Overall grade for the transfer window

[marcospur2]

Imo it remains to be seen what kind of setup we are talking about. AVB did not get the players he wanted in Mouthino/Willian etc so there remains questions about how we will set-up. The game after the international break should shed some light, hopefully we can get a good result today to set that up. I still worry we don't have as much cerativity as some believe we do, but hell what do I know.

 

[Huddy]

The signings of Lloris and Dembele along with Vertonghen and Sigurdsson are fantastic, young players who can help to drive the success of this club for many years.

My only question mark is the signing of Demsey, I presume he was purchased to fill the void left by Rafa after he clearly drove through the move to Hamburg, but in my opinion you can not class Dempsey as a creative player, he's driven, strong, good with his head and will score you goals, but he won't bring you any guile or creativity which is often needed to break through the best defenses.

I am somewhat concerned that without the capture of Moutinho this squad now lacks that little bit of quality with the ball that players like Modric and VdV often delivered.

Time will tell.

 

[marcospur2]

Time will tell but no coincidence AVB was so set on getting him. Sadly we failed to do the deal for whatever reason. I share your concen about a creative loss, AVB disputes this and so do many on here. As you say time will tell. But until the next window I tend to think we are going to see a very functional spurs, especially is we take any knocks at all to wide players.

 

[spitshine]

Given a C. Lloris was an excellent signing, Dembele impressive, Dempsey fall back option. Who will carve up our oppponents defences though?

 

[ArcspacE]

One up front and a host of options behind him - a great deal improved on the squad last season for this kind of set up IMO.

I hate to think about it but - what happens if that one up top is injured?

 

[Danners9]

Would be a lot more viable as 'starting propaganda' if it hadn't been stated numerous times months ago that he might be interested in living closer to his wife.

Sylvie van der Vaart ‏@sylvievdervaart
Thank you Spurs, and all the fans for an amazing time!You guys have the greatest team in England. Will ♥you always#coys Time to go home now♥

dan_bu ‏@dan_bu
Van der Vaart: "My son was born here. My wife works in Germany and our nanny is from Hamburg. Practically I'm almost a German."



Yeah, damn propaganda.

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

The loss of King from a long term perspective is a big one, even if his performances dropped off last season. It remains to be seen if we have bought effectively in this area. But the biggest loss will be Modric, amazes me how many people have been blinded by this 'system' talk as if a player like Modric - better than any midfielder currently on our books - would not have worked best for the system. But if you are right that we are 'definitely' not weaker, and if AVB is as delighted with this window and our attacking options as he says, the results should start flowing. Cue lots of convenient justifications if they do not.

Things take time. I said before the season we should wait until Christmas before really looking at if improvements are taking hold. I still believe that. I hope things wont take that long at all, but dont have expectations at this point.

Modric is a magnificent player, I dont see anyone denying that. It is my view though that predominantly he improved our style, rather than effectiveness.

I am certain he would have been excellent for AVB in the way we are shaping up to play, but he wanted to leave and we were never going to change that. Instead of Modric we have a real maverick in Dembele who I believe can offer many of the things Modric did (albeit in a different way) IE creating space and getting the ball forward.

As KD has always argued, 'a Modric' isnt a requirement to succeed in this league.

In Sigurdsson and Dempsey we are stronger than having VDV alone. While VDV is the better player we now have strength in depth. And while VDV will be a loss, we now have two players that get goals at a very similar rate to him (better in Dempseys case for sure) and will be able to run for 90 minutes regularly.

The loss of King is a big one, but we do have good cover. And in Vertonghen a real star in the making IMHO.

Adebayor being here permanently is massive, IMHO - and certainly better than having him on loan

Lloris could be our keeper, at the top level, for the next 10 years.

We have lost a few stars, and we havent brought starts to replace them (but it could be argued "stars in the making") but we have IMHO strengthened the squad and framed it to suit a style of play different to what we saw last season.

 

[ArcspacE]

Sylvie van der Vaart ‏@sylvievdervaart
Thank you Spurs, and all the fans for an amazing time!You guys have the greatest team in England. Will ♥you always#coys Time to go home now♥

dan_bu ‏@dan_bu
Van der Vaart: "My son was born here. My wife works in Germany and our nanny is from Hamburg. Practically I'm almost a German."


Yeah, damn propaganda.

You are wasting your time. The troll is out for blood

 

[Parklaner81]

Gave it a C.

While we did some good/very good business, failing to properly replace Modric AND underwhelming us all in the striker department AGAIN means a higher grade would be too generous IMO.

 

[Yiddo]

Has to be a C.

If we had signed Moutinho then it would have been a B. If we had signed Moutinho and kept VDV it would have been an A.

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

I hate to think about it but - what happens if that one up top is injured?

The single biggest complaint I have with the window, support/back up to Ade was essential IMO. Something I hope gets addressed in Jan.

As it stands it seems we have Defoe and Dempsey as reserve. Not ideal, at all, but servicable

 

[marcospur2]

I agree on Lloris, great signing. I agree on Ade, bargain and great signing. Dembele is a very good player, cannot be unhappy with that. Verts has potential, you know I praised his performance vs WBA in the match thread, he has class on the ball and good distribution. But am I yet convinced he has what it takes to succeed in the PL? No, and frankly it would be foolish to assume he will as some seem to imply in their selective comparisons of our current relative strength. On Modric we just disagree. Again talk of a system (which I cannot believe anyone really yet understands) is overlooking just how central Modric was to over overall tempo of our play (and yes style). This importance is why AVB was so committed to Moutinho (as I see it). But it will take time, on that I totally agree. And I am not one seeking unrealistic demands early on, but nevertheless it is a legitimate debate to ask what our objectives now are. Finally, time will certainly tell on whether we have strengthened the squad. I don't believe we have particularly dynamic front options and believe we will be massively reliant upon our wide players. If one of those get injured the issues Harry had to deal with will be evident under AVB.

 

[BucurestiSpur]

My only question mark is the signing of Demsey, I presume he was purchased to fill the void left by Rafa after he clearly drove through the move to Hamburg, but in my opinion you can not class Dempsey as a creative player, he's driven, strong, good with his head and will score you goals, but he won't bring you any guile or creativity which is often needed to break through the best defenses.

Sometimes you need finesse and sometimes you need a bludgeon, someone who can break a defense rather than break through it, someone who gets tangled up with the opposition CB and they both end up in a heap on the floor with the ball free and a big gap in front of goal and we also still lack drive and aggression up front. I think Dempsey can supply both without being a leaden lump or a deadweight for 75% of the match like Carroll, just wish he was a couple of years younger. I'm quite interested by this signing now the window is shut and we've got what we've got.

 

[braineclipse]

The single biggest complaint I have with the window, support/back up to Ade was essential IMO. Something I hope gets addressed in Jan.

As it stands it seems we have Defoe and Dempsey as reserve. Not ideal, at all, but servicable

Very much serviceable.

And I still think Defoe can do a job as a lone striker under AVB when we get the team ticking.

 

[nayimfromthehalfwayline]

I agree on Lloris, great signing. I agree on Ade, bargain and great signing. Dembele is a very good player, cannot be unhappy with that. Verts has potential, you know I praised his performance vs WBA in the match thread, he has class on the ball and good distribution. But am I yet convinced he has what it takes to succeed in the PL? No, and frankly it would be foolish to assume he will as some seem to imply in their selective comparisons of our current relative strength. On Modric we just disagree. Again talk of a system (which I cannot believe anyone really yet understands) is overlooking just how central Modric was to over overall tempo of our play (and yes style). This importance is why AVB was so committed to Moutinho (as I see it). But it will take time, on that I totally agree. And I am not one seeking unrealistic demands early on, but nevertheless it is a legitimate debate to ask what our objectives now are. Finally, time will certainly tell on whether we have strengthened the squad. I don't believe we have particularly dynamic front options and believe we will be massively reliant upon our wide players. If one of those get injured the issues Harry had to deal with will be evident under AVB.

Chelsea in their total dominance of the league didnt have a Modric.
Utd, possibly the weakest Utd squad ever to win the league did it without a Modric.
City did it last season without a Modric.

These are reference points to see why a different system can negate the need for him.

 

[marcospur2]

Completely disagree on Defoe. If he has to play the lone man then we will be in trouble.

 

[marcospur2]

Chelsea in their total dominance of the league didnt have a Modric.
Utd, possibly the weakest Utd squad ever to win the league did it without a Modric.
City did it last season without a Modric.

These are reference points to see why a different system can negate the need for him.

For all sorts of reasons they are not comparable reference points. Could go through both of them squads and identify where they were stronger than us and use it to justify my point that world class players are not something you accept the loss off because of some vague notion of a 'system'. People have been blinded by the AVB capture , something which baffles me considering most though he was a joke last season - not least for his tactical decision-making.

 

[Mr Gogolak]

Ironically, Dempsey's signing could prove crucial as he's the only player who offers us an option, should Adebayor get injured at some point. I don't know what Defoe's contract extension means as he has absolutely no future in Villas Boas' system, as far as I can tell. Then again, maybe he'll surprise me.

In terms of investment, I'd say we did pretty well on a deal-by-deal basis. However, as everyone else noted, we've lost our two best creative players. That means the success of this window will be based on Villas Boas' ability to devise a system that makes the most of what he's got. He will also hope that Bale and, to a lesser extent Lennon, stay injury-free.

To be honest, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. He's under some massive pressure to deliver, this time. If he doesn't, his managerial career will be in tatters. He's got to build his team from scratch, with no recognized playmaker to make things tick for him or bail him out, should the players fail to implement his ideas - or should his ideas prove to be rubbish.

At least, it will make for an interesting season.

 

[braineclipse]

I agree on Lloris, great signing. I agree on Ade, bargain and great signing. Dembele is a very good player, cannot be unhappy with that. Verts has potential, you know I praised his performance vs WBA in the match thread, he has class on the ball and good distribution. But am I yet convinced he has what it takes to succeed in the PL? No, and frankly it would be foolish to assume he will as some seem to imply in their selective comparisons of our current relative strength. On Modric we just disagree. Again talk of a system (which I cannot believe anyone really yet understands) is overlooking just how central Modric was to over overall tempo of our play (and yes style). This importance is why AVB was so committed to Moutinho (as I see it). But it will take time, on that I totally agree. And I am not one seeking unrealistic demands early on, but nevertheless it is a legitimate debate to ask what our objectives now are. Finally, time will certainly tell on whether we have strengthened the squad. I don't believe we have particularly dynamic front options and believe we will be massively reliant upon our wide players. If one of those get injured the issues Harry had to deal with will be evident under AVB.

I think Dembele can do a similar job to what Modric did, not as well of course, but playing a somewhat similar role/position and bring some real ability on the ball and purpose to our central midfield.

Completely disagree on Defoe. If he has to play the lone man then we will be in trouble.

We'll just have to wait and see Or actually, hopefully Ade will stay fit so we won't have to see.

Worth noting that with Dempsey and Sig we will have a central attacking midfielder that is both stronger and better in the air, but also a lot more dynamic than VdV so when we play Defoe he shouldn't be as isolated.

With Vertonghen and Lloris we should be able to play out from the back more, Dembele comes in and should give us ability in the centre. That should add up to fewer long balls being played.

That's two of the main concerns about Defoe as a lone striker at least somewhat improved on in my opinion, and we also have Dempsey who I think can do a decent job as a lone striker (or, to bring up that old debate, as a false number 9)

 

[marcospur2]

That is a fair point. If Ade was available could even resort to Dempsey up front with Defoe off him. But I do think that come January he will be a candidate to leave, just don't see him fitting him (and believe me I hope I am wrong). Lloris I am very happy with. Verts I will be happier with when Kaboul is back. Not because I don't think he can be an excellent player for us, but because Gallas is less assured than he used to be. Still think AVB will be strongly seeking a Mouthino and another striker come January.