There is this thing called regression to the mean. If a player is 'utter shite' somewhere else, nobody will buy them. For those that are playing well and in demand, some of them will regress once they move. This happens with every club.
And now it's confirmed Bentancur will be out for at least 6 months with a torn ACL. In just a week, the season has gone down the s****er.
I think the season has been going down the shitter since the loss to Sporting. Big chance for Sarr and/or Skipp to show their worth. But this is what happens when the manager refuses to rotate.
If this season wasn’t over before it is now. I’d maybe be pushing for Conte to sign his contract now so we can start building towards next season, play the kids (it’s a shame Spence isn’t here), bench Son and Perisic. Find out who is cut out for the Premier League and who isn’t. Give Kane a break and get Richarlason some proper minutes.
The 3 we have at that position are pretty good, albeit 2 are rather inexperienced. But I wonder who the emergency 4th central midfielder is - Dier? Someone from the academy?
Hopefully, Bentancur will be back to his best on his return. Unfortunately, we have seen too many examples of players not being the same after surgery - think Wanyama, Sessegnon, Doherty, and Skipp in the recent past.
Good points. I also wonder if these players lose their edge when they sign for us. Remember, they are getting a substantial wage increase to come to Tottenham. They are also players that none of the top clubs wanted, so maybe they feel that Tottenham is the highest level they are going to get and that's it. I think we were successful under Poch when the players were hungry and looked like they had a point to prove. The decline began once they started getting their wage rises.
Winks. He spent so long being post-injury Winks that no one thinks of how he was before. He was so much more 'positive' than what came later.
True, and I am sure there are others. The problem with Winks is he can't play in a two-man midfield because he lacks the strength and the tactical awareness you need in that kind of set-up. However, in a 3-man midfield, he is effective because he can support the attacking players with his passing and you don't need him to defend. In Poch's heyday, he would often play alongside the likes of Dembele and Dier/Wanyama. I remember the crazy 3-2 at Leicester last season where he played that role and finished with an assist and 4 passes that created goal-scoring chances. Unfortunately, we have a long history of signing or developing players and not playing them in their proper position.
Out for the season. Just a reminder of how fragile our squad is. If something like that happens to one of our central defenders, we are toast.
Fabrizio Romano reporting that Manor Solomon is out for 2-3 months. Gil, Perisic, Johnson, Solomon - that position is starting to feel like drummer for Spinal Tap. I guess we'll be seeing more of Veliz, and maybe Gil.
Athletic says Johnson is not in the Wales squad, and isn't available for Luton, so needs at least 3 more weeks rest [emoji3525]
It looks like the one thing that could derail our season is international football. Son, who played for Korea in a meaningless friendly against Vietnam, was seen limping off at halt time - I have no idea why the club let him go at all as he is nursing a groin injury - Klinsmann did not use him in their other friendly last Thursday. I watched the Peru-Argentina game with some friends last night and saw Cuti Romero come off in the 48th minute with a swollen ankle. Gio Lo Celso, who seems to play for everyone else except us, came on as a late substitute.
Lo Celso is like Anderton. Only fit for the national team. I remember Cascarino would only up his game for Ireland too. His club managers used to get quite pissed off
It's funny you guys actually have a lot ot guys out and are still hitting strides in the PL. Can only imagine when those guys are fit how stronger Spurs potentially can be.
Well, there are areas (like defence) where the cover is scanty to say the least. A couple of injuries to key players and the bench players will have to be beyond their best to keep things going in the right way. It would be nice if the title was won by someone else for a change
Richarlison set for surgery. Another example of a guy who we've been complaining about who's actually been playing hurt. Hope he comes back ready to go.
Looks like Maddison and VDV are out until January at the earliest. Richy out for at least a month. It’s been 3 months of good times and relatively little adversity. It’s going to be interesting to see what Ange Spurs do in a difficult period. It was all sunshine, roses and Conte-cam when things were going well under Antonio - then the wheels came off.
I expect we'll see more injuries with this high-line, high tempo, high pressing, fast play. Early Poch Spurs played high-tempo, high-press, but the lack of personnel churn (due to stadium payments) meant the squad got exhausted and injury-prone. Hopefully Levy will get the DoF to get the required names in (and out). Got to back the right manager with the right players.
Unfortunately, we have seen this movie time and again with Spurs under Levy's chairmanship. We have always had a competitive first XI, but as soon as key players get injured or suspended, the wheels fall off because our chairman has never understood how to build a proper squad. As long as Levy and Joe Lewis are calling the shots, we will always lead a Sisyphean existence.