Re-signings

[DigitalTron]

Here's an article about Ziege posturing not re-signing with Spurs. He talks about wanting to raise his kids in Germany, but admits he hasn't talked to any Bundesliga clubs.

http://skysports.planetfootball.com/article.asp?id=186461&cpid=8

I don't have a link, but I've seen a few articles about Carr hinting about re-signing with Spurs, which would be consistent with Levy's public stance.

-Digital

[sendorange]

Ledley King signed a new 4 year contract yesterday. Good news.

I don't know if Ziege's contract is indeed up this season. I hope it is, time to let him go and I can't imagine getting a fee for him even if he is under contract. He's on a very high salary and that would give the club a lot of money to work with. He's reportedly on at least treble what King is getting in his new contract.

This seems to be the plan for the club, pay transfer fees but only on younger players where the wages will be affordable. Dump all the overpaid veterans.

[chriswalk27]

I had heard the news about King getting a new 4 year deal which is just great but even better news about not resigning Ziege who is overpaid and injury prone to say the least. Guess this means if we don't resign him we will be getting a left back for sure now. Or at least I hope so.




Chris Walker

[Malkamus]

Originally posted by chriswalk27
I had heard the news about King getting a new 4 year deal which is just great but even better news about not resigning Ziege who is overpaid and injury prone to say the least. Guess this means if we don't resign him we will be getting a left back for sure now. Or at least I hope so.




Chris Walker

If Ziege does move on -- best of luck to him. Its a good sign for us - if he wants to play in b-liga1 he'll have to give us a good performance the rest of the season to show he's up for snuff after the horrible injury he's been through and through which Spurs have stuck with him.

[chriswalk27]

Give me some possible replacements for Ziege? Only names I keep hearing are Matt Taylor at Portsmouth(my choice) or John Arne-Risse at Liverpool which I don't like one bit. If we are going to try and pinch someone from Liverpool I would much rather have Carragher which I think is very very unlikely. So throw out some names to talk over.



Chris Walker

[sendorange]

People we have been linked to who play left back:

Julio Arca (Sunderland) - Argentine. Used to be a talented but inconsistent young winger, moved to left back a year ago or so and has been a revelation. Certainly Sunderland's most gifted and highly rated player, very attacking, very good on the ball but maybe not the toughest defensively and although has played in the Premiership, not as a left back. Former member of the Argentina U-20 World Championship winning team. I think he is even captain of Sunderland now and may well have captained that Argentina team.

Paul Konchesky (Charlton) - Strong, committed, good left foot and can surge forward from full back. Not as attacking as Arca, but better defensively. Loves Spurs and is desperate to sign for us.

[comme]

I would like to keep Ziege, when he has been fit he has been superb for us.

However if he goes we should definitely get Konch or depending on other signings,Ledley King is actually a left back for those of you who can remember that far back.

[ginger spur]

I suppose you guys are the best to comment on this one, having seen him more than most, but I'm sure convey will be our new left-back...reasons:

1) Conveys on record as saying he wants to come to the premiership, and apparantly our dof david pleat has remained in contact with him.

2) We bid for andy reid who plays on the left of midfield, and are still talking to santos about diego for the attacking midfield role

3) To be an EPL full back you need certain physical/technical qualities all of which convey apears to have(based on the 4! times I've atually seen him play) These are inno particular order: pace,
acceleration,
same footed as side of field-ie left,
mobility-ie no 6"3' lumps who cannot manouver with tricky wingers,
athleticism to get up and down the flank for 90 minutes,
+football intelligence to know when to actually do so apropriately
,1st touch/ technique to recieve+distribute the ball under presure,
agression,
crossing ability.


4) again i'm only basing this on a handful of performances i've seen, including one against denmark at lb where he showed real quality IMO...-What convey lacks that you need to be a solid lb is heading ability(I've not really seen enough to judge though)
Tackling cleanly
Defenders mentality/understanding of the facets of positional play

now each of these weaknesses are correctable, unlike the fundamentals I listed above such as pace, technique and athleticism, which if you don't have by 20 you'll never be able to learn.

If , as the bookmakers odds suggest likely , trappatonni is to be our next manager ,then convey couldn't have a better man to learn the art of defending from...a man who is acnowledged the world over as the master of cannetico . He appears to have an often commented on drive to improve himself , and his game, and with the raw tools(mentioned above) at his disposal, and a coach who is perhaps the most experienced in the world to teach him the tactical aspects of the game, convey apears to be ripe for the moulding, as it were. Of course he'd initially be raw coming against the likes of ronaldo, llunjberg, dyer and all....most experinced premiership defenders struggle against them even now...BUT the fact remains that with time, and comitment(both assets he has on his side)he could learn the position, and become quite special in it. He will be learning it from near scratch, under perhaps the best defensive teacher in the world, and a the fact he is so raw and won't have pre-learnt flaws in his defensive game, combined with a real willingness to work on the training feild every day give him a good shot at being a class left-back by the time he hits 23, and the 2006 world cup arises. There is certainly a spot their in the usa's side to claim, and he could make that his own, and be spurs's answer to ashley cole, except with some intelligence to go olongside his athletic prowess....

well i'm chucking this out as a suggestion, as anyone who's seen him play 5 + times will have more knowledge about his potential than me-but is this a possibility or not?

[chriswalk27]

I haven't seen him all that often but I think it is going to be harder to get him to come to White Hart Lane now that he has impressed in the past year with his performances.

I am also not really sold on him playing left back and would rather him be a backup in the middle of the pitch personally. I think you are right if Trap does come to town he could learn the position but Trap isn't the coach yet so tough to speculate on him learning from the best.

Has he stated which position he would rather play? I mean I don't want to even try to convert the guy to left back if he doesn't want to play there.




Chris Walker

[soccernutter]

Convey's talent is wasted at left back. He has not played there on a regular basis for a while, and doesn't seem to have the size to be thrown in. Based on what we have, though, I think he would be a great left mid/winger. His pace will cause defenders all sorts of trouble.

[DigitalTron]

Convey started in Amsterdam against the Holland National Team as the US' central attacking midfielder. He sliced the Holland defense repeatedly and was one of the US' best offensive weapons. PSV Eindhoven, Lyon, and another French club (can't recall at the moment) are all trying to get him to play left/central attacking midfield this summer.

I do think that if Spurs make a reasonable offer, that he'll come to Tottenham. I also think you make some very good arguments. But, I think Convey is being brought to play left midfield rather than left back, and I think he can be an instant-impact player at left midfield. He can play left wingback in a 352, but IMHO, he's not the best fit for a fullback in a 442. As 'Nutter mentioned, his attacking skills are wasted there, and as you mentioned gingerspur, he's not the best in the air. His heading is just fine, but he doesn't have the body strength to hold off people and maintain position in the air. Also, he's a pass-picker type of ball-winner rather than a tackle-disposeser. His positional defending is mediocre.

I'd say that Convey would only be playing left fullback if Carr moves on, because otherwise it's a waste. He has far more to offer the offense than Konchesky ever did, and Konchesky was played out of position as a left winger, so I think it's clear Convey would be slotted there. Just to be clear, I like Konchesky quite a bit, and his defending and physical strength is superior to Convey's, but Konchesky is a great prospect as a left back, whereas Convey is a great prospect as a midfielder. IMHO, they'd be a great tandem on the left for years to come. :D

-Digital

[Bizarro Spur]

Dig hit it on the head. Convey has great attacking skills that Spurs could use on the left wing. I was at the match last May when Spurs played DC United at RFK and Convey ran right through the Spurs defense several times during the game. I was yelling from the stands for Hoddle to sign him on the spot. Later come to find out they tried to sign him (too bad the work permit didn't turn out).

Also, Convey is undersized to play left back. I feel the same way about Jacko right now. He has great workrate but I'm not sure he has the physical presence right now to be a solid full-time left back. A few weeks back at the Pompey match when they brought on the new striker Mornar, his size made Jackson look like a little kid. There were several occassions when Jacko jumped for a header and was bumped off the ball by more physical opponents. You don't necessarily need height to be a solid wing back, but strength certainly does help. Just look at Carr; built like a tree stump and not afraid to mix it up with larger strikers. Has weight training caught on in the Prem like it has for the major sports here in the states?

I tend to be a pessimist when it comes to teams I support because generally when they start to show life they end up falling apart in the end (witness FA Cup 4th round debacle) (maybe I should start rooting for Arsenhole so they'll start losing)...Having said that, realistically I don't think Spurs will end up bringing Konch back next year. Some other team will outbid Spurs.

My hopes for next year's back four would be:

Carr - King - Gardener - Mabizela

Not sure Mabizela can play left, but I think he may have a solid future for Spurs.

What do you guys think?

-Biz

[chriswalk27]

Biz, I think moving Mabizela to left back might be a waste of his talents from what I hear, built to lead a team from the back and you can't really do that from left back now can you? I actually wouldn't mind seeing him get some time there this year if we start to go down the tubes and Europe is gone for sure.

I sort of agree about Convey and really hope he comes to WHL but if not I think there are some options out there with Reid from Forest being my second pick behind Convey. I thought Convey struggled out on the left wing with DC United? I wouldn't mind him as a backup in the middle of the pitch and spot start out on the wing if needed. I think it all really depends on how well he plays this year for DC.

[Sanguine]

Originally posted by chriswalk27

I thought Convey struggled out on the left wing with DC United?

The last couple years, he's struggled everywhere for DC in games that matter. Hopefully his recent runs with the youth nats and a new coach in DC will help him gain some form and consistency in league play. It's obvious to all that he has the talent, but some still doubt that he has the demeanor to run the show against a good defense. (I am one of those doubters, so take this as you will.)

[DigitalTron]

Actually, Convey has excelled everywhere under every coach, except under Ray Hudson. Coincidently, when Hudson took over United, the team went from one of the better scoring teams in MLS to challenging for the all-time worst scoring MLS team ever. Only moving Convey into the middle for a brief period and allowing him to impose his will on games prevented Hudson's anti-offense team from taking the title of most inept offense in MLS history. Of course, the result was that Hudson immediately took Convey back OUT of the middle and proceded to isolate the offense from him and United's offensive woes continued. It was no coincidence that Convey's perceived ineffectiveness correlated EXACTLY to Hudson's being named coach of United. Now, with Piotr Nowak coaching United, I fully expect to see Convey return to his place as a very effective player.

Like all players, playing in the center is their preference, because they see a LOT more of the ball and can make more of a difference. But wherever Convey plays, I expect him to be very effective now that Hudson/Trask and their anti-offense is gone. Check the numbers, Convey was very effective pre-Hudson for United (despite being quite young), and has been very effective in the US Youth and even full USMNT during Hudson's tenure. It was only when Hudson coached that Convey had been ineffective.

-Digital

[soccernutter]

Originally posted by DigitalTron
Just to be clear, I like Konchesky quite a bit, and his defending and physical strength is superior to Convey's, but Konchesky is a great prospect as a left back, whereas Convey is a great prospect as a midfielder. IMHO, they'd be a great tandem on the left for years to come. :D

-Digital

On the right - Carr and Davies
On the left - Konchesky and Convey

Mouth watering stuff. Now if we can only get somebody for the middle. And this makes it seem like we don't really need Diego, as much as I have hoping.

[DigitalTron]

Good.

http://www.skysports.com/skysports/article/0,,31-1125146,00.html

-Digital