Official - Holtby

[AuroRaman]

The only problem with that is that those clubs already have very good players fitting that system. Would they be willing to drop a player they have there permanently to give game time to Holtby? Perhaps if he does really well, but I think he would struggle to get games there too actually.

Fulham, Cardiff, Sunderland, possibly Hull if they sign Livermore permanently, West Brom perhaps. Some potentially good options at least.

That's true. I'd like to think he is good enough to force his way into their first 11, perhaps I'm having ideas above my station about how superior Spurs are!

You're other options are all good shouts. Ideally, I'd like us to utilise him rather than sending him on loan. He is a solid option from the bench in forward positions, he just needs a couple of 'wow' performances to really make a mark, I believe he has that in him.

 

[Simon_B]

I'd like to see him at a club like Southampton/Swansea if that were to happen. I think he could get the opportunity to shine alongside players that are willing to pass and move, keeping the ball on the ground.

If he's available for a loan then Villa or Sunderland should be all over him. IMO they are the teams that really struggle with creativity and would benefit greatly from getting a player like Holtby.

 

[Gutter Boy]

Probably agree with Siggy. Don't see how you can say having seen start a single game for us which was a NL derby. Ability wise for a ball playing midfielder, Carroll looks a much better player than Holtby IMO. Better passing range, moves the ball more quickly. Holtby's shooting probably better though. Holtby is more experienced because he broke through in Germany and was playing 1st team football. That's about it for me (from what I've seen so far).

Totally different sort of player to Capoue and Dembele so they shouldn't even be compared anyway.

What role would you see him playing in of the 3 man midfield?

I'd actually see Holtby in the Dembele role. Sandro as the primary ball winner, Holtby as the more alround deeper sitting ball player + presser and Paulinho as the most advanced.

Slight problem with that we dont play 4-3-3

We should do though considering that's what our squad is set-up to do - with our 6 senior CMs, 3 inverted wingers (cf 1 orthodox) and only 2 CFs.

 

[Kingdawson]

I'd actually see Holtby in the Dembele role. Sandro as the primary ball winner, Holtby as the more alround deeper sitting ball player + presser and Paulinho as the most advanced.




We should do though considering that's what our squad is set-up to do - with our 6 senior CMs, 3 inverted wingers (cf 1 orthodox) and only 2 CFs.

Why didn't the man in your avatar play 4-3-3 in one in a half years in charge (minus maybe one or two games)?

 

[Gazza Dazzla]

Tbf we're talking about someone who used to be a regular in a decent champs league team here, not sure sending him to Sunderland or similar on loan would be taken too well by the player himself? He's unfortunate we've moved back to 442 I'm not really sure where he fits in in that system when you have sandro, Dembele, paulinho and Capoue ahead of him.

 

[Gutter Boy]

Why didn't the man in your avatar play 4-3-3 in one in a half years in charge (minus maybe one or two games)?

I think he was intending to, but Rose's injury/not having an overlapping LB available curtailed it this season.

He spoke earlier in the season of his two formations - the one with a #10 (4-2-3-1) and the one without one (4-3-3)

 

[superfaisty]

I'm surprised by all this talk of Holts going out on loan - for me he is the like-for-like replacement for Eriksen playing the Modric left mid wonky 442 role, he has more creativity than Siggy and more energy around the field when we are getting outnumbered in the middle.

he will find playing time difficult, especially since the midfield options, once everyone is fit again, will make it hard for him to get into the first xi / first choice subs -

RW Lennon / Andros
CM Sandro/Capoue
CM Dembele / Paulino
LM Eriksen / Holtby
CFs 2 of Ade/Soldado / Lamela / HK

the ones missing out for me would be chadli and Siggy (and capoue if Sherwood persists in Bentaleb or recalls Carrol)

 

[Gazza Dazzla]

Yea he could do well as the inverted (hate using that buzz word but couldn't think of anything better!) wide player in the wonky, like for like with erikson, but then that leaves him battling with lamela as well for that spot, or lamela covers for up front as well?

 

[BrainOfLevy]

Surely if he's leaving to make space for anyone it would be Carroll?

 

[Cochise]

I think it's criminal the way in which we treat some of these young players. I know we can't afford to go out spending millions on established stars and have to go with the scatter gun approach, but it's still not on.

From reports on here at the time Holtby was a board signing made on the information provided by Freund. He came in played a few games and then Bale moved centrally and he didn't get a look in. Then he got injured, missed pre season and came back to find a whole raft of signings made for our midfield. He never once struck me as an AVB signing (again another forced on AVB) and given the targets AVB wanted according to the papers, there was no place for Holtby.

 

[braineclipse]

I'm surprised by all this talk of Holts going out on loan - for me he is the like-for-like replacement for Eriksen playing the Modric left mid wonky 442 role, he has more creativity than Siggy and more energy around the field when we are getting outnumbered in the middle.

he will find playing time difficult, especially since the midfield options, once everyone is fit again, will make it hard for him to get into the first xi / first choice subs -

RW Lennon / Andros
CM Sandro/Capoue
CM Dembele / Paulino
LM Eriksen / Holtby
CFs 2 of Ade/Soldado / Lamela / HK

the ones missing out for me would be chadli and Siggy (and capoue if Sherwood persists in Bentaleb or recalls Carrol)

Yea he could do well as the inverted (hate using that buzz word but couldn't think of anything better!) wide player in the wonky, like for like with erikson, but then that leaves him battling with lamela as well for that spot, or lamela covers for up front as well?

But Holtby is left footed is he not?

 

[Denmark Spur]

Tottenham's Lewis Holtby eyed for transfer back to Germany by string of Bundesliga clubs

Midfielder signed by Andre Villas-Boas last January is wanted back by his former club Schalke but Wolfsburg and Hannover are interested too

Lewis Holtby is wanted back in Germany - less than a year after joining Tottenham.

Holtby has struggled to nail down a regular spot since a cut-price £1.5million move from Schalke to the Londoners, and a trio of Bundesliga clubs are now keen to bring the midfielder back home this month.

Wolfsburg, who are also closing in on Chelsea's Kevin de Bruyne, have put the 23-year-old on their shopping list, while Hannover and Holtby's former club Schalke are keen, too.

A source said: "Lewis is becoming increasingly frustrated at Tottenham. He fears his face just does not fit and would welcome a move back home if the right offer came along."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/tottenhams-lewis-holtby-eyed-transfer-3014571

 

[chancer]

I feel there is an inevitability to this.

Lewis could turn into a very good player, but I can't really see how he stays at Spurs for 2 or 3 years while he and we wait for that to happen. He can make that progress at home while getting first team Bundesliga football. I can't see the obvious upside to his staying to be honest.

 

[Bonsaiboy]

He's come here "lived the dream" and spent half the time "buzzing!" and "loving it!" and we can now sell him back to Germany for about 6 Million for a tidy profit. Just hasn't got enough to his game in my opinion and isn't gonna get a lot of action here.

 

[Roland Beurre]

Ideally, I'd like us to utilise him rather than sending him on loan.

I've always wondered what the difference is between "use" and "utilise" and, according to one clever dingdong on the Internet, "utilise" means to use a thing for something other than its intended purpose; thus you can utilise a book as a doorstop, but you can't utilise a doorstop as a doorstop (you use a doorstop as a doorstop).

Interesting/boring (delete as applicable) semantics aside, the problem does seem to be (to my eyes) that he is a utility player, rather than a useful player. He shows a lot of similarities to Scott Parker but is not as good as Parker was at the same age, in my view.

He may yet develop into a very good player but I must admit I would not be averse to banking a quick profit on him.

What is Jonathan Blondel up to these days? We were way ahead in the fad for Belgian players.

 

[Joesh]

I dont see the point in cashing in if we can just send him on loan to the likes of Villa or West Ham who he'd be an instant starter and give him a real run in a prem team to truly test him. I think he'll be a big player for us but if he stays here right now he'll never make that next step as he's just in and out of the team and cant get any consistancy going.

 

[chancer]

I dont see the point in cashing in if we can just send him on loan to the likes of Villa or West Ham who he'd be an instant starter and give him a real run in a prem team to truly test him. I think he'll be a big player for us but if he stays here right now he'll never make that next step as he's just in and out of the team and cant get any consistancy going.

It's this thing again where people assume playing for Spurs is such a huge prize that it's worth a player like Holtby going to a relegation team in England rather than returning to a top 5 club Germany (probably) for first team football, with a club who say they have a plan for his career and, given where he was before, possible CL football too.

I really don't see that the Spurs option is obviously the more appealing one for him.

 

[Gutter Boy]

He's come here "lived the dream" and spent half the time "buzzing!" and "loving it!" and we can now sell him back to Germany for about 6 Million for a tidy profit. Just hasn't got enough to his game in my opinion and isn't gonna get a lot of action here.

If we sell him I'd be very confident it'll come back and haunt us big time. If anything he just has the utility players' curse of being good at everything but no one particular specialism. I really want to see him in a 4-3-3 CM trio with Sandro and Paulinho to show what he can really do.

I wonder if Timmeh has got it in for him because he's the one player AVB signed in isolation (i.e. summer 2012 were mostly lined up by the old transfer committee before he arrived and summer 2013 was collaborative with Baldini, who is obviously still there).

 

[Yiddo]

He posted pictures on his FB page saying he is in Berlin.

 

[paxtonwolf]

Gutted if he leaves. Loved his passion, and he had started to score a few goals too