January Wish List and Predicitions

[Gutter Boy]

I expect Oduwa will leave the club soon. IMO he will not make it as a top level professional footballer and might not make it at professional level at all.

I think that KWP and possibly CCV would both benefit massively from loans. Harrison is another who a loan move could work well for. Although IMO the one that needs a loan move the most is Onomah. I think he needs to go and play for a team where the players depend on their win bonus to pay their mortgages. He needs to have the inclination to coast through games dragged out of him somehow. He has all the talent and physical attributes required to play football at a club at Spurs' level, but at the moment his own personality may stop him doing so. I know he is still very young, but I think it would do him good to be brought out of his shell somewhat.

It's not Poch's way though is it. Anyone loaned in January simply won't be here by September. He loans to shop-window players he's written off, while developing those he rates himself.

2CV and Onomah are in our 22. If we lose them we'd need to loan in replacements, which would be a bit futile.

I guess a call will be made in the summer between KWP and Trippier. Harrison is only 19, so has maybe got another season or two before his judgement day.

 

[Finney Is Back]

They have drive in their eyes and you can see their game progressing at steady rates (admittedly Alli is having a difficult second season drop-off, but that was quite predictable and I think he has the tools to weather it). Eriksen has plateaued for several seasons now though and still goes rabbit in the headlights on the big occasions.

Wasn't last season Eriksen's best yet for us? Surely a player has to actually level off or go backwards before one can comment on whether they have plateaued?

 

[Finney Is Back]

Surely that's either Dembele or Winks?

There's been a few mitigating things this season so far - Dier's Euros hangover, Dembele's form/fitness issues, Wanyama settling into the system and Winks only just emerging. But I can't see many players under £30m who would significantly improve upon that quartet.

I especially wouldn't want us to bring in a bed blocker ahead of Winks (who is the new Modric!)

It is interesting that you make excuses for certain players but other players aren't afforded the same. When a player you have taken a dislike to has a bad period you write him off as having 'plateaued' even after they have overcome the bad form and again started to perform as one of the best few players in the team. However when a player that you have nailed your colours to the mast as liking has an even longer period playing poorly it is due to some sort of made-up affliction of a "Euros hangover".

 

[Gutter Boy]

Wasn't last season Eriksen's best yet for us? Surely a player has to actually level off or go backwards before one can comment on whether they have plateaued?

14-15 was his best IMO, especially the winter run to the LC final time. The stats also show he scored 10 that season, compared to 6 last

 

[Finney Is Back]

It's not Poch's way though is it. Anyone loaned in January simply won't be here by September. He loans to shop-window players he's written off, while developing those he rates himself.

2CV and Onomah are in our 22. If we lose them we'd need to loan in replacements, which would be a bit futile.

I guess a call will be made in the summer between KWP and Trippier. Harrison is only 19, so has maybe got another season or two before his judgement day.

Perhaps he has re-evaluated the way that he operates and decided that actually some of these young players are not learning as much as they need to just by training with us and playing (incredibly poor standard) under 23 games?

Have you watched much of KWP? He is very talented on the ball, but defensively he is poor. The problem is that in under 23 games this isn't really exposed as they are played at half pace. He needs to go and play at league 1 level get a rocket from a teammate when he fails to track a run to the back post and his team concede a goal as a result and the players miss out on their win-bonus as a result.

Look at some of our best players who made it coming through at Spurs..... Walker, Rose, Kane.... Even Ryan Mason and Andros Townsend who were both able to establish themselves in our first team at some point. All of those players had loan spells away from the club

2CV and Onomah are indeed in our 22. However both are a fair way down the pecking order in terms of actually getting an appearance. Both of them have the talent required to make it, but IMO both of them need to go away from the club and PROVE that they will be able to handle the pressure of playing first team football.

 

[Finney Is Back]

14-15 was his best IMO, especially the winter run to the LC final time. The stats also show he scored 10 that season, compared to 6 last

And how many assists?

According to the whoscored ratings Eriksen has had the following trajectory in the Premier League.

Season___Rating
13/14____7.22
14/15____7.09
15/16____7.45
16/17____7.37

So in fact the season that you consider to be his best was the worst in terms of his statistical rating. Addtionally a rating of 7.37 makes Eriksen Spurs' 3rd best performing player this season (after Rose and Walker with ratings of 7.50 and 7.48 respectively). Interestingly enough last season Eriksen was also rated our 3rd best player (after Dembele with 7.69 and Kane with 7.53) he would therefore seem to be consistent as well as effective.

Also if we just consider it in terms of Premier League goals and assists:

In 13/14 Eriksen got 7 goals and 8 assists (15 combined)
In 14/15 Eriksen got 10 goals and 2 assists (12 combined)
In 15/16 Eriksen got 6 goals and 13 assists (19 combined)
So far in 16/17 Eriksen has got 5 goals and 4 assists (9 combined). That is after 16 games. He is therefore definitely on track to improve upon season 14/15 and on track to at least match, and probably better, last season.

So, again, the season in which you say he plateaued was actually his worst season in terms of his output.

I think most people (even you?) would agree that Walker and Rose have been amongst our best performers this season and that Dembele and Kane were amongst our best performers last season. This might then suggest that the ratings are a reasonable reflection of how effective a player actually is over the course of a season?

I wonder whether in light of the above - perhaps you can see that you need to observe our games and judge the players on their actual merits instead of allowing an inherent bias towards/against certain players to cloud your vision?

 

[Gutter Boy]

Perhaps he has re-evaluated the way that he operates and decided that actually some of these young players are not learning as much as they need to just by training with us and playing (incredibly poor standard) under 23 games?

Have you watched much of KWP? He is very talented on the ball, but defensively he is poor. The problem is that in under 23 games this isn't really exposed as they are played at half pace. He needs to go and play at league 1 level get a rocket from a teammate when he fails to track a run to the back post and his team concede a goal as a result and the players miss out on their win-bonus as a result.

Look at some of our best players who made it coming through at Spurs..... Walker, Rose, Kane.... Even Ryan Mason and Andros Townsend who were both able to establish themselves in our first team at some point. All of those players had loan spells away from the club

2CV and Onomah are indeed in our 22. However both are a fair way down the pecking order in terms of actually getting an appearance. Both of them have the talent required to make it, but IMO both of them need to go away from the club and PROVE that they will be able to handle the pressure of playing first team football.

Is that not just acceptance of the status quo that came into place as a result of a series of short-termist managers? Why put the effort into developing players when you can outsource it, from both Redknapp and AVB. Now we've got someone who actually cares, who enjoys developing players, and who works in harmony with John McDermott.

I think Kane and Mason in particular succeeded in spite of their loans. They just used to go out, get kicked a lot by meatheads, and come back injured. Lower league doesn't have anything to teach technically superior players with hunger like those two.

I think our mentality and system are so important to everything now, I really wouldn't trust anyone else to keep our academy graduates on the right track.

I'm confident the coaching staff have got perfectly tailored development plans for Onomah, 2CV and KWP that will have them encroaching on the first team at exactly the right time, just like Winks is now.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Is that not just acceptance of the status quo that came into place as a result of a series of short-termist managers? Why put the effort into developing players when you can outsource it, from both Redknapp and AVB. Now we've got someone who actually cares, who enjoys developing players, and who works in harmony with John McDermott.

I think Kane and Mason in particular succeeded in spite of their loans. They just used to go out, get kicked a lot by meatheads, and come back injured. Lower league doesn't have anything to teach technically superior players with hunger like those two.

I think our mentality and system are so important to everything now, I really wouldn't trust anyone else to keep our academy graduates on the right track.

I'm confident the coaching staff have got perfectly tailored development plans for Onomah, 2CV and KWP that will have them encroaching on the first team at exactly the right time, just like Winks is now.

The key is to have relationships with clubs and managers who have a similar footballing philosophy. You don't just send a player anywhere, you make sure that they go to clubs who with the right values. I don't know how much, if any, under 23 football you have watched? My opinion having watched a fair amount is that it is of a poor quality. There is rarely any intensity and there isn't much emphasis on the result. Players therefore don't always have to do the right things as you always have to in a real competitive game.

You think that Kane and Mason succeeded in spite of their loans. I think they both made it because of them. The loans gave them firstly a sharpening of their technique that is always required due to the vastly increased intensity of first team football and secondly the confidence to believe that they could play at first team level. Neither Kane nor Mason used to go out and get kicked a lot by meatheads and come back injured. Mason's injury problems occurred long before he was getting sent out on loan. You say that lower league football doesn't have anything to teach technically superior players, do you know this from experience or is that just a casual observation? Lower league football has a huge amount to teach technically superior players. Technically superior players learn the scenarios where it makes sense to use those technical skills and also the occasions when it is less of a good idea. They also learn that having technical skill is no good unless you earn the right to use those technical skills. The greatest manager the English game has ever known sent David Beckham out on loan to Preston for that exact reason. Ferguson knew that Beckham had the skill required to play at the top level, but he also knew that he needed to leave his molly coddled World at Man Utd and learn how to play proper mens football, earn the right to get in the team, earn the trust of teammates and most importantly help those team mates earn their win-bonus in any possible way.

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

In Mason
Out Eriksen

I'm fishing for a like from GB

 

[harr1984]

I've got a feeling we're seriously in for Meyer,not sure whether we'd be moving in January or wait until the summer though....

 

[parklane1]

One thing is for sure no matter what GB wants Eriksen will NOT be leaving, thankfully Poch is a better judge of talent then GB is.

 

[Libero]

Would quite like a wide forward signing with pace and trickery like Alex Teixiera or Carlos Vela but its incredibly unlikely. A little more fluency and pace in the front line would do us the world of good. Having said all of that, if we signed Schneiderlin and Berahino this window then I would be equally as pleased given the improvement in depth it would bring for likely minimal outlay by comparison.

 

[SUIYHA]

I don't think we could get Bernardo Silva or any proper Eriksen upgrade this window (hence my predictions of no incomings), with the possible long-shot exception of Isco

Ah ok. In that case:

Wish List:
In - Messi, Bale, De Bruyne
Out - Nobody

Predictions:
In - Nobody
Out - Carroll, and possibly CCV, Onomah, Harrison and Edwards on loan.

 

[Gutter Boy]

One thing is for sure no matter what GB wants Eriksen will NOT be leaving, thankfully Poch is a better judge of talent then GB is.

Poch has got no sentimentality. Eriksen will be gone the second his upgrade arrives, hopefully this coming summer.

 

[Gutter Boy]

Would quite like a wide forward signing with pace and trickery like Alex Teixiera or Carlos Vela but its incredibly unlikely. A little more fluency and pace in the front line would do us the world of good. Having said all of that, if we signed Schneiderlin and Berahino this window then I would be equally as pleased given the improvement in depth it would bring for likely minimal outlay by comparison.

Party like its July 2014.

 

[Raziel]

Poch has got no sentimentality. Eriksen will be gone the second his upgrade arrives, hopefully this coming summer.

Mate, sorry to disappoint you, anyone who is a proven/guaranteed upgrade on Eriksen, we can't afford and/or won't come to us ...

Reality is this squad is very hard for Spurs to improve, despite the current perception challenge, this squad has scored more, conceded less and gained more points in first half of season than last. The ony obvious additions would not be first 11, i.e. a wide player and additional striker.

 

[AdamB]

1) Wish List
- In = Either a 3rd choice CB, or cover for Dembele or a top 4 class attacker (we have enough in the bracket below)
- Out = Carroll, Vorm

2) Predictions
- In = zero, a youngster at most
- Out = Carroll
- Net profit/spend = small profit

 

[Finney Is Back]

Poch has got no sentimentality. Eriksen will be gone the second his upgrade arrives, hopefully this coming summer.

He seems to have some sentimentality. After all he has kept Dier on even after bringing in his upgrade in Wanyama.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Poch has got no sentimentality. Eriksen will be gone the second his upgrade arrives, hopefully this coming summer.

Ahem.... I notice you have ignored my post disproving your 'plateau' theory. Aside from the fact that he shagged your wife, why is it that you want the club to sell the best attacking midfielder we have?

 

[Libero]

Party like its July 2014.

I don't care if its partying like 1914, if it leaves us in a stronger state with more depth and value to the squad going into the second half of the season for about half the money it would have done 2 years ago then I am in favour.