OMT - Tottenham Hotspur vs AC Milan - Audi Cup

[NWND]

With the performances of Carroll, Alli and Winks in pre-season, and Dier playing defensive midfield pretty effectively, do we even think we'll sign a midfielder?

 

[indianspur]

I don't remember the last time Poch played Dembele CM (when Mason got injured against Chel53a?). Poch seems to view him very much as an AM again now.

Carroll or Winks are probably our 4th CM at the moment.

yeah dembele is an emergency cm now, i just put his name there

 

[indianspur]

With the performances of Carroll, Alli and Winks in pre-season, and Dier playing defensive midfield pretty effectively, do we even think we'll sign a midfielder?

i think we will sign a Stambouli type, cheap and cheerful as a back up. I dont think Dier was effective at all, it was difficult for him. In time he could get better, but you can tell he is a centre half playing in midfield.

Carroll is more a back up for Eriksen, Alli will be fully involved this season and Winks will get some game time too probably in the EL if he is not sent out on loan

 

[harr1984]

i think we will sign a Stambouli type, cheap and cheerful as a back up. I dont think Dier was effective at all, it was difficult for him. In time he could get better, but you can tell he is a centre half playing in midfield.

Carroll is more a back up for Eriksen, Alli will be fully involved this season and Winks will get some game time too probably in the EL if he is not sent out on loan

I haven't seen any of Carroll this pre season bar his goal yesterday but whenever Ive seen him he looks like a deep plying playmaker. So why is he a back up for Eriksen? Is he being played further forward now?

 

[indianspur]

I haven't seen any of Carroll this pre season bar his goal yesterday but whenever Ive seen him he looks like a deep plying playmaker. So why is he a back up for Eriksen? Is he being played further forward now?

i saw him for Swansea last season in a deeper position and tbh he looked very poor.....i personally think he would be better playing in a more forward role

 

[milo]

I haven't seen any of Carroll this pre season bar his goal yesterday but whenever Ive seen him he looks like a deep plying playmaker. So why is he a back up for Eriksen? Is he being played further forward now?

Isn't that where he has been playing for England U21s?

 

[Gutter Boy]

I haven't seen any of Carroll this pre season bar his goal yesterday but whenever Ive seen him he looks like a deep plying playmaker. So why is he a back up for Eriksen? Is he being played further forward now?

Because with Pritchard injured we don't have another specialist ACM?

I think last season at Swansea he actually played both roles - as Siggy's cover and Shelvey's

I think the emergence of Pritchard and Onomah at ACM, and Alli and Winks at CM, might mean that we let Carroll move on this summer. I still think we'll buy-in a CM, but that'll be a body too many and Carroll will be the one without a seat (especially as Sherwood seems keen to get him to replace Delph).

 

[DubaiSpur]

Or, we could quite conceivably keep Carroll around for another season while sending Winks and Onomah out on loan. The problem with that prospect is that (as far as I'm aware), his contract expires at the end of this season: if we don't sell him now, he goes for free in June/July 2016.

If we're serious about keeping Carroll, we'll need to agree a new contract with him: and the problem with that is, I don't think he'll sign one unless guaranteed a first-team role this season, which is something we can't offer him.

 

[billyiddo]

Or, we could quite conceivably keep Carroll around for another season while sending Winks and Onomah out on loan. The problem with that prospect is that (as far as I'm aware), his contract expires at the end of this season: if we don't sell him now, he goes for free in June/July 2016.

If we're serious about keeping Carroll, we'll need to agree a new contract with him: and the problem with that is, I don't think he'll sign one unless guaranteed a first-team role this season, which is something we can't offer him.

I'd imagine a work around would be to sign an extension with a low get out clause so as to not put off mid table sides from bidding

 

[GrimsbyYid]

Really Grimsby your remorseless campaign against Mason is more than just wearisome. If he's really as poor as you believe how come he continues to be selected? Pochettino didn't get to where he is by persisting with players that are not up to the job so please just give it a rest.

That said, I'd concede on tonight's performance he does not look ready for 90 mins at OT on Saturday.

Also agree about Dier and Ali, hopefully the latter will get his chance against United from the bench.

I genuinely would prefer to use Alli and Winks more than Mason, both younger (and better). And is he being selected? We haven't played for months and he only got half an hour yesterday. Let's see how many premiership games he gets this season. And if he gets lots, I hope it's because he's really improved his game. Which would delight me believe it or not.

 

[indianspur]

I haven't seen any of Carroll this pre season bar his goal yesterday but whenever Ive seen him he looks like a deep plying playmaker. So why is he a back up for Eriksen? Is he being played further forward now?

TOM'S GOAL
Posted on 6 August 2015 - 08:30

Tom Carroll smiled at the suggestion he was now a ‘goalscoring midfielder’ after his fine strike against AC Milan, but admits it’s an area of his game he’s looking to build on.

Playing in a fluid midfield three with Josh Onomah and Erik Lamela behind Nacer Chadli in our 4-2-3-1 system, Tom found himself in more advanced positions against the Italians and made the most of it as we ran out 2-0 winners in the Audi Cup at the Allianz Arena.

He was denied by the fingertips of Christian Abbiati in the first half but made it count when he was in front of goal again, providing a measured first-time finish to Kieran Trippier’s pass to secure victory in Munich.

“I don’t know if one goal classes me as a goalscoring midfielder but it’s definitely something I need to add to my game,” said Tom, who scored in the FA Cup on loan at Swansea last season but only has two senior goals to his name so far, the first during a loan spell at Derby.

“I like having the ball at my feet and in that role, you have to look to get forward and try to create and score goals.

“I had a chance in the first half where the goalkeeper produced a good save, I thought that was in and then I got into a similar area and managed to find the corner.

“I’m happy with the goal and overall, I thought we played really well and deserved the win.

“It was a great performance against top opposition, so a good win and a lot of positives to take into the season.”

 

[NWND]

AM - Eriksen, Lamela

I genuinely would prefer to use Alli and Winks more than Mason, both younger (and better). And is he being selected? We haven't played for months and he only got half an hour yesterday. Let's see how many premiership games he gets this season. And if he gets lots, I hope it's because he's really improved his game. Which would delight me believe it or not.

Just as Mason won his place over Capoue and Stambouli last season through just being better in training and in games, if Alli/Winks are consistently better than Mason in training, they'll get picked and if they are better in the games, they'll stay in the team ahead of him. That's how Pochettino works, always has done and always will I think. He signed Osvaldo, one of his old favourites for big money at Southampton, but wasn't afraid to drop him because Lambert and Rodriguez were better.

 

[harr1984]

Didn't realise Chadli played, up front - Many have suggested he could do a job there, how did he play? Scored a great goal, but how was he in general?

 

[Coys300]

Didn't realise Chadli played, up front - Many have suggested he could do a job there, how did he play? Scored a great goal, but how was he in general?

Lamela played up front, not Chadli.

 

[indianspur]

Lamela played up front, not Chadli.

it looked like they took it in turns

 

[mudshark]

A better performance from us. At least we showed a bit of imagination, which I thought appeared more or less absent in the Madrid game.

 

[alekaras]

I'm not sure Winks is ready yet, so would rather hold on to Carroll and loan Winks out. Alli, on the other hand... he's my new favorite player.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Shoot me if you want, but I still don't get the lovefest with Bentaleb. He reminds me of Scotty "Backpass" Parker. Tidy with the ball, but 80% passing backward, even when there are forward options. And this in a friendly, where he could take a few more chances. Very frustrating. That being said, he did push forward more in the latter stages of the match.

Alli wasn't too involved today, but I think he should start against Yoonited. Kid showed great poise against both Real and MLS and these are the games where I would expect him to have more of the jitters, since he's trying to impress the coach. Once he gets the nod, I bet he'll be even more calm and composed and show more of his talent.

Trippier should also start. **** this easing new players in ****. He's playing much better than Walker at this point on both ends of the pitch. And he looks like he's one of the few players on the team that can actually create goal-scoring chances, which we'll sorely need.

Lamela, what can I say? It looks like he's having a case of the Soldados.

I know it's not fashionable to like hard working, no nonsense midfielders these days but Scott Parker was an excellent player.

 

[Finney Is Back]

i think we will sign a Stambouli type, cheap and cheerful as a back up. I dont think Dier was effective at all, it was difficult for him. In time he could get better, but you can tell he is a centre half playing in midfield.

Carroll is more a back up for Eriksen, Alli will be fully involved this season and Winks will get some game time too probably in the EL if he is not sent out on loan

I am hoping that our academy production line means that we no longer ever have to go to the transfer market to sign cheap and cheerful back-up again. Let's save our money for players that we would expect to command a first team place.

 

[alekaras]

I know it's not fashionable to like hard working, no nonsense midfielders these days but Scott Parker was an excellent player.

Don't get me wrong, I did like Scotty and appreciated his contribution, but Bentaleb is supposed to be on an entirely different level, yet I'm mostly seeing Parker-level performances from him. That was the point I was making.