glory-glory.co.uk

Carling Cup Champions 2007/8

Welcome to glory-glory.co.uk Sign in | Join | Help
in
Home Blogs Forums Photos Downloads

cockerel downunder's Blog

And… breathe

NN

 

A review of Spurs transfers since the arrival of Ramos.

The window’s shut, the door’s locked, bridges are burned and the drawbridge is up. It’s over now, and those inside White Hart Lane can look around and know who their comrades are for the campaign ahead. Well, until January at least.

 

I thought it would be appropriate to do a balance sheet of the comings and goings of the Ramos era thus far. Not just a financial balance sheet, but a profit and loss in a football sense as well.

 

Actually, I’m not too fussed about the finances. As long as the directors are not lining their own pockets at one extreme, or “doing a Leeds” at the other, I’ll happily leave the money side to them. Nonetheless, it shows that we have recouped almost exactly what we have spent, in a money sense at least.

 

 

IN

£M

OUT

£M

Gomes

8

Robbo

3.5

Cesar

0

Cerny

0

Woodgate

7

Kaboul

7

Corluka

8.5

Gardener

2.5

 

 

(Rocha)

 

Hutton

8

Chimbonda

5

Gunter

3

Lee

2

Gilberto

2

(Stalteri)

 

Modric

15.8

Tanio

5

Bentley

15

Malbranque

5

 

 

(Boateng)

 

Giovani

4.7

Defoe

7

Pavlyuchenko

13.8

Keane

20.3

F. Campbell

Loan

Berbatov

30.75

Total

85.8

Total

88.05

 

When Harry Redknapp re-joined Portsmouth and declared he needed to buy a whole new team, people sniggered. Old ‘Arry loves his wheeling and dealing. When Ramos arrived at Spurs, no such extravagant statements were made, in public at least. Ramos is too dignified for that.

 

Looking at the list of ins and outs however, it is clear that a dramatic overhaul of the squad has been accomplished with ruthless speed. Perhaps the closest we got to a public declaration was in the wake of the 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, after which an angry Gus Poyet said “We are going to have to change, maybe we are going to make big changes."

 

The legacy of the Arneson/Jol era was that although a lot of the players were deemed not good enough for a top 4 push, they at least had sell on value. This has allowed Ramos to completely reshape the squad in relatively short time, and he has improved almost every area individually as well as changing the overall balance and characteristics of the group.

 

Any player who does not fit the Spaniard’s basic standards of technique and athleticism has been added to the “no long term future” list and shipped out as and when a suitable offer has come in. Ramos wants to move the ball with pace and accuracy from back to front, and anyone likely to slow this down either with mind or legs has been removed, even those with proven reliability and commitment such as Malbranque and Tanio.

 

Here is my quick summary of each area of the team, a profit or loss, in the footballing sense:

 

GK – so far so good. If gomes can remain as solid as he was against Chelsea a definite upgrade.

 

CB – Woodgate and Corluka, or Kaboul and Gardener? Easy decision, and Corluka is versatile as well. One qualm would be that we now only have one “pacy” centre half in King.

 

FB – 1st team quality not hugely improved (Hutton/Chimbonda) but a better attitude and more balanced group with left footed left backs and more youth. All our fullbacks are now comfortable going forwards, though some still have a few questions to answer at the back.

 

Midfield – Modric and Bently are easily superior players to Tanio and Malbranque, so a definite upgrade here. With these two and Giovani we now have several players who can link defence and attack with pace and verve, last season Lennon and Malbranque were the closest we had.

 

Whilst I was sad to see our flying Finn leave (and Steeeeeed, a bit) I feel we have lost a bit of reliability and gained a lot of flair and dynamism, this group symbolises more than any other the new philosophy under Ramos, and the old one under Jol. Still no specialist DM and I’m sure the debate will rage on (and on, and on…) but whilst the club were clearly after one (if rumours are to be believed!) Zokora has another half a season to prove his case.

 

Forwards - The one area that looks weaker is of course the striking department. Even this looks more balanced to me, 4 strikers was always too many to keep happy, but Defoe and Keane made it a necessity as we always needed 2 “big man” strikers as well as them. They also made 442 mandatory, which would not have fitted the fluidity of Ramos’ plans.

 

Giovani, as seen as a replacement for Defoe is perfect. A 4th striker if needed but also a winger, giving flexibility for new formations. Of course, the changes to the striking department unfortunately did not end here.

 

Pavlyuchenko may well turn out to be as good as Berbatov, but probably not straight away.

 

The only explanation I can conjure up for Frazier Campbell on loan is that having spend the past 8 months clearing out dead wood the last thing Ramos wanted was a last minute panic signing who would not fit the standard long term. Perhaps a loan signing to make up the numbers until the Jan window was preferable, given the situation.

 

Quite how we got into that situation is of course another matter entirely, but I feel one that is still shrouded in too much fog for a clear insight. Too many deals at too many clubs went right down to the wire for me to point a finger too accusingly at Levy, just yet anyway.

 

I know Ramos isn’t supposed to be directly involved in transfers but it is clear that since his arrival we have seen a step change in policy, a huge turnover of the squad, and in my eyes at least our football will profit. If the cash in the bank is invested in January on a new striker, the right buy rather than a rushed buy, it could just all turn out ok you know.

 

There will be many different views of the summer dealings (a lot less charitable than mine no doubt!), but at least the uncertainty is now over and fans and players alike can settle down to the real business at hand: Football.

 

 


 

 

Published Tuesday, September 02, 2008 10:21 PM by cockerel downunder
Filed under: , , , ,

Comments

No Comments
Anonymous comments are disabled

About cockerel downunder

The artist formerly know as The Cockerel
Powered by Community Server (Personal Edition), by Telligent Systems