Jan Vertonghen

[thfcsteff]

Spot on. Can't see how anyone can think otherwise really.

You have Wimmer, and if you don't trust him you have Dier to slot in and Bentaleb to play deep like at Leicester in the cup. Bentaleb knows the system, Dier knows the system. The CBs split and DM drops in...it is not easy to play if you don't know it. I would see if CCV is up to it for some cup games too personally.

We will be fine. We do not need another CB right now, it will not help.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Wimmer will now not only benefit from some starts but quite a few consecutive games which is great for him and will help build confidence in him and keep him on the learning curve

 

[lurker of old]

How far is Carter- Vickers off the first team? Anyone seen him play - could he be an option if another CB is injured?

 

[Daisuk]

How far is Carter- Vickers off the first team? Anyone seen him play - could he be an option if another CB is injured?

I saw WindyCOYS, who probably knows more about the youth team than most, say this on Twitter today;
Veljkovic is expected to leave in January, so Carter-Vickers is the next youth player in line. Personally I don't think he's ready just yet.

--
I'm not too worried yet. Wimmer has been looking good to me. Would prefer Jan obviously, but this is football.

 

[DubaiSpur]

Bentaleb cannot play as a pure 'DM'. I stand by that opinion: defensively, the few times he's been used in a defensive deep-lying position this season have concurred with us losing control of the midfield battle and being overrun in the center of the park. In terms of positioning, he doesn't have a patch on Dier (who plays like what he is, a CB in midfield: funnily enough, that's apparently exactly what we need in that position ).

Bentaleb's future lies in the spot that Dembele usually occupies, i.e, as a box-to-box DM driving from deep. Dembele can do a job at DM, sure....but not Bentaleb.

And I don't think we're as secure in defense as we'd like to think we are. One more injury, and we'd be forced to move Dier back there, which isn't a good thing. It's why having four CBs who can be reasonably trusted to do a job is important: sans Fazio (for obvious reasons), we're lacking that bunch atm.

 

[Pirate55]

Bentaleb cannot play as a pure 'DM'. I stand by that opinion: defensively, the few times he's been used in a defensive deep-lying position this season have concurred with us losing control of the midfield battle and being overrun in the center of the park. In terms of positioning, he doesn't have a patch on Dier (who plays like what he is, a CB in midfield: funnily enough, that's apparently exactly what we need in that position ).

Bentaleb's future lies in the spot that Dembele usually occupies, i.e, as a box-to-box DM driving from deep. Dembele can do a job at DM, sure....but not Bentaleb.

And I don't think we're as secure in defense as we'd like to think we are. One more injury, and we'd be forced to move Dier back there, which isn't a good thing. It's why having four CBs who can be reasonably trusted to do a job is important: sans Fazio (for obvious reasons), we're lacking that bunch atm.

Agreed. If Verts injury is as bad as rumoured and he will be out for virtually the rest if the season, we are really light in that position.

 

[Pirate55]

You have Wimmer, and if you don't trust him you have Dier to slot in and Bentaleb to play deep like at Leicester in the cup. Bentaleb knows the system, Dier knows the system. The CBs split and DM drops in...it is not easy to play if you don't know it. I would see if CCV is up to it for some cup games too personally.

We will be fine. We do not need another CB right now, it will not help.

How can you say it will not help? What if we brought in a Kompany or a Stones? With Fazio not at the races and Verts possibly out all season, that just leaves Toby and Wimmer. One more injury to one of them and we are up brick creek.

 

[SpurMeUp]

Glass half full perspective: Wimmer has had time to get into Pochettino's groove. He should be fit, understand our system and be fresh. I feel a lot more confident with Wimmer playing regular first team football after being at the club for half a year. Now is the time for him to step up.

We've seen how Poch can get younger players performing at a high level. Had Verts not been injured Wimmer might have stagnated without games. Wimmer is a talent. Don't forget he was a first team CB in the Bundesliga at a young age. Verts may have to work his way back into the team in a few weeks when fit. Lets hope so.

 

[billyiddo]

How can you say it will not help? What if we brought in a Kompany or a Stones? With Fazio not at the races and Verts possibly out all season, that just leaves Toby and Wimmer. One more injury to one of them and we are up brick creek.

Don't you think that's a little shortsighted? A Kompany or a Stones would presumably mean dropping Wimmer back to 4th choice in the long term seeing as when fit Verts and Alderweireld rarely get rotated out - so we risk upsetting a promising young player and stunting his development just so we can rest a little easier for a couple of months.

Putting Dier in at CB might be up brick creek for you but I'm pretty happy with that - not many clubs have that good of a 4th choice CB to call on.

 

[milo]

Bentaleb cannot play as a pure 'DM'. I stand by that opinion: defensively, the few times he's been used in a defensive deep-lying position this season have concurred with us losing control of the midfield battle and being overrun in the center of the park. In terms of positioning, he doesn't have a patch on Dier (who plays like what he is, a CB in midfield: funnily enough, that's apparently exactly what we need in that position ).

Bentaleb's future lies in the spot that Dembele usually occupies, i.e, as a box-to-box DM driving from deep. Dembele can do a job at DM, sure....but not Bentaleb.

And I don't think we're as secure in defense as we'd like to think we are. One more injury, and we'd be forced to move Dier back there, which isn't a good thing. It's why having four CBs who can be reasonably trusted to do a job is important: sans Fazio (for obvious reasons), we're lacking that bunch atm.

I don't really want to open up this can of worms again but we do not play with a pure DM. Is there a drop off in quality between Dier and Bentaleb? Yes but I also think that we need to cut Bentaleb some slack because he has had a massively interrupted season and is still very young. Personally, I would feel more comfortable going into a game with Toby and Dier in defence with Bentaleb and Dembele in front of them than Fazio and Toby in defence and Dier and Dembele in front of them.

 

[Bullet]

I'm watching Kolo Toure at the moment... for Liverpool... he is not excellent... this is what other teams have to put up with. Look at City and Arse for 4th choice centre backs!

 

[milo]

Don't you think that's a little shortsighted? A Kompany or a Stones would presumably mean dropping Wimmer back to 4th choice in the long term seeing as when fit Verts and Alderweireld rarely get rotated out - so we risk upsetting a promising young player and stunting his development just so we can rest a little easier for a couple of months.

Putting Dier in at CB might be up brick creek for you but I'm pretty happy with that - not many clubs have that good of a 4th choice CB to call on.

It is all hypothetical anyway. I have not read any stories of a Kompany or Stones quality defender being available this month, if there was, I would have expected one of the richer sides in the league to have signed them. I also do not think that Poch is the type of manager to panic buy.

 

[billyiddo]

It is all hypothetical anyway. I have not read any stories of a Kompany or Stones quality defender being available this month, if there was, I would have expected one of the richer sides in the league to have signed them. I also do not think that Poch is the type of manager to panic buy.

Well considering Chelsea couldn't prize Stones himself away from Everton for 40m+ I think that's a pretty safe bet - and the fact we went in to the season without a genuine Kane back up would certainly point to Poch not being a panic buyer

 

[Cochise]

We have 4 CB's but one of them plays at DM with there always being the emergency option of using Davies or CCV. Personally I don't think we need to worry about the CB role, we have a balanced group and bringing in another CB who will want and need minutes could cause more problems when Vertonghen returns.

Edit: It doesn't look like Fazio is off anywhere anyways.

 

[Jordinho]

Isn't the rumour that Poch isn't even talking to Fazio right now?
I assume with Vertonghen out Dier is back up for the right and Davies is back up for the left.

Yes, it really is this simple. Buying for the sake of buying isn't going to happen and neither is it necessary.

 

[Jordinho]

I'm watching Kolo Toure at the moment... for Liverpool... he is not excellent... this is what other teams have to put up with. Look at City and Arse for 4th choice centre backs!

Liverpool have seven CBs, but most of them are injured.

Sakho, Lovren, Skrtl, Gomez, Toure, Ilori, Caulker.

 

[glorygloryeze]

Liverpool have seven CBs, but most of them are brick.

Sakho, Lovren, Skrtl, Gomez, Toure, Ilori, Caulker.

Fixed

 

[awesome dawson]

Given the position we find ourselves in with two thirds of the season almost gone. There is an argument to suggest that we should be bolstering the squad or at least reinvesting the Townsend money, getting back up for Kane and upgrading Fazio. Total cost of that would be nothing extravagant but if we tail off towards the end of the season, there will be hell to pay for Levy. It happened a few years ago under Redknapp and the fans slated the club for not backing the push for top four. The stakes this time are even greater.

I've got a feeling we will buy at least one player (cover for Kane) but given this injury to Jan, I think we should be splashing the cash.

 

[alekaras]

Given the position we find ourselves in with two thirds of the season almost gone. There is an argument to suggest that we should be bolstering the squad or at least reinvesting the Townsend money, getting back up for Kane and upgrading Fazio. Total cost of that would be nothing extravagant but if we tail off towards the end of the season, there will be hell to pay for Levy. It happened a few years ago under Redknapp and the fans slated the club for not backing the push for top four. The stakes this time are even greater.

I've got a feeling we will buy at least one player (cover for Kane) but given this injury to Jan, I think we should be splashing the cash.

I think if the need is as urgent as some are portraying, we will get CB and striker cover. However, the fact that there doesn't seem to be any movement could just mean that the coaching staff feels we're adequately covered. So who are we to judge with the morsels of information we know.

What I do know is that this team is like no other Spurs team in recent years. This team has outplayed it's opponents in more than 90% of its games. This team has been the most consistent one in the PL this season. And it has done all this with the players it has on its books right now. This team isn't a player or two away from being a challenger: it already is a challenger. So relax, enjoy, and leave the decisions to those who know best.

 

[thfcsteff]

How can you say it will not help? What if we brought in a Kompany or a Stones? With Fazio not at the races and Verts possibly out all season, that just leaves Toby and Wimmer. One more injury to one of them and we are up brick creek.

I stand by what I said.
The two players you have chosen are impossible targets in the next 5 days and you're simply being obtuse.