Tottenham Hotspur - Official thread

[EJG1980]

Finally! Adebayor has signed

[Shozuki]

Finally! Adebayor has signed

err, yeah enjoy that overrated one season wonder mate!! He's probably bored by now - he only does one season...

[fallenangle]

Adebayor = good news.

Bassong is going apparently and Fulham are interested in Dawson. Lots of speculation in the sports pages about who Spurs are interested in signing for a range of positions.

[EJG1980]

err, yeah enjoy that overrated one season wonder mate!! He's probably bored by now - he only does one season...

I know it's not the current Arsenal way, but retaining the services of your top scorer from the previous season is actually a good thing

Adebayor = good news.

Bassong is going apparently and Fulham are interested in Dawson. Lots of speculation in the sports pages about who Spurs are interested in signing for a range of positions.

Bassong is gone, signed for Norwich yesterday.

I saw tons of news yesterday linking Dawson with QPR (BBC say we've accepted a bid worth an initial ?7.5 million) but nowt about Fulham. I would be very very sad to see Dawson go as he seems like a smashing bloke who really plays his heart out every time he's on the pitch, but... he has become quite injury prone in recent seasons, we've still got four centre backs even if he leaves, and it's probably the last chance we'll get to command a big fee for him.

[EJG1980]

Unless Jermaine Pennant is lying for no good reason, seems like Tom Huddlestone will be playing for Stoke this season. From Pennant's Twitter account (which is confirmed as genuine by Twitter):

"Morning ladies n gents.... I walked in training and got a shock saw my friend Tom Huddleston.... On loan till end of season good signing "

"Yes it's true he's going to have a medical later if it's all good we have got him till the end of the season."

[EJG1980]

Nice to see a bit of humour in football

[EJG1980]

Bah, thought it was going to be our day when we cleared two off the line right at the end, then West Brom go and score anyway!

I can't say they didn't deserve the point though, they were on top for most of the final 25 minutes. Lukaku was superb when he came on, a real beast and we only just kept a lid on him. If he keeps progressing he could be some player in a couple of years.

Same story as it often is with Spurs in recent years: we miss too many chances. About four in the first half that should have been a goal. Put away one of those and the second half could have been a bit easier. Defoe played well but his finishing was off today, scuffed it straight at the keeper three or four times.

I think we should get it right soon though. I've seen us play worse than in the opening two matches and win (we plays worse last season when we beat WBA at home) a little bit of luck and we'll start picking up points.

Thought Vertonghen did well on his debut, aside from one slip in the first half. Made some good runs out from the back and played beautiful passes to set up attacking moves, should be a useful weapon in future matches. Great tribute to Ledley King at half time too

Frustrating start to the season but hopefully it'll all click into place against Norwich.

[On The Edge of Insanity]

Yeah, agreed with your summary of that match today. On a couple of those occasions when Defoe shot there were better placed team-mates - especially Bale on one occasion second half - whom he really should have laid in instead.

I thought our midfield failed to function effectively today though, despite some of good football we played first half. Neither Sandro or Livermore offer the sort of creative passing Modric offered from deep, so Van der Vaart had to drop back to help distribute the ball wide, and was therefore too far away from goal to get himself in and around the box when crosses came in. Thus, on numerous occasions we ended up with only Defoe + the winger from the other side of the pitch in the area. When those two were Defoe + Lennon there was little chance of a goal arising from a cross.

Of course, with VDV deeper, one of the two 'holding' midfielders should have been busting a gust to get into the area, but that didn't seem to be happen today. It's hard to know if that's because AVB instructed them not to get forward, or because they failed to implement his wishes.

Once a Modric replacement is signed I think our midfield will operate far more effectively.

I also think there may be problems getting enough goals this year, because AVB's preferred 4-3-3 formation relies on the wide forwards chipping in with 25+ goals a season between them. It is feasible to see Bale getting 10+, but Lennon just isn't going to provide that (his best ever season yielded five). Therefore, for AVB's system to operate effectively, I think Lennon will need to be replaced by a winger who provides more of a goal threat. We've not really been linked with anyone who can provide that so far though.

[EJG1980]

AVB has said that switching to 4-3-3 is something we'll probably do in the future, but we'll be sticking with 4-2-3-1 for a while yet as it's closer to what the players were used to under Harry. So I think we'll be sticking with 4-2-3-1 for the bulk of the season, maybe trying out 4-3-3 in the easier cup matches as he gradually phases it in. I agree though, Lennon would either need to up his goalscoring game or be replaced with a more prolific player.

If we're struggling to get in an expensive replacement for Modric (like Moutinho) I don't think Dembele would be a bad replacement. Supposedly his contract says Fulham have to listen to offers of ?15 million, he's already adapted to the Premier League, wouldn't even have to move house. I think he could do a very good job if a "star name" replacement is proving too hard to nail down. The way he holds on to the ball in tight situations and wriggles his way past opponents and finds a pass if very Modricesque.

[fallenangle]

Forget a new striker, it's an effective alternative for Parker when he's out that is desperately needed. Without him the defence looks just as vulnerable as of old with all the knock on effects that has.

[On The Edge of Insanity]

I thought our defence only really looked vulnerable once we switched to 4-4-2 to chase the winner as West Brom then had an extra man in midfield and were able to play around ours. Until then, supported by VDV, Sandro & Livermore did well defensively. Once we sign a Modric replacement (fingers crossed) I can see our midfield usually being made up as follows Sandro/Parker + Modric Replacement/Sigurdsson + Van der Vaart/Sigurdsson. I'd imagine Sandro & Parker will be rotated a fair amount this season, with Sandro then becoming the definitive first choice next season.

[fallenangle]

That was exactly what I meant. When we play 4:4:2 our defensive players' failings suddenly became obvious. They need a relentless, hard workng Parker type player operating in front of them to paper over the cracks, fill in the gaps and link to the mid-field.Play a five man mid-field and Spurs are OK but with just Defoe up front that just doesn't work. He's not a good holding player and wrong for that particular role. It puts a hell of a lot of pressure on Bale and whatever other attacking mid-fielders are being played to get up there and support him. BTW rumour has it that Nani might be up for sale and Spurs could be interested.

[TonyDA]

Modric transfer to Real Madrid now official. From the club web site:

"CLUB ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT WITH REAL MADRID AND TRANSFER OF LUKA MODRIC

The Club can announce that it has signed a partnership agreement with Real Madrid FC and reached agreement for the transfer of Luka Modric, subject to medical, to the Spanish club.
The partnership agreement will see the two Clubs working together in respect of players, coaching, best practices and commercial relationships.

Real Madrid FC President, Florentino Perez Rodriguez, said, "The strong relationship and affinity between our two clubs has resulted in the cementing of a longer-term partnership and the successful transfer of Luka Modric. We are delighted to welcome Luka and look forward to working closely with Tottenham in the coming years."

Daniel Levy, Chairman, Tottenham Hotspur, commented, "Luka has been a terrific player for us and, whilst we preferred not to part with him, we are pleased that it is to Real Madrid, a club with which we now look forward to sharing a long and productive partnership."

Luka made 160 appearances for the Club, scoring 17 goals after joining from Dinamo Zagreb in the summer of 2008.
We wish him well for the future."

Am intrigued - and slightly embarrassed - by this talk of a partnership. What does it mean? First offer on any promising youngsters that RM want to loan out, first refusal when we next sell one of our best players? Very strange...

[EJG1980]

We do have agreements with a few clubs like this (Internacional in Brazil, San Jose Earthquakes in the US) but obviously this one is a but more high profile! Never been sure exactly what the partnerships entail though, as being a "partner club" with Internacional hasn't exactly helped us buy Leandro Damiao. I guess we'll have to wait and see what it means in the long term.

At least it means the Modric saga is over! Now get out there and give us a couple of new quality players for the team before the end of the window.

Edit: From Guillem Balague on Twitter:

I don't think its by chance that Real Madrid lose and they end up with a new top player the next day. Spurs have cleverly used the situation.

Spurs add another club to their partnership deals with clubs around the world. I am convinced Daniel Levy is one the cleverest guys in football.

About partnership: Spurs have been looking 4 a while for a club in Spain to link themselves to commercially but mostly for football reasons.

Watching him interviewed on SSN right now too. He says it's the same as our partnerships with other clubs around the world: mainly to do with academy players being able to swap between the clubs so they can experience different type of football, coaching exchanges to take ideas from each other, playing friendlies against each other for commercial reasons, etc, etc.. Nothing to do with either club getting dibs on each other's senior players.

[EJG1980]

Moussa Dembele is on his way to Spurs. According to Martin Jol the medical took place last night, so hopefully this will be officially announced today!