Can we win the title ?
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Wiz. I've been watching all their matches with interest and I'm afraid I don't agree with that assessment.
Their striking is awful and won't get any better because it's the players not their luck (and I doubt they have another 25M to splash in January).
Their defence has weaknesses that they have got away with for the most part, so far, but they are not good enough, pace absolutely rips them apart, as Newcastle did time and time again last week.
Their midfield has some potentially lovely players yet not one of them is doing it consistently and AvB mixes and matches them each game because they over-bought in that dept (and some of them will eventually become more than a touch irritated at their lack of match time). Add to that the fact that they don't actually dominate the MF anyway, even if they can play pretty football, Newcastle had an excellent first half against their MF last week until AvB changed the formation by moving Paulinho's position.
They have a long way to go and I can't see them getting even close to being the consistent 'very good team' needed for a Top 4 slot. They will have the odd good game but will come unstuck against pace and the top teams. I can't wait for us to play them !
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Come on ! You know very well that that was a low ball offer and just because there are no offers on the table at one moment in time doesn't mean that the following season there won't be a far greater offer. Was anyone offering 90M for Bale in 2012/13 ?
I don't know why people think Spurs are anywhere near guarenteed a top 4 finish. They've been there or thereabouts thanks to Bale rescuing them time and time again for the past couple of years. We bought two more great players to get rid of the one-man team argument. They sold their one man and might not get back to those heights. They're clearly decent, but theres no reason to assume they're suddenly gonna become boss
They strike me as being how we were this time last year. They'll either need their team to click or sign a couple of good players in Jan to start doing better
I didn't see the game but by all accounts they would've easily beaten Newcastle if it weren't for an exceptional performance by Krul, and then they'd have been level with us. They've got problems but so has every team in the division.
I don't think anyone's really dismissing them, but in terms of match winners, for how much money they spent in the Summer, they're someway off City, United, Arsenal and even us in terms of fire power. Soldado is a good player but we've seen other players like him come into the league and struggle because the team has to be set up around him, if they spent heavily on a quick, strong goalscorer then they would probably be as good as anyone in the league. They have a better squad than us, but we've got SAS.
Their midfield is stronger than most in the league, but at the same time they've got 12 midfielders and AVB keeps chopping and changing without finding the right set up. From the 100 mill they've spent only Paulinho have hit the ground running.
In all honesty I think they've spent 27 mill on a striker that hasnt improved them. 1 goal from open play in 11 games isnt good enough. You still feel Defoe is the one that would win them a tight game, not Soldado. Which in itself snt positive.
Last season they had the abilty to keep posession but also just run through teams with Bale.
Now they lack that power and upredictability in their team and its loads of posession with little end product.
They'll be in the mix for 4th no doubt, but I enjoy seeing them struggle and I hope it continues for a long time.
In all honesty I think they've spent 27 mill on a striker that hasnt improved them. 1 goal from open play in 11 games isnt good enough. You still feel Defoe is the one that would win them a tight game, not Soldado. Which in itself snt positive.
Last season they had the abilty to keep posession but also just run through teams with Bale.
Now they lack that power and upredictability in their team and its loads of posession with little end product.
They'll be in the mix for 4th no doubt, but I enjoy seeing them struggle and I hope it continues for a long time.
Froggy, the game against Newcastle was the epitome of what we complained about last season - opposition keeper was man of the match. I missed the first 30 minutes but thereafter Krul was a man possessed. We encountered some keepers in hot form but none, that I remember, came close to this performance.
Against the Bitters the first half was embarrassing. Men's team against an under 12's with Everton barely getting a kick. Should have been about 4 nil but, as I said, they don't have a striker. Second half it switched around - partly cause Martinez compacted his formation in defense and partly cause I think Spurs were spent after the first 45.
They've certainly got problems and AVB certainly doesn't have a set midfield. Maybe they've got no money left but if they could get a goal poacher in January they'd be hard to stop.
Against the Bitters the first half was embarrassing. Men's team against an under 12's with Everton barely getting a kick. Should have been about 4 nil but, as I said, they don't have a striker. Second half it switched around - partly cause Martinez compacted his formation in defense and partly cause I think Spurs were spent after the first 45.
They've certainly got problems and AVB certainly doesn't have a set midfield. Maybe they've got no money left but if they could get a goal poacher in January they'd be hard to stop.
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The one thing which is really shite about them is their shoot on site policy. They did it last season, and they're doing it again this season. The midfielders, defenders. All of them just have these stupid long shots on goal almost every time when an intricate pass would be so much better an option. It's no wonder why Soldano doesn't get enough opportunities to score. Last season they got away with it because of Bale. This season, not so much.
They need a player in the Coutinho, Silva, Mata, Oscar mould (who I thought Eriksen could become, but he's not quite there yet), and they also need a pacey forward to make use of those passes. They also need side backs that don't go for goal every time they're near the penalty area.
I think they are far from being a complete team. Certainly much further away than simply bringing in a prolific striker.
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Incidentally I thought Krul had the game he had precisely because of the shoot on site policy of theirs.
He did a marvellous job in a couple of occasions inside the box where Spurs looked certain to score, but the rest were mostly long rangers where he could comfortably make saves.
He did a marvellous job in a couple of occasions inside the box where Spurs looked certain to score, but the rest were mostly long rangers where he could comfortably make saves.
Not that straightforward. Selling their 100m player and replacing him with 5 high-earning others has seen a leap in their wage bill - something I imagine Levy will point out to AVB when he's thinking of transfer kittys etc.
I don't think they'll spend big in January.
I was surprised Levy agreed to buy so many at once TBH. I can see that they'd want to use the bulk of the money a.s.a.p, but I'd have expected fewer players (either of even higher quality or leaving more money in the bank) so there'd be less of an upheaval for them to cope with. That's one of the reasons why I remain to be convinced about the manager.
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