Thought Rodriguez was excellent last season. Reminded me of Ljungberg in the way that he'd start on the wing but unpredictably burst into the box at pace and finish chances effectively. 15 league goals for a wide forward playing at a mid-table side where he didn't take the penalties or free-kicks is a decent return, that's as many as Lamela, Lennon, Townsend, Chadli, Sigurdsson and Eriksen put together scored. He managed to score at White Hart Lane and Stamford Bridge, and the year before got goals against us, Chelsea (twice), Liverpool and Man Utd at Old Trafford under Ferguson.
I have two doubts about him. Firstly, whilst having a fast, unpredictable, technically capable forward that can score goals is useful, I was hoping that the LWF signing would be a flair player. Brahimi, Konoplyanka, Ben Arfa, Shaqiri etc. Not necessarily those players, but players of that ilk, who have the ball control and technical skill to wow the crowd, to skin defenders, to find a way through when the opposition is parking the bus, to win over new generations of fans and to excite other players about the prospect of joining Tottenham and getting to play alongside them. I don't think Rodriguez is that kind of player.
Secondly - the injury. I know he's ahead of schedule blah blah blah. This is Spurs we're talking about. If there's any injury doubt about him, it'll flare up and we probably won't see the best of him. It's a particularly high risk when pace was a major part of the player's game, like it is with Rodriguez. But, if he gets anywhere near what he was last season, he's an ENORMOUS upgrade on Chadli. If we can sell Chadli and Paulinho for anything like what we paid for them and bring in Rodriguez and Schneiderlin, that's excellent business in my book. I'm assuming we're not spending £50m on the pair because that's not how Levy operates....
Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAY - Lucky ****er will get the birthday present I've always dreamed of, signing a contract with Spurs!