Need too sign some great defenders.

[Hauler]

IMO our team is in shambles in the back. I had a thread out talking about trading king but upon seeing how confident he was in the back I resend that and apologize. I was totally wrong but I needed to see him play for myself. Anyway in the offseason or whatever u call that we need to go and get 1 or 2 great players. Maybe like a full back or centre back or both. I call them side backs but I think u call them full backs are just average if that. I feel that our midfield will improve and our forwards are great. The back just seems to get worse and worse even with king back there. Dawson and king need help and I feel that that should be our main focus. I think keane needs to be resigned he has played brilliantly the past month or so. I honestly think that if we cant get some new players in the back desipte stellar ledley then we are shooting ourselves in the foot. If nothing happens back there then we can see ourselves in 6-8 place in the EPL and uefa will be the same let down imo. We have played well enough with all the injuries but its time for spurs to go out and get a big market name or some vetern and put him in the back there to help ledley out. King is good but he cant do it alone.

[Danners9]

Any suggestions who then?

I see problem but i don't see solution.

[DigitalTron]

Kudos to you Hauler. It takes a big man to re-evaluate his analysis after making a public statement in one direction. It takes an even bigger man to publicly acknowledge that he's changed his analysis. I'm glad you now understand why we value Ledley King so highly. And honestly, this wasn't even one of his better games ... he's simply a phenomenal defender--when healthy.

Great point on needing new defenders, and I wholeheartedly agree. Much like I was in favor of upgrading Staltieri last season, but very happy to have him as a squad player behind Chimbonda, I think Lee and Ekotto are valuable resources on the left. But I think we need to look for an upgrade at the left back position this offseason, and hope that both Lee and Ekotto continue to develop.

Central defense is clearly our area of greatest need. Dawson is very good but he can't be expected to play 2 games a week and 50 to 60 games a year, that's just too much! Ledley King is obviously an absolutely phenomenal defender, and he is the cornerstone of our defense, but he's out for weeks to months every single season, so we can't depend on him being there all the time. IMHO, we need two new starting-caliber center backs, and at least 1 needs to have speed. Assuming Rocha continues to adapt, I think he can be one of our subs. But, we desperately need another good central defender. Gardner appears to be on his way out, and even if he isn't, he's injured a lot too. I think we need at least one more speedy iron-man type defender we can depend on to be healthy and step in when King's injured.

I also think we need a backup Dmid. I'm high on Huddlestone's potential, but his lack of pace is frightening, especially when coupled with his lack of Premiership experience. Zokora should be the starter, and I'm fine with that, but he needs a really defensively strong backup. Tainio is a fine squad player, but I think we've added players more skillful than him at both attack and defense to relegate him to a squad player next season. He'll get his minutes from injuries, fixture congestion etc., but he's not really a starter anymore.

Also on the transfer list is a new back-up target forward and a left winger. Why oh why couldn't Routledge have been born left-footed?

As for suggestions, here goes:

Center Back: Jonathon Woodgate (it could happen!), Curtis Davies, Vincent Kompany, Anton Ferdinand.

Left Back: Gareth Bale, Matt Taylor

Dmid: Hmmm, I'll have to think about this one.

Left Wing: Wish I knew ... but this list does NOT include Stewart Downing or Ribery.

Target Forward: JK Huntelaar, Darren Bent, Peter Crouch, Niko Zigic

That's purely off the top of my head, but it's a start at least.

-Digital

[wrekinrak25]

i agree about routledge...woudnt that be something

at the moment, i'd be content with ANY defenders, instead of offensive players dropping back and playing defense

[Corea Golea redded]

Kudos to you Hauler. It takes a big man to re-evaluate his analysis after making a public statement in one direction. It takes an even bigger man to publicly acknowledge that he's changed his analysis.

Much like I was in favor of upgrading Staltieri last season, but very happy to have him as a squad player behind Chimbonda, I think Lee and Ekotto are valuable resources on the left. But I think we need to look for an upgrade at the left back position this offseason, and hope that both Lee and Ekotto continue to develop.

If I understand you correctly, you think that Lee and Ekotto are good to have around as resources, but both should be sitting the bench for a better left back that seems highly unlikely of arriving?

But why should Lee be kept when you think Assou-Ekotto is better? Do you really think Spurs need two "valuable resources" on the bench?:

And how could Lee be a valuable resource when:

Defensively he's poor, it's just that simple. He isn't fast enough to keep up and defend speedy right wingers, which is his normal assignment. Someone with pace can blow by him at ease, and that's terribly frightening defensively. . . . He has very poor strength so that makes it harder for him to be physical. He is short so he's not going to be the type that wins many headers. . . . when he's beaten he doesn't switch to playing between the man and the goal very well. He doesn't anticipate moves well so quick players beat him a lot too. . . . a subpar player.

Everything you said of Lee seemed to apply with even greater relevance to Chimbonda. He was beaten far worse than I've seen Lee get beaten all season. Alves was able to create three good scoring chances against Chimbonda.

As for Chimbonda's strength, it didn't impress me that he was so easily bumped off the ball when he went up for the header, so he doesn't seem to be very strong either.

[Hauler]

Downing would be a great pick up cause he has speed, size, and great ability to pass the ball. Stamina could be better but I tell you what that one two punch of downing and lennon so many chances would open up. I tell you what I still think that we need to get more defenders but if downing is available and wants to be a spur make him one fast. Other then that bale would be a great young addition and with adel we would have maybe better young talent then Arsenal.

[Danners9]

If I understand you correctly, you think that Lee and Ekotto are good to have around as resources, but both should be sitting the bench for a better left back that seems highly unlikely of arriving?

But why should Lee be kept when you think Assou-Ekotto is better? Do you really think Spurs need two "valuable resources" on the bench?:

And how could Lee be a valuable resource when:



Everything you said of Lee seemed to apply with even greater relevance to Chimbonda. He was beaten far worse than I've seen Lee get beaten all season. Alves was able to create three good scoring chances against Chimbonda.

As for Chimbonda's strength, it didn't impress me that he was so easily bumped off the ball when he went up for the header, so he doesn't seem to be very strong either.

This: http://ambassador.topcall.co.at/~ds/images/broken-record.jpg

should be your avatar.

[Danners9]

As for suggestions, here goes:

Center Back: Jonathon Woodgate (it could happen!), Curtis Davies, Vincent Kompany, Anton Ferdinand.

Left Back: Gareth Bale, Matt Taylor

Dmid: Hmmm, I'll have to think about this one.

Left Wing: Wish I knew ... but this list does NOT include Stewart Downing or Ribery.

Target Forward: JK Huntelaar, Darren Bent, Peter Crouch, Niko Zigic


We went for Woodgate in the summer. Along with Liverpool. He went to Boro because a) it's his hometown and b) they are paying him £80,000 a week. Decide for yourself which is the most important factor there. Even I would live in Middlesboro for 80g's a week.

I'd hate it if Anton Ferdinand came to Spurs next season. Absolutely hate it. When the going gets tough, he gets drunk.. in Carolina. Loyalty and professionalism are words Anton cannot say let alone spell.

Taylor and Bale are fine with me, as are Kompany and Davies. Not sure about Kompany's injury problems though, missed a fair bit of this season. Not sure if he's back. Genuinely don't know.

Left wing, ideally Vicente of Valencia but not much chance there. Not Ribery either. Not Morten Gamst Pedersen either. For the money it's not enough of a step forward. Apart from that it's slim on the left. Downing I suppose is the best of a non-existent bunch.

I'd also like them to go for Giles Barnes - i think they are, the Mail this week had Spurs agreeing a £3m deal for him back in January and it'll go through in June. He's 19, plays with a cocky swagger like he knows he's got it and is the player Jenas should be but isn't. Best way i can describe him.

Strikers. Not Crouch, because he wouldn't come. He was given away by Spurs and he's a Chelsea fan. I can't see him coming back to play 4th striker when he is becoming a regular at Liverpool. I'd be concerned how the style of play would change if Zigic joined too, he's 6'8 or something so the natural assumption is they will hoof it to him. :(

I'd like Darren Bent or Dean Ashton presuming he's over his bad injury.

[Danners9]

Ok well it won't let me edit, but Barnes plays for Derby btw.

[Corea Golea redded]

Why not PSV's Alex for the center back spot? Rock solid defensively - almost never makes a costly mistake, and on the rare occasions he does, he more than makes up for with sensational plays on both ends of the pitch. Is always a danger on set plays due to his aerial indomitability. I never saw a guy as big as Alex jump as high as he did to get that header past Arsenal.

His dribbling ability is excellent as well. He's not only powerful, but one of the best technicians as well.

And he can definitely score. In the CL 2004-2005 knockout rounds, he had two extremely important goals to propel PSV to the semifinals.

There is no one in the world I'd rather have than Alex. Not Anton, Rio, Woodgate, Terry, Carragher, or anyone else. Give me Alex!

But the word is that there is a deal in the works with Chelsea. Too bad. Tottenham is out of the running again.

And good luck in getting an upgrade for Lee. Jol even mentioned that he thought Tottenham wasn't the kind of team that could get Lee. So, what makes anyone think that they could improve on him?

[The Double]

Downing would be a great pick up cause he has speed, size, and great ability to pass the ball. Stamina could be better but I tell you what that one two punch of downing and lennon so many chances would open up. I tell you what I still think that we need to get more defenders but if downing is available and wants to be a spur make him one fast. Other then that bale would be a great young addition and with adel we would have maybe better young talent then Arsenal.

He's overpriced/overrated. Well he's not really overrated anymore, because after he put in some shit performances for England, people seemed to stop talking about him.

[The Double]

But the word is that there is a deal in the works with Chelsea.

That's been the case for a while now.

[DigitalTron]

If I understand you correctly, you think that Lee and Ekotto are good to have around as resources, but both should be sitting the bench for a better left back that seems highly unlikely of arriving?

But why should Lee be kept when you think Assou-Ekotto is better? Do you really think Spurs need two "valuable resources" on the bench?:

And how could Lee be a valuable resource when:



Everything you said of Lee seemed to apply with even greater relevance to Chimbonda. He was beaten far worse than I've seen Lee get beaten all season. Alves was able to create three good scoring chances against Chimbonda.

As for Chimbonda's strength, it didn't impress me that he was so easily bumped off the ball when he went up for the header, so he doesn't seem to be very strong either.

I'm so glad you asked! Like I've said many times in the past, Lee is a poor defender. Lee isn't fast enough to get to the end line consistently. Lee isn't a good crosser with his left foot. Those are the big job requirements for a left back ... so yeah, I'm looking for an upgrade. That said, Lee has good skill with the ball at his feet, and has potential defensively. Offensively he needs to learn to cross with his left foot and then get into deeper positions to cross ... hopefully he can learn that. If he can't, then he's not good enough offensively. Defensively he's got to either get faster (not easy) or learn to use his body to slow down his mark. Until he does that, he's poor defensively. I hope he develops, but in the interim I'm hoping Spurs upgrade the position. As a backup left back he'd be good ... because backups aren't as good as starters. Yes, backup players are resources too.

Ekotto has the speed and physical play we need, and he's decent with the ball at his feet. Ekotto is already a very good defender. He's got the most potential of the two left backs. But, he has further to go offensively than does Lee. Ekotto's passing skills are sub-par and he too often gives the ball away needlessly. That's a huge area he needs to improve upon. He has the speed and ability to cross with either foot, but his accuracy isn't good and his vision is downright poor. He needs to be taught how to keep his head up, dribble under control, time runners in space, and cross at the right time with accuracy and consistency. Those are areas that need to be addressed if he's going to fill Jol's role of an attacking fullback. I hope he develops. But until he does, Spurs need to upgrade the position.

As for having 2 valuable resources on the bench, I think it's rather negotiable. If Lee is worth a lot of money to Roma and Ekotto isn't, then I'd rather keep Ekotto and take the money for Lee. If Ekotto is worth considerably more money than Lee, I'd be ok with letting Ekotto go. But, as a backup, it's generally best to go with the younger player if all other things are equal. IMHO, Ekotto has a lot of potential and given time will show it ... but Ekotto has also shown to have injury problems, whereas Lee doesn't tend to miss too many games with injuries. For a backup role, I'm in favor of keeping the more dependable player. But we're probably not going to keep Lee and Ekotto and Staltieri if we add a new starter for left back. Perhaps Lee moves to right back and Staltieri is let go? Staltieri is neither young nor injury-free, so while I don't mind him as a bench player, he's got to be in the mix as well.

As for Lee v. Chimbonda ... surely you understand there's a difference between playing on the right side and the left side. If not then I wonder if you ever played much soccer. Chimbonda's displays against top competition at Right Back have been superb. At left back he had real problems, off the top of my head one that was quite glaring was how he backpeddled showing his back to the flanks ... that's correct for a Right Back, but horrible for a Left Back. Since he really hadn't been practicing playing Left Back, he was making lots of mistakes like that and getting turned around a lot.

Compare Chimbonda at Right Back to Lee at Left Back or Right Back ... but Chimbonda at Right back is light years better than Lee at either. I wouldn't play Aaron Lennon as a Dmid either ... but that doesn't mean anything because he's being rated against other Right Wingers .... not Dmids. Lee has no chance of displacing Chimbonda at Right Back ... so Lee will be rated at Left Back against other potential Left Back candidates. That seems rather straight forward to me.

If you doubt Chimbonda's strength either you're blind or just haven't watched many Spurs games whatsoever. He's quite strong and more than willing to be physical when he needs to be.

-Digital

[Corea Golea redded]

That's been the case for a while now.

Well if Chelsea manage to get Alex, then the rest of the Premiership will be shaking in their boots, I promise you.

[Corea Golea redded]

As for Lee v. Chimbonda ... surely you understand there's a difference between playing on the right side and the left side. If not then I wonder if you ever played much soccer. Chimbonda's displays against top competition at Right Back have been superb. At left back he had real problems, off the top of my head one that was quite glaring was how he backpeddled showing his back to the flanks ... that's correct for a Right Back, but horrible for a Left Back. Since he really hadn't been practicing playing Left Back, he was making lots of mistakes like that and getting turned around a lot.

Compare Chimbonda at Right Back to Lee at Left Back or Right Back ... but Chimbonda at Right back is light years better than Lee at either. I wouldn't play Aaron Lennon as a Dmid either ... but that doesn't mean anything because he's being rated against other Right Wingers .... not Dmids. Lee has no chance of displacing Chimbonda at Right Back ... so Lee will be rated at Left Back against other potential Left Back candidates. That seems rather straight forward to me.

If you doubt Chimbonda's strength either you're blind or just haven't watched many Spurs games whatsoever. He's quite strong and more than willing to be physical when he needs to be.

-Digital

And I guess Chimbonda unadulterated crap at left back.

When have you seen Lee at right back? I doubt that you've seen more than one or two games, if that.

Lee is actually a very reliable right back. I remember him playing there for the national team about two years ago, where Lee was involved in at least 90% of the possessions, and he was the one relied upon to advance the ball, as the other Korean players were either not very fit or just not very good. And he managed to do this for the entire game, with enough speed and skill to beat two or three defenders on many of his touches.

So, I think your criticism of Lee's speed doesn't hold up to the evidence. We saw Lee speed past Navas to get involved in Spurs first goal, and he contained Alves, who also has good speed. Chimbonda, while having good speed, was made to look like a fool by Alves.

[DigitalTron]

I've heard some very good things about Giles Barnes. I am not familiar enough to recommend him, but the hype seems to remind me a lot of Routledge about 3 years ago. I'm always up for adding talented youngsters, but do you think he's good enough to push for a starting spot or more like a quality substitute?

I wouldn't mind Alex at all, he has enough defensive ability and athletic ability to be a nice 3rd defender, and as you mentioned he's quite good with the ball at his feet and can even score some. But I didn't even consider him becuase Chelsea brought him from Brazil and placed him in the Dutch league, so I kinda figured they had right of first refusal on him ... and there's no way they'd let Spurs steal a player they groomed. Hell, Chelsea are in the market of stealing players other people have groomed and tapped up, just ask Manchester United, Leeds United, etc.

I think Downing isn't fast. He's not the slowest guy, but he doesn't have enough pace to get behind defenses, and he dallies on the ball too long before crossing it, allowing defenders to get back into position. If Spurs forego Malbranque/Taarabt type attacking midfielder for a true Left Winger, then we need to get one that's going to consistently provide flank service by crossing near the endline. Right now, Malbranque already scores more goals than Downing, and probably provides more assists. Neither is much of a defender, but honestly, I'd rather have Malbranque's effort defensively over Downings. Sure, Downing may improve ... but I'm just not impressed enough with him to spend the outrageous money it would cost to get him. If he were from Lithuania I wonder if anyone would really rate him highly?

One other thing. I hope next season we actually keep Wayne Routledge at Spurs ... he's a better right winger than many people realize. Sure, he'd play a lot less games because we have Lennon, but he's a pure crosser with excellent pace, and he'd give us a different look especially when we shift Lennon around.

-Digital

[Corea Golea redded]

Alex isn't going to be a 3rd defender anywhere. He's going to play lots of games.

[Danners9]

Well if Chelsea manage to get Alex, then the rest of the Premiership will be shaking in their boots, I promise you.

He's theirs already. Has been for some time. Since they signed Robben from PSV.

Alex, Alcides and (I think) Gomes. Ruud Gullit said so on tuesday night, Richard Keys (the sky presenter) said Chelsea have denied the Alex deal and Gullit laughed then said "he's theirs, trust me".


Barnes isn't anything like Routledge. He's actually good now, not sometime in the future. He'd come in as a squad player and force his way into the starting line up. High hopes for him.

[DigitalTron]

Alex isn't going to be a 3rd defender anywhere. He's going to play lots of games.

Well it still looks like Alex isn't on the market, so it's probably a moot point. But, if Spurs were to acquire him--a longshot granted--he'd be the first defender off the bench behind Ledley King and Michael Dawson. But, given that King is always injured for a significant portion of the season, and that we'll probably play between 50 and 60 games next season, Alex would get a lot of playing time as a starter.

Is he available? It doesn't seem so. Would he want to come? I kind of doubt it, he was brought from Brazil by the richest club in the World to play for Chelsea after a few years seasoning in the Dutch league. Chelsea's coach speaks Portuguese, Chelsea have a serious need for a starting central defender with pace, and Chelsea pay a hell of a lot more than Spurs does. I can't see why he'd want to go to Spurs unless Mourinho leaves and/or Chelsea bring in top named central defenders.

Good suggestion with Alex ... but I think we can all agree that it seems improbable.

-Digital

[Lillywhite]

Well it still looks like Alex isn't on the market, so it's probably a moot point. But, if Spurs were to acquire him--a longshot granted--he'd be the first defender off the bench behind Ledley King and Michael Dawson.

-Digital

No way. Alex and Ledders would be the starting CB duo. I really like Daws but Alex shits all over him from a great height.

As has been said though, it's a moot point. He's just counting down the days to join Chelsea.