Our strikers next season

[Danishfurniturelover]

Yeah I love it mate. Love a bit of chess as well tbh, these kinds of games where you're using your mind to outwit your opponent.

It is probably why Boxing was always my favourite sport to play and one of my favourite to watch as well, a huge mental element there too.

Got an electronic teach yourself chess set, not very good at it. I like to keep with brain cells i have left in good condition.

 

[Superhudd]

The whole 'premiership proven' is just nonsense. Torres's move to Chelsea shows how any player can flop when moving to a new environment.

=D> Bravo sir.. the first decent thing I have seen written in weeks.

 

[Danishfurniturelover]

=D> Bravo sir.. the first decent thing I have seen written in weeks.

Torres was fast going off the boil at Liverpool though so it could be his level was just decreasing and had nothing to do with the move.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

To me this illustrates why people should refrain from saying "why don't you just" about what Levy should do in the transfer market with any kind of certainty. We have little to no details about the actual details of these contracts and the situation of any negotiation.

100% right

People claim to know what's going on with Ades contract...!b0llocks

The press write whatever they want as they hardly substantiate anything and they will not have a clue if. City are paying some or all or none of his wages... But spies fans on here do ?!?!?

Going forward I think we actually need a mix of forwards and perks ally I can't see us selling Ade or Soldado for different reasons . Ade because he is a performing again (please keep on going) and Soldado because we would take a big hit on the money

I'd love Bengeke for a sensible price and he hasn't been a permanent fixture this season so he may be an option

Bony has really impressed me of late and he looked good last year in holland but is he this season Benteke?

We need a player of Agueros style and that's where Baldini has to come into his own we would hope

What I wouldnt do is buy from the Italian league at the moment as so few players settle quick enough from that league and the better quality ones don't leave generally

So South America or Spain are the places to look

We could always go in for Remy who would at least give us a pacy option up front at semi sensible money

 

[the dza]

I'd keep Ade as first choice and try and get a player of a similar type to compete with him. Dunno who, Michu might not be a bad shout.

Off-load Soldado.

 

[Spursalot]

The whole 'premiership proven' is just nonsense. Torres's move to Chelsea shows how any player can flop when moving to a new environment.

Torres was crap at Liverpool, moved to Chelsea and continued to be crap. Consistency if I've ever seen it.

Whatever he had, he lost it before the transfer.

 

[Jordinho]

Torres was crap at Liverpool, moved to Chelsea and continued to be crap. Consistency if I've ever seen it.

Whatever he had, he lost it before the transfer.

Yep, Benitez broke him in the 2009/10 season. Torres clearly had some niggling injury, but the FSW had sold off any potential backups and had to finish in the top 4 to save his job. The fans blame the Americans though, not as if Rafa could ever do wrong in the transfer market.

 

[Superhudd]

Anyone know what Jackson Martinez has done his year?

 

[Gutter Boy]

The whole 'premiership proven' is just nonsense. Torres's move to Chelsea shows how any player can flop when moving to a new environment.

All the recent 'premiership proven' forwards we've bought in the last decade have been duds - Crouch, Bent, Keane mk 2, Defoe mk 2, Saha.

In fact the last 'premiership proven' forward that worked out for us was Kanoute in 2003, following a year on from Keane mk 1.

 

[milo]

All the recent 'premiership proven' forwards we've bought in the last decade have been duds - Crouch, Bent, Keane mk 2, Defoe mk 2, Saha.

In fact the last 'premiership proven' forward that worked out for us was Kanoute in 2003, following a year on from Keane mk 1.

I don't agree that Crouch was a dud. He's certainly not a pretty player but he is very effective and I don't believe that we would have got into the Champions League without him. I don't think that Defoe's second spell with us has been a failure either, he's no world beater but 48 goals in 138 games is not a bad return (and pretty much identical to his record in his first spell at the club).

 

[Modric THFC]

All the recent 'premiership proven' forwards we've bought in the last decade have been duds - Crouch, Bent, Keane mk 2, Defoe mk 2, Saha.

In fact the last 'premiership proven' forward that worked out for us was Kanoute in 2003, following a year on from Keane mk 1.

I had a look there and most premier league players that join the top clubs dont exactly work out.

I've bolded the ones that were worth the money.

Arsenal: Silvestre and Arteta
Chelsea: Cahill, Torres, Ba, Moses, Sturridge, Meireles
Emirates Marketing Project: Rodwell, Sinclair, Clichy, Nasri, Hargreaves, Milner, Barry, Santa Cruz, Tevez, Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Lescott, Johnson, Bridge, Bellamy, Given, Wright Phillips
United: Berbatov, Young, Jones,Van Persie, Fellaini, Mata(?)
Liverpool: Keane, Johnson, Cole, Konchesky, Carroll, Henderson, Adam, Downing, Enrique, Bellamy, Allen, Sturridge, Mignolet, Toure

 

[metalgear]

Torres was fast going off the boil at Liverpool though so it could be his level was just decreasing and had nothing to do with the move.

and so the converse could be true i.e. soldado who looks so ill suited to the EPL could just become a goal scoring monster next season?

 

[indianspur]

Spurs linked with Diego Costa this morning :ross:

 

[milo]

I had a look there and most premier league players that join the top clubs dont exactly work out.

I've bolded the ones that were worth the money.

Arsenal: Silvestre and Arteta
Chelsea: Cahill, Torres, Ba, Moses, Sturridge, Meireles
Emirates Marketing Project: Rodwell, Sinclair, Clichy, Nasri, Hargreaves, Milner, Barry, Santa Cruz, Tevez, Adebayor, Kolo Toure, Lescott, Johnson, Bridge, Bellamy, Given, Wright Phillips
United: Berbatov, Young, Jones,Van Persie, Fellaini, Mata(?)
Liverpool: Keane, Johnson, Cole, Konchesky, Carroll, Henderson, Adam, Downing, Enrique, Bellamy, Allen, Sturridge, Mignolet, Toure

I don't agree with who you define as working at all.

 

[Gutter Boy]

I don't agree that Crouch was a dud. He's certainly not a pretty player but he is very effective and I don't believe that we would have got into the Champions League without him. I don't think that Defoe's second spell with us has been a failure either, he's no world beater but 48 goals in 138 games is not a bad return (and pretty much identical to his record in his first spell at the club).

I think you need to take into account the fees paid as well though. Crouch was £10m and Defoe £15m - at the time they were very expensive cf some of the options abroad that were available if we'd had a bit more imagination.

To be fair though, both held their price to some extent, as did even Bent.

 

[Pirate55]

Depends on the direction our manager wants to take us.

It starts with how many strikers we want to start in most games, if we want to start two then both Ade and Soldado could be kept around. I really feel we have to rethink our central midfield if that's the case though. I'm not sure about Paulinho, Capoue, Bentaleb (at this point) or possibly even Sandro and Dembele in a 4-4-2-esque formation. They all range from good to excellent, but the only real proper passer in there is Bentaleb and I'm not sure he's ready to be first choice in a system like that. We're really lacking balance in central midfield if we want to move in that direction.

If we want to start with a lone striker for most games then I think we need to have a "complete striker" as our first choice striking option. Someone with a bit of height, strength, pace, skill, finishing ability etc. If you look at most top teams regularly playing a lone striker they have one of those strikers available to them or as first choice. The exceptions are teams that are so outrageously good on the ball that they don't need a physical option/holdup player. I'm not holding my breath for us to join that category next season. Look at Arsenal with Giroud and the young Sanogo, Bayern, Dortmund, City (under Mancini), Chelsea at their best had Drogba, and so on. I'm sure there are exceptions, but for where we want to move, I think we need that complete forward.

That, unfortunately, doesn't leave Soldado as a good first choice option. It leaves Ade as a good option, but one many of us will struggle to trust as that first choice striker and like Milo says we might want to cash in anyway.

I started a "which complete strikers could we get" thread in the transfer rumour thread this summer (iirc), and also this January. I still think that's a vital question for us if we want to push on.

Mandzukic or Lukaku would be up there on the wishlist, but probably both are like wishing for a supermodel from Santa for Christmas.

I agree with pretty much all that. I too would like the "supermodels" you listed above, but would settle for a much more gettable Benteke. As I have said in both the last two windows, he is the one we should buy. He can play up top by himself or potentially partner either Ade or Solly. He would massively strengthen (.pun intended) our attacking options.

 

[Pirate55]

It's been widely reported recently that the deal ran for the remaining period on his City contract which takes us to summer 2014. I've varying reports of what happens after that, one is that his wage remains thge same and we pick up the lot, the other is that his wages drop to the level of our contribution. I have no idea which is correct.

Links?

 

[milo]

Links?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...-Emmanuel-Adebayor-40-000-week-Tottenham.html

It's also discussed in the latest edition of the Spurs Show.

Ade's wages were also discussed at length in the Saudi Sportswashing Machine OMT.

 

[milo]

I think you need to take into account the fees paid as well though. Crouch was £10m and Defoe £15m - at the time they were very expensive cf some of the options abroad that were available if we'd had a bit more imagination.

To be fair though, both held their price to some extent, as did even Bent.

I think that both were exceptionally good value when you factor in the money were recouped on them.

 

[braineclipse]

Anyone know what Jackson Martinez has done his year?

14 in 19 in Portugal according to whoscored. Not bad, still unproven in bigger leagues and will be expensive at 27. Would be a very exciting signing in my eyes at least, but not holding my breath.

I don't agree that Crouch was a dud. He's certainly not a pretty player but he is very effective and I don't believe that we would have got into the Champions League without him. I don't think that Defoe's second spell with us has been a failure either, he's no world beater but 48 goals in 138 games is not a bad return (and pretty much identical to his record in his first spell at the club).

Agreed. Crouch did well for us and unlike a lot of our forwards in recent years he could strike up a partnership with just about anyone next to him and he worked consistently hard for the team.

I don't agree with who you define as working at all.

Agreed again.

I think you need to take into account the fees paid as well though. Crouch was £10m and Defoe £15m - at the time they were very expensive cf some of the options abroad that were available if we'd had a bit more imagination.

To be fair though, both held their price to some extent, as did even Bent.

Not sure if Artem Milevskiy or Damiao would have turned out as the perfect answer either considering their development in recent years.

Very easy to point towards the ones that did end up succeeding and say that's the one we should have signed, but the tried and tested players that could come in and do a job immediately also helped us get the best out of some of the high potential players in our squad. That balance is important I think.