Krzysztof Piatek

[Mattspurs1982]

Pretty much every manager under ENIC ownership has had an entire second XI of equal/acceptable quality, often including 3 or 4 strikers. The fact is that Poch simply didn't build the squad with the same concept in mind. We never had a backup for anyone in the team, bar maybe GK when Vorm was half decent, and LB, and based on his own soundbites it was due to being incapable of managing that expectation of rotation etc. He bought Janssen and didn't play him, brought in Llorente and didn't play him unless it was absolutely necessary or a pointless 10 mins where we'd never play to his strengths. He didn't renew Llorente because it's apparently more fun to pretend wingers can stand in for a player like Kane who is nothing like anyone else in the squad.

Give the club/JM time and I'm sure we'll have decent squad options again.

i remember Jol having Keane, Berbatov, Defoe and Bent! Crazy to think now we only have Kane

 

[tiger666]

Although is Grand Papi Joe Lewis wants some sparkle and fireworks too then just pump some green in Cavani , i dont believe it ups too Levy even, Levy puts forth whats within his remit from what Lewis has allowed him to play with, thats the benefit of Lewis, peple and world always say the buck stops at Levy but he can only play within what hes allowed and he has to be the face and take the brunt of the crap regardless, benefit of being the real top man aka Lewis

Wat

 

[doctor stefan Freud]

Wat

Wot

 

[spursfan77]

No thanks, fucking horrible player. All he does is buy free kicks and scrap for goals. Ugly football.

I agree. But that’s how desperate we are for a striker.

I’m glad we are still in for Piatek but it sounds like we want one kind of deal while Milan want another. I suspect we will keep banging our head against a brick wall until the end of the window and then hope something pops up on deadline day. All in the while games and points are passing us by.

 

[PhezTHFC]

just sign Raul Jimenez and be done with it.

If only he would be perfect for us.

 

[Yiddo100]

just sign Raul Jimenez and be done with it.

He’ll be £60m at least

 

[arunspurs]

just sign Raul Jimenez and be done with it.

What an idea...
Only he will be 70m in this Jan window, given Wolves are above us in league & they don’t need to sell... and we aren’t paying that kind of money to a 2nd striker.

 

[ardiles]

if we have enough funds in this TW for only one top player, then I’d rather we spunk it on a top class DM.

However if we could convert Ndombele into a similar player like Modric (ie. Provide assists to the assister/s, and also to protect the defenders behind him, then we could spend the funds on a striker.

Then come the summer TW, we can look for more ‘value for money’ players in the needed positions.

 

[nedley]

I'd be happy for us to spend 40m on Calvert-Lewen

Won't happen of course

 

[HodisGawd]

We can't just make do with Son and Moura. We are one injury or suspension away from being in complete disaster up front, for half a season! Every other team has backups - Arsenal have about 5 strikers.

 

[dontcallme]

People keep saying this but forget that he had a performing Eriksen operating behind him and also popping up with goals. He doesn’t have that now. It’s a completely different situation. Plus Son has been in poor form for months. He’s had one good performance against Burnley but that’s it.

I am not saying I want Son as our striker for the season but a lot of the options available for us for this season won't be any better than him.

 

[spursfan77]

I am not saying I want Son as our striker for the season but a lot of the options available for us for this season won't be any better than him.

He can’t play every game at striker though. That’s partly how we got in this problem with Kane getting over played and injured. We need more players in. Even if it’s on loan. It’s not realistic to expect him to start as striker for another 20/25 potential games this season. Especially with him not being in good form.

 

[pedrodelawasp]

If we can get a striker that JM is keen on then I’m all for it. A loan-to-buy deal is also a good idea in principle. If we can’t secure someone that JM genuinely wants them I’d like to see Parrott given a crack of the whip. In games where he’s not playing or where a bit more experience is preferred we could maybe try a false 9 formation, maybe Lamela in the middle with Son and Moura either side?

 

[dontcallme]

He can’t play every game at striker though. That’s partly how we got in this problem with Kane getting over played and injured. We need more players in. Even if it’s on loan. It’s not realistic to expect him to start as striker for another 20/25 potential games this season. Especially with him not being in good form.

If your argument is we have areas in serious need of strengthening then I agree. At the moment we have Son, Moura and Parrott who can play up front. This is far from ideal.

But acknowledging a problem and then thinking it is easily resolved is not looking at recent history.

In the summer we signed Ndombele, Lo Celso and Sessegnon. All have shown glimpses of ability but none have really contributed. So those thinking we should get a striker to save this season are probably being unrealistic. Remember Sessegnon came from the Prem so it isn't just signings from abroad that take time to settle.

Piatek is someone many don't really rate. Bringing him in might be a good idea but a loan to judge him in person is probably a good idea if Milan are open to the deal.

Llorente as a short term fix is probably our best option. His settling in time will be minimal. The challenge is getting our team to adapt to his strengths.

This season is frustrating, I get that. But thinking a January signing is going to make a huge impact for us is just not looking at history. Options are scarce and a player joining mid-season is not the easiest way to integrate.

 

[GetSpurredOn]

i remember Jol having Keane, Berbatov, Defoe and Bent! Crazy to think now we only have Kane

There was also the Keane/Mido and Kanoute/Defoe pairings, then that was 15 years ago. We did go with typically 3-4 out and out CF’s for a few years after that, it’s largely only been the Poch era we’ve been down to one specialist striker in Kane, with a backup like Janssen or Llorente who clearly wasn’t trusted, because when Kane missed his obligatory couple of months between January and March, we’ve gone with Son up top. This kind of worked previously because as has been said above, we had in form Eriksen and Alli etc, playing infront of a solid base through Dembele, Wanyama etc, but currently the team is misfiring all over the ship, so the fluidity to just muddle through just isn’t there.

Mourinho spoke very clearly this week about the need for a target man, that’s how he prefers to play, Drogba (Chelsea), Milito (Inter), Benzema (Real), not always the biggest star name in those teams, not even always the top scorer, but always a hard working focal striker to draw the attentions of defenders centrally, and leave space on the outer edges for others to reap the benefits. Same could/should happen now, a Piatek type CF would pull defenders away from Alli and Son, giving them more room. We’ve also see for England that Kane is comfortable dropping deeper when paired with Rashford/Sterling, so it doesn’t have to be Kane or Piatek once HK is fit.

As a little eye opener this weekend, I didn’t realise till this morning that Haaland scored 3 on debut for Dortmund, £20m signing..... just let that sink in.

 

[CantSmileWithoutYou]

We can't just make do with Son and Moura. We are one injury or suspension away from being a complete disaster upfront, for half a season! Every other team has backups - Arsenal have about 5 strikers.

That's already happened...

 

[Joeyboey]

He’ll be £60m at least

agree. However literally anyone half decent will be £60m. It’s just the market now and what we have to pay unless we’re shopping in the bargain basement.

 

[SpartanSpur]

We were clearly in talks and strongly linked with Piatek on the 9th. Trix saying he's likely still the top target. I said back then we should get him asap as it could be the difference in the upcoming games. A striker could have been the difference yesterday and may well be what we need for Norwich midweek and Southampton cup tie.

Would be classic Levy to buy him for a small saving on the 31st having dropped 4-5 points in the league and dropped out of the cup...

 

[BringBack_leGin]

The little I can garner about this guy makes me want him. Seems strong and relatively nimble, decent with his weaker foot, good in the air, energetic and in his first season (last season) in Italy he outsourced Cristiano Ronaldo while playing for Genoa and Milan.

I’ve literally never seen him play but I’m assuming Mourinho/ our scouts have, so if this is who we’ve identified then it looks as good a purchase as we could hope to make.

 

[buttons]

I feel like despite his limitations we would have won the game yesterday had we had Piatek. A de-risked deal ASAP would be good I think!