Tottenham 2017/18: Suck it Arsenal

[Zososoxfan]

Isn't there a logjam of sorts at the pivot too, with Dembele, Sissoko, Winks, and Wanyama, not to mention Dier once Toby returns? I think we'll have to disagree about the attacking mid logjam. You're right that they've run Eriksen into the ground, but with Lamela now back in the rotation, Poch can play 2-3 of those in any match and rest the one or two he wants. As for the striker, Spurs cannot pay Globoclub prices, but they can almost certainly pay the guys I'm talking about. For instance, Gomez is 21 years old and moved to Vigo on July 1, for a transfer fee of 4M Euros. Sanabria has a market value of 5M Euros, etc. I also think Poch is creative enough to utilize a 2-striker formation--he's used Son for this to some success. In other words, for me it's more a question of squad composition and there's enough midfielders of quality, but not strikers and Kane is playing just about every match.

 

[coremiller]

Isn't there a logjam of sorts at the pivot too, with Dembele, Sissoko, Winks, and Wanyama, not to mention Dier once Toby returns? I think we'll have to disagree about the attacking mid logjam. You're right that they've run Eriksen into the ground, but with Lamela now back in the rotation, Poch can play 2-3 of those in any match and rest the one or two he wants. As for the striker, Spurs cannot pay Globoclub prices, but they can almost certainly pay the guys I'm talking about. For instance, Gomez is 21 years old and moved to Vigo on July 1, for a transfer fee of 4M Euros. Sanabria has a market value of 5M Euros, etc. I also think Poch is creative enough to utilize a 2-striker formation--he's used Son for this to some success. In other words, for me it's more a question of squad composition and there's enough midfielders of quality, but not strikers and Kane is playing just about every match.

There is sort of a pivot logjam, but Sissoko sucks, Dembele isn't durable and is now 30, and Wanyama has been out all year. I would solve any pivot logjam by just giving all of Sissoko's minutes to the new guy. Upgrading Sissoko to somebody actually decent would be a big improvement.

The issue with a striker of that caliber would be whether they'd be good enough to justify a place in the team.

 

[Kliq]

I don't think a second striker is that big of a priority. Kane is at his best when is the lone striker on the field and is surrounded by play-making attacking mid-fielders. So then you are talking about really a second striker to come on in the 75th minute and try and make something happen, so I'm not sure it's worth it for the team to pay money for a high-quality player or for a young player looking to play for a bigger club. In theory Llorente should be the perfect substitute striker since he bagged 14 league goals last season for Swansea and isn't really a 90 minute player anymore, but he has struggled so far this season.

I think their big attacking issue (and they are fifth in the EPL and have been able to score often in the UCL so I'm not sure how big of an issue it is) is that Dele has not been scoring goals at nearly the same rate as he did last year. Sissoko, Dembele, Winks, haven't been doing much when they have gotten the chance to play either. Son has six goals in seven stars for Spurs this season; they have to find some way to get his bat in the lineup every game.

 

[veritas]

If they lose Kane, they're done. Like others have said, I don't see them finding someone who's more than a marginal upgrade over Son/Llorente who is also going to want to come here and not play.

If Kane were to be out for any extended amount of time, Dele is probably their next best striker. Last year before moving to a back 3, he was essentially playing as a second striker much of the time. Of course, moving him would create another hole to fill, but adding depth at attacking mid is going to be easier this window.

Never been a huge Barkley fan, but Everton has really missed him this year (not nearly as much as Lukaku, but still). He'd provide cover for both Dembele/Alli, and be an upgrade over Sissoko.

 

[Tangled Up In Red]

The real focus though needs to be on the midfield pivot rather than the attacking band. Getting Wanyama back would help (he reportedly started to return to training this week), but with Dier forced to play a lot of CB to cover for injuries and suspensions there they are really thin in the 6/8 roles, especially since Dembele is fragile and not up to playing 90 minutes 2x/week.

This is actually where I think they may be considering developing Barkley. Eventual Dembele replacement. He's got size and skill, can he grow in to that deeper role?

 

[Kliq]

Seven hat tricks for Kane in 2017. He’s pretty good.

 

[Gunfighter 09]

If you can look past the horrendous finishing that kept this match at 3-0, rather than 6 or 7 nil, that was a very strong performance for Spurs against what has been a very tough team so far. Either way, a nice bounce back from that debacle last week.

I am starting to get excited about what we have seen from Lamela. As he gets back in shape, it will be nice to see him give Son/Erikson/Dele a break.

Lastly, I appreciated the troll move by Poch to give Dele a send off from the crowd with about 5 minutes to go.

 

[Gunfighter 09]

In the "little things that no longer piss me off" category. ESPN added Spurs to their "top teams" link on ESPNFC. About fucking time.

http://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/21087319/soccer-teams

 

[Kliq]

An unfortunate sign is that I was pretty confident Sissoko was going to screw up that one on one opportunity and he managed to take two shots inside the box and hit them right at the keeper both times. I was more surprised in Son misfiring on his golden opportunity since he has been such a good finisher lately.

I’m starting to get worried about Dele. His production is way down from last year and now he has had reckless challenges in back-to-back games that could have easily gotten him sent off.

Some more Kane notes: his 51 goals in 2017 for club and country trail only Lionel Messi, and he is now averaging more than a goal per game for Spurs. He has tied Alan Shearer for the most goals in a calendar year in EPL history with a game to go, and Shearer did it in six more games than Kane.

 

[Zomp]

The guardian ranked him the fifth best player in the world in 2017. Not sure if he’s that high but certainly in the top ten and the best striker in the premier league.

 

[coremiller]

In the "little things that no longer piss me off" category. ESPN added Spurs to their "top teams" link on ESPNFC. About fucking time.

http://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/21087319/soccer-teams

Thank god, this has been bugging me forever. Glad to hear I wasn’t the only one.

 

[Kliq]

The guardian ranked him the fifth best player in the world in 2017. Not sure if he’s that high but certainly in the top ten and the best striker in the premier league.

I would say that Kane and Lewandowski are the two best CFs in the world today. I’d throw in Messi and Neymar as better overall strikers, and probably Ronaldo as well. I’m trying to set my bias aside but it’s hard to argue against his production and he is playing with less talent around him than all of those other guys.

 

[Kliq]

Kane with another hat trick that gives him the record for most EPL goals in a calendar year, which he did in five fewer games than Alan Shearer. More goals than anyone else in Europe in 2017; and I’m pretty sure he is making less than the top players on Watford.

 

[Kliq]

Llorrente with a solid header to get the three points at Swansea. He was probably offsides but whatever, we might need him at one point so its good to see him rounding into form. Kane has been ill over the weekend so it was probably a good idea to not have him out there in the freezing rain for 90 minutes.

 

[Zososoxfan]

Llorrente with a solid header to get the three points at Swansea. He was probably offsides but whatever, we might need him at one point so its good to see him rounding into form. Kane has been ill over the weekend so it was probably a good idea to not have him out there in the freezing rain for 90 minutes.

I think Arry needs to get some rest going into the second half of the season. I know he setup the second goal, but Kane presumably cannot make 40+ appearances this year, can he? Also, as the leader of the Dele Alli haters club, I will give him tons of credit for the second goal. The first touch was sublime, the first shot wasn't bad, and it was incredibly athletic to get the second shot on goal. He's still a shithead though.

 

[Kliq]

I think Arry needs to get some rest going into the second half of the season. I know he setup the second goal, but Kane presumably cannot make 40+ appearances this year, can he? Also, as the leader of the Dele Alli haters club, I will give him tons of credit for the second goal. The first touch was sublime, the first shot wasn't bad, and it was incredibly athletic to get the second shot on goal. He's still a shithead though.

I was surprised he got into the game given the conditions and his illness over the weekend, plus they have a short turn-around with a game tomorrow. It will be interesting to see moving forward if we see him getting maybe a little more time off, maybe not full games but coming out earlier if Spurs have a 3-0 lead. The issue is they haven't looked productive at all on offense without Kane and he has scored nearly half of all their goals in league play this season. If Dele can be as productive as he was last year it wouldn't be too big of a problem; but it looks like Kane, Son and Eriksen are going to score like 90 percent of their goals.

 

[Gunfighter 09]

Why must every 6th or 7th match involved repeated bouncing of the ball off of on the line defenders, or the post or the goal keeper multiple fucking times? This team....

 

[Kliq]

Kane with his 99th EPL goal for Tottenham, the most ever. He could go scoreless for the next 99 games and still have the same Goals Per Appearance average as the man he passed, Teddy Sheringham.

 

[coremiller]

Eh, I think this is an annoyingly meaningless statistic. Top-flight English football did not begin in 1992. The real target is Jimmy Greaves' 220 league goals and 266 overall.

Besides that, great performance today. Good to see Wanyama get back in the action too.

 

[Kliq]

Eh, I think this is an annoyingly meaningless statistic. Top-flight English football did not begin in 1992. The real target is Jimmy Greaves' 220 league goals and 266 overall.

Besides that, great performance today. Good to see Wanyama get back in the action too.

It’s not meaningless. Obviously Greaves is the club record, but Kane has been historically more prolific than any other Spurs striker since the EPL began play, by just an enormous margin.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Curious how Spurs fans feel about this:


Heung-Min Son is the best player on Tottenham, true or false?

 

[scott bankheadcase]

Curious how Spurs fans feel about this:


Heung-Min Son is the best player on Tottenham, true or false?

It’s false but he’s the most underrated. The best is an argument between alderwiereld and Kane.

 

[Kliq]

Curious how Spurs fans feel about this:


Heung-Min Son is the best player on Tottenham, true or false?

False, I’m not going to compare an attacking player to a CB for obvious reasons, but Kane is far and away the best player on Spurs, and easily the most important. As the lone CF he has an enormous responsibility to be both the chief goal-scorer and also be the target man downfield to hold up play and allow the Dele/Son/Eriksen triumvirate move up field. He’s never subbed off and this year Spurs pretty much need him to get on the scoreboard to take three points. The production of course, speaks for itself.

I thought the NBCSN guys at halftime did a good job highlighting the weight Kane held on the field that led to Son’s goal. If you watch the replay, Kane begins to run backwards a little bit outside the 18 and draws two defenders with him, which opened up the middle of the box for Son to run in and bury the cross.

Son has been very good these last two years but saying he is the best player on the team is kind of like people saying Jae Crowder was the best player on last year’s Celtics team.

 

[scott bankheadcase]

False, I’m not going to compare an attacking player to a CB for obvious reasons, but Kane is far and away the best player on Spurs, and easily the most important. As the lone CF he has an enormous responsibility to be both the chief goal-scorer and also be the target man downfield to hold up play and allow the Dele/Son/Eriksen triumvirate move up field. He’s never subbed off and this year Spurs pretty much need him to get on the scoreboard to take three points. The production of course, speaks for itself.

I thought the NBCSN guys at halftime did a good job highlighting the weight Kane held on the field that led to Son’s goal. If you watch the replay, Kane begins to run backwards a little bit outside the 18 and draws two defenders with him, which opened up the middle of the box for Son to run in and bury the cross.

Son has been very good these last two years but saying he is the best player on the team is kind of like people saying Jae Crowder was the best player on last year’s Celtics team.

I agree with most of this. The one thing I’ll say about son is you can definitely make the argument he’s better than and more important than dele, who has been the more celebrated player.

 

[Kliq]

I agree with most of this. The one thing I’ll say about son is you can definitely make the argument he’s better than and more important than dele, who has been the more celebrated player.

This season he has been; but Dele was great last season and I still think long term he is going to be the better player. I would say Son and Eriksen are about equals. Son makes better runs and is more creative inside the box, but Eriksen is a better passer and playmaker.

 

[Kliq]

Tough to drop points at Southampton today, the team really missed Eriksen who was out with the flu. Dele worked hard but I thought was a bit of a disaster with the ball at his feet, a lot of over dribbling that led to dispossessions.

Make or break stretch coming up with Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal on top of the CL ties with Juventus.

 

[coremiller]

Was there any reason to start Sissoko over Lamela yesterday? God I hate Sissoko, my least favorite Spurs player in a long time.

 

[Zososoxfan]

Was there any reason to start Sissoko over Lamela yesterday? God I hate Sissoko, my least favorite Spurs player in a long time.

I'm an admitted Lamela fanboi, but yeah, he should begin getting some starts ASAP. I've seen enough of Dele dribbling directly into defenders for awhile.

 

[Kliq]

Was there any reason to start Sissoko over Lamela yesterday? God I hate Sissoko, my least favorite Spurs player in a long time.

I’m usually up for some Sissoko bashing but yesterday might have been his very best game for Spurs, as he was active on both ends, made some key interceptions and some solid passes from the midfield. Dele was a much bigger problem yesterday and they really missed Eriksen’s playmaking ability.

 

[Tangled Up In Red]

Was there any reason to start Sissoko over Lamela yesterday? God I hate Sissoko, my least favorite Spurs player in a long time.

I’m usually up for some Sissoko bashing but yesterday might have been his very best game for Spurs, as he was active on both ends, made some key interceptions and some solid passes from the midfield.

I think both of these are right. Lamela should have started, that is what the course demanded. Sissoko did well, but wasn't the right selection to begin with.

 

[Kliq]

Not going to lie though, it would have been something if that 5'2" teenager Southamption randomly brought on in the 82nd minute that was so obscure the announcers were trying to figure out who he was, scored the winner.

 

[coremiller]

Every attack dies as soon as the ball gets to Sissoko's feet. His first touch isn't good enough, he has no vision, his decision-making is too slow, and when he does try to pick a pass he usually lacks the technique to execute it properly with the right angle and weight.

Plus Southampton's lone goal came from an attack down the side he was supposed to be helping cover. Bertrand got in behind Aurier b/c Aurier got stuck 1v2 when Sissoko wasn't supporting him.

 

[Kliq]

Sissoko does check off a lot of the boxes when it comes to being a frustrating player.

Big transfer fee? Check.

Complete lack of production? Check.

Tons of physical talent but little results? Check.

Crazy, reckless plays? Check.

Destroyed faith to the degree that no scoring situation seems too easy for him to screw up? Check.

All he has to do is start a big feud with one of Spurs actually good players and he has all the boxes.

 

[Zososoxfan]

The Lucas Moura transfer is confirmed. He will hopefully be able to spell Son as the speedy winger attacker and perhaps let Poch double up on that when he thinks the opposing fullbacks are weak, but the opponent is still dangerous on the counter (so Spurs don't have to attack with their own FBs). Hopefully this pushes all the other AMFs (Son, Lamela, Eriksen, and Dele) to play even better.

 

[caseumsd]

Can someone please explain to me why Poch continues to play Sissoko and Wanyama? I thought the goal was to win trophies to keep Kane around long term? If he doesn’t bring in Son and Alli at halftime he clearly has no idea what he is doing anymore

 

[Merkle's Boner]

Can someone please explain to me why Poch continues to play Sissoko and Wanyama? I thought the goal was to win trophies to keep Kane around long term? If he doesn’t bring in Son and Alli at halftime he clearly has no idea what he is doing anymore

Pretty sure he was under the impression that a team with Harry Kane in it would be able to beat fuckin' Newport County. I have no problem with the lineup, and am reluctantly happy he brought Dele and Son in when he did. Such a missed opportunity.

 

[DJnVa]

Incoming?

http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2018/01/28/tottenham-hotspur-signing-lucas-moura-javier-pastore-and-amadou/

 

[Zososoxfan]

Incoming?

http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2018/01/28/tottenham-hotspur-signing-lucas-moura-javier-pastore-and-amadou/

Really don't see why they would want Pastore. He's an also ran amalgamation of the AMFs we already have without the potential upside improvement. Moura and Diawara I don't know as well.

 

[Tangled Up In Red]

Moura fills the pacy, creative wide attacking player void. Don't let the Andros Townsend hairline (and they even run alike) fool you, he seems to have loads more skill, can pick a pass, etc. And most important, he's relatively affordable and gettable.
Pastore, just no.
Diawara is in the Dembele replacement look. Likely to hard to get at this stage. But CM is quickly becoming a shoter term need.

 

[67YAZ]

The Diawara rumor is interesting. He's a monster prospect - hard working, physical, comfortable on the ball, with strong passing ability at all ranges. It's easy to imagine him as a Brian Schweinsteiger if he maxes out his potential. Right now he's behind Jorginho and Allan in Napoli's midfield, only 8 starts and 10 sub appearances this season. That's no knock on Diawara since those two are playing great football in Napoli's engine room, but how much more game time would he get with Spurs? Especially with Winks needing to see the pitch in the same roles.

 

[coremiller]

I don't think Moura gets into the current starting XI since Son's been in good form lately, and I don't know if Moura can play centrally like Dele does. But he brings a skillset the squad currently lacks, and having more options and depth is a big plus, as is competition for places. Spurs are still in three competitions and there will be plenty of games to go around.

The bigger need remains CM.

 

[DJnVa]

Moura passed his physical

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11675/11230299/lucas-moura-set-to-sign-for-tottenham-after-completing-medical

Per that article, the last January buy the Spurs made was 3 years ago--Dele Alli. That worked out.

 

[coremiller]

Moura signing now official:

 

[DJnVa]

Spurs score 11 seconds into match, and get an own goal--up 2-0 on ManU, nearing half. Yay.

 

[Zososoxfan]

Spurs score 11 seconds into match, and get an own goal--up 2-0 on ManU, nearing half. Yay.

That was a very complete performance by Spurs. In the first half, everyone played out of their minds. United looked a bit threatening finding the gaps at first, but the defense settled in quite nicely. In the second half, the magic left some of our attackers (namely Kane and Dele), but the defense locked down. The CBs and Dembele in particular grabbed the game by the scruff. MOTM for me goes to Eriksen who played an excellent 90 full minutes. With Chelsea also dropping 3 points, this has been an immense match week for Spurs.

 

[Kliq]

Can’t think of a better way to start this big run than outclassing United for 90 minutes. This next month is really going to make or break their season and they need to pick up three points on the top clubs.

 

[Gunfighter 09]

Got exactly what they deserved with the draw today, despite a shitty first half. That was one of the better second halves they have played since, well, earlier this week.

It will be interesting to see what kind of line up they play in the rematch with Newport three days before the NLD. I have to imagine that will be Moura's debut.

 

[coremiller]

With Arsenal in an early kickoff Saturday followed by a trip to Juventus on Tuesday, I hope they play all backups against Newport. If the Spurs B team can't beat a mid-table League 2 side at home, then why are those players even at the club?

 

[eddiew112]

Pretty cool Players Tribune article from Harry. It's hard not to love the fact that he is trying to model himself after the GOAT.

 

[Kliq]

It's incredible that my second favorite athlete has a bond with my favorite athlete. Everything about Kane makes me think he would be comfortable playing with Spurs for the rest of his career.