Mumorn
Vic Buckingham
What are your thoughts?
Me? I'm a little worried for our start.
Goalkeeping we have down fine, we have an outstanding goalkeeper in Lloris and solid depth in Gomes and Friedel. We have no injuries on that front and I do feel in Lloris we have one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League, one who could be our goalkeeper for years and years to come.
Defence is a bit of an issue for me. Walker is pretty much nailed on at right back and Naughton is solid depth but centre half is a real problem. There still hasn't been ANY news on Kaboul since the Swindon game, no news from him or the Spurs website, the same with Dawson, all I've heard with him is that he hurt his leg and that was from Les fudging Ferdinand on ITV4 before the Monaco game. Hopefully Vertonghen will be back soon, I think Fryers alongside him may be acceptable. It looks like Ekotto isn't favourited by AVB and I haven't seen him feature in any pre-season game at all, where is he? why no news, is he injured or what?
We move to midfield, still no news on how long Sandro will be out for, hasn't featured in pre-season and will probably miss out the first few games of the season. Dembele is finally getting games so that's good. We still have yet to see Paulinho and we still don't know how he will fair, I hope he plays well against Espanyol and I can't wait to see what him and Dembele can conjur up together in midfield.
The whole Bale situation has dragged too. If we're going to drag this out only for us to sell him then it's pathetic. Disrupts our season with all this flimflam talk and have us scrounging around for a replacement until the end of the transfer window which would be a joke again, hopefully it's settled befor the Espanyol game and we hear some actual words from him for once.
The fudges going on with wide midfield too? Lennon has looked pants all pre-season and what exactly is our goal on the left? Chadli didn't exactly impress against Monaco (although its his first game with new players who arent exactly good), Sigurdsson is hardly the guy to play there, we got rid of Dempsey and we still need someone there in my view, wouldn't even mind Townsend there if we keep Bale.
I hope Soldado can hit the ground running or we could have a tough start. Adebayor has been missing for personal reasons but I actually thought he looked good against Sunderland, I still don't think Soldado will turn out as good as Adebayor 11/12 but I wouldn't mind both competing for a spot up top. Hopefully Defoe is still about too, those three would be a great selection to have in my view.
Saying that though our team could line up similar to this agaisnt Palace:
............................Lloris............................
Walker.........??................Fryers..........Rose
............................Parker............................
..................Dembele......Paulinho................
Townsend.........................................Chadli
..............................Soldado.........................
Though knowing AVB he probably won't even start with Soldado. He doesn't tend to start new signings, I still remember him leaving Vertonghen on the bench at St.James Park, remember him leaving Dembele on the bench against Norwich as well as leaving Loris benched numerous times too. So we may even start with Defoe or Adebayor against Palace.
In fact I'd be surprised if Townsend starts too. I just get the feeling AVB doesn't rate him too highly.
What's keeping me happy though and positive is that if we do get the Bale situation sorted and he ends up staying and we can get players fit and running again, our potential line up could be this for the season:
................................Lloris..................................
Walker.......Kaboul...........Vertonghen.......Ekotto
..............................Sandro...................................
................Dembele.............Paulinho.....................
Bale.............................................................Chadli
..............................Soldado.................................
Bench: Friedel, Dawson, Naughton, Parker, Townsend, Carroll, Adebayor
and that is a pretty damn good team. Keep that fit and you have a team competing for top four next season and maybe even some trophies. Still no idea who would play on the left, Chadli seems the best bet but it could even be Bale with Townsend/Lennon on the other side and both just interchanging.
Me? I'm a little worried for our start.
Goalkeeping we have down fine, we have an outstanding goalkeeper in Lloris and solid depth in Gomes and Friedel. We have no injuries on that front and I do feel in Lloris we have one of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League, one who could be our goalkeeper for years and years to come.
Defence is a bit of an issue for me. Walker is pretty much nailed on at right back and Naughton is solid depth but centre half is a real problem. There still hasn't been ANY news on Kaboul since the Swindon game, no news from him or the Spurs website, the same with Dawson, all I've heard with him is that he hurt his leg and that was from Les fudging Ferdinand on ITV4 before the Monaco game. Hopefully Vertonghen will be back soon, I think Fryers alongside him may be acceptable. It looks like Ekotto isn't favourited by AVB and I haven't seen him feature in any pre-season game at all, where is he? why no news, is he injured or what?
We move to midfield, still no news on how long Sandro will be out for, hasn't featured in pre-season and will probably miss out the first few games of the season. Dembele is finally getting games so that's good. We still have yet to see Paulinho and we still don't know how he will fair, I hope he plays well against Espanyol and I can't wait to see what him and Dembele can conjur up together in midfield.
The whole Bale situation has dragged too. If we're going to drag this out only for us to sell him then it's pathetic. Disrupts our season with all this flimflam talk and have us scrounging around for a replacement until the end of the transfer window which would be a joke again, hopefully it's settled befor the Espanyol game and we hear some actual words from him for once.
The fudges going on with wide midfield too? Lennon has looked pants all pre-season and what exactly is our goal on the left? Chadli didn't exactly impress against Monaco (although its his first game with new players who arent exactly good), Sigurdsson is hardly the guy to play there, we got rid of Dempsey and we still need someone there in my view, wouldn't even mind Townsend there if we keep Bale.
I hope Soldado can hit the ground running or we could have a tough start. Adebayor has been missing for personal reasons but I actually thought he looked good against Sunderland, I still don't think Soldado will turn out as good as Adebayor 11/12 but I wouldn't mind both competing for a spot up top. Hopefully Defoe is still about too, those three would be a great selection to have in my view.
Saying that though our team could line up similar to this agaisnt Palace:
............................Lloris............................
Walker.........??................Fryers..........Rose
............................Parker............................
..................Dembele......Paulinho................
Townsend.........................................Chadli
..............................Soldado.........................
Though knowing AVB he probably won't even start with Soldado. He doesn't tend to start new signings, I still remember him leaving Vertonghen on the bench at St.James Park, remember him leaving Dembele on the bench against Norwich as well as leaving Loris benched numerous times too. So we may even start with Defoe or Adebayor against Palace.
In fact I'd be surprised if Townsend starts too. I just get the feeling AVB doesn't rate him too highly.
What's keeping me happy though and positive is that if we do get the Bale situation sorted and he ends up staying and we can get players fit and running again, our potential line up could be this for the season:
................................Lloris..................................
Walker.......Kaboul...........Vertonghen.......Ekotto
..............................Sandro...................................
................Dembele.............Paulinho.....................
Bale.............................................................Chadli
..............................Soldado.................................
Bench: Friedel, Dawson, Naughton, Parker, Townsend, Carroll, Adebayor
and that is a pretty damn good team. Keep that fit and you have a team competing for top four next season and maybe even some trophies. Still no idea who would play on the left, Chadli seems the best bet but it could even be Bale with Townsend/Lennon on the other side and both just interchanging.