a team& squad built for 6th/7th?

[scott]

You've got to let the players develop into quality players we have one of the youngest squads in the Premier League. Sure, we all miss the days of VDV, Modric and Bale. While Lamela might not have the potential to be as good as Bale he still holds it in him to be very good, he's only 22. Eriksen is all round probably already a better player than VDV. Modric again is probably irreplaceable but the likes of Dembele have skill, power and pace to be very capable players in the centre of the park. Walker (if he ever comes back) has the potential and I'm sure we've all been impressed with Dier.

What you need my man is patience. If we ignore City and Chelsea whose squads are insurmountable at this moment, Lloris is better than any other keeper in the league (Courtois and Cech excluded). Vertonghen on his day is right up there, as is Walker. We're going to need an established first choice pairing at the back, Chriches, Kaboul and Fazio will fight for that position but once it is done then chemistry will grow.

Do we need more/better players? Probably a striker but that is it. Once Pochettino has it that the players are playing for each other we'll be well on the way. And while we want top 4 we have no right to be in the top 4. I personally enjoy the Europa league, we are a Europa league level club, we'd get smashed in the CL. If people don't like who we are then they need to think about their affiliation with the club. What we have in MoPo is our swashbuckling style back which we missed so much, come what may I'll enjoy it. Yesterday I enjoyed the match despite the result, we played with flair and vim (I don't believe Kane has that) which I associate with Spurs.

4th might be too much, but I believe we can have a right crack at 5th.

I agree with a lot of what you said. but if just need a striker to finish the puzzle, than surely you go out & get one?

 

[Thelonious]

disagree. look at the difference with Chelsea having costa & how much they missed a top striker last year.

also, your say are forwards are adequate. surely 8th or 9th will be an adequate finish? I think we should be aiming higher than adequate. lets sell lloris & get rob green as he is an "adequate" keeper.

we finished 4th with Crouch up front, it's not an exact science and doesn't really guarantee anything having a "top" striker. We spend £20m on Bony who misses a month in January with Ivory Coast, we spend £30m on Lukaku who is pretty raw. We're pretty much starting from scratch with this squad as things stand and it will take time, we've got rid of 95% of our CL squad.

 

[scott]

Agree. Problem was defending. We scored twice, that should be efficient to win a game.

yes & we were unlucky to not score against Liverpool... oh, hang on a minute. we never looked like scoring.

 

[Thelonious]

yes & we were unlucky to not score against Liverpool... oh, hang on a minute. we never looked like scoring.

I must have imagined Chadli's 1 on 1 then.

 

[scott]

we finished 4th with Crouch up front, it's not an exact science and doesn't really guarantee anything having a "top" striker. We spend £20m on Bony who misses a month in January with Ivory Coast, we spend £30m on Lukaku who is pretty raw. We're pretty much starting from scratch with this squad as things stand and it will take time, we've got rid of 95% of our CL squad.

true. but equally Chelsea signing costa might be the difference between them winning the league & not.
you are right that is no guarantee.
but that's the same for everyone. you evaluate which player will be a success & then try to sign him.
what's the point in baldini & scouts if we only sign players who will guarantee us success when that doesn't exist!

 

[Mensa]

I must have imagined Chadli's 1 on 1 then.

Yeah and Ades flick over the keeper

I love this "we need a 20m striker" - WHO?! Arse will tell you same, there arent many out there who guarantee improvement on what we have, and Levy can simply say, case in point, I bought a >20Million striker 12 months ago, and he hasnt done much has he?

Say it 100 times, its all about the 3 behind the striker now, they are getting the goals, striker is tarket and pivot and hold up man, of course it would be great to have Falcao or Costa, but they are rare and go to the best clubs anyhow and we arent at the top table!

We missed out on Remy, that could have been our opportunity for an upgrade but given a choice of course would go to chelsea so thats it, who else is available?

 

[scott]

I must have imagined Chadli's 1 on 1 then.

ok 1 good chance. so we might have lost 3-1. yay!
& maybe a better finisher would have scored it?
but your probably right.
our strike force isn't good enough for 4th whether u believe it or not!

 

[scott]

our attacking play was very poor against Liverpool.

 

[Thelonious]

true. but equally Chelsea signing costa might be the difference between them winning the league & not.
you are right that is no guarantee.
but that's the same for everyone. you evaluate which player will be a success & then try to sign him.
what's the point in baldini & scouts if we only sign players who will guarantee us success when that doesn't exist!

Signing a new back 5 gives us more depth and over time may well reduce defensive errors though, the first Sunderland goal was soft, the 2nd was just one of those things, we reduced them to one shot on target. Over time I think we'll improve defensively, also, the striker thing, we have 3 creative players who are more likely to create chances, so also, there is every chance we will score more goals and have more goals spread around the team. So, it's not quite as doom and gloom as you've painted it.

 

[Thelonious]

ok 1 good chance. so we might have lost 3-1. yay!
& maybe a better finisher would have scored it?
but your probably right.
our strike force isn't good enough for 4th whether u believe it or not!

not many people said we'd finish 4th pre-season, signing Bony wouldn't have changed those opinions that much either, Liverpool was a bad performance but I don't think anyone with any sense would think that will be our average performance this season.

 

[scott]

There are far too many Meh players in the team for me. 6th, 7th, is about right for the squad I think, 5th would be a very good season indeed.

The annoying thing for me is Redknapp was right when he had a pop at the Spurs fans saying we never had it so good.

I look at the team now and don't really get excited like I did in the Jol days with Lennon and later on with Modric, VDV, Bale etc.

We just can't compete with the top teams and need to accept it for now, and by that I mean don't get in a massive strop about not beating teams we would normally expect to as we just don't have the quality anymore.

I agree. that's my point. does levy know this? does he see 6th at best as acceptable? anyone know if there are any targets set for poch?

 

[scott]

Signing a new back 5 gives us more depth and over time may well reduce defensive errors though, the first Sunderland goal was soft, the 2nd was just one of those things, we reduced them to one shot on target. Over time I think we'll improve defensively, also, the striker thing, we have 3 creative players who are more likely to create chances, so also, there is every chance we will score more goals and have more goals spread around the team. So, it's not quite as doom and gloom as you've painted it.

I haven't said its all doom & gloom. I think with this striker force we are destined for 6th or 7th.
if u think those are doomed positions then I think you over-rate this squad.
& I think you are being harsh on poch if you think top 4 is a reasonable target with this team.

 

[Thelonious]

I haven't said its all doom & gloom. I think with this striker force we are destined for 6th or 7th.
if u think those are doomed positions then I think you over-rate this squad.
& I think you are being harsh on poch if you think top 4 is a reasonable target with this team.

I haven't said 4th is the target at all, finishing 5th/6th is par. Thought I made that fairly clear.

 

[scott]

not many people said we'd finish 4th pre-season, signing Bony wouldn't have changed those opinions that much either, Liverpool was a bad performance but I don't think anyone with any sense would think that will be our average performance this season.

agreed. but equally qpr wont be our average performance

 

[Thelonious]

agreed. but equally qpr wont be our average performance

Exactly, but you appear to be using our worst performance as a stick to beat us with though. New manager, 6 new players, with a fair few leaving. Cohesiveness won't happen in September.

 

[scott]

I haven't said 4th is the target at all, finishing 5th/6th is par. Thought I made that fairly clear.

that's my point?! if you think 5th/6th is par then what do you think we need to finish top 4? a better striker by any chance?

 

[EddyP]

As a neutral I'm afraid I have to agree with the OP.
Much as I'd like to see Spurs do something and shake things up a bit, right now you just don't have the players.
I do like the look of Dier though, and Eriksen could really push on this season.
But if reinforcements aren't made in January, I can't see a lot happening.

 

[scott]

Exactly, but you appear to be using our worst performance as a stick to beat us with though. New manager, 6 new players, with a fair few leaving. Cohesiveness won't happen in September.

I am only using it to balance the people using the qpr performance as their counter-argument.

I agree about your cohesiveness point. but personally I don't think a more cohesiveness team will make our strike force good enough. at the end of the day the most important thing is the quality of the player.
cohesiveness & other factors are important but no where near as much as the quality of the players on show.
my mum might improve the cohesiveness of our defence. but she is rubbish! which is the important factor!

 

[Thelonious]

that's my point?! if you think 5th/6th is par then what do you think we need to finish top 4? a better striker by any chance?

We'll need a season to bed in, 4th is pretty much beyond us unless we have luck with injuries. Another striker would definitely help, and a settled starting 11, and having players who can fill in of similar quality. I wanted Benteke, but that wouldn't guarantee us 4th.

It's a lot more difficult to finish in the top 4 compared to when Redknapp was at the helm, as the points tally has shown.

 

[Thelonious]

I am only using it to balance the people using the qpr performance as their counter-argument.

I agree about your cohesiveness point. but personally I don't think a more cohesiveness team will make our strike force good enough. at the end of the day the most important thing is the quality of the player.
cohesiveness & other factors are important but no where near as much as the quality of the players on show.
my mum might improve the cohesiveness of our defence. but she is rubbish! which is the important factor!

I don't know of many prolific strikers without a cohesive unit behind them supplying the goals, which was my point. Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, proper Ronaldo, Henry (spits), all had good midfields behind them. We need a team to play to the strengths of our strikers, which I believe the 3 players behind the front man will do in time. Will Poch achieve this? Who knows, but give the team and him longer than September.

Our defence gets criticism but surely signing a new back 5 shows we are trying to address it.