Christian Benteke

[scaramanga]

Don't buy that one bit.. Are you telling me that we cannot play with Kane and Benteke upfront against the likes of WBA, Bournemouth, Norwich etc, without retaining solidity?

If it were that simple I'd expect to see 2 up front far more often than we do in the top echelons of football. After all, we're all West Broms to the likes of Chelsea.

We probably could play 2 up front and win - that still doesn't make it the most likely method to consistently end in a win for us (name of the game when it comes to league progression).

The only "gaps in midfield we'd be leaving" will be those available on the counterattack if we play the Masaleb combo because - while they have some magnificent offensive qualities - neither of them has the mindset of a defensive midfielder and therefore are instinctively inadequate to spot those gaps and position themselves to close them. Ergo, a proper DM who can do that job.

Even with a top DM (one that we would be unlikely to attract) with everyone else playing some kind of 4231 variant we'd be overrun. That's kind of the point of the formation - even with worse players you can overrun a 2 man midfield whilst keeping some attacking threat.

I agree that our mix of personnel isn't quite right, but that has nothing to do with how many we're playing up front and everything to do with playing two young, more attacking than a DM midfielders.

The other major threat from these smash and grab teams are set pieces - where Benteke would be as good as having an additional centre half.

The best way to reduce the chance of your opponent scoring from a set piece is to reduce the number of dangerous set pieces you give away. Partly that's a personnel issue, but mainly it's a matter of playing a style and formation that has a lot of possession and presses high up the pitch.

 

[scaramanga]

As I said earlier playing Kane in the hole behind Benteke does not mean we are playing a 4-4-2 formation.

So you're suggesting we play our best striker, and one of the league's most promising forwards further away from goal? Not for me thanks. Kane already does a good deal of tracking back and chasing - that's as far away from the goal as I want him. If he's behind another forward (who will have to do Kane's current defending) then Kane would be another 5-15 yards back.

I think that Kane is perfectly capable of doing a job deeper and if that were really necessary I wouldn't mind. But to move him back in order to shoehorn in a target man that doesn't really fit our style or formation? Who would cost the lion's share of our transfer budget when there are other areas that need attention?

That just doesn't make any sense.

 

[scaramanga]

Today's rumours mention a part-swap with Townsend....

20mill + Townsend should not break our bank, especially if we get 8 - 10 mill for Soldado. Maybe Tim would also take Ade into the bargain???

So we value Benteke at £18M? Sounds about right.

 

[DublinSpur]

Effort when he wants too, under Lambert his body language was terrible. A similar trait to Adebayor, and something I see happening unfortunately. If we had no Kane then I would be more open to him coming.

Without a shadow of a doubt the two worst players I have seen play for Spurs in recent years - purely in terms of body language (on a given day) - have been Berbatov and Vertonghen. I didn't want to sell Berbs at the time and I don't want to sell Vertonghen today. I haven't seen this "bad body language" that you mention from Benteke. But given how incredibly subjective that is, I'm going to give the guy the benefit of the doubt until there's a shred of evidence that he's got an attitude like Adebayor.

I get that you believe he's like Ade, but I haven't seen anything at all to suggest that to me. So we'll just have to agree to differ on that.

As I've said before though; I suspect he's going to have at least one "bigger" club in for him than us (by which I mean a club that can pay higher wages). Also, I'd probably prefer Martial if it was a straight choice. I'm not a "Benteke at all costs" guy, but I simply don't understand the people who dismiss him as garbage or as not good enough. I've personally not seen that side of him. Sure he had a bad game for Belgium the other night, but we all watched Messi have a bad game at the last world cup and I'm pretty sure nobody would call him "utter garbage" (except maybe Cristiano Ronaldo when he's drunk after losing in El Clasico .

 

[Jordinho]

So we value Benteke at £18M? Sounds about right.

I think you're being generous. No more than 15m.

 

[imcallingbullsh*t]

He is a beast in the air. We don't deliver crosses in the air.
He started scoring when sherwood started playing balls in to him

For that reason its a No from me, in terms of attitude on the pitch i dont think ade sulks or calls team mates out like Verts or Berba have.
Benteke also seems to be one that may get frustrated but still puts a shift in.

If he had any sense he would move abroad to somewhere that play with wingers

 

[Superhudd]

I'll say it again Benteke is utter garbage.

 

[imcallingbullsh*t]

I'll say it again Benteke is utter garbage.

Would you take him or Lukaku?















or Damiao

 

[Superhudd]

None of them, used to think Damiao was the answer when first linked, but I simply am not a fan of these types of players. They need to reinvent the position for themselves, as I believe Kane has done successfully.

Lukaku is the worst out the lot.. totally understand why Mourinho sold him.

Thinking about it, wouldn't mind us going for Schurlle for that 30m.. doubt we would get him for that, didn't Wolfsburg pay 32.5m. That said, my wants are in defence and central midfield first.. Stone and Schneiderlin. Would be very happy to sell Lennon and Townsend to create a better opportunity of signing both.

 

[parklane1]

So you're suggesting we play our best striker, and one of the league's most promising forwards further away from goal? Not for me thanks. Kane already does a good deal of tracking back and chasing - that's as far away from the goal as I want him. If he's behind another forward (who will have to do Kane's current defending) then Kane would be another 5-15 yards back.

I think that Kane is perfectly capable of doing a job deeper and if that were really necessary I wouldn't mind. But to move him back in order to shoehorn in a target man that doesn't really fit our style or formation? Who would cost the lion's share of our transfer budget when there are other areas that need attention?

That just doesn't make any sense.

Well we will have to agree to disagree, as I have said elsewhere I think we have missed the boat with him anyway but he would be perfect for us.

 

[parklane1]

Effort when he wants too, under Lambert his body language was terrible. A similar trait to Adebayor, and something I see happening unfortunately. If we had no Kane then I would be more open to him coming.

Bloody hell another body language expert ( they seem to be a lot of them about), I wish I knew what Uni I could go to to get that skill.

 

[Hashegotthesackyet?]

Although Kane seems a great pro already, with a good attitude, I don't think he would be happy to shunted back a bit.
Right now, he's the main man in terms of goals, and has probably set himself personal targets, in terms of what he can get next season.
He's made that position his, and bringing in Benteke at his expense, for the number 9 slot, could make him feel undermined and under valued. Especially with the Corning Reds lurking in the background.

Only my opinion!

 

[Coys300]

Are people actually suggesting we put Kane at number 10? The guy who scored the second most goals in the entire league? Doesn't make sense to me. What we need is a versatile striker with pace. Someone who can play with Kane on the wings and also play instead of him at 9. Berahino for example.

 

[Superhudd]

Bloody hell another body language expert ( they seem to be a lot of them about), I wish I knew what Uni I could go to to get that skill.

Yes, I am a trained profiler and I work for MI5, its my job to know these things.

You know when kids go missing.. and the parents do press conferences.. I analyse that stuff.

I get called out probably once a week.. I'll visit a crime scene. I'll give the police a profile that may be what they are probably going to be looking for.

At night I change into my batman outfit looking to put petty criminals into jail, I am yet to use my shark repellent though, for some reason people always ask have I used the shark repellent.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Rather than slating or hyping benteke

Can anyone name a viable alernatuve to Kane as back up???

 

[DublinSpur]

Bloody hell another body language expert ( they seem to be a lot of them about), I wish I knew what Uni I could go to to get that skill.

My own comments about the body language of Vertonghen and Berbatov were just offhand references to previous discussions on this forum. But to take your question seriously for a second... the answer is "pretty much any Uni with a medical wing". If you study anything in medicine or psychology that includes clinical / patient-facing work, they teach you all manner of stuff about analysing body-language... and what they don't teach in seminars, you learn fairly sharp-ish in the first few weeks of your internship.

I am *not* saying that translates to some magical ability to discern the minds of professional football players based on Match of The Day... but you *did* ask ;-)

 

[parklane1]

My own comments about the body language of Vertonghen and Berbatov were just offhand references to previous discussions on this forum. But to take your question seriously for a second... the answer is "pretty much any Uni with a medical wing". If you study anything in medicine or psychology that includes clinical / patient-facing work, they teach you all manner of stuff about analysing body-language... and what they don't teach in seminars, you learn fairly sharp-ish in the first few weeks of your internship.

I am *not* saying that translates to some magical ability to discern the minds of professional football players based on Match of The Day... but you *did* ask ;-)

My post was not aimed at you mate at all . There is a lot of brick talked by fans about body language in reference to players they have never met but somehow they think that they can tell, its gonads.

 

[parklane1]

Yes, I am a trained profiler and I work for MI5, its my job to know these things.

You know when kids go missing.. and the parents do press conferences.. I analyse that stuff.

I get called out probably once a week.. I'll visit a crime scene. I'll give the police a profile that may be what they are probably going to be looking for.

At night I change into my batman outfit looking to put petty criminals into jail, I am yet to use my shark repellent though, for some reason people always ask have I used the shark repellent.

Its Walter Mitty, who would have thought he would be a member on GG.

 

[Jordinho]

Rather than slating or hyping benteke

Can anyone name a viable alernatuve to Kane as back up???

Just off the top of my head: Mitrovic or Castaignos would represent much better value for money.

That German kid we apparently bid for is just the kind of player we should: Young, potential to improve and perhaps undervalued (certainly much cheaper than alternatives already in the PL with about two months worth of above average form)

 

[indianspur]

Rather than slating or hyping benteke

Can anyone name a viable alernatuve to Kane as back up???

if we want free and experienced we could go for Gignac

alternatively, young with high potential there is Mitrovic at Anderlecht

PL ready, we could bid for Berahino or Austin

or the one being talked about as the next Benteke, a lad called Obbi Oulare at Club Brugge