That has more to do with the atmosphere at the club right now. Toxic as hell. Thus I'm not sure keeping Holtby would have made a huge difference. I've always liked the guy. I'd almost rather him be at Tottenham and far away from the current atmosphere at Schalke. Besides, the management let him go because we have academy guys like Draxler and Max Meyer (the next Ozil) waiting for their opportunities. I just hope that Dempsey and Holtby can both find places on this team.
I think this is true. Esp with Ade gone, Defoe injured and Spurs in a bit of a scoring slump. This is where you want Demps to step up and get one or two out of nothing. Easier said or done, of course, but it is what Spurs need. You do have to wonder what they are thinking with no attacking options left. Holtby is fine and dandy, but would have been not a bad idea to have another striker on the team.
Really afraid Holtby's gonna take Dempsey's spot. If Holtby's past two appearances are any suggestion, he's going to get better and better within Tottenham's first team. He provides the dynamism that I think AVB is looking for right behind the striker. If Defoe's out for a while, though, I wonder what that does for both of them.
Dempsey is probably tired after playing so many minutes in a condensed schedule. And he might have been saving some energy for the Honduras WCQ.
I really disagree about Holtby. Holtby started out very slow and benefited most from the red card. His 'assist' was a lateral pass to Bale, who dribbled until he found a open angle from 20 yards out. Not really a lot of quality today from him. His corners weren't great, he controlled the ball a number of times, and his passing was not incisive. His energy level and confidence got better as time wore on, but he's not there yet. Please elaborate on what players have been unfairly scrutinized? Bale? There are some people who do not like the style of play which Bale brings to the pitch. He's a considerably skilled player, but sadly has the potential to be SO much more influential in his decision making. This seems pretty obvious.
I don't want to hijack the thread, but I think that Draxler on the 10 is very sub- optimal and Meyer is only, what, 17? Combined with a weak Neustädter (who has really fallen off) and Jones in defensive mid, selling one of your best players, could come back to haunt you guys, especially in the Champions League against Galatasaray. Anyways, with Defoe out injured possibly for a longer time and Adebayor on AFCON duty, I think we'll see more of Dempsey and Holtby together for now. They'll have to find a way to work together (and with Bale) if Tottenham wants to keep challenging for 4th.
We'll see. If Defoe isn't out for a while with whatever injury he has, I'm willing to bet AVB gives Holtby a run at Dempsey's spot.
Holtby was as involved as Dempsey from the moment he stepped onto the pitch and, ultimately, created much more opportunity than Dempsey did the entire match. We can quabble over whether his assist was worthy or other haphazard assessments (only because we'll never come to agree on whether he was solid or not. ) What I think we will agree on is that at the very least Holtby had another positive appearance while Dempsey didn't do much to stake his claim in the lineup today.
I don't want to hijack the thread either, but Draxler is good enough at the moment, and he's only 19 so he should get better. He played well this weekend and the coach was whistled at when he subbed in Raffael for Draxler. Meyer is sensational. He has better technique and foot-skills than Holtby ever did, it's just a matter of growing physically a little bit. The worst effect of selling Holtby (IMO) was the sense that the management was admitting defeat for the season. I'm not sure it sends a good message to the rest of the team. I agree. Dempsey will have a chance as a #9 for a while
Yes. He created more than Dempsey, but I was careful not to mention anything about Dempsey specifically . Dempsey had a rough go today, and playing lone striker is not his best position.
I have not seen enough of Holtby to determine if he is a better "creator" than Dempsey. Dempsey was brought in to help with the scoring, not necessarily "creating" but for a while, he looked pretty decent creating chances before his groin injury. Dempsey is not going to "create" much as the emergency lone striker but I hope he gets substantially better in the striker role. Call it yet another challenge for Dempsey who has been hurdling challenges his entire EPL career. Can you still teach a 29 year old "old dog" new tricks ?
Remember Dempsey filled in as lone striker at times with Fulham, also due to injuries. I believe I recall interviews in which Clint made clear that was not his preferred position. But as usual he will do whatever the team needs him to do. Last re all the pressure being on Clint and Bale to score the goals with Defoe injured and Ade away - everyone seems to forget that on the other wing there's Lennon, who should be expected to be stepping it up too and getting more shots off without Defoe on the field. Anyway, despite all the worries about Clint on this thread and his getting slighted for playing time, I still believe my own eyes...which see that Clint has only gotten a rest when injured, since he got to Tottenham. IF Ade comes back and plays better than before he left; IF Defoe's injury is not serious, AND Holtby continues his good start to his time at Tottenham; THEN the Tottenham starting 11 is a bit crowded. Until then it should really be what me worry for Clint fans; he will get his time on the field. A goal and an assist every couple games to help keep the team in 3rd or 4th in EPL is all we need hope for. So far so good in 2013.
Togo lost today, so Ade will be back for the Newcastle match. Can't see a tired Dempsey starting next weekend.
He's logged a lot of minutes lately and will most likely have 90 min in the heat & humidity on Wed. Not to mention the travel. He could use the rest IMO.
Although, on the flip, Adebayor went full extra time today, as well as 90 Sat and Wed. and the previous Tuesday, so he's had a few games. He'll have a longer layoff and time to recover from his flite, but both are logging a lot of hours. Ade had 2 goals is 4 games and extra time - not awful but not lighting it up either. Also, with Defoe hurt you might see both of them!
Adebayor has six (6) days to recover. Dempsey will have three (3) days after a probable 90 minute CONCACAF game. Dempsey has gotten as many minutes as just about anyone since his return from injury and probably could use the break. I would expect Adebayor to start against Newcastle with Dempsey on the bench as a potential sub depending on game situation.
Am I the only one that thought Dempsey played fine? Multiple times he found space and put himself in good positions; he was ignored several times by teammates on those occasions, and on others when he got the ball, he had decent efforts (dragged a shot just wide of the left post, had a near post effort with his left saved). The header that he missed was a difficult chance on a softly lofted ball beyond the far post that required Dempsey to scramble back for it, making getting anything on the header with his momentum going backwards quite tough. He dropped deep to help recycle the ball and maintain possession multiple times, rarely lost the ball, and kept things moving in the attack. I wonder if people are just not happy with the 4-2-3-1 that AVB employs and how "boring" Spurs play it. Should they have gone after a second goal to kill off the game? I don't know, but they were super comfortable methodically working the ball around and were under no real pressure, so why open themselves up when they were in complete control of things? Honestly, I thought Parker and to a lesser extent, Dembele, were poor and guilty of some worryingly loose play (not to mention BAE's adventures). Dempsey was the least of my worries yesterday, and as far as I can tell, AVB continues to be very happy with him.
That makes the most sense, for sure, but both have put a lot of miles in since Xmas. They really should play that new striker they just brought in... oh wait. Nevermind.
I have no idea what game you were watching. Dempsey's finishing wasn't good enough, but he was active and dangerous the whole game.
Same game that you presumably watched. I think few NEUTRAL/UNBIASED observers would come to the conclusion that Dempsey wasn't the least influential offensive player in this outing.
I'm real biased towards Clint, but I thought he was pretty bad. Looked to me like he had a hard time even getting the ball. I thought he was anonymous.
You mean non-Americans? AVB is neutral and unbiased and he keeps playing Clint, including leaving him in for 90 minutes in this game. I can't change my passport, but other than being an American I don't have any real stake in this. In my view, Dempsey was active and influential, if not as effective as one would hope.