effective at, say QPR.

Long way of saying the full 11 helps decide one the sword/shield debate as much as the individual FB.
 

DJnVa

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Has anyone watched any of the Amazon doc yet? I haven't yet, hopefully tonight.
 

coremiller

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I needed to replace my Eriksen Spurs jersey anyway; an Alex Morgan Spurs jersey may just be the way to do it.
 

Gunfighter 09

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I needed to replace my Eriksen Spurs jersey anyway; an Alex Morgan Spurs jersey may just be the way to do it.
Hell to the yes. I already have Dempsey and Yedlin kits that aren't much good any more and was waiting to see if CCV made the squad, but now that green Alex Morgan jersey is going to be mine.
 

Tangled Up In Red

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CCV didn't even get a uniform number (nor did Rose).

Excited for Morgan, never been clear to me why Spurs don't elevate their women's team.

Finally,
Mourinho on Ndombele

"He’s working very hard. I have to be honest and say he is working better than ever."

"His condition is better and he is working very, very hard."

"Can he keep that commitment and desire? If he does it, he has incredible potential."
 

Gunfighter 09

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CCV didn't even get a uniform number (nor did Rose).

Excited for Morgan, never been clear to me why Spurs don't elevate their women's team.

Seems like they have turned that corner. This is the front of the website this morning:

And Morgan 13 is already a pre-select when ordering a new Spurs kit (ask me how I know). It looks like Levy has decided they can make money off of the Women's team and I'm exited for it.
 

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Jimy Hendrix

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Spurs could have one of the world’s best women’s teams within 5 years for maybe a Quarter Sissoko. It truly seems like a business no brainer to me as well as the right thing to do from the glory perspective.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Has anyone watched any of the Amazon doc yet? I haven't yet, hopefully tonight.
I'm about halfway through and really enjoying this, despite my dislike for Tottenham. It may be carefully curated but its a pretty interesting look at the inner workings of a team.

Mourinho is narcissistic dick but also likeable at the same time. Watching him try to talk to players is funny because he's both incredibly blunt and also clearly not really capable of communicating on the same wavelength as the younger generation of players. My favorite moment was when he was meeting Davinson Sanchez on the first day and the first thing he says is "Hey, you shit your pants in the cup final (referring to ManU-Ajax Europa League). We compressed the block and the whole team shit their pants. Match was over from minute one." Another funny moment is when he tells Aurier before the Olympiacos match that he is afraid of him because he is the kind of guy who will give away a shit penalty that VAR will see.

I thought Dele Alli came across really well, same with Son and Tanganga.

Harry Kane's team talks were terrible and were reminiscent of every time I was on a team that made the best player captain even if he was unsuited to the role. Just somebody uncomfortably yelling what he figures he is supposed to be yelling.

It seemed like Eriksen just wanted to try another club

Halfway through the documentary and they haven't even mentioned N'Dombele, which seems bizarre given that he was the team's record signing.
 

Tangled Up In Red

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I'm through 6 of the doc.
It is outstanding production quality. Light on football, tactics, etc, but really well put together and an enjoyable, informative watch. The narrative is obviously very well controlled by the directors.
 

Zomp

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Yeah I don’t think they’d be allowed to get too much into tactics. As someone who has always enjoyed Mourinho the person I think it’s fascinating to see him work.
 

Gunfighter 09

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Mourinho is narcissistic dick but also likeable at the same time.
I have found myself really liking him after watching this. It is annoying, to be honest. He seems so much more like an American football coach than Pep did in the previous Amazon doc.

Harry Kane's team talks were terrible and were reminiscent of every time I was on a team that made the best player captain even if he was unsuited to the role. Just somebody uncomfortably yelling what he figures he is supposed to be yelling.
Two observations, first, Kane is going to fit right in when he is some NFL team's kicker a decade from now. Second, it is really interesting to me that Kane is not the captain (Lloris wears the armband) but Harry feels the need to be the last one to speak every time. Several outlets / observers have noted that Kane is the second most powerful figure at Tottenham, and not Jose, but this documentary really seems to confirm this fact.

Eric Dier has been my favorite Spur for a while, and this doc really confirms that for me. Damn, I like the guy.
 

Tangled Up In Red

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Re: Kane, most of the first four or so episodes were taking place while Hugo was out, and not even in the locker room. Hugo gets much more vocal in 5 or 6, after his return, and (I've heard, not seen) in 7-9.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Two observations, first, Kane is going to fit right in when he is some NFL team's kicker a decade from now. Second, it is really interesting to me that Kane is not the captain (Lloris wears the armband) but Harry feels the need to be the last one to speak every time. Several outlets / observers have noted that Kane is the second most powerful figure at Tottenham, and not Jose, but this documentary really seems to confirm this fact.

Eric Dier has been my favorite Spur for a while, and this doc really confirms that for me. Damn, I like the guy.
I agree about Dier, who came across as very likeable and relatable too. The sequence where he gets subbed off after 29 minutes, the team comes back to win, but he is just miserable anyway in the post-game boot room was really powerful.