SIGN SOMEONE!! (Part 2)

Hi. In the last part, we took a look at the general squad depth of Tottenham’s squad and at the need to actually sign some players. Now we’ll go a bit deeper and bring age in the mix.

 

@TheFutbolist

Some of the players on this have already left (Carroll, Lesniak and Walker) but most importantly it shows that the Tottenham squad is in a very good spot age wise. Players who played a lot of the minutes in 16/17 are generally either below the average peak age (the grey area) or right in it.

You can also see that the only outfield Player to play 90% or more of the minutes is Eriksen and that is because he doesn’t have a real backup like we established in the first part. Kyle Walker also has 80% of the minutes despite allegations that he can’t handle 180 minutes per week. The only depth Player who has been important to the Team and has contributed a lot is Son. He played about 60% of the minutes and in pure terms of goals and asssists it was his best season yet.

There is a big risk involved with only having a squad of 14-16 players on the same level, especially with all the Cup games and Champions League games a Team has to play in England. Last season, Spurs mainly relied on a core of 13 outfield players with little trust in anyone else. The only two outfield players outside of the first XI to get game time in important games were Son and in Kieran Trippier (especially in the Champions League). This makes finishing second on more than 80 points even more impressive, especially considering all the injuries.

Chelsea got through last season with a similar Approach. They almost never changed their first XI after switching to the 3-4-3 and when they did, the changes usually just impacted one player. For some weird reason they seem to go with the same strategy again and it’s questionable if that can work again with Champions League football now being added to their schedule.

The Areas where Spurs needed to strengthen were obvious prior to this summer and in a sense Spurs got a bit lucky with who got injured last season because there was never a real Eriksen backup and there are workarounds for Kane or Alderweireld getting injured.

Apart from the right back issue, the current Spurs squad is one of the best in the league if you just consider the first XI. But similar to last season, things get shaky if you look beyond the Eriksens and Allis. Considering that this and maybe the next season are probably the best timeframe for this squad to win the Premier League, it is disappointing to see that the club has not done anything yet to support these players with adequate competition or backup.

I can see why the club would wait on someone like Meyer who has only one year left on his Schalke deal but why wait on a right back when that was a pressing issue after the decision to sell Walker was made? Why wait on Ross Barkley if you gonna sign him anyway?

 

 

SIGN SOMEONE LEVY!!!!!!!!

It’s the 8th of August and there is still no player on the In list for Spurs. Now Kieran Trippier got injured and there is general panic because the only fit senior player who can play right back is Eric Dier. And if Wanyama isn’t fit until Sunday, Kyle Walker-Peters might have to make his Spurs debut on the first day of the season.

Now, it’s not like Tottenham didn’t have enough time to act after Walker was sold and should have probably sorted something out before moving him on to Manchester City. But this isn’t going to be about the need to sign some players because that much is obvious. This is going to be about how much Spurs need someone and who they need.

 

@TTTactics

 

 

The big gaping hole in the first XI is the Right (Wing) Back. I did a piece about possible replacements for Walker before but it’s quite outdated by now so you should check out what The Spurs Scout suggested in that matter.

There have been reports suggesting that CCV might make the step to the senior team this year so it’s possible that he could be CB four or five next season which would mean that there isn’t a big need to sign someone there if Wimmer stays. But there is a big need to sign someone who can be a long term replacement for Dembele. Dembele is getting older and he can’t play 180 minutes every week. Ideally, someone for that position should have already been signed. But as we know Levy, he will wait until the last day to sign Ross Barkley because it means that Everton might drop their valuation to 20m instead of 25-30m.

From an economic standpoint that makes some sense but not from a footballing standpoint. So far the only late Pochtettino-signing that has actually turned out to be a good player is Son. Some of the others were Moussa Sissoko, Benjamin Stambouli and Federico Fazio.

There is also a need to have a backup for Eriksen that isn’t Lamela. As much as I personally like Lamela, his fitness status is dubious and it’s unclear if he’ll ever get back to his 15/16 self. Max Meyer is a name that was around a lot in early July and hasn’t been around lately but it might be the best possible option.

And even if you solve all of those problems there is still the Winger conundrum. Poch has been wanting a real winger for quite some time now but again it doesn’t look like he’s getting him. The club took a punt on N’Koudou last season and with the market heating up even more this season it looks like the club isn’t prepared to take that risk again.

 

Eric Dier – The Joker card

It’s August 27th, 2:20pm and Tottenham have just drawn 1-1 against Liverpool. Most people will probably remember that game for Vorm’s heroic save against Coutinho. But this wasn’t the whole story. After 28 minutes, Kyle Walker had to go off with an illness and with Trippier not in the squad it meant that Eric Dier had to play right back. An hour later he delivered the cros that Danny Rose converted to earn Spurs a share of the spoils.

Finding a place for Winks

There is no question that Harry Winks is a great player. He has exceeded expectations almost every time he has been on the pitch. Despite that, there are question over where he fits into the Spurs team which opens up a whole other debate about 4-2-3-1 or 3-4-3. The way Spurs play in both is similar but the demands on the Central Midfielders are different.

The Tottenham Hotspur guide to the summer transfer window

It’s this time of the year again. Twitter is full with transfer rumours, reports translated with Google Translate and general meltdown because club X hasn’t signed a player yet. For some parts of football media and fan scene, this is the best time of the year but generally, most people are just waiting for August to watch the domestic leagues start again. So, what is gonna happen in these months and how do we get through it?