Transfer Rumour Thread

[Gutter Boy]

I think that it was Berahino in place of Lamela but the intention is similar

Although that would have left us 4 players who prefer LWF (Son, Njie, Chadli and Berahino) and only 1 who prefers RWF (Townsend)

 

[indianspur]

Although that would have left us 4 players who prefer RWF (Son, Njie, Chadli and Berahino) and only 1 who prefers LWF (Townsend)

you got your WFs the wrong way round

 

[milo]

Although that would have left us 4 players who prefer RWF (Son, Njie, Chadli and Berahino) and only 1 who prefers LWF (Townsend)

The reason I think this is that we were going to let Lamela go out on loan until Poch pulled the plug on the deal with a couple of days of the window left.

 

[Finney Is Back]

That was before Poch pulled the plug on Lamela leaving. Of the front four rotating, it is quite often Lamela who is the most advanced when Kane drops back. Maybe it was Poch's intention to use Berahino in a similar way.

I disagree here. Do you really think Lamela could operate successfully as the number 9?... Especially if being asked to do so without Kane being the number 10 behind him? While we are certainly no long ball team and we're not particularly reliant on Kane winning high balls in the air, he does have to take a number of passes delivered for a reasonable distance away and hold off the opposition's defenders with is back to goal. I do not see a single other player in our squad who can successfully play with his back to goal. Our mutitude of players who operate in the 11, 10 & 7 positions are players that operate in space, facing the opposition's goal. If we're unable to play Kane then I think the only one who could play instead is Dembele, although his vision and his shooting is not a patch on Kane's and I also have no idea on whether he would naturally find good goal scoring positions in the box.

 

[Finney Is Back]

I think Lamela's form could well have negated the need for another forward in January, just as Dier's has with a CM.

Lamela's form has negated the need to find another player who can play as 11, 10 or 7.... but we still have just a single number 9 option in the whole squad. I seriously worry about the cohesion of our team if Kane cannot play. I think we would lose much of our platform.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Hmm, Lamela i'll give you. But we may be taking a BIG risk in relying on Dier as our more defensive-minded CM going into the latter part of the season. He'll probabaly need some rest and also teams may start to 'find him out.' It's at this point that a new (more experienced?) option comes in handy.
In fact, vs Liverpool in a week will tell a lot about how we cope without Dier...

I have the opposite view that you do. I thought we were one player short in central midfield before Dier's emergence and improvement in that position. With him and Bentaleb I think we are OK there. I also think that Mason could drop in and play that role if asked to do so.

 

[Gutter Boy]

I disagree here. Do you really think Lamela could operate successfully as the number 9?... Especially if being asked to do so without Kane being the number 10 behind him? While we are certainly no long ball team and we're not particularly reliant on Kane winning high balls in the air, he does have to take a number of passes delivered for a reasonable distance away and hold off the opposition's defenders with is back to goal. I do not see a single other player in our squad who can successfully play with his back to goal. Our mutitude of players who operate in the 11, 10 & 7 positions are players that operate in space, facing the opposition's goal. If we're unable to play Kane then I think the only one who could play instead is Dembele, although his vision and his shooting is not a patch on Kane's and I also have no idea on whether he would naturally find good goal scoring positions in the box.

But Berahino can't operate as a #9 either (at least not yet; he may be able to develop into one as he gets older like Sturridge has).

I don't remember us being linked with one all summer in fact. Except maybe Llorente, who we clearly didn't want, as he was just released by Juve in the end.

I just think Poch likes having 3-5 versatile forwards, like we have now with Kane, Son, Njie, Chadli and Lamela.

I thought Son looked more than capable during his run out in the lone role.

 

[Finney Is Back]

This Belgian chap we're currently being linked with might be a good option. He is good enough to play for the Belgian national team, will already know many in our squad so should be able to settle in reasonably easily and would probably be reasonably happy to be at a big club, earning big wages at the age of 27 (or whatever he is) so not be too bothered about being back-up to Kane. The rumoured price of £7 million would be a decent amount to pay for somebody who can give us cover at number 9.

 

[Finney Is Back]

But Berahino can't operate as a #9 either (at least not yet; he may be able to develop into one as he gets older like Sturridge has).

I don't remember us being linked with one all summer in fact. Except maybe Llorente, who we clearly didn't want, as he was just released by Juve in the end.

I just think Poch likes having 3-5 versatile forwards, like we have now with Kane, Son, Njie, Chadli and Lamela.

I thought Son looked more than capable during his run out in the lone role.

I'm not talking about Berahino specifically.... Although having watched him bully Chiriches and Kaboul playing as the number 9 at WHL at the start of last season I disagree with you that he can't operate as the number 9. It's great having a number of versatile players, but I still think we have only the one option as the most advanced player, I think the fact that Kane has had to start every single game for us while other players are getting a rest proves this fact. You could be right that Son may be able to adapt into playing Kane's role, I think he'll have to toughen up a bit first though in order to do so successfully.

 

[milo]

I disagree here. Do you really think Lamela could operate successfully as the number 9?... Especially if being asked to do so without Kane being the number 10 behind him? While we are certainly no long ball team and we're not particularly reliant on Kane winning high balls in the air, he does have to take a number of passes delivered for a reasonable distance away and hold off the opposition's defenders with is back to goal. I do not see a single other player in our squad who can successfully play with his back to goal. Our mutitude of players who operate in the 11, 10 & 7 positions are players that operate in space, facing the opposition's goal. If we're unable to play Kane then I think the only one who could play instead is Dembele, although his vision and his shooting is not a patch on Kane's and I also have no idea on whether he would naturally find good goal scoring positions in the box.

Who said anything about Lamela operating as a #9? We are playing with a fluid front four this season. Poch may have intended to primarily intended to use Berahino in a similar way to he is using Lamela, N'Jie and Son now. Berahino has the added advantage of being more comfortable further forward but I think that it is conceivable that he pulled the plug on Lamela's move when it looked less likely that the Berahino deal would come off.

 

[Gutter Boy]

This Belgian chap we're currently being linked with might be a good option. He is good enough to play for the Belgian national team, will already know many in our squad so should be able to settle in reasonably easily and would probably be reasonably happy to be at a big club, earning big wages at the age of 27 (or whatever he is) so not be too bothered about being back-up to Kane. The rumoured price of £7 million would be a decent amount to pay for somebody who can give us cover at number 9.

Sounds a decent option, if we want to go down that type of route. There's the #2 GK (or the Kyle Naughton) issue though, that you can only keep someone in that position for 18-24 months before player and fans both get frustrated with the situation

What about Arkadiusz Milik from Ajax? He looks quite Kane-lite and we seem to have a good transfer relationship with Ajax.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Who said anything about Lamela operating as a #9? We are playing with a fluid front four this season. Poch may have intended to primarily intended to use Berahino in a similar way to he is using Lamela, N'Jie and Son now. Berahino has the added advantage of being more comfortable further forward but I think that it is conceivable that he pulled the plug on Lamela's move when it looked less likely that the Berahino deal would come off.

My point is that if Kane does not/cannot play then I think our system will suffer. I see lots of players suited to playing in the 3 positions behind the front man, but only 1 player in the squad right now who is suited to playing as the front man. Of the players that do play behind Kane - N'Jie and Son are probably the two most likely to be able to play instead of him, but I think we'd struggle to retain possession with either of those two up there instead of Kane.

I think Berahino is much more of a 'forward' than Lamela is. I agree with you that it is entirely possible that Pochettino was worried about numbers so kept Lamela when it looked like he wouldn't be getting Berahino, but I think that there is a place for both players in our squad with Towsend being the most likely to make way for Berahino. That being said I wonder whether somebody like this Belgian chap we're being linked with might be a better option if we're just looking at out and out cover for Kane.

 

[Finney Is Back]

Sounds a decent option, if we want to go down that type of route. There's the #2 GK (or the Kyle Naughton) issue though, that you can only keep someone in that position for 18-24 months before player and fans both get frustrated with the situation

What about Arkadiusz Milik from Ajax? He looks quite Kane-lite and we seem to have a good transfer relationship with Ajax.

My knowledge of European football is poor (some might say "drop the word European there Finney") so I cannot confess to having seen Milik. If we're looking at a number 2 type though then I wonder whether we're better off having a player with a bit of experience who isn't likely to need a number of games to adapt and improve? The good thing about being our number 2 centre forward though is that with 38 league games and (hopefully) a number of Cup games there should be plenty of opportunities to play, especially as Kane is also extremely adept at playing as the number 10.

 

[glorygloryeze]

I think people are just forgetting how good Bentaleb is (which often happens when players are out injured).

Mason, Bentaleb, Dier and Alli is a top notch CM quartet.

We should then also not forget the weakness of our defending that happened very often with Bentaleb and Mason playing last season as well.
Those four players all have good variation of CM abilities, but NONE of the other 3 have Dier's defensive awareness/capabilities and to me there is no denying that....

 

[glorygloryeze]

I have the opposite view that you do. I thought we were one player short in central midfield before Dier's emergence and improvement in that position. With him and Bentaleb I think we are OK there. I also think that Mason could drop in and play that role if asked to do so.

Just to clarify i feel that we are lacking somebody to perform the more defensive-minded duties that Dier has been - of he is away from the team (like next Saturday).
Do you SERIOUSLY believe Mason and/or Bentaleb can perform to even half the level that Dier has been in terms of DEFENSIVE-minded play and awareness, based on previous games?

 

[El Guepardo]

I've decided that I would play Alderweireld as DM and Wimmer at centre back. Alderweireld understands the system & I believe could slot in to the DM role, whereas Bentaleb does not offer as much defensively as Alderweireld. As for Wimmer. I think he can play a strong game if he is brought in to the team.

 

[Gutter Boy]

We should then also not forget the weakness of our defending that happened very often with Bentaleb and Mason playing last season as well.
Those four players all have good variation of CM abilities, but NONE of the other 3 have Dier's defensive awareness/capabilities and to me there is no denying that....

I think that's a bit unfair on Bentaleb and Mason. They were an enormous improvement on the likes of Capoue, Paulinho, Dembele and (sadly) Sandro, who'd been poor in that position for the previous 2 years. I think Bentaleb will develop into an excellent DCM in time (Mason will always be the more attacking of the pivot, seeing as he's a converted #10 anyway).

I wouldn't pin our new solidity just on Dier coming in. I would say:
- Alder over Fazio at CB
- Walker over Dier/Chiriches at RB
- Son over Chadli at LWF (better movement/showing for the ball/creating angles)
have all contributed quite a lot too.

As I've said, for me the solution is to get the Veljkovic situation resolved, and get him in as 4th CB + DM option

 

[alekaras]

My knowledge of European football is poor (some might say "drop the word European there Finney") so I cannot confess to having seen Milik. If we're looking at a number 2 type though then I wonder whether we're better off having a player with a bit of experience who isn't likely to need a number of games to adapt and improve? The good thing about being our number 2 centre forward though is that with 38 league games and (hopefully) a number of Cup games there should be plenty of opportunities to play, especially as Kane is also extremely adept at playing as the number 10.

The problem with Milik is that he will be cup tied, given Ajax are also in the EL this year, so we won't be able to use him there to give Kane a rest, unless we play Kane in the EL matches and give him his rest in the "easier" league games. Not that I think there will be any easy league games this year.

 

[alekaras]

I think that's a bit unfair on Bentaleb and Mason. They were an enormous improvement on the likes of Capoue, Paulinho, Dembele and (sadly) Sandro, who'd been poor in that position for the previous 2 years. I think Bentaleb will develop into an excellent DCM in time (Mason will always be the more attacking of the pivot, seeing as he's a converted #10 anyway).

I wouldn't pin our new solidity just on Dier coming in. I would say:
- Alder over Fazio at CB
- Walker over Dier/Chiriches at RB
- Son over Chadli at LWF (better movement/showing for the ball/creating angles)
have all contributed quite a lot too.

As I've said, for me the solution is to get the Veljkovic situation resolved, and get him in as 4th CB + DM option

What is Bentaleb's better position? A lot of folks claim he's suited to playing more forward. Others see him as a DM. Which one is it?

 

[Gutter Boy]

The problem with Milik is that he will be cup tied, given Ajax are also in the EL this year, so we won't be able to use him there to give Kane a rest, unless we play Kane in the EL matches and give him his rest in the "easier" league games. Not that I think there will be any easy league games this year.

I'd like to be optimistic. But recently we've only played either 2 or 4 EL games after xmas.

You shouldn't base transfer decisions on 2/4 games