**Summer Transfer Thread: News, Rumours and Speculation**

Shamikebab said:
snip.
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Looks like Evans needs an ankle opp - so he could be out for a while once Ferdinandd is back

I really dont rate Wes Brown as a Centre half (ok he is probably better than OShea, who has been used there on occasion, and WB is definitely better than Gary in the middle of defence) but I will always consider WB's best position at RB

He is a better defender than both OShea and both Silva's, and OShea isnt that great at crossing compared to WB (although da Silva's are probably catching WB pretty fast in this regard)

As soon as the injury crisis in the centre of defence clears up I HOPE WB moves back to the right as first choice and OShea/Fabio's bro's name escapes me for the moment as backup.....with Fabio backup to Evra as you suggested

Remember Vidic played very little pre-season which is probably why Wes was played a lot in the centre
 
wohoo said:
I stand by my point, Bentley has had one good season in five,and thats the season Spurs paid stupid money for him.

Jenas, top 6 player, you obviously believe that, even most of spurs fans done believe that.
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As a Spurs fan I dont disagree...I also seem to remember Liverpool paying over the top for a certain RB after 1 good season.

As for Jenas, wont be a first choice player, but he has a lot of engine and works a lot for the team. More than capable of doing a job for any of the big sides from the bench, which would be the same role he would do for them.

Given the current reserves at Liverpool, United and dare I say it Arsenal, hes not a bad option to have. Whilst Arsenal undoubtably have the best potential the players I wouldnt put as above Jenas on what he can offer.

We have seen Arsenals young guns play exceptionally well when given the chance but they tend to bottle it when really required.
 
Weebull said:
I'd willingly admit that Spurs have a damned good squad at the moment, but they'll almost certainly struggle without Modric or Palacios for any extended period of time. The latter is their only decent DM, and the former their only real creative outlet. I'd say Defoe is their only natural goalscorer as well, unless Keane finds his old form again soon.
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Agreed Spurs will struggle without Modric and Palacios as they're massive for us but our squad isn't quite 'that' thin. With those two I'd fancy us against anyone especially at WHL, without them then I wouldn't be confident against some of the stronger sides.

Same can be said for pretty much anyone though?

Liverpool without Gerrard and Torres
Arsenal without Fabregas and Van Persie
Chelsea without Lampard and Drogba
Man Utd without Ronaldo......... :D
 
Tummy said:
I suppose Spurs amazing strength in depth is why they've been consistently challenging for the Champions league. Above the likes of Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

Tottenham, don't have as good of a squad as the top four, the first 11 isn't as good, and the back ups certainly aren't as good.
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This is where the main brunt of this discussion comes from. Whilst both those for and against are partly true, people seem to be missing the key link that all the top 4 have over what Spurs have (possibly with the exception of Chelsea, but the team not changing drastically over time covers this flaw).

Arsenal, United & Liverpool havent changed their manager in the recent times, whereas Spurs have more often than we get linked with players. The stability of the manager, and world class managers are just as important that the squad.

The Spurs 1st XI is as good as all the top 4, and the improvements that have happened since Harry arrived is evidence of that. Our bench is also as good as any of the top 4. Yes, we arent a top 4 side but that doesnt mean our squad isnt good enough to be there.

Injuries, manager changes, 350 players coming and going in 5 seasons hasnt helped, but when the players are fully fit and under the right guidance last season Arsenal couldnt beat us, not could Chelsea. United got a major helping hand and a draw against us, and Liverpool lost to us when it mattered and beat us in the dead rubber final game.

Hardly performances of a team not capable of competing.

This season, we have our 2 first choice CB's injured and our first choice back up. We signed Bassong (who had no pre-season at Newcastle) and he played alongside the not fully fit King and we comfortably out played Liverpool who came 2nd last year and the team most consider to be favourites to win this season. This is the same Liverpool team who were missing only their new signing, yet our bench was far superior than theirs.

See my point, our strength in depth is a lot better than people give credit.

As for where we will finish....6th.
 
Chong Warrior said:
Agreed Spurs will struggle without Modric and Palacios as they're massive for us but our squad isn't quite 'that' thin. With those two I'd fancy us against anyone especially at WHL, without them then I wouldn't be confident against some of the stronger sides.

Same can be said for pretty much anyone though?

Liverpool without Gerrard and Torres
Arsenal without Fabregas and Van Persie
Chelsea without Lampard and Drogba
Man Utd without Ronaldo......... :D
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I guess you've not read the last couple of pages of bickering then? The original point was that Spurs have no big names that would be crucially missed when out, unlike the top four. I'd say those I've named are as important as anyone elses, like you say.
 
We've completed the signing of Kyrgiakos and there's a chance he could be involved on Monday vs Villa. Rafa's said they'll leave it as late as possible before making a decision on Skrtel but knowing Rafa, he likes to have things planned in advance so I'd be suprised if he plays.

Rafa's also said Agger should be back in weeks rather than months.
 
Weebull said:
I guess you've not read the last couple of pages of bickering then? The original point was that Spurs have no big names that would be crucially missed when out, unlike the top four. I'd say those I've named are as important as anyone elses, like you say.
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You're right I hadn't read any of that...

I think one huge part of my current positive attitude towards Spurs chances is 'arry. He's done t'riffic and since he's arrived players are performing like their transfer fee's and wages would have you believe they're capable of. We're the classic underachievers and have it down to a fine art, along with "nearly signed" and "we'll do it next season" ;)

We now have a manager with a group of very good players who's capable of getting the most out of them. IF we perform to our potential and with a little bit of luck then it should be a good season. Even then 4th is still beyond us but we're more than capable of showing Citeh, Everton and Villa a clean pair of heels.
 
Just been looking at Liverpool squad, and I gotta say, we are seriously lacking upfront in terms of depth, and maybe CM, luckily we have players like Yossi/Kuyt/Gerrard who can cover a few positions, But we could do with some of the young lads stepping up, maybe they will with King Kenny in charge now.



GK

Reina/Cavalieri/martin/bouzanis

LB
Insua/Aurelio/Drossena

RB

Johnson/Degen/Darby (who I really rate)

CB's

Carra/Skrtel/Agger/Kyragos/Kelly/Ayala

RM
Kuyt/Yossi/El zhar

LM

Riera/Babel

CM

Masch/Lucas/Aquilani/Spearing/Plessis

Forwards

Torres/Gerrard/Porn star/Ngog/Nemeth
 
GK
Gomes, Cudicini, Alnwick

LB
Assou-Ekotto, Bale

CB
King, Woodgate, Bassong, Dawson, Dervitte

RB
Corluka, Chimbonda, Hutton, Naughton, Walker

LM
Modric, O'Hara, Dos Santos, Rose

CM
Palacios, Huddlestone, Jenas, Boateng, Livermore, Taarabt

RM
Lennon, Bentley

ST
Defoe, Keane, Pavlyuchenko, Crouch, Obika



Why we need so many RBs, I'll never know.
 
Twinblade said:
This is the same Liverpool team who were missing only their new signing, yet our bench was far superior than theirs.
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and Riera and Aurelio and Agger.

Also, if you think Spurs' first 11 is as good as all the top 4's and that you're bench is as good (and I assume you believe it's at least better than Liverpools) then why do you think you'll finish 6th?
wohoo said:
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We're lacking in at least 1 if not 2 attacking players, not specifically strikers. Both Kuyt and Babel can play up front and (at least Kuyt anyway) are far better there than the rest of our striking cover. The problem is Kuyt is our first choice RM and Babel is cover on the left. If we can bring in either a winger/attacking midfielder or another striker then our squad will look far more complete.

edit: also it looks like Kelly's going to be used as a RB rather than CB and it also looks like he's jumped ahead of Darby and Degen.
 
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Stag said:
Our first 11 isn't quite as strong but our replacements are arguably stronger, is a more succinct way of putting the last 2 pages of debate. :)
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Overall that may not be too far from the truth, but there are obvious exceptions. The likes of O'Hara on the left of midfield simply can't compete with the backup left wingers at Chelsea (Malouda), Arsenal (Rosicky), Man Utd (Giggs) etc. Foster would give Cudicini a run for his money, Alex is better than any backup Spurs CB, and I suspect Spurs 4th choice centremid probably isn't as good as MUs or Chelsea (those choices are open to interpretation, personally I'd go with Anderson and Deco).

Spurs have a well balanced squad and should be able to compete on all fronts, I'm not convinced they have enough genuinely top class players to be winning the title though. How many of those names would strike fear into the hearts of Barcelona for example? "Look out boys, Jamie O'Hara's coming to get us! Mr Fawlty! Mr Fawlty!!"
 
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HangTime said:
Overall that may not be too far from the truth, but there are obvious exceptions. The likes of O'Hara on the left of midfield simply can't compete with the backup left wingers at Chelsea (Malouda), Arsenal (Rosicky), Man Utd (Giggs) etc. Foster would give Cudicini a run for his money, Alex is better than any backup Spurs CB, and I suspect Spurs 4th choice centremid probably isn't as good as MUs or Chelsea (those choices are open to interpretation, personally I'd go with Anderson and Deco).

Spurs have a well balanced squad and should be able to compete on all fronts, I'm not convinced they have enough genuinely top class players to be winning the title though. How many of those names would strike fear into the hearts of Barcelona for example? "Look out boys, Jamie O'Hara's coming to get us! Mr Fawlty! Mr Fawlty!!"
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This is what I don't get, the fans Spurs fans saying how could the Spurs squad is are just listing all the players, if they listed the 'good' players there would be a lot less. As you've said, players like O'Hara just aren't great players, simple as that.
 
One more thing that's important to note is that it's not really fair to simply compare second XIs from clubs. Why not? Well, because you simply never see the whole first XI missing at the same time, and many players can play multiple positions.

Take Chelsea for example before they bought Del Horno. On the face of it, their backup left back was some unheard of youth player. But the reality was they could shift Gallas over to LB and go with Terry and Carvalho in the middle.

If you look at the Arsenal squad, they have many multi-faceted players. Especially where the forwards and attacking midfielders are concerned, most of them can fill a variety of roles.

The real problem is if you have a major crisis in one area like Arsenal had in 2006, where so many players are out that you get spread thin, then you've gotta play your 8th choice left back etc
 
HangTime said:
One more thing that's important to note is that it's not really fair to simply compare second XIs from clubs. Why not? Well, because you simply never see the whole first XI missing at the same time, and many players can play multiple positions.
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Which was why I was explaining my perceived weaknesses in the respective squads, not comparing 11's. :)

As for a backup to Palacios I'd also put a shout out to Jake Livermore who looks like he could be an up and coming hard man for Spurs. He broke his leg last season but has come back looking a lot stronger, he scored the header against Barca as well.

If 'Arry thinks Spurs need another hard man then maybe the rumours about us going for Scott Brown are true, maybe he thinks he'll do a Dave Mackay? :D
 
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