What a fabulous win and fabulous game!
Is it too early to start looking ahead and how we can improve even further? The thing is there is some deadweight hanging around. Here is my squad with a few subs and a couple of purchase suggestions.
Rose as an attacking midfielder? Surely not? I think he has earned his place in the team and his attacking skills are pretty decent. He gets crosses in and makes decent passes. If he played more up front for a living I don’t think we would do a lot better. I know it is radical having someone who can cross with their left foot playing on the left (didn’t GB do that sometimes?) If Davies plays LB then that side would be pretty solid and without having to run back the length of the pitch all the time Rose would be a handful for most opponents.
Despite energy and so on Townsend has poor judgement and is not of the calibre we need. Let’s trade him off for Austin. Holtby would fit well with the ‘new Spurs’. He has energy and skill and the high pressing game would suit him well, but as a sub and cup player because others are better. Aside from the following we should (in an ideal world) ditch the rest. They are not up to the job.
Subs
Dier
Holtby
Stambouli
Vorm
Like to buy
Austin
A playmaker for when Erikson is injured and to play in cups. Any ideas?
So there’s mine. What’s yours?
Have something to tell us about this article?
Why wouldn’t eriksen play in cups?
Hi LWM,
Good point.
Yes he could (should) play in cups. I am just thinking of hectic schedules. Maybe I should have used the phrase 'when he needs to be rested'? I think some (though not too much) rotation is needed. Players do need a rest sometimes (though not as often as some of them seem to think). Also, if there is no rotation other players do not get the chance to bed in. With no first team experience they would come in raw when maybe needed desperately.
a true number 9(bony) to play alone side kane
Really? I think Kane is a true number 9. If he is injured we have no one else so we do need at least one more.
“A playmaker for when Erikson is injured and to play in cups. Any ideas?”
Lamela
My personal view is I would like to see Lamela leave as quickly as possible. It has just not worked out. he may be a great player. So far I feel he has been a liability and there are games when we might have been better off with one of the Development Squad instead.
Now there's a thought.
Any of the Development Squad worth bringing through?
No backup for Kane – he will be a targeted man and there's a possibility he'll get knobbled so a backup is important. Bony is a good option.
Townsend is young and has potential, we also have winger options.
Dier has lots of potential but I don't think he should be rushed. A CB of suitable quality is required to cover for injuries and allow for resting players. Vlad is fast and fit enough for MP's style but prone to errors. Kab seems to have done something to be ruled out as an option.
Yedlin will be on hand too, I'd be interested to see how he will fit in.
Holtby would be a perfect fit for a playmaker to play in cups as he has such a high work rate and great vison
Siggy?
IMHO, I still feel putting Mason alongside Bentaleb as the holding midfielders is still a little lightweight. We need a player who has international experience, strong in his vision and tackle in that role because he needs to play in front of the two center backs and give them support whenever they are under pressure. So I thought Dembele still fits that bill after we have already lost Sigurdsson to Swansea. In the Chelsea game, I thought he played brilliantly when he came on for Mason. His holding up play and some of his tackles made was fantastic, although he was not directly involved in the five goals that we scored. I will line up Dembele alongside with either Mason/Bentaleb with Stambouli as a back up option. As for Rose, playing him as a right attacking winger with Davies playing behind him
is not a bad idea, but that might not work out in every game. I hope the Chelsea game is not a one match wonder performance for us if we will to challenge for a top 4 spot or even do better than that. We have to perform as well against the lesser teams and not just only up our game against the so called bigger teams. At most times, we played badly against teams who are sitting down at the bottom half of the table and I just wonder WHY? COYS, please don’t look down on the so called lesser teams when you play them. REMEMBER, you will still GET PUNISHED if you switch off against them.
Good thinking.
I had to think hard over whether to include Dembele. He has good stats and maybe I was wrong to exclude him.
I appreciate your comment on Rose / Davies. I think we sometimes get stuck in our thinking and pigeon hole players in positions.
Oh yes, I forgot something. How about sometimes the left and right forward players switching flanks? They seem nowadays to stay on the same sides. Either inverted or traditional. Let's mix it up a bit and perhaps let the players have some freedom with that (as long as they coordinate). I left out Townsend, but if he plays, why not let him play on the left. As mentioned, Chadli is perfectly capable of playing either side. In fact, whoever it is (Townsend, Rose, ANOther), mixing it up seems to offer more for the opposition to try to counter.
I would say that our forward attacking play has been solved by MP. It is good for the LF and RF to switch flanks when attacking becuz this can disrupt the attention of the opposition defenders. My thinking is that our line of defence starts from whether do we have good, capable and strong holding midfielders to support our defenders especially on the left hand side. Right now, I can only include Dembele after the departure of Sandro and MP has tried Capoue there, but he was disappointing and now has been dropped. Someone needs to cover Rose if he pushes forward to attack and in case the attack breaks down. He should be one of the holding midfielders or the left centre back. Just look back at the 1st Chelsea’s goal that we conceded. Rose was easily beaten by Hazard down at the half way line and he ran into our six yards box to shoot at goal. Dembele was the nearest man to Rose and he should have stopped Hazard from running in because at that time, both of them presumed that the ball was out for a throw-in. This is a lesson learnt that we need to stay 101% focus and play to the referee’s whistle. To me, not just the 1st goal but all the 3 goals we conceded can be prevented if we stay more focus. COYS!
Hi HF, How about Rose as left holding midfielder, with licence to move ahead? Put Davies behind him?
As likable as Holtby is as a player, it is important to note that he has not been doing well at Hamburg this season so far. I'm afraid that his time at Spurs is over with exciting academy graduates popping up like Onomah and Winks.
Hi Kevin, Are any of the Academy good enough yet to sub for Eriksen? If not who would you like to bring in?
I know you mentioned that you don't rate him much but Lamela can play in the number 10 role as he often did for Roma. He does lose possession quite often and tends to slow down play but his deliveries and passes are top-notch and he can definitely step up into that role :)
I wonder if he concentrated on the basics and forgot trying to impress if he would be better. Someone asked me recently why I was impressed with our youngsters in midfield. I replied that they tend to pass the ball to their own players, they strive o get the ball from the opponents and they generally work hard for the full duration of a match. If we had eight more who did that consistently we would improve :>)
How about bringing Tom Carroll back?