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Summer Transfer Aims

Can't believe that some people want minimal additions. We have CL football as a carrot to attract players FFS!!! Plus if you stand still in level whilst others progress them you slip down

We also got a bit lucky with some injuries last year and to me it was clear throughout that we didn't have the depth to compete inEurope and the league.

Adding first choice players would be difficult (the one position where our team could be I,proved is in bringing in an attacker with some pace or skill but they aren't cheap) however we need more depth in some areas. There were many times last year when you looked at the bench and options didn't exist. We also need to be able to rotate players between CL and the league.

Priority areas for more depth are CB, more Dembele cover and need genuine quality in attacking areas.
 
Can't believe that some people want minimal additions. We have CL football as a carrot to attract players FFS!!! Plus if you stand still in level whilst others progress them you slip down

We also got a bit lucky with some injuries last year and to me it was clear throughout that we didn't have the depth to compete inEurope and the league.

Adding first choice players would be difficult (the one position where our team could be I,proved is in bringing in an attacker with some pace or skill but they aren't cheap) however we need more depth in some areas. There were many times last year when you looked at the bench and options didn't exist. We also need to be able to rotate players between CL and the league.

Priority areas for more depth are CB, more Dembele cover and need genuine quality in attacking areas.

We were the highest scoring side with the least conceded

And the league has shown that to progress sometimes adding very little works, rather than adding players for the sake of it, which I'm sure your not advocating

We were also massively hit by injuries and every first team player picked up an injury at some point. That is huge and nothing like most of our competitors had to suffer (they all go injuries other than Chelsea by none had them to every player). It effected our options to play the same team back to back but it also hit our bench hard.
 
Plus if you stand still in level whilst others progress them you slip down

People say this every summer and no doubt there will be more panic towards the end of the summer when the Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have spent more than us. The difference is that we are the only club among them that are building from a position of strength and has a team that is still growing.
 
People say this every summer and no doubt there will be more panic towards the end of the summer when the Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have spent more than us. The difference is that we are the only club among them that are building from a position of strength and has a team that is still growing.

Yep I agree.

I hope we have a plan in place since before the end of the season and we stick to it. No panic buys.

I have no proof but I am convinced Sissoko was a panic buy.
 
Can't believe that some people want minimal additions. We have CL football as a carrot to attract players FFS!!! Plus if you stand still in level whilst others progress them you slip down

We also got a bit lucky with some injuries last year and to me it was clear throughout that we didn't have the depth to compete inEurope and the league.

Adding first choice players would be difficult (the one position where our team could be I,proved is in bringing in an attacker with some pace or skill but they aren't cheap) however we need more depth in some areas. There were many times last year when you looked at the bench and options didn't exist. We also need to be able to rotate players between CL and the league.

Priority areas for more depth are CB, more Dembele cover and need genuine quality in attacking areas.

Our model has made us the best team in the country over the last two years. Why throw that away for the square peg mercinary model that isn't working as well elsewhere?

And Poch doesn't seem to want any more depth. He actively cut our squad from c.36 players to c.22 because he sees that as the optimal squad size to work with.

CL attracts no one. Especially these days now the competition has lost interest with the public. Wages are always the carrot.

And Winks is Dembele's cover/competition/successor
 
People say this every summer and no doubt there will be more panic towards the end of the summer when the Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have spent more than us. The difference is that we are the only club among them that are building from a position of strength and has a team that is still growing.

Let the dopped clubs buy overhyped players who aren't hungry and play for themselves. It doesn't get them anywhere. We've shown we can beat the poor man's gallaticos by doing something completely different.
 
Our model has made us the best team in the country over the last two years. Why throw that away for the square peg mercinary model that isn't working as well elsewhere?

And Poch doesn't seem to want any more depth. He actively cut our squad from c.36 players to c.22 because he sees that as the optimal squad size to work with.

CL attracts no one. Especially these days now the competition has lost interest with the public. Wages are always the carrot.

And Winks is Dembele's cover/competition/successor

What model do you think we have been following these past few years?

Each summer we make several transfers which vary in approach - whether it be established experienced players to improve the first team, speculative punts from abroad, big money signings, cheap squad filler or recognised potential - what Adamb is suggesting isnt a square peg mercenary model or any other such gonad*s, it's completely in line with what we have been doing - we have spent big on individual transfers to help build this squad and I'm sure we will do so again if the right player becomes available
 
Can't believe that some people want minimal additions. We have CL football as a carrot to attract players FFS!!! Plus if you stand still in level whilst others progress them you slip down

We also got a bit lucky with some injuries last year and to me it was clear throughout that we didn't have the depth to compete inEurope and the league.

Adding first choice players would be difficult (the one position where our team could be I,proved is in bringing in an attacker with some pace or skill but they aren't cheap) however we need more depth in some areas. There were many times last year when you looked at the bench and options didn't exist. We also need to be able to rotate players between CL and the league.

Priority areas for more depth are CB, more Dembele cover and need genuine quality in attacking areas.

What????????
 
What model do you think we have been following these past few years?

Each summer we make several transfers which vary in approach - whether it be established experienced players to improve the first team, speculative punts from abroad, big money signings, cheap squad filler or recognised potential - what Adamb is suggesting isnt a square peg mercenary model or any other such gonads, it's completely in line with what we have been doing - we have spent big on individual transfers to help build this squad and I'm sure we will do so again if the right player becomes available

We haven't spent anything. We've had a zero net spend for 8 consecutive years.

We've mixed academy graduates, with well-scouted 19/20 YOs, with a couple of mid-20 players from mid-table that haven't been glamourous enough for other big clubs. We've not done the ready-made high-profile 'marquee' route - the sort of we're in the CL statement signing - since van der Vaart. Superstars and their egos doesn't seem to be Poch's bag.
 
If you look at Pochettinos transfer activity we have made two big money deals in three years in Son and Sissoko, that'd suggest to me that we aren't put off by big fees if we think we have the right player - and clearly fits in to our model


Also you seem to be attributing the worst aspects of some big money transfers to all of them to make a point, re big egos and mercenarys etc - that isn't the case and it doesn't help your argument
 
If you look at Pochettinos transfer activity we have made two big money deals in three years in Son and Sissoko, that'd suggest to me that we aren't put off by big fees if we think we have the right player - and clearly fits in to our model


Also you seem to be attributing the worst aspects of some big money transfers to all of them to make a point, re big egos and mercenarys etc - that isn't the case and it doesn't help your argument
I'm not entirely sure a £22m move for a 22 year old qualifies as a big money move anymore. Particularly seeing as he was phased in quite gradually and took a year and a half to really establish himself as a first team player.

Our main transfer strategy seems closely tied to our overall strategy for improvement. Player development. There have been exceptions, particularly if a player seems undervalued in the market. But out main strategy seems to be to sign players with the potential to improve both their ability and their value.

Every transfer window for as far add I can remember there have been those calling for big money marquee signings. And the way this particular window has been special had been highlighted as a reason. But those signings have been rather few and far between. I don't see why that should change at this point. Levy has been quite clear on that in his communication with the trust too.

Off course we're willing to spend money if the right player becomes available for the right price. But any player that is clearly good enough to come in and significantly improve us is going to be quite obviously outstanding already. And it would be fairly easy for one of our richer competitors to just throw another 100k p/w at him and snap him up ahead of us.

A lot more players around with the potential to reach that level over a 1-2 , year period. Identifying the right players among those and then putting our player development ability to good use seems to be the smarter overall strategy. And where we'll continue to focus our attention.
 
Our model has made us the best team in the country over the last two years. Why throw that away for the square peg mercinary model that isn't working as well elsewhere?

And Poch doesn't seem to want any more depth. He actively cut our squad from c.36 players to c.22 because he sees that as the optimal squad size to work with.

CL attracts no one. Especially these days now the competition has lost interest with the public. Wages are always the carrot.

And Winks is Dembele's cover/competition/successor

Sorry to be negative, but if we were the best team in the country we would have won something.

The squad needs work on this summer.

I agree with the Cl - it won't make a difference this year as all the big hitters Arsenal aside are in it.
 
People say this every summer and no doubt there will be more panic towards the end of the summer when the Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have spent more than us. The difference is that we are the only club among them that are building from a position of strength and has a team that is still growing.
Exactly. We have the youngest squad in the league. Many of these players are so young they are literally improving year on year which makes them like a new signing - the only difference is they are already settled in. The Manchester clubs can spend 500m each for all I care, I guarantee we will still be competing with them....
 
Bit of a long one, so bear with me. :p

The aims for the summer are largely dependent on two factors and one constant. The first factor is what formation Poch adopts to deal with the demands of playing at Wembley - it is larger than White Hart Lane, and will bring different demands in terms of adapting our pressing game even further to account for the conservation of energy that will be needed, as well as the way we utilise the extra space. Do we go with three at the back as a permanent solution? Or do we return to a four-man back line and a 4-2-3-1 setup?

The second factor is player retention - who we bring in will, as always, be dependent on whether we can retain the players we have. This summer is no different in that regard - CL notwithstanding, I expect to see a few testing bids for Eriksen and Toby, as well as a possible intensification of the well-publicized interest in Walker, Dier and Rose. If we can fend off all that interest and keep our core, our transfer strategy will be largely one of backup replacement - else, we're going to see a more active approach.

The final thing to consider is the constant - which is that our playing style under Poch is comprised primarily of speed, strength and aggression in equal measure, whatever formation we adopt and whatever personnel we plug into the system. Speed, to ensure quick transitions and increase the effectiveness of the press - strength, to dominate the opposition and negate their ability to break quickly. And aggression, to ensure that exploratory passes up top are followed up by hungry players looking to capitalize on turnovers high up the field, and to ensure that the opposition is always unnerved by the relentless desire of our players to nick the ball off them at a moment's notice should they display *any* weakness whatsoever. Our transfers will need to have all three in sufficient measure to ensure a coherent tactical approach can be maintained throughout periods of rotation. It doesn't necessarily mean that they will *all* have to be quick, strong and bullish, but there will need to be a healthy dose of such attributes *across* our signings, even if one or two don't exactly fit the description.


With regard to the first, I suspect that Dier will be an ever-present in whatever formation we adopt, because he is the key tactical element in our ability to switch seamlessly from three at the back to two centre-backs and one in midfield (and vice-versa). That correspondingly means that ,whatever formation we adopt, we'll need another centre-back to cover for the ever-presents in Dier, Toby and Verts, because Wimmer doesn't look like he enjoys Poch's confidence (for whatever reason) and CCV is still young and untested. Beyond that, it depends. If we go with two at the back and three AMs behind Kane, we will need another AM to cover for them and offer us something different to Son, Eriksen, Alli, (possibly) Sissoko, (possibly) N'Koudou, and Lamela, although what he'll look like when he returns from his year-long layoff is an open question. More than one would block off a first-team slot for one of Onomah or Edwards - thus, best to keep it at one in that regard. If we go to three at the back (with Dier as the RCB), by contrast, we won't need an AM because we will have four to rotate in the two positions behind Kane (Eriksen, Alli, Son and Lamela), plus Sissoko/N'Koudou and/or Onomah/Edwards if necessary. In that scenario, another CM would be handy, to provide a rotation option for Wanyama (albeit a more forward-thinking one) and competition for Winks as cover for Dembele.


With regard to the second, it's really an unknown. If Walker leaves, we're looking at 50-60m as the incoming fee (I suspect), which will likely allow us to both look for a replacement (if necessary) and strengthen other areas. If Eriksen goes (for example), it will be for a larger fee, but in that eventuality we may need to splash out on a marquee signing to convince our remaining players that we still have ambitions. If any of our other players leave, one of the two scenarios described above will similarly apply. But there's no telling how our strategy will specifically go before we know who's leaving, so it's largely unknown at this point.


With regard to the third, as I said, these three attributes will need to be present overall in the signings we make. It's an imprecise science (well, more like gut reasoning, really), but it's easy to say that if we sign, say, one small right back, one small attacking midfielder and a small central midfielder, that wouldn't help much, because we would be trading our size advantage relative to other teams (which has been proven to work) for the uncertain advantages offered by the other attributes these players will possess. Thomas Lemar is an example in point - he is 1.7m tall, which is almost three quarters of a foot shorter than Son, Alli, Eriksen and Lamela (all of whom are more than 1.8m tall - an unusually tall, mobile frontline (even without Kane) which packs power, pace and skill in equal measure). He has pace to burn, but is it worth sacrificing forward physicality? Maybe, if our other signings were large men to make up for it. Alternately, we could sign a slow-but-tall attacking midfielder like Gylfi, but only if we bought pacy players to offset that. And, whoever we buy, aggression is paramount - the player cannot be one who doesn't try to leave his heart on the field in every game. Initial struggles and failures are acceptable - but not trying is not.

Those are likely to be our considerations this summer. Our aims should be to strengthen our squad and look to offset the Wembley disadvantage - but they will be guided by the considerations listed above, I suspect.
 
Our model has made us the best team in the country over the last two years. Why throw that away for the square peg mercinary model that isn't working as well elsewhere?

And Poch doesn't seem to want any more depth. He actively cut our squad from c.36 players to c.22 because he sees that as the optimal squad size to work with.

CL attracts no one. Especially these days now the competition has lost interest with the public. Wages are always the carrot.

And Winks is Dembele's cover/competition/successor

I'm sorry but thats garbage:
- firstly I never said about signing mercinaries
- secondly, look back at interviews of Poch after we went out of the CL....he was very definite that we lacked depth in quality. Yes, we have 22 players, but not 22 decent players. again, look at the interviews
- Winks is Dembele's cover, but his injuries are too frequent and he's now 30. We need another young player there (not Onomah)
 
What????????

We did get lucky with injuries. We lost players for a couple months, but generally in positions where we had cover and, apart from Lamela (who's contributoin is debatable), no long-term injuries. Had we lost Llors, verts, TA, Wanyama, Eriksen or Kane to a long injury we would have been scrwewed
 
We did get lucky with injuries. We lost players for a couple months, but generally in positions where we had cover and, apart from Lamela (who's contributoin is debatable), no long-term injuries. Had we lost Llors, verts, TA, Wanyama, Eriksen or Kane to a long injury we would have been scrwewed

Rose missed 18 games
Dembélé 14 games
Kane 8 games
Lamela 32 games
Toby 8 games
Jan 5 games

That is just the Premership games, if that is you idea of being lucky.
 
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