West Ham (a) 18/19 ratings

[tedesco23]

Lloris
Trippier
Vertonghen
Alderweireld
Rose
Dier
Dembele
Eriksen
Dele
Lucas
Kane

Assuming this is a 4-2-3-1: World-class keeper. World-class 4. World-class 3. World-class 1. It's the "2" I still worry about. I have great love for both Dembele and Dier. But I believe Dembele's is past the point where he can regularly give 90 good minutes. And while I think Dier is a wonderful swiss-army knife of a player who can fill in as a center back or defensive midfielder when injury or rest requires it, I have never been convinced that he has the vision or skill on the ball to be a world-class starting midfielder.

I have hope that the best is still to come for Winks. I hope Wanyama can find his form again. But the fact that this is plausibly our best midfield remains my greatest worry about this team.

 

[Park Lane Mark Twain]

You have to say the same for Dembele then, no?

Well no not really because Dembele is still fit, still plays and has done so for the year Wanyama has been absent. If we were playing in a cup final tomorrow, Dembele would be in my first XI as would Dier ahead of Victor. That's what I go based on and that's how I see I think pal. Wanyama looks far more turgid than he did before, I can't recall the last hustle, bustle and glide from him in a Tottenham jersey so that's got to be a worry for anyone considering a starting berth surely.

Out of interest, if there's a cup final tomorrow and you're picking the first XI with no knocks,with everyone having the ability to get on the pitch who are you picking?

 

[Bazali]

Not sure why you think you will get abuse, if you talk sense and don't try to come bollocking in like you run the place, then in all likelihood you will be accepted in the same way as all of the other posters.

You were doing pretty well up until the first sentence in the second paragraph.

I stopped reading after that

 

[Park Lane Mark Twain]

Assuming this is a 4-2-3-1: World-class keeper. World-class 4. World-class 3. World-class 1. It's the "2" I still worry about. I have great love for both Dembele and Dier. But I believe Dembele's is past the point where he can regularly give 90 good minutes. And while I think Dier is a wonderful swiss-army knife of a player who can fill in as a center back or defensive midfielder when injury or rest requires it, I have never been convinced that he has the vision or skill on the ball to be a world-class starting midfielder.

I have hope that the best is still to come for Winks. I hope Wanyama can find his form again. But the fact that this is plausibly our best midfield remains my greatest worry about this team.

Agreed that our midfield could do with some TLC soon. Dembele has been such a beautiful player for us down the years but it's apparent and obvious he won't be a Lilywhite much longer and whilst I'm continuously impressed more and more with Winks and his development I believe our transfer record needs smashing if we find the right one for the team. Is that Ndombele or De Jong? Who knows but the lack of proactive focus on the middle of the pitch we just have to put our faith in.

The one thing I'm certain of is that the quality of the first eleven cannot go backwards. If we find a player we believe can fill Dembeles shoes we simply have to lay our money down for him. It's imperative we focus on staying in the bracket we are even if it makes Levy's eyes water a little more than usual. To dare is to do afterall

 

[Bazali]

and that was a bit of an alamo match

still when its an exception rather than the rule then they have to get back in touch with each others game

What’s Car hire got to do with it?

 

[Mick Cooper]

New on these boards but the idea of someone offering up their review and then shitting on all over them, and extending that argument for 4 pages shows just as much negativity as the OP.

I for one enjoy bus-conductor and his analysis. I might not agree with it, but hey, he says what he thinks. What proceeds is then 4-6 pages of “fuck off you turgid, spurs hating cock”

I think we all need to check ourselves and realize we are all here for the same reason. Some might not have the rose colored glasses some sport and some might not have the undying positivity, but so what? Push the disagree button and offer up a counter argument versus “get the fuck off my boards”

Or failing that
- he could take the hint?

When I was in the army we had an old joke

"Soldier you're out of step
"It's not me Sarge, it's everyone else!"

So some long winded "look at me!" rocks up on the site and expects us all to meekly fall in with his ethos, his negativity and bullshit footballing opinions?

Why should we all change step?

 

[Mick Cooper]

I stopped reading after that

It's good that he has his acolytes to come on and speak for him

 

[bus-conductor]

Well no not really because Dembele is still fit, still plays and has done so for the year Wanyama has been absent. If we were playing in a cup final tomorrow, Dembele would be in my first XI as would Dier ahead of Victor. That's what I go based on and that's how I see I think pal. Wanyama looks far more turgid than he did before, I can't recall the last hustle, bustle and glide from him in a Tottenham jersey so that's got to be a worry for anyone considering a starting berth surely.

Out of interest, if there's a cup final tomorrow and you're picking the first XI with no knocks,with everyone having the ability to get on the pitch who are you picking?

I don't agree about Dembele, he's a ghost of the "best" Dembele last two years. And lets be honest, first two years he was with us he managed about 35% of games too, so there's hope for Wanyama. And I think Wanyama just needs a run of games to get that match rhythm back, I hope anyway. Even Poch isn't always picking Dembele when available some of the time, either through fitness management or performance management.

I'd probably go:

Lloris

Trippier--------TA----------JV----------Rose

Winks-------Wanyama----------Eriksen

Lamela--------Kane----------Alli
​

(I don't mind who plays out of Sanchez and TA, as they both have different skills that I like). Depending on the opposition I'd consider putting Alli in the CM3 in place of Winks and then putting Moura as the WLF.

 

[Park Lane Mark Twain]

I don't agree about Dembele, he's a ghost of the "best" Dembele last two years. And lets be honest, first two years he was with us he managed about 35% of games too, so there's hope for Wanyama. And I think Wanyama just needs a run of games to get that match rhythm back, I hope anyway. Even Poch isn't always picking Dembele when available some of the time, either through fitness management or performance management.

I'd probably go:

Lloris

Trippier--------TA----------JV----------Rose

Winks-------Wanyama----------Eriksen

Lamela--------Kane----------Alli
​

(I don't mind who plays out of Sanchez and TA, as they both have different skills that I like). Depending on the opposition I'd consider putting Alli in the CM3 in place of Winks and then putting Moura as the WLF.

Fair enough but I still think Dembele is better than Winks and I tend not to agree regarding Sanchez and Toby. I think Davinson has too many unpolished areas compared to Alderweireld so I'd always go with him until the time comes when things change

 

[Cravenspurs]

New on these boards but the idea of someone offering up their review and then shitting on all over them l, and extending that argument for 4 pages shows just as much negativity as the OP.

I for one enjoy bus-conductor and his analysis. I might not agree with it, but hey, he says what he thinks. What proceeds is then 4-6 pages of “fuck off you turgid, spurs hating cock”

I think we all need to check ourselves and realize we are all here for the same reason. Some might not have the rose colored glasses some sport and some might not have the undying positivity, but so what? Push the disagree button and offer up a counter argument versus “get the fuck off my boards”

Or failing that
- he could take the hint?

When I was in the army we had an old joke

"Soldier you're out of step
"It's not me Sarge, it's everyone else!"

So some long winded "look at me!" rocks up on the site and expects us all to meekly fall in with his ethos, his negativity and bullshit footballing opinions?

Why should we all change step?

Why should you get so worked up about it? Let the people that want to join in the discussion, discuss, and get off your high horse of “you are wrong and thus need to get off the boards”.

Unless bus’s posts are taking up a huge bandwidth on the servers (no in part due to you firing off), what is the issue?

Don’t enter and leave it be?

 

[Cravenspurs]

I enjoy the analysis and can appreciate differing opinions but I really can't stand the constant crapping over Dier in particular, (and Sissoko) from BC and a couple of other newcomers recently. It is constant and tedious, not unlike how it was against Lamela for a long while there. Like it or not, Dier plays a huge number of minutes for this Spurs team that is 2 points off the top playing sometimes ugly football, and he has been a constant in the team for some time. I don't think it is going to change and I personally think that he is one of the first names on the team sheet for Poch.

The crapping over Dier is IMO worth crapping over. We need to upgrade on him if we want to win the title.

The gap between the top 6 and the bottom is widening and our legitimacy comes down to our ability to beat the top 6. We need to upgrade all of midfield if we want to play attractive, goal scoring football.

 

[BangkokSpud]

The crapping over Dier is IMO worth crapping over. We need to upgrade on him if we want to win the title.

The gap between the top 6 and the bottom is widening and our legitimacy comes down to our ability to beat the top 6. We need to upgrade all of midfield if we want to play attractive, goal scoring football.

Who are the players who could do a better job as CDM than Dier ... clearly no English players or he wouldn't start for England ... so just who?

Toni Kroos - but he's >100m and he's got a contract until 2022 at Real Madrid
Mousa Dembele - already plays for us
Ivan Rakitia - but he's >80m and he's got a contract until 2021 at Barca
Andre Zambo - just signed for Fulham
Lucas Biglia - he's got a contract until 2021 at AC Milan
Fernandinho - but he's got a contract until 2020 at Man City
Jorginho - just signed for Chelsea

So any of the more obvious so called 'upgrades' are not available unless we were to find 100m to spend ...

If you can find a player who's better, available, and not on the radar of every other top club ... please don't post it here but let the club know ... can't wait for them to announce him ... but for sure I won't be holding my breath

Dier is in the top ten of pretty much every list for CDM's - he's currently ranked 7 by www.sportskeeda.com ... if you're looking for upgrades then Dier is definitely not the place to start ....

 

[Park Lane Mark Twain]

Who are the players who could do a better job as CDM than Dier ... clearly no English players or he wouldn't start for England ... so just who?

Toni Kroos - but he's >100m and he's got a contract until 2022 at Real Madrid
Mousa Dembele - already plays for us
Ivan Rakitia - but he's >80m and he's got a contract until 2021 at Barca
Andre Zambo - just signed for Fulham
Lucas Biglia - he's got a contract until 2021 at AC Milan
Fernandinho - but he's got a contract until 2020 at Man City
Jorginho - just signed for Chelsea

So any of the more obvious so called 'upgrades' are not available unless we were to find 100m to spend ...

If you can find a player who's better, available, and not on the radar of every other top club ... please don't post it here but let the club know ... can't wait for them to announce him ... but for sure I won't be holding my breath

Dier is in the top ten of pretty much every list for CDM's - he's currently ranked 7 by www.sportskeeda.com ... if you're looking for upgrades then Dier is definitely not the place to start ....

I need to know a little more about them but Ruben Neves and Stanislav Lobotka look like interesting DMs and we've been heavily linked with Barrios of course (Weigl at Dortmund gets good reviews but I haven't seen enough of them to really say I've got my eye on him) . Personally I do think some culture needs to be added to our midfield, both creatively and defensively but with Diers versatility I struggle to see how it will be him that moves on. Big Vic has a fight on his hands if he wants to have a future in N17, which is a real big shame. Hopefully he can turn his stop start spell around.

If we got the chance to get Neves, I'd take him all day long IMO I think he'll eventually end up at a top team

 

[Park Lane Mark Twain]

Who are the players who could do a better job as CDM than Dier ... clearly no English players or he wouldn't start for England ... so just who?

Toni Kroos - but he's >100m and he's got a contract until 2022 at Real Madrid
Mousa Dembele - already plays for us
Ivan Rakitia - but he's >80m and he's got a contract until 2021 at Barca
Andre Zambo - just signed for Fulham
Lucas Biglia - he's got a contract until 2021 at AC Milan
Fernandinho - but he's got a contract until 2020 at Man City
Jorginho - just signed for Chelsea

So any of the more obvious so called 'upgrades' are not available unless we were to find 100m to spend ...

If you can find a player who's better, available, and not on the radar of every other top club ... please don't post it here but let the club know ... can't wait for them to announce him ... but for sure I won't be holding my breath

Dier is in the top ten of pretty much every list for CDM's - he's currently ranked 7 by www.sportskeeda.com ... if you're looking for upgrades then Dier is definitely not the place to start ....

Also been keeping my eye on Sander Berge since we were linked. He seems to be pretty strong with a nice touch and stride and is big and bustly like Poch seems to appreciate in a DM. Just thinking out loud but I definitely think there's plenty of talent out there for us to scope at a time where a lot of our rivals have hefty cover in CM. Also saw us linked with the PSV DM Hendrix a while back so will be interesting to see how he does, along with Bergwijn when we play them this week

 

[BangkokSpud]

Also been keeping my eye on Sander Berge since we were linked. He seems to be pretty strong with a nice touch and stride and is big and bustly like Poch seems to appreciate in a DM. Just thinking out loud but I definitely think there's plenty of talent out there for us to scope at a time where a lot of our rivals have hefty cover in CM. Also saw us linked with the PSV DM Hendrix a while back so will be interesting to see how he does, along with Bergwijn when we play them this week

Yup ... some very good shouts, and you make a good point that most off our rivals all have solid DCM's ... whilst adding any of these players would add squad depth, not for one second would they automatically start over Dier ...

I'd rather continue to develop Winks, Amos, Marsh, Skipp from the juniors, and hope to scout the next Lothar Matthaus at a Dele price .....

 

[TracyCK]

The crapping over Dier is IMO worth crapping over. We need to upgrade on him if we want to win the title.

I don’t disagree with speculation over upgrades, improvements, additions, I disagree with constantly dissing one (any) of our current players in order to have that discussion.

 

[Mick Cooper]

Why should you get so worked up about it? Let the people that want to join in the discussion, discuss, and get off your high horse of “you are wrong and thus need to get off the boards”.

Unless bus’s posts are taking up a huge bandwidth on the servers (no in part due to you firing off), what is the issue?

Don’t enter and leave it be?

What makes you think I'm worked up?

I think it's a laugh, and folks like you just make it funnier.
Gibbs was funny to laugh at until everyone got bored with him. What I don't get is people with Rhino hides so impenetrable that faced with a sea of negativity they just don't take the hint.
Do you remember when MOTD was worth watching? Now it's 10% of YouTube highlights, and 90% analysis paralysis - but at least it's by people who played at the top level, not some "know it all" pub bore with a captive audience.

I'm not going to apologise for being an idealistic Spurs supporter who doesn't want to see endless tirades against players that let us down (in their ignorant opinion) or one that looks at the situation and sees the glass half full. Frankly I can't stand seeing some grandstanding ignoramus spouting cobblers about my team, and as far as I see it, if someone stands up and puts their half baked ideas out in public, then the public has the right to throw rotten tomatoes to show what they think.
People are happy to do it to me, so now it's my turn.

If you want to (metaphorically) suck his dick and stroke his ego then go right ahead. Just remember though, we can see you on here, so you might like to go some place a little more private.

 

[Mick Cooper]

The crapping over Dier is IMO worth crapping over. We need to upgrade on him if we want to win the title.

The gap between the top 6 and the bottom is widening and our legitimacy comes down to our ability to beat the top 6. We need to upgrade all of midfield if we want to play attractive, goal scoring football.

So we just root through our pockets and pull out a couple of hundred mill and become kings of the world do we?
We don't have a sheikh or a thief to bankroll us

 

[Boltonspur]

Without Sissoko we dont score or win. Bit weird to still not acknowledge how important he was yesterday.

Not his biggest fan, but undeniable fact there. His best game in a spurs shirt for me. Hoping there’s many more performances like it in the coming months. Never unhappy to be proven wrong when a Spurs player performs at a level I didn’t think he was capable of.
MOTM on Saturday

 

[Blanchflower]

Who are the players who could do a better job as CDM than Dier ... clearly no English players or he wouldn't start for England ... so just who?

Toni Kroos - but he's >100m and he's got a contract until 2022 at Real Madrid
Mousa Dembele - already plays for us
Ivan Rakitia - but he's >80m and he's got a contract until 2021 at Barca
Andre Zambo - just signed for Fulham
Lucas Biglia - he's got a contract until 2021 at AC Milan
Fernandinho - but he's got a contract until 2020 at Man City
Jorginho - just signed for Chelsea

So any of the more obvious so called 'upgrades' are not available unless we were to find 100m to spend ...

If you can find a player who's better, available, and not on the radar of every other top club ... please don't post it here but let the club know ... can't wait for them to announce him ... but for sure I won't be holding my breath

Dier is in the top ten of pretty much every list for CDM's - he's currently ranked 7 by www.sportskeeda.com ... if you're looking for upgrades then Dier is definitely not the place to start ....

We were offered Thiago Alcantara in the summer