Grading our summer signings

[Craig_J]

Vlad C+

I like Vlad, it was a risk selling Caulker and I wouldn't say he's an improvment as such as I still think Caulker has potential to be great but so does Vlad. Suprised at how well he's done.


Paulinhio D-

Only time I ever saw him play as the Confederations Cup and thought he looked decent. Came with a big hype too. I hope he can turn things around but so far very disappointing. He does show promise every now and then but still a very long way to go to match his cost.


Capoue U

Giving him a U just because I still don't think I've seen him enough to comment.


Eriksen B

Very good so far. Bit like Modric but think he's got the ability to score more than him as well as create if he keeps working.


Chadli E
Thought in his first four or five games he seemed to have strength and looked like someone who would play very well once he'd settled. But my GHod it's not gone well. Less said the better.


Lamela E

Giving him a E. Would give him a U because of his transfer fee and how little he's lived up to it but he's still very, very young and we'd paid excesivley for him anyway which you can't blame him for. Think it would have been different if he'd came in to a more settled line up, when you're young you need a settled in balanced team to show you the ropes and help you fit in, cover for your mistakes etc. Instead he arrived to a bunch of strangers who hadn't played together, spoke different languages and were just trying to settle in thermselves.

Soldado E

Wasn't expecting that and to be honest despite the fact he can clearly score a penalty, which we need, he's been nothing like the prolific goal scorer we so desperatley needed up front and to make up for the wonder of Bale.

 

[Ade's folks are ok really]

Not sure how much to read into this, but it appears from this chart that there's only been 1, yes ONE, Premier League game where we've been able to field all all these new signings together - and low and behold it's a comprehensive 3-0 win, our best scoreline this season!

Now i don't want to get carried away because even without an injured Chadli I very much doubt he'd have made a difference to those results, or even if he'd have played. But for me it does confirm that there has needed to be some serious tinkering of first 11's throughout this season and that none of our major signings have really had too much chance to play together for any length of time.

 

[SteveAWOL]

Perhaps Spurs should set up an elite "Gym Club" to help the imports bulk up so that they are better able to cope with the rigours of English football...

BBC Sport - Cristiano Ronaldo: Real Madrid star's journey to the Ballon d'Or

...Cristiano Ronaldo's speed and skill were evident at the Estadio Jose Alvalde in a friendly against Manchester United for Sporting Lisbon in August 2003, assets and a performance which ultimately sealed a £12.24m transfer to Old Trafford days later. It was in Manchester that the Portuguese sought out the expertise of a man by the name of Mike Clegg - the Old Trafford club's power development coach between 2000 and 2011 - as he began his quest to not only become the greatest player on earth, but an athlete with no equal in the modern game.

..."I look at the other players who come and go with talent. Nani and Anderson both came in during 2007 at a similar age to Ronaldo, but the difference was astronomical. The difference was the understanding and the knowledge of how to become the best. Ronaldo was above everyone else."

The use of resistance-based workouts were unheard of at Carrington prior to Clegg's arrival, but football's evolution into a game dominated by athletes was just beginning, as basic programmes were introduced to improve functional, football-related strength among the squad. Players were initially trained to become proficient in the art of bench-pressing, pull-ups, dips and squats - now the staple gym diet of a top-level footballer.

Ryan Giggs, a man Clegg describes as the most open-minded to new training techniques, Roy Keane, a lover of boxing during his recuperation from a serious knee injury, and Paul Scholes, the star pupil during cognitive and peripheral vision tests, were three leading members of a gym culture that formed in the aftermath of United's treble-winning success at the turn of the millennium.

Ronaldo was a keen observer. A vacancy had arisen to join that elite group following the departure of David Beckham - another member of the 'gym club' - to Real Madrid, and though his English was limited at best and his frame more featherweight boxer than sculpted Adonis, Ronaldo wasted little time in turning his vision into reality.

...It seems strange looking back, but in Ronaldo's early years at the Theatre of Dreams there were doubts he would make the grade at all. His penchant for showboating rather than delivering the final pass and a fondness for falling over the outstretched legs of defenders a little too theatrically angered team-mates and opposition alike.

Each season, his manager, mentor and the man the 28-year-old still refers to as 'boss', Sir Alex Ferguson, would agree a pre-season wager over a target number of goals for the campaign. At the end of each of his first two seasons at the club, targets of 10 and 15 goals proved beyond him.

He wasn't fazed. The sight of Ronaldo strapping weights to his ankles and perfecting step-overs long after his team-mates had headed for the showers became a common sight at Carrington. He invested in himself financially too. The purchase of a house with a custom-built swimming pool to aid him in his recovery after sessions and matches was another sensible addition, while the hiring of a chef at his home ensured his diet was faultless.

Clegg said: "For every mistake he made in a game, he'd spend hours and hours and hours practising to make sure it didn't happen again. Generally with players, if they try something and it doesn't work, they don't try it again, they fear it - but he didn't. No chance.
...

 

[clevelandspur]

Starting to come to realisation we ****ing wasted A ****LOAD of cash this past summer. Aside from Eriksen and Chiriches (who even them have been hit and miss) the lot of them look average to absolute dog****e. We may regret this window for years to come

 

[Spursalot]

Starting to come to realisation we ****ing wasted A ****LOAD of cash this past summer. Aside from Eriksen and Chiriches (who even them have been hit and miss) the lot of them look average to absolute dog****e. We may regret this window for years to come

Agreed, bar lamela who still hasn't been given the time on the pitch to impress.

I think soldado is slowly dropping down further in my estimation, and has replaced David Bentley as the worst spurs flop of recent times.

 

[Rossi22]

Don't know how much we could get for Capoue, Paulinho, Chadli and Soldado but it might be worth us cutting our losses.

 

[clevelandspur]

Don't know how much we could get for Capoue, Paulinho, Chadli and Soldado but it might be worth us cutting our losses.

I would agree we might be better off just shifting them on this summer. You could say we can wait and see if they come good but also a good chance they continue to be ****e and their value goes further down

While I know we differ on opinion of Lamela and when he has played he hasn't done much at all but for what we paid and his age we have to give him a proper go next season

 

[Mulletperm]

Don't know how much we could get for Capoue, Paulinho, Chadli and Soldado but it might be worth us cutting our losses.

I'd persevere with Soldado and Paulinho as I believe they have that 'something', but Capoue and Chadli really haven't impressed at all.

 

[DubaiSpur]

Chiriches - B+

Best of our signings for me. Quick, confident, good defender when he's switched on and not giving away silly fouls or dribbling in his own damn box. A good prospect, and should Verts leave this summer, we'll be fine if Vlad ends up being his replacement.

Paulinho - C

Flashes of talent too often masked by frustratingly invisible displays. Makes some great passes at points in games, but also shys away from the ball an awful lot for a central midfielder. Not the steely box-to-box Brazilian Lampard we were promised, but not a complete write-off either.

Eriksen - B

Shown tremendous potential so far: great set-piece taker, quick feet and amazingly creative with his slide-rule passes when on form. However, like Paulinho ,he does disappear when the going gets tough, and hasn't shown that he can be physical enough to retain possession when under concerted pressure. Great prospect, though.

Chadli - C-

Don't know why we bought him, to be honest. Good signing for the inside-forward position on the left, but we already had Townsend there, so he was hobbled in his quest for game time from the start. Great goal against Saudi Sportswashing Machine, but hasn't shown much else. Decent crosser, though, and it's good to have height and strength on the wings.

Soldado - E

Poor guy. Nothing will go in for him, and despite all his extra efforts (Staying back after training, dropping deep to help set up play in games) his 2013/2014 seems destined to go down as one of the worst debut seasons from a foreign striker in Premier League history.

Capoue - C-

Injured for a large stretch of the season, so not much to judge him on. Still, he seems curiously inconsistent: commanding and in control one game (United away) and hesitant and slow on the ball the next (most of his recent games). Started strongly and then hit this run of inconsistency. Still, mustn't expect too much from him given the circumstances.

Lamela - E-

Poor guy. Never played under AVB (except in suicide games like away against City and dead rubbers in the EL), and then gets an injury just as Timmeh takes over. Considering his potential and young age, not the worst 30 million anyone's ever spent in the PL yet, but damn did his first year in England turn out to be a horror show. I have faith in him, though: give him time, give him games, chant his name, and he will deliver. We need to make him feel loved.

 

[Raziel]

The true rating is probably

AVB - D
TS - C-

Trying to get a real rating out of a team with 2 managers, no system, no style, no understandable tactics, with several key players injured and out of position makes no sense to me.

I actually think the fact that we are somehow unexplainably still "theoretically" in the running for a CL spot actually rates our players more than individual analysis, fact is with 7 **** players (according to everyone's ratings), we were still within 7 points of the top in mid February ... what does that say?

 

[Mosquito_Coasting]

Might take a while for the players to prove or not prove their worth. Henderson looked a flop for years but now looks a decent player.

 

[Sandman]

Might take a while for the players to prove or not prove their worth. Henderson looked a flop for years but now looks a decent player.

because he is playing in a well integrated system. That is the big difference.

But also i do still believe that you have to give all players coming in from abroad into their second season. But with that said Soldado's output and wayward shooting is really not hope inspiring.

 

[Cotswold]

Might take a while for the players to prove or not prove their worth. Henderson looked a flop for years but now looks a decent player.

You make a good point. Ask a Liverpool fan what he thought of Lucas after his first season - the widely asked question was 'are we sure he's Brazilian?'. He's now one of their best players and their most popular players.
Henderson was woeful last season but has been one of their top three players this season.
It is definitely to do with confidence and system. At the moment the likes of Lamela and Soldado are severely lacking in that department.

 

[braineclipse]

Henderson and Lucas are excellent examples.

Modric to Madrid and to us other examples to keep in mind.

 

[Cochise]

Henderson is a great example. At the time when he was bought for £20 million a lot was made of how big a waste of money he was, even Redknapp commented on it in a round about way (regarding the Modric price tag). Yet three years down the line and the potential he had shown has gradually developed into more. The biggest factor in that is having him working under the right coach, and developing under the right guidance.

I'm not saying it's a sure thing, but I do think that it's worth remembering when we start to talk about our Summer signings. Both Lamela and Eriksen have bags of potential, but I think they need the right guidance if they are going to deliver on it. Neither Sherwood nor AVB were the right men, as they themselves are still young coaches who are still developing their own skill sets. If we were to get a new, more experienced coach in over the summer then I'd have higher hopes. This is not meant as a slight on Sherwood and his coaching ability, but at this juncture in his coaching experience I think he would be better off with a team with some more experienced heads.

 

[DTA]

Chiriches - B+

Best of our signings for me. Quick, confident, good defender when he's switched on and not giving away silly fouls or dribbling in his own damn box. A good prospect, and should Verts leave this summer, we'll be fine if Vlad ends up being his replacement.

Paulinho - C

Flashes of talent too often masked by frustratingly invisible displays. Makes some great passes at points in games, but also shys away from the ball an awful lot for a central midfielder. Not the steely box-to-box Brazilian Lampard we were promised, but not a complete write-off either.

Eriksen - B

Shown tremendous potential so far: great set-piece taker, quick feet and amazingly creative with his slide-rule passes when on form. However, like Paulinho ,he does disappear when the going gets tough, and hasn't shown that he can be physical enough to retain possession when under concerted pressure. Great prospect, though.

Chadli - C-

Don't know why we bought him, to be honest. Good signing for the inside-forward position on the left, but we already had Townsend there, so he was hobbled in his quest for game time from the start. Great goal against Saudi Sportswashing Machine, but hasn't shown much else. Decent crosser, though, and it's good to have height and strength on the wings.

Soldado - E

Poor guy. Nothing will go in for him, and despite all his extra efforts (Staying back after training, dropping deep to help set up play in games) his 2013/2014 seems destined to go down as one of the worst debut seasons from a foreign striker in Premier League history.

Capoue - C-

Injured for a large stretch of the season, so not much to judge him on. Still, he seems curiously inconsistent: commanding and in control one game (United away) and hesitant and slow on the ball the next (most of his recent games). Started strongly and then hit this run of inconsistency. Still, mustn't expect too much from him given the circumstances.

Lamela - E-

Poor guy. Never played under AVB (except in suicide games like away against City and dead rubbers in the EL), and then gets an injury just as Timmeh takes over. Considering his potential and young age, not the worst 30 million anyone's ever spent in the PL yet, but damn did his first year in England turn out to be a horror show. I have faith in him, though: give him time, give him games, chant his name, and he will deliver. We need to make him feel loved.

I think that's a fair assessment, one of the few.