It's all about depth, people!!

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AberdeenYid

I'm very rarely proud of myself
So, assuming we have cash to spend in January, as H wants a "Special Player", should we be looking for this one player (who do we drop for a start?!) or should we be looking more at our squad depth. We're always being told by the media that we have a great squad, but do we?

Let's suggest we are happy with the following in and around our first XI:

GK - Brad
Def - King, Eunice, Benny, Walker, Gallas, Dawson
Mid - Parker, Luka, Sandro, Lennon, Bale, VDV
For - Ade

Which means the following are our squad depth:

GK - Cudicini (decent, but old)
Def - Bassong (bombscare, lost confidence) Charlie (slower than a tectonic plate)
Mid - Thud (could do a job, but also very slow) Krankie (Needs games, won't get them) GDS (oh, just go) Townsend (let's face it, he's not going to make it) Livermore (nor is he) Bentley (see GDS) Jenas (see GDS) Stevie P (he's just not good enough)
For - Defoe (I rate him highly, but know many don't) Pav (would struggle to hit water if he fell out of a boat)

So, a good half dozen internationals, a couple of decent young players, but not good enough for a challenge. This is why we need a few good squad players (around £5m - £10m each) to compliment one of the best first XIs in Europe. I'd suggest we look at the following players to beef thing up:

GK - Vorn (Swansea) is a great looking prospect, showing great agility and shot stopping. As is Krul (Newcastle) when we could take advantage of Cockney Mike's Super Duper Sports Sale.

Def - Baines (Everton) has a great left foot and deserves a chance at a bigger team. I would say he's the only better LB in the league than Benny. We should also be looking at Samba (Blackburn) as he is a fucking monster with a ball magnet in his massive head. Nobody would fuck with us with him at the back (even though loads of people fuck with Blackburn)

Mid - Dempsey (Fulham) has a fantastic scoring record and whilst he isn't the hardest worker in the world, delivering a dozen goals a season from a shite midfield makes up for that. Brunt (West Brom) has a foot like a fucking traction engine and would benefit from playing with better quality players. Allen & Gower (Swansea) have both impressed me with their delivery this season and they look at home in the Prem.

For - Dembele (Fulham) has the skills and the strength to be a huge player for a bigger side. Fletcher (Wolves) is a pure goalscorer. Fuck me, Messi would struggle to score for Wolves, yet Fletcher is banging them in. Graham (Swansea) also looks good, but still very raw at this level.

Quite a few there for everyone to think about, but I'd love to see any of these guys come to us and support our first team. I'd like to remind ev eryone that signing players from smaller teams can bear fruit:
Dawson, Defoe, Lennon, Bale, amongst others all from the lower leagues, let alone mid to lower prem.

Thoughts are welcome, as long as you agree, or I'll cut you.

AY
 
I don't see how you can rate mediocrity like Dembele (as good with the ball at his feet as Messi, but can't pass or shoot for toffee) or Joe Allen (hold me closer, tiny prancer) and say Andros Townsend isn't going to make it? He's one of the best homegrown youth prospects in years.
 
ollieXcore said:
I don't see how you can rate mediocrity like Dembele (as good with the ball at his feet as Messi, but can't pass or shoot for toffee) or Joe Allen (hold me closer, tiny prancer) and say Andros Townsend isn't going to make it? He's one of the best homegrown youth prospects in years.
Not seeing the evidence so far.

I'm not, however, suggesting we ditch our squad, just think we need more depth. At present, Andros might be fine for a game or two, but with Lennon out, we've not brought him in. That would suggest H isn't that confident either.
 
Honestly, I haven't been all that upset with Livermore so far this season. Does he look like a starter for a top four side? No way, but I think with a little more work, and with a good loan move for the second half of the season, he could be a decent utility player who does bring some depth to the team.

Caulker coming back from loan in the summer is going to add a ton of depth to the back four. I like the idea of a player like Vertonghen, too. King and Gallas aren't getting any younger. They're going to start to see their playing opportunities very limited next season. I'd love to see King transition to a coaching role.

Love big Tom but he needs a move, or a loan. He needs to get healthy, and then he needs regular football to prove that he can push his way back in. He's not going to get regular football with Parker and Sandro now ahead of him in the holding role. I want to see good things from, but he's been out of the first team for so long due to injuries that he's going to have an incredibly hard time forcing his way back in. I think we're better off sticking with and developing Sandro.

GDS, Kranjcar, Bentley, Jenas, et al. all need to move out. Their opportunities are too limited. Our starting midfield is fucking scary, any new player is going to have a hell of a hard time pushing their way in, so we need to develop young and promising players that aren't to the point where they'll be raising hell about a lack of playing opportunities. I think the club is starting to do that, with overhauling the "academy" and reserve side. I don't think we need to be bringing in big names to flesh out the midfield right at the moment.

Quality center forwards are fucking expensive, and are few and far between; this is the area that scares me. I'd love to see Leandro but I think we can all accept at this point that he would be too expensive. Spurs just don't need to be splashing 30 million on anyone. Let the "Big Four" drive themselves into debt.

Would love Vorm or Krul. Both are really impressing this season, aren't they?
 
Can't agree about Townsend or Livermore. Not everyone can be a superstar, they will be useful squad players in the future. Don't want to see Defoe or Krunchie go either. Hudd shouldn't either

I don't rate Baines as highly as others, would be useful back up but would he want that when he can get first team football at the level below.

Dempsey wouldn't get near our midfield so why would he leave somewhere where he is the teams best player. None of the other mids you have mentioned would be good enough, I suppose Brunt MIGHT be decent back up.

Wouldn't want to see any of those forwards in a Spurs shirt.
 
Interesting point you make there Aberdeen.I mean if we cant get a striker like Leandro we might as well go for a striker from the smaller clubs-not necessarily one of you mentioned-but ya it'll serve us well.
 
Don't think we'll know about the likes of townsend until they get game time in the prem.

Also think Livermore looked shaky at first, but the more games he played the better he gets.
 
I really like Livermore, he's very tidy and composed on the ball. He comes off the bench and retains the ball for the last 10 or so minutes and helps us kill of teams. He's a home grown player on a very minimal wage that knows he won't be a starter and is content to be a squad player. Whats the problem? I'd rather him sitting on the bench than Jenas for 40k a week. You need squad players like Livermore because otherwise we'll end up with 4 or 5 quality CM's with 3 sitting on the bench aggravated about a lack of game time and upsetting the morale.
 
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