How many new strikers?

[wallyjakeman]

I think many of us agree that our strikeforce needs upgrading. In the end of last season I was convinced we needed to sell all strikers but Pav and sign three new ones.

Now, more and more reports are saying our preferred targets are either unavailable, not interested or too expensive. It seems that negotiations and offers for example Rossi, Vucinic, Lukaku, Llorente or even bigger names are dead in the water.

If those targets are indeed unavailable, how many of our current strikers do you think we should shift? We could target new names, but how many "No thank yous" should we take before the new targets becomes equal or even a downgrade on our current strikeforce?
Logically, it would be remarkable if ALL of our strikers have as bad streaks as they did last season.

I'm leaning towards the opinion that we should keep two (Pav, Defoe) and sign two. Simply because the further down our targetlist we get, the less sure we can be that they will improve us.

Sorry if i'm unclear, on my phone and swedish.

 

[NEVILLEB]

I would sell Pav and Keane and replace them with another two. In an ideal world.

1. Striker 27-30 - Marquee name

2. Striker 20-24 - Hot prospect

Defoe for me still has potential and when on form can be a very useful player.

Crouch is one of the few players who can come off the bench and give a different option with his height. Hate to see him in the starting eleven but as a sub he's great.

 

[Strikeb4ck]

I'd like:

Marquee signing.
Solid PL player (Saha, Doyle, Zamora)
Pav
Defoe/Crouch (whichever we can transfer)

 

[kaz Hirai]

i doubt we'll be signing any striker, or any big name one anyway. we'll probably bring in charlton cole on loan just before the window shuts.

Our strikers dont want to leave, no one wants to pay the price we are asking, and big name strikers dont particular want to come here

 

[Jack2]

If possible, I would sell them all and buy 3 + raise one from our reserves/academy. But of course in the real world this is not possible and I'll be happy if we could sign even 1 top striker!

 

[StartingPrice]

Thought this was going to be a change a light-bulb jokeEek

 

[wallyjakeman]

Thought this was going to be a change a light-bulb jokeEek

:grin: Two. Rasiak and Frazier Campbell.

 

[OmarsComing]

Defoe is 30 next year, so he doesnt have any "potential"

we should sell all of our strikers.

 

[NEVILLEB]

Defoe is 30 next year, so he doesnt have any "potential"

we should sell all of our strikers.

I know what you mean but before his injury last season he really looked as if he had stepped up a level. His performances for England showed he could play at the highest level.

After his injury he was terrible! No confidence

 

[thetallaghttiger]

Keane out, new one in - simple.

Keane to go either way though, and if we don't sign one, we go with VDV + one up front for the season, with Coulibaly coming in to make up the numbers or better if we get injuries.

Our strikers cannot be as bad as they were last season, and I do believe Defoe and Pavlyuchenko do have 15 goals a season in them, more if they really do have their goalscoring boots on.

VDV + Crouch does work too, so don't think we need to panic as much as people generally are doing!

Obviously, a new striker to freshen things up would be the ideal situation, but it mustn't be forgotten we have a decent contingency plan there too

 

[adamthfc]

We are having trouble signing one so I'll take one pav keane out new striker in

 

[brett.spurs]

AG3.o

 

[Mr Pink]

AG3.o

Gyan...no ta.

 

[Samson]

Keane's going nowhere. Neither's Bentley. Our transfer dealings should start to reflect this.

 

[striebs]

Defoe is looking like Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink at the very end of his career .

We should give him away if we can't sell him as he represents one of the things that has been wrong with Spurs for a long time . He's become too comfortable at Spurs and the football has been taking a back seat since he was about 24 .

Smacks of "Club England" under Sven .


Sooner keep Keane - who has been clocking up the goals for the Republic of Ireland lately . At least he has the brain to be a useful foil to an intelligent striker .

 

[NEVILLEB]

A big reason why our strikers were poor last season is that none of them are suited to playing up on their own.

If they are paired with VDV next season expect them to be poor again and the whole team to be dysfunctional.

We HAVE to get a new partner for VDV. Someone strong, skillful and quick.

There is no alternative

 

[There's always next year]

VDV + Crouch does work too, so don't think we need to panic as much as people generally are doing!

What is your classification of this working. A main line striker who returns 4 league goals in my opinion stinks of a fucking great failure.

 

[DoublePivot]

A big reason why our strikers were poor last season is that none of them are suited to playing up on their own.

If they are paired with VDV next season expect them to be poor again and the whole team to be dysfunctional.

We HAVE to get a new partner for VDV. Someone strong, skillful and quick.

There is no alternative

This is a very good point.

And the issue at hand here is personnel and formation. VDV has no easily defined role. At best you could call him a #10 but he does so much charging to the box like a b2b midfielder that he limits his role as a playmaker. And without two up-front maybe thats what he has to do as a #10 needs two. With just one, we call him a second striker. But he's not a linking one. He's not a false 10 because he doesn't drift left to right enough. He drops enough to be a false #9 but doesn't do some of the buildup work. So he can't play with Defoe, who is best suited with a traditional #9. He makes Crouch play as a #9, knocking balls down for his runs, but Crouch isn't made for that role. He too lacks a definition. And Pavs drifts back into his space. Keane can play a stretcher, but that isn't suited to a VDV type.

So up front we need a #9 in the sense of a person who can hold the ball for VDV and to a lesser extent Lennon and Bale. But who can also take the crosses from wide. He has to act as a false #9, specifically on the break, who can run channels balanced on VDV's current position. But in posession lives in a vacuum where there is not central link between Modric/Huddlestone and him because VDV doesn't seem to be doing that for us, thus so many long balls. So that might be the false #9 that the other forward can't be because he has nobody to distribute to up high as that is technically himself and he runs the risk of crowding VDV's space. But he he has to be a bit of to cover the counter,

And this isn't VDV's problem. Either he needs two fowards, which we can't afford with Luka as we need a DM who can drop, since Luka can't. The two of them are world class, but cause an issue since they can't play CM alone. I can see why Harry is so tempted to play one as a tucked winger, even though it negates the strength to both. Shape is tough with VDV, especially as he can get lazy and lose it.

So the question is, who can we find that holds the ball, can out muscle CB's for the crosses, who can drift back to run on the counter, yet live without a central feed in posession? Seemingly a #9 who can both run and poach. What you need is seemingly the perfect forward, who can do every role imaginable. Impossible to find. I guess it ostensibly means a 9. Yet who are we looking at? Vucinic, who plays wide for club, false 9 for country. Rossi, false 9. Leandro, I think is a pure 9 but young. Abel, who I can't define yet but because of pace would not strike me as a 9. All of them strike worry for fit.

In the long run it might have been Cavani, had we made that move last year. I think that is going to haunt us for a while. Osvaldo, I don't know enough about. Berbatov can do it, although his pace is a concern on the break. I go back to Kiessling. Might be okay.

But I think it's difficult. That's really why we fluctuate with our transfer policy. Nobody can do everything, so we drift from "closest fit" to "closest fit" unable to pull the trigger because it's too easy to see why they won't work when it's time to splash cash.

 

[Stoof]

12.

 

[kaz Hirai]

A big reason why our strikers were poor last season is that none of them are suited to playing up on their own.

If they are paired with VDV next season expect them to be poor again and the whole team to be dysfunctional.

We HAVE to get a new partner for VDV. Someone strong, skillful and quick.

There is no alternative

they were rubbish before VDV turned up