Spurs thread 2020/21

These wankers - buying players for 15 and 20 million but furloughing their employees - i notice the media have nothing to say - if it was us we'd be being 'pitchforked' for such hypocritical and untasteful behaviour.

We've been selling players too, you know. Net spend on Hojbjerg after sale of Kyle Walker Peters was £3m. Net spend on Doherty after sale of Serge Aurier will likely be in the region of minus £3m.

Quite possible that Ndombele is on his way out too. And one or two others. Come the close of transfer window, I suspect that we'll have earned more from transfers than spent.
 
He's bought the wrong players if he is targeting top 4, although, to be fair, the transfer window is open for a while longer.

I like Doherty but he's a better wing back than full back.

I don't think so. Spurs' form overall under Mourinho was top four....even more so after lockdown. That's despite having to make do without a recognised striker for a long period, with both Kane and Son injured. Even worse, he had Sissoko and Winks at CM. Winks is decent. But not with Sissoko alongside him. Hojbjerg is ideal. Exactly what Spurs were missing in midfield. With added leadership qualities. All for a bargain price. He may not be a stellar signing but he will improve the team immeasurably.

As to right back, Mourinho used a lopsided fullback system last season, with Aurier very advanced and effectively playing as a wingback. Only problem with that is that Aurier's useful output in attacking areas was negligible. He routinely found himself with a ton of space and time in promising positions but was incredibly wasteful. This is in addition to being something of a liability in defence. Matt Doherty may not be the greatest defensive fullback or wingback but he is an excellent attacking wingback. Given the same number of opportunities that Aurier had to score or assist last season, I think Doherty could easily help us to an extra 15 goals next season. Once again, he isn't a star signing but he is a huge upgrade who fixes an obvious weakness.

Spurs already have a smattering of star players. What we have desperately needed for a year or two is squad balance. Centre midfield and right back were gaping holes. Next on the list is a back up striker. What's encouraging for Spurs fans is that Mourinho has identified what's needed and has given Levy a gettable list of players. Premier League ready players at that. Not sexy. But smart.
 
He might ma it through to the end of the season, but I doubt he will be there very long after that.

As soon as a player has a bad game or makes a big mistake, PEG will criticise him in public, and that will piss off the player and it just escalates from there.

Alternatively, he will start moaning about players he doesn’t have, and how he must buy to have any chance of success.

We've seen it everywhere he rock up; Chelsea, Internazionale, Réal Madrid, the rags.

He just can’t help himself.

He didn't do that at Porto; or at Chelsea first time around; or at Inter. I have no idea whether or not he did it at Madrid. The whole club was a circus back then.

Chelsea second time around, he walked into a toxic dressing room. The same players, for the most part, did exactly the same thing to Antonio Conte a couple of years later. At United, he walked into a club that was just a mess, with a clueless Chief Executive and board who were intent on marquee signings rather than actually listening to Mourinho and building a team. Or did you not realise that Mourinho wasn't calling most of the shots on player incomings there? Nevertheless, I concede that his particular character would only have added fuel to the flames that were already burning at those clubs when he arrived.

Who knows what will happen at Spurs? Maybe it will all go up in flames there too. But you can't assume that that will necessarily happen just because it has happened a couple of times in the past. After all, would it have been right to assume that Pep wouldn't stay at City for more than 3-4 years because that was all he had done at any club previously?
 
I don't think so. Spurs' form overall under Mourinho was top four....even more so after lockdown. That's despite having to make do without a recognised striker for a long period, with both Kane and Son injured. Even worse, he had Sissoko and Winks at CM. Winks is decent. But not with Sissoko alongside him. Hojbjerg is ideal. Exactly what Spurs were missing in midfield. With added leadership qualities. All for a bargain price. He may not be a stellar signing but he will improve the team immeasurably.

As to right back, Mourinho used a lopsided fullback system last season, with Aurier very advanced and effectively playing as a wingback. Only problem with that is that Aurier's useful output in attacking areas was negligible. He routinely found himself with a ton of space and time in promising positions but was incredibly wasteful. This is in addition to being something of a liability in defence. Matt Doherty may not be the greatest defensive fullback or wingback but he is an excellent attacking wingback. Given the same number of opportunities that Aurier had to score or assist last season, I think Doherty could easily help us to an extra 15 goals next season. Once again, he isn't a star signing but he is a huge upgrade who fixes an obvious weakness.

Spurs already have a smattering of star players. What we have desperately needed for a year or two is squad balance. Centre midfield and right back were gaping holes. Next on the list is a back up striker. What's encouraging for Spurs fans is that Mourinho has identified what's needed and has given Levy a gettable list of players. Premier League ready players at that. Not sexy. But smart.

Top 4 form from October in a truncated season?

If you think that squad and those additions will see you finish above us, Chelsea, Liverpool or United then fair play to you. Personally, I cannot see it unless one of those teams performs at a level considerably below expectations. Maybe Spurs playing the EL may help but maybe Mourinho sees that as Spurs' only realistic chance of qualifying for the Champions League.

As for injuries, Kane did not miss that many games. He made 29 starts. More than Aguero.

Looking in as an outsider, I would suggest left back and creativity in midfield are gaping holes too. I would think you are not expecting Hojbjerg to be the creative spark.

Good luck getting a useful striker to play second fiddle to Kane.
 
Top 4 form from October in a truncated season?

If you think that squad and those additions will see you finish above us, Chelsea, Liverpool or United then fair play to you. Personally, I cannot see it unless one of those teams performs at a level considerably below expectations. Maybe Spurs playing the EL may help but maybe Mourinho sees that as Spurs' only realistic chance of qualifying for the Champions League.

As for injuries, Kane did not miss that many games. He made 29 starts. More than Aguero.

Looking in as an outsider, I would suggest left back and creativity in midfield are gaping holes too. I would think you are not expecting Hojbjerg to be the creative spark.

Good luck getting a useful striker to play second fiddle to Kane.

We have no chance of finishing above City or Liverpool.

But Chelsea? Why not? Sure, they’re making some eye catching signings. But only Chilwell has any Premier League experience. No telling how long it will take the others to settle and acclimatise. Still a big question mark over their defence despite signing Thiago. Can he hack it in the Premier League? We’ll see.

Utd? I’m sure they’ll spend plenty too. But they really weren’t that much better than us last season. Will they buy the players that they actually need or will they just go for eye catching signings like Sancho that don’t actually improve them massively?

And for all that he is seen by many as yesterday’s man, I’d rather have Mourinho in my corner than Solskjaer or Lampard. He could be the difference maker.
 
For 15
I’d say that the fact that Spurs are clearly targeting Premier League ready players this summer (Hojbjerg, Hart and now Doherty) suggests that Jose is very much focused on top four Premier League first and foremost. I do agree, though, that he’ll make a big play for winning one of the lesser trophies.

As to his longevity at Spurs, who knows? Thus far, ITK reports suggest that he and Levy are surprisingly working very well together. Both on the same page. Reports also suggest that Jose is loving it at Spurs and determined to show that he can win without spending big. We’ll see, I guess.
Are you a results or style of play man.
Seems there are a lot of Spurs fans fed up with his style of play even if it gets results.
 

Don't have an account? Register now and see fewer ads!

SIGN UP
Back
Top
  AdBlock Detected
Bluemoon relies on advertising to pay our hosting fees. Please support the site by disabling your ad blocking software to help keep the forum sustainable. Thanks.