I think their two first choice centre halves are two of the best few in the league. Both are physical enough, have good pace, position themselves well and they are both also very good on the ball. I doubt you'd find too many neutrals who would take our two ahead of their two. I think Vertonghen now being out injured for them will have quite a big effect.Belgian Iron wrote:True, but I think they concede less goals due to their defensive unit as a whole. Due to their shape or covering from midfield they concede less. I'm not convinced about Vertonghen, I would pick Ogbonna or Reid over him any day. Alderweireld is good, improved a lot but not a world class defender. Their partnership is just a good one though.
Transfer Window: January 2016
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
- bubbles1966
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
Many of those beliefs of neutrals are media creations.
The numbers - points on the board - expose that with Spurs. Two points up on last year.
It's the same as "Allardyce always makes you difficult to beat" media creation. Even now you don't have to go far to read about us being a long ball, physical team.
The numbers - points on the board - expose that with Spurs. Two points up on last year.
It's the same as "Allardyce always makes you difficult to beat" media creation. Even now you don't have to go far to read about us being a long ball, physical team.
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
Just talking about the striker situation, I think Crouchy does make a good point about 'who we should have gone and got'.
The problem we have though, is actually that we don't really need 'quality' up front. We have that, we have a striker who cost us £15m 3 years ago and who is one of the best target men int eh Premier League. We also have Sakho who last season got 10 Prem goals in 23 games last season (Giroud only got 14 in 33). So actually the problem is not signing someone better than them, it's about signing someone who will stay fit.
If we had Carlton and Franco leading the line right now then I think it would be pretty straightforward to find someone better (sorry Carlton), but as what we are actually looking to do is improve on 3 players who on their day are actually very, very good.
What we need right now is consistency. In goalscoring and in staying fit. And if a player like that existed, I reckon Chelsea or Man Urd would probably have hoovered them up by now.
There isn't much around. Which is why if we were to ever get 38 games out of Sakho and Carroll, or get Valencia to turn up more than once every 3 games, we would be in a very, very good position.
As has been said though, I honestly don't think there are many players out there who we could have bought this Jan that would have given us the improvement we need at this time.
The problem we have though, is actually that we don't really need 'quality' up front. We have that, we have a striker who cost us £15m 3 years ago and who is one of the best target men int eh Premier League. We also have Sakho who last season got 10 Prem goals in 23 games last season (Giroud only got 14 in 33). So actually the problem is not signing someone better than them, it's about signing someone who will stay fit.
If we had Carlton and Franco leading the line right now then I think it would be pretty straightforward to find someone better (sorry Carlton), but as what we are actually looking to do is improve on 3 players who on their day are actually very, very good.
What we need right now is consistency. In goalscoring and in staying fit. And if a player like that existed, I reckon Chelsea or Man Urd would probably have hoovered them up by now.
There isn't much around. Which is why if we were to ever get 38 games out of Sakho and Carroll, or get Valencia to turn up more than once every 3 games, we would be in a very, very good position.
As has been said though, I honestly don't think there are many players out there who we could have bought this Jan that would have given us the improvement we need at this time.
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
But you have to take into the league situation. This is a season where teams are taking points off the 'bigger' names. Man City are 4 points down, Man U 5 points down, Liverpool 4 points down, Chelsea about 25 points down. Spurs were 13 points off the top last season, now they are five. 8 points behind 2nd place, now only two. Only Arsenal (+6) have improved their points tally out of the 'bigger' teams. Relatively speaking, Spurs are in a stronger position this year, than corresponding period last yearbubbles1966 wrote:Many of those beliefs of neutrals are media creations.
The numbers - points on the board - expose that with Spurs. Two points up on last year.
It's the same as "Allardyce always makes you difficult to beat" media creation. Even now you don't have to go far to read about us being a long ball, physical team.
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
If Spurs had a "Why Are West Ham Obsessed With Us" thread on their forum I'd be inclined to agree after reading this.
Good window, not great. Byram was a great addition. Onward to a strong end of the season.
Good window, not great. Byram was a great addition. Onward to a strong end of the season.
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
I would agree with Pinky's position that (again) we missed the chance to beef up our squad and take advantage of how tight it is up at the top of the league.
However. I don't think the elephant in the room can be ignored here - Carroll. The board know he MUST come good for us (even after all this time) if (a) they are to get any sort of footballing return on the investment, or (b) sell him. With Sakho, Valencia and now Emenike on the books, stumping up £8m + on another striker would have left us with a big dilemma in the summer of 5 first team strikers on the book, all being paid good wages, and all wanting regular football. The investment in Carroll is still hampering any big movements we can make in the striking department because we just can't get him firing and we can't shift him.
There is a wider problem too. We are at the stage now where to comfortably break into the top 6, all positions need a slight upgrade. It's that horrible position of being probably better than 10th, but not quite having the overall quality of sustaining a European place. We've seen historically how Tottenham have languished in that zone, throwing money left, right and centre to sustain European qualification, with very mixed success. To go from average to good can be done on about £30m, which is what we've done. To go from good to very good, well, that requires about £60m+, and even then no guarantees as we've seen with Spuds in seasons gone by.
I'm afraid gents it's a case of sitting tight and making the most of what we've got. Unless we move on Valencia and Sakho, I can't see how we have much room to make big changes up front to push us on to the next level, because, let's face it, we are stuck with Carroll.
However. I don't think the elephant in the room can be ignored here - Carroll. The board know he MUST come good for us (even after all this time) if (a) they are to get any sort of footballing return on the investment, or (b) sell him. With Sakho, Valencia and now Emenike on the books, stumping up £8m + on another striker would have left us with a big dilemma in the summer of 5 first team strikers on the book, all being paid good wages, and all wanting regular football. The investment in Carroll is still hampering any big movements we can make in the striking department because we just can't get him firing and we can't shift him.
There is a wider problem too. We are at the stage now where to comfortably break into the top 6, all positions need a slight upgrade. It's that horrible position of being probably better than 10th, but not quite having the overall quality of sustaining a European place. We've seen historically how Tottenham have languished in that zone, throwing money left, right and centre to sustain European qualification, with very mixed success. To go from average to good can be done on about £30m, which is what we've done. To go from good to very good, well, that requires about £60m+, and even then no guarantees as we've seen with Spuds in seasons gone by.
I'm afraid gents it's a case of sitting tight and making the most of what we've got. Unless we move on Valencia and Sakho, I can't see how we have much room to make big changes up front to push us on to the next level, because, let's face it, we are stuck with Carroll.
Last edited by DrVenk on Tue Feb 02, 2016 12:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
Some great stats from this transfer window
A baffling season included a baffling transfer window:
– Biggest spenders in Europe: Newcastle.
– Biggest transfer fee paid in Europe: Stoke.
– Most expensive player globally: Ramires.
– Clubs in Europe to spend £10m+ on a player: Bournemouth, Stoke, Newcastle, Everton, Roma.
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
everybody is welcome to vent their spleen , i just dont hate anything enough from a footballing perspective to get that angry about it . I dont look to any other team for aspiration for my own .My comment wasnt meant to be aimed at any other contributor either , just my overall view
Last edited by Up the Junction on Tue Feb 02, 2016 3:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Incomplete quote removed.
Reason: Incomplete quote removed.
- Belgian Iron
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
The pair of them together, yes. Because they know each other inside out from the youth set up at Ajax.Boleyn Bill wrote: I think their two first choice centre halves are two of the best few in the league. Both are physical enough, have good pace, position themselves well and they are both also very good on the ball. I doubt you'd find too many neutrals who would take our two ahead of their two. I think Vertonghen now being out injured for them will have quite a big effect.
But if you look at Vertongen on his own, he's no better than Reid or Ogbonna.
He's really error prone as well. Countless errors from him resulted in goals already, a bit Collins-esque from a couple of years ago. That's also why he was finding himself on the bench a lot more than he hoped for last season and the season before. 2 years ago he was pretty close to being shifted out in january, but his fortunes changed and he was first choice again.
But fair enough: the pair of them have done very well. But it's more Alderweireld's and in particular the overall team effort that they don't concede a lot.
By the way: they have Lloris behind them as well. I'm a big fan of our Adrian, but Lloris is still somewhat better so his contribution to their defence is massive as well.
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
We didn't need a dramatic change in our fortunes. Just a slight change - another (say) half a dozen goals over and above what our current strikers would have got anyway. They could have put us in the mix for the CL, and added as a huge attractant to good players this Summer and a strong reason to stay for current players.Aceface wrote:There's no real historical precedent for a team buying a striker and suddenly seeing a dramatic change in their fortunes.
Opportunity knocked and as always went answered.
Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
Too simplistic I know, but if, in the first month of the season, we would have won, what on paper were the easier two of the four fixtures we would now have an identical record to Spurs.
With them still in Europe, I doubt there will be a fag paper between us come the end of the season.
With them still in Europe, I doubt there will be a fag paper between us come the end of the season.
Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
I really don't get how anyone can be negative about this transfer window.... the biggest news was Manchester City's managerial moves... This is without doubt the best squad most of us have ever seen and a manager who knows what he needs and what he doesn't need is a big spend to appease a small percentage of our fan base
If you seriously look at the transfers this window you see some teams are desperate to avoid relegation (Newcastle) some are not (Villa) and make no mistake FFP has impacted this window otherwise a lot more business would have happened globally ... the vast majority of teams are as they were at the start of the year
If you seriously look at the transfers this window you see some teams are desperate to avoid relegation (Newcastle) some are not (Villa) and make no mistake FFP has impacted this window otherwise a lot more business would have happened globally ... the vast majority of teams are as they were at the start of the year
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
Gabers wrote:
make no mistake FFP has impacted this window otherwise a lot more business would have happened globally ... the vast majority of teams are as they were at the start of the year
You make a very good point which does go to highlight the impact it does have, instead of endless careless buys. Some teams have adopted this way but the majority have toed the line and been prudent with their business.
And as always this window proves prices are at a much higher premium generally and most Clubs prefer to do their business in the summer wisely. Us being the archetypal team to go on to prove that.
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The stage we're at now would seem to be getting the whole squad up to a level that any of the 2/3/4 players in each position are of an equal quality. This would allow us to have a summer akin to the one Spurs had this year where they spent about £60m on incoming transfers but with minimal net investment. In short they moved on a group of players they already had good good alternatives for and improved in those areas.
While I would love the ride of a massive investor coming in, this is the way progress will be made until then. Slowly slowly catchy Champions Leaguey.
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
I think this point is key. With owners that can't afford to dump huge money into the transfer kitty (no complaint there) and (ignoring Jinxed) no massive investment coming in, we need to grow organically. Something that Spurs have been able to do over the last few years.DrVenk wrote: There is a wider problem too. We are at the stage now where to comfortably break into the top 6, all positions need a slight upgrade. It's that horrible position of being probably better than 10th, but not quite having the overall quality of sustaining a European place. We've seen historically how Tottenham have languished in that zone, throwing money left, right and centre to sustain European qualification, with very mixed success. To go from average to good can be done on about £30m, which is what we've done. To go from good to very good, well, that requires about £60m+, and even then no guarantees as we've seen with Spuds in seasons gone by.
The stage we're at now would seem to be getting the whole squad up to a level that any of the 2/3/4 players in each position are of an equal quality. This would allow us to have a summer akin to the one Spurs had this year where they spent about £60m on incoming transfers but with minimal net investment. In short they moved on a group of players they already had good good alternatives for and improved in those areas.
While I would love the ride of a massive investor coming in, this is the way progress will be made until then. Slowly slowly catchy Champions Leaguey.
- happydaystoytown
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
While spending money is no guarantee, we should have helped our chances of a European place, with some reinforcement of the squad.
Hopefully Byram is an upgrade on Jenkinson but thrown straight in from the Championship, it's a big ask.
And even if Emenike is an improvement on Jelavic, we have still lost a useful, creative, goal scoring squad member in Zarate and not replaced him, let alone improved on him.
On paper, we have weakened the squad, same as the last January window.
It could be a big mistake, just like last year.
Hopefully Byram is an upgrade on Jenkinson but thrown straight in from the Championship, it's a big ask.
And even if Emenike is an improvement on Jelavic, we have still lost a useful, creative, goal scoring squad member in Zarate and not replaced him, let alone improved on him.
On paper, we have weakened the squad, same as the last January window.
It could be a big mistake, just like last year.
- bubbles1966
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
Carroll needs to effectively become the Jelavic option. The guy from the bench, who starts intermittently. We must forget his wages and fee. It's done.
The interesting thing now is that the squad is almost entirely peak age, even the back up guys, while the reserves have resale/marketable value.
That change in the last couple of seasons has been discernible and should enable us to move into quality rather than quantity signings from the summer.
We must retain our better players.
If they had laid an improvement plan five years ago when Allardyce was appointed, I reckon we would be bang in line with it (as of today) in terms of squad, league position, stadium upgrade,
The interesting thing now is that the squad is almost entirely peak age, even the back up guys, while the reserves have resale/marketable value.
That change in the last couple of seasons has been discernible and should enable us to move into quality rather than quantity signings from the summer.
We must retain our better players.
If they had laid an improvement plan five years ago when Allardyce was appointed, I reckon we would be bang in line with it (as of today) in terms of squad, league position, stadium upgrade,
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
who moved in the window that we should have got hold of?
Not sure there were the players out that some of you think we should have pulled in.
I think our owners have done well.
Not sure there were the players out that some of you think we should have pulled in.
I think our owners have done well.
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Re: January 2016 Transfer Rumours
not disagreeing with your last sentence but Doumbia who'se gone to newcastle would have been top of my listOzza wrote:who moved in the window that we should have got hold of?
Not sure there were the players out that some of you think we should have pulled in.
I think our owners have done well.