Our Squad 2019/20 - and the Rebuild !

[Juicy Sushi]

The failure to get Ndombele and de Jong in the summer of 2018 threw off the timing of a lot of stuff. But that was just how things worked out. We had a pretty good summer all-around. Brought in two excellent midfielders, a couple of exciting wide players for the future and didn't lose anyone important. Would've been nice if we could've lightened the squad a bit more via selling Aurier and Wanyama as well, but that's life.
Really no squad should ever stop evolving, although last year was a bit of a wild leap into the unknown for us. It worked, sort of, but that was mostly by luck. We learned our lesson, and seem to have upped our game pretty well.

 

[LowNetSpend]

Ndombele is not a Dembele replacement. They have different abilities

Similar name though so made a lot of sense.

 

[Airfixx]

Not an obvious place for this, so putting it in the Squad thread :

55 names revealed for FIFA FIFPro Men's World11 2019

After yesterday's announcement of the inaugural candidates for the FIFA FIFPro Women's World11, FIFPro and FIFA have today revealed the 55 names in contention for the FIFA FIFPro Men's World11 2019.

www.fifa.com

For all Spurs alleged shortcomings in maintaining a good squad, its pleasing to note that FIFA have 3 Spurs players (Kane, Son and Eriksen) listed amongst the 55 best players in the world.

Obviously pleased for each of them - but having 3 of the 55 best players in the world (as judged by FIFA) in Spurs squad shows that Spurs are doing something right.

And it suggests that other good players will be happy to join Spurs so as to play with other top players (maybe one of the reasons that Ndomebele and LO Celso joined), and reinforces the belief that we have a good core of players in the squad to build round. Might help of course if Eriksen signed another contract with us but plenty of time for that now the TW's in major European countries have closed.

City: 9
Dippers: 7
United: 2
Chavs: 1
Scum: 0

 

[ShutUpPatrik]

I know, my point is that he was superb defensively. I'm not sure defensively Ndombele is at the same level

He isn't. At least not right now. Any Lyon fan will tell you that defensive contributions were not his forté. He was almost always partnered with a more defensive partner in a double pivot. Most notably Lucas Tousart.

 

[Spursidol]

But that's like asking Dele to drop back into Dembeles role and asking him to do the same job. Yes he can try but he won't be as effective

We need to buy a specialist DM to replace what we lost in Dembele

Dembele was not a DM

So buying a DM is in no way replacing Dembele

 

[Spursidol]

I know, my point is that he was superb defensively. I'm not sure defensively Ndombele is at the same level

Dele at MKDons was being played as DM/CM. Poch turned him into playing as an AM

Rose tended to be a LW at Leeds but when he first joined Spurs played as a CM . Was only when about 19 that he first played as a LB before going to Sunderland and playing as LB for a season and following that has almost always played as LB (although as a sub Poch has brought him on as a CM !).

Point I am making is that a coach's job is to see a players potential and develop him - not to accept someone playing in a certain position or way and not make changes.

Ndombele at age 22 is not the finished article and Poch clearly thinks he can be moulded into a Dembele replacement with added skills.

When Poch first arrived Dembele was not a regular starter - Mason and Bentaleb were the preferred CM2 with Dembele either played as RW or off the bench. Poch coached Dembele into the role you clearly remember him as but even in the first season he did that Dembele was not a consistent hit. And even in Dembeles great season of 16/17 whilst he was sensational at being able to carry the ball and break the lines, he was poor at giving a pass to AMs or striker who often needed to drop deep to get the ball from Dembele.

Ndombele already is far better than Dembeke at the final pass but not yet as accomplished as Dembele was at breaking the lines - but already he's not too bad. Clearly the plan is to coach and develop him into becoming a top class Dembele replacement ( but not a true DM)

 

[bus-conductor]

I'm not sure Poch sees it that way.

Poch has now been here for about 5 years and has influenced a number of things including who is recruited into the Academy. Marsh ( now on loan at Orient) is the only "proper" DM we have and I suspect the oldest age group who were being recruited as Poch joined Spurs.

All the younger age groups have DMs who can play football with good level of passing etc - the best if those players are Jamie Bowden and Harvey White who were both included in the ore season squad this year and both might even play from the bench in the domestic cups either this season or next, they are both great prospects.

But that also suggests to me that Poch doesn't see pure DMs being necessary - he wants players who have good defensive skills but they must also be able to pass.

Winks was a traditional no ,,8 in the youth set up who Poch has coached and played as more of a 6/8 player, partly due to Wanyama and Dier not being available but partly I think that was always his plan.

And the rationale is that when Spurs play sides that park the bus the more players who can pass the ball in the side the better, and a DM without that skill will not be involved in the game that much.

So I think we will see the Ndombele/Winks partnership as being Pochs preferred CM2 with appearances by players like Lo Celso and Dele and Sissoko as rotation. Sure we will probably see Dier there but only because he is in the squad so Poch will use him whether as a DM, CB or RB, even if he's not Pochs preferred profile of player.

So I don't think we will buy s DM in the next 12 months.

You may well be right but his purchase of Wanyama and us playing the best football during his tenure and having our highest finish for 50 odd years, you'd think this might suggest Poch should know the value of a more specialist 6 type. I'm all for finding one (from our academy or externally) that can also play football, all the best 6's do, but we do really need to "add" one - because the none of the players Poch is using currently can really do it properly. Would love to see Skipp given the chance. But fear he won't get the chance under Poch.

Also, with reference to what you said about Alli at MK only playing CM, I actually watched him play as an ACM for MK after we'd bought him. Pretty sure he played as an AM/ACM on other occasions too.

 

[Spursidol]

Ten-year club coefficients | UEFA Coefficients

Check out the current UEFA club and national-team rankings, which have a major bearing on qualifying for UEFA's competitions.

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With Spurs nominating Troy Parrott as part of the CL squad - and as he has only been at Spurs for one year he cannot be counted as an u21' but will be categorised as overseas trained for this season ( next season if not on loan he will be an u21').

So at the moment we have nominated our full quota of 17 overseas trained players.

And that means that if we want to sign any overseas trained players in January we are likely to be trying to create a space or two by selling the likes of Wanyama or Aurier., Or (shudder) Eriksen.

By the summer Parrott will have reverted to u21' for next season we have one space opened up for an overseas trained player.

We still have spaces for 2 players trained by Association Trained players - if we can find suitable players to buy or alternatively if the likes of club trained players such as Amos or Georgiou return to Spurs.

 

[Park Lane Mark Twain]

Everton ( rumoured in press ) to be going to report a loss of over £100m.

Doubt it means a meltdown but quite likely they will need to sell a few players, and buying will be very limited, and only if they sell more players.

Sounds like a Levy special or two up at Goodison. I remember barely 12 months ago Everton declaring themselves the winners of the transfer window! If true once again it shows the importance of financial management.

£100m losses in a league where money is thrown at them is a huge hit if true. I shall keep an eye out for what happens up there for sure.

 

[sudoku]

7th most expensive squad to assemble all whilst we built and opened the worlds most expensive club side stadium:

Transfer expenditure to assemble current squads:
€ million

1: 1014 Manchester City FC

2: 751 Manchester United FC

3: 639 Liverpool FC

4: 561 Chelsea FC

5: 498 Woolwich FC

6: 486 Everton FC

7: 465 Tottenham Hotspur FC

8: 312 Leicester City FC

Weekly Post 266

CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post

football-observatory.com

I've always said we should be happy with how we do being the 6th biggest club but with Everton outspending us in fees and I think they might just be outspending us on wages as well, it's even more of an achievement that we, in theory shouldn't even be Europa League based on the other 6.

Excellent return for the money invested really but it's now time to kick on.

Where does this site get their figures? I have Lo Celso as costing £50m (I'm ignoring the loan bit) and our squad total as £373 mill.

 

[Spursidol]

As the season goes on, I make our nucleus we keep next season the following:

Lloris
Gazzaniga (backup)
Walker-Peters (backup)
Foyth (backup)
Sanchez (backup)
Davies (backup)
Sessegnon (backup)
Winks (backup)
Ndombele
Skipp (backup)
Lo Celso
Dele
Lucas (backup)
Son
Clarke (backup)
Kane
Parrott (backup)

17 players from our current squad I'd keep, but only 6 (Lloris, Ndombele, Lo Celso, Dele, Son & Kane) start for me as it stands.

10 players seriously looking over their shoulder based on areas we can and possibly need to improve/ replace (Whiteman, Aurier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Dier, Sissoko, Wanyama, Eriksen & Lamela)

11 offer squad depth, not great reading for the investment possibly and probably required. RB, 2xCB, DM, CM, AM/FWD on the needed list, ouch! Let's see how this list pans out as the season goes on.

I started this thread with a post suggesting we'd try to buy one or two players in January and another 4-6 in the summer without naming names.

Of the 10 your post suggest we might need to improve on/replace (Whiteman, Aurier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Rose, Dier, Sissoko, Wanyama, Eriksen & Lamela), I'd suggest we will probably keep :

Whiteman - 3rd GK, no experience to date. I really don't know the plan for 3rd GK although it would make sense to me to send Whiteman on a loan to get experience. But unless we get in a HG 3rd GK, it maybe that he stays - I still think one of Poch's first decisions to keep 3 overseas trained GK's and sell David Button (now no 2 GK at Brighton) was a poor decision, and he's never overcome that.

Dier - Not played much for 12 months due to a series of injuries, so needs minutes to prove he is still capable, but if he gets back to his previous form he stays for me (at least for the next year or two unless a big bid comes in and we have a player in to replace him) . Versatile DM/CB/RB and was a committed player for us, what's not to like ? We have two players (Bowden and White) coming through either of whom, like Skipp, could overtake Dier, but that's one or two seasons away.

Lamela - I've not been his biggest fan as previously he's had about one good season out of the 5 he's had at Spurs. But atm he seems to be playing well and on a fairly recent new contract. So unless a big bid comes in and we have a ready made replacement in the wings, I'd ne in no hurry to sell. The closest replacement coming through the academy is Jack Roles but I'd suggest he's at least a season away from being able to be a first team squad member for Spurs, assuming he makes it.

The others I'd agree with, just a question of timing for me. Unless of course they suddenly pull their socks up.

Sounds a lot of players to replace but despite ManU throwing money at the problem for years, their squad needs more changes than ours does ! Puts it into perspective a bit

 

[Notabadsquad]

Steve Austin type rebuild you mean?

We need to be

Better
Stronger
Faster...

 

[Spursidol]

Steve Austin type rebuild you mean?

We need to be

Better
Stronger
Faster...

Think all the players need a new Duracell battery !

 

[spursmalc]

I would be stunned if we aren’t in Europe tbh. Beat Olympiakos and Red Star at home and we are going to finish 3rd at worst.

I was stunned when we lost 7-2 to Bayen and 3-0 to Brighton. Having said that I hope you are right and I would never have posted that before the Bayen result.

 

[Borodin55]

Think all the players need a new Duracell battery !

Any volunteers to insert them ??

 

[Spursidol]

Thought it might be worth capturing Mourhino's first thoughts on a few of our players, taken from a Q & A at today's pre match press conference :



In code - I don't trust him as a defender ?











'Eric Dier, do you see him as a central midfielder or a centre-back going forward?

Both. He can be both. He's a good player, an intelligent guy, loves Tottenham, we love him. As I was saying, it's a decision for the team. It was a decision the team needs at the time and he's one of the guys who easily understands that meaning. For him, the team is everything and you find sometimes in football some players when they are more important than the team. It's about them, them, them and when they remember there is a team. Eric is not that. Eric is about team, team, team. He understood and he's ready for tomorrow.'

 

[sudoku]

If we sell Wanyama, Aurier, and Eriksen we're gonna be pretty darned light on bodies. And then with Toby and apparently Jan on the way out? And maybe Rose too?

Interesting times.

 

[FightingIllini]

Interesting times.

We had a unusually stable squad for a good four years there. Hard to see that continuing beyond this season, and maybe beyond this month.

 

[Jayc1]

so now we need a rebuild?!

Large portions of the squad will vanish next year, I think saying a rebuild is a fair comment.

8 of our players contracts end within the next 2 years.

• Toby (30) - Seems to want to run his contract down
• Eriksen (27) - Openly said he wants to leave
• Jan (32) - No public outcrys and has said all the right things, but has been dropped for the opening games
• Sissoko (30) - I can't see him getting a big new contract when he will be 31 next year, entering his final year
• Rose (29) - Openly said he wants to leave in the past, will be 30 next year, unlikely to get a new contract
• Wanyama (28) - Injury prone and looks like he will leave this week
• Dier (25) - His role in the team has been gradually reduced to the point where we have better options at CB, RB and CM, even if he is versatile. Possibly has this season to prove a point and remain here.
• Skipp (18) - I expect him to sign a new contract, his involvement in the squad is increasing and he seems settled.

Tottenham generally don't offer people in their late 20's/early 30's new contracts, or if we do it's usually at a reduced rate whereas most players can leave for China and get paid 2-4 times as much. I think at least 5 of those players will be gone before next season starts - that's almost a quarter of the entire squad.

 

[sudoku]

Absolutely. We are in great shape and currently have a lot of our important players for the future tied down to very long term deals.

Error 404 | Spotrac.com

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2023 expiring - Walker-Peters, Clarke

2024 expiring - Kane, Son, Dele, Sanchez, Davies, Winks, Lucas

2025 expiring - Ndombele, Sessegnon

Add to this Lo Celso who will have a deal that is either 2024 or 2025 and that's 12 players that we don't have to be concerned about for the next 4 years at the very earliest. People really do need to chill and just enjoy the game for what it is.

Son contracted to 2023.

New contract for Son

We are delighted to announce that Heung-Min Son has signed a new contract with the Club, which will run until 2023.

www.tottenhamhotspur.com