What's new

Summer 2021 Window Rating

Rate the window out of 10

  • 0 - We've gone about as far backwards as we can realistically go in one summer

    Votes: 1 0.2%
  • 1

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 2

    Votes: 3 0.6%
  • 3

    Votes: 6 1.2%
  • 4

    Votes: 38 7.9%
  • 5 - The squad is about as strong overall as it was last season

    Votes: 47 9.8%
  • 6

    Votes: 117 24.3%
  • 7

    Votes: 188 39.1%
  • 8

    Votes: 72 15.0%
  • 9

    Votes: 5 1.0%
  • 10 - We have improved the squad as much as we realistically can in one summer

    Votes: 4 0.8%

  • Total voters
    481
  • Poll closed .

Gassin's finest

C'est diabolique
May 12, 2010
40,038
95,753
Gone with a 7. A good prospective signing in Gil, clear upgrades in defence with Romero and Royal, and we've moved on several players from Poch's old squad. Also we kept our world class centre forward, even if by no other means than the club who were apparently desperate for him not actually bothering to seriously try and buy him.
 

Fittster

Active Member
Oct 21, 2019
87
143
6.5 for me, a painful rebuild isn't going to be completed in a single transfer window and the purchases made look good (however I said that about GLC and ndombele, neither of whom have delivered on their reputations/transfer fees)

I do worry about the lack of cover for Kane, if he gets injured we are going to struggle to score.
 

CoopsieDeadpool

Well-Known Member
Jun 8, 2012
18,257
70,419
As someone who knows pretty much nothing about players outside of THFC/PL, assuming this link is up to date, I'm wondering if there are any currently unattached players we could still look into?

Think I'm right in believing you can sign an unregistered player at any time?.

 

Dave1882

Well-Known Member
Apr 12, 2021
1,009
3,152
6 from me...
I think window was undoubtedly harder than we realise, as clubs across Europe just don't have the money they would have 2 years ago right now
I think not having a 2nd striker yet again is terrible, especially when see Ings went to Villa for £25m. After we let Vinicuis go too
Would have liked another CB in, as i think Dier and Sanchez will return to form again soon
Also need to replace Ndombele, but i know his wages make a move v hard

I hope in Jan/next summer we see Winks, Ndombele, Doherty all go and get a CAM and 2nd striker in. If we can replace one of Dier/Sanchez too, i think we're looking good
 

lemony snickets

Well-Known Member
Aug 14, 2013
144
409
Opted for a 6.

Moved on older players on high wages, brought in some exciting young talent and improved defence with good backup keeper, solid young CB in Romero and Emerson at RB. Know nothing about Emerson but if you play for Barca, you can't be all that bad rite?

Would've been higher if we'd bought in a backup striker. I've not been Alli's biggest fan for the past two seasons, but going on this seasons start, he looks to be back to his old self under Nuno. Overall, happy but could've of been better.
 

GetSpurredOn

Well-Known Member
Jun 18, 2006
5,056
8,961
I’d say a steady 6 out of 10. Didn’t lose anyone we ideally wanted to keep, but didn’t quite add the depth we wanted. Overall freshened the squad up and lowered the wage bill no doubt.
Replacements for Bale and Vinicius and it would have been a solid 8 out of 10.
Additional quality at CM and LCB and I’d have said top window.

But we move on with what we have. I say this every year, but I just hope that between now and January we are sourcing players for the remaining areas of concern, players who can add to what we have positively in the short and long term, who actually want to come without us having to risk paying astronomical wages we then can’t shift if it goes wrong, and above all within our transfer budget.

My one big wish is we utilise the Conference League to give some of our younger developing talent the right sort of exposure. If they are delivering at U23’s, use the Conference as the next step for them to show what they are capable of. Clarke, Markanday, Lavinier, Walcott, White, John, Devine, Scarlett etc. and let some of the senior players take a break. We need to be careful how we manage and balance that, not all at once, but at least 2-3 starters per game, and others off the bench. Spread the players out, for argument sake a fullback or centreback, a midfielder and a forward, with senior players around them.
 

ukdy

Well-Known Member
Jan 11, 2007
1,457
5,597
7

On the face of it the defence looks stronger with two new faces in, Tanganga now getting a regular spot, and hopefully Sanchez and Dier will fulfil the defensive promise displayed so far.

Going forward and attacking has never really been an issue for us, when set up to do so, so I think with Harry, Son supported by Gill, Bergy, Dele and Lucas.. we’ll be ok for now.

Hopefully Reggy and Emerson will provide us some width if needed for a switch to a back 3 for games, Skipp seems very industrious and a good partner alongside Pierre in midfield, who has also started getting forward into the box a bit more like he does for the national team.

Backup keeper also now sorted and I have a lot more confidence in him than I did with Hart.
Next year Sarr returns from Metz and I’m sure the strengthening will continue, with Fabio having had a full year to work his magic.

The only quesrion mark for me and I’m sure everyone, is whether or not N’dom sorts his shit out. it’s a problem entirely of his own making and he alone holds the key to fixing it, whether that is with us or with someone else.
 

DannyNZ

Well-Known Member
Jul 3, 2017
2,101
5,872
It’s a 7 from me. Good clear out of deadwood, not to be underestimated.

Romero, Emerson, Gil and Sarr are all good additions and all future focused.

Regrets, well I have a few - Skipp has shown the importance of a proper shield in front of the back four and we could have done with cover. We could have done with an extra body upfront up front, Bale might have been used badly but contributed more than Moura and SB.

I’m not so concerned about a lack of creativity as I’m firmly in the camp that GLC given run of games will provide and Gil will quickly adapt and be a strong contributor. But Nuno has to want to move to a more ambitious game plan.
 

Tucker

Shitehawk
Jul 15, 2013
34,028
158,471
Honestly, I give it a 4 out of 10.

The only player that we can hand on heart say definitely improves us is Romero, and he’s not likely to make an impact on the team until Christmas thanks to the international debacle. He will hopefully prove to be a great signing, but right now he‘s a squad player at best because he’s going to spend 50% of his time away from the squad.

Gollini is a back up keeper, nothing more, and nothing to really get excited about.
Emerson might improve us at right back (this is a really low bar in the first place.) I’m glad we addressed this issue in the squad.
Gil might add a bit of flair, but let’s not expect him to perform consistently just yet, he’s all potential right now, and will likely turn out to be a massive coup for us once he develops into a first team regular.

No back up striker is the big fail, and it’s unacceptable. Anyone thinking we have enough in the squad up front to endure the rigours of a full season is kidding themselves, we have all seen how this works out before. Kane does his ankle, then Son is run into the ground covering for him. The 19/20 season is a classic example of this, where if it wasn’t for the covid lockdown, we’d have been in real trouble.

We can lambast Levy for his interference on deadline day all we like, and rightly so, but we’d have still been leaving ourselves short had we spent £50 million on Traore. Paratici and Hitchen should have had a back up striker lined up and ready to pull the trigger on the moment it was obvious Kane was staying, instead they fucked around with unachievable targets and moved onto a equally unachievable plan B in Traore. They have fucked us big time imo.
 

phil

Well-Known Member
Oct 25, 2004
2,052
1,267
You cannot reflect on the success or otherwise of our dealings without considering the 'elephant in the room', namely the World Cup qualifying games. With the current HMG travel regulations, how many matches do you think Romero, Lo Celso, Sanchez (and possibly Emerson) will play this season? They will be flying off to play in red zone countries in September (3 games), October (2), November (2), January (1), February (1), March (2). If, after every visit, the player has to spend 10 days isolating in a hotel room followed by another week to regain fitness they will feature in very few games; probably none before Christmas.

This is going to leave us very exposed at the back and in midfield. We will be a couple of injuries away from relying on Doherty and Winks, and we all know how that will end.

So Romero for Alderweireld is not a great short-term move. Emerson looks an upgrade on Aurier provided he is not selected to play for Brazil. Gollini is an improvement on Hart but doesn't strengthen the first XI. We've not replaced Bale's goals. I am excited by the signing of Gil but it is early days to know whether he will be a success in the EPL.

It is a pity we couldn't sign Traore, as that would have been a game-changer. I hope we don't live to regret this like we did with Grealish. Sometimes you just have to pay the price. I'm really surprised we didn't look to sign a creative midfielder. I just can't see how we are going to break down packed defences.
 

crazyguitarman

Well-Known Member
Aug 8, 2019
427
1,687
I would probably rate it higher normally but given that 5 is "about as strong overall as last season" then I give it a 4. Signing players based on potential is nice, but it is still just that- potential. The players we have brought in may well become good or even excellent in the future but they do not, as of now, equal the established players like Toby, Bale, Lamela, and Aurier who we have let go this transfer window. That's not to say I don't believe in building for the future, but as of now our squad is arguably weaker whilst the majority of our rivals have strengthened. It's not enough in my view to just try to maintain the status quo, we need to be building progressively in order to keep pace with the rest of the top 6. I think Nuno has a difficult task ahead of him this season and I hope the players we already have and those we have brought in are able to step up.

Adding Traore would have taken it up to a 6, and adding an established CM along the lines of Kessie, Neves or Renato Sanches would have taken it up to a 9. A backup striker on top of that would have made it a 10.
 
Last edited:

BENNO

Well-Known Member
Jul 11, 2005
975
4,026
I've gone for 8/10.

Keeping Kane and signing Son up long term is being completely overlooked by people giving lower marks imo. We finished 7th, had a pretty shit season and are in the European Conference League....yet our two best and most valuable players (who'd walk into most teams in World football) have stayed and one has signed long term - this in a year when Messi leaves Barca, Inter win league yet lose manager and their star striker etc etc

I also feel people aren't realising the impact of our change in formation under Nuno, and the shift in how we will play.

From what i've seen of Romero, he will be comfortable in bringing the ball out of defence, like Jan used to, which creates space and chances. Having two attacking full backs goes back to the good old days of Walker and Rose, who created plenty of chances. I presume Lo Celso (or Tanguy, if he ever gets his head straight) will come into the midfield (for Skipp) and be a more creative force than we currently are seeing, which again will create chances. And personally i feel that Gil will be a really good creative addition and that Nuno will use Sessengnon further forward, rather than a full back/wing back (which is where he did his best work for Fulham) so Son can be used more as a striker if need be.

I'd also point out that currently no important first teamer are injured (which would have been factored in when assessing potential signings over the past few days) plus we've already played 3 games and the Jan window isn't that far away. Another massive point is that the Conference League games will be nowhere near as tough mentally or physically as the Champions League matches we've been used to - where we always had to field our best XI, play at 100% for 90 mins, then 'go again' with virtually the same team in the Prem a few days later.

I think the only real disappointment for me is that Sarr is on loan at Metz and not with us now, but i'm thrilled we bought him and i can see the reasons behind him staying there this year.
 

fishhhandaricecake

Well-Known Member
Nov 15, 2018
21,772
54,257
Was between a 6 and a 7, probably a 6.5 but the optimist in my gave a 7 ? I know I’m too kind.

Got rid of some ageing or no longer needed players :
Hart
CCV
Aurier
Toby
Sissoko
Lamela

Brought in some good mostly ready to go but also youngish talented prospects who all look decent so far:
Gollini
Emerson Royal
Romero
Sarr
Gil

As many have mentioned we still lack a better ball playing creative CM a la Ruben Neves etc and we lack either an upgrade wide player on Lucas/Bergwijn and/or a back up to Kane.

Overall the signings were good and the outgoings decent too and there was a clear plan to re-shape the squad. Defiantly light in attacking creative areas but think we should be ok until January.

COYS
 

jonnyrotten

SC Supporter
Aug 16, 2006
2,114
3,721
5/10 for me.

Cons
Lost a key goalscorer, assister and star player in Bale without replacement.
Lost our backup striker without replacement.
Failed to address a key issue in lack of creativity which has been apparent since we lost Eriksen. Damsgaard looked a good opportunity at a decent price.
Bought in areas where we had existing strength - prioritisation problem, especially given it is now apparent that our funds were very limited
Failed to shift players who are surplus to requirements

Pros
Son contract
Kane staying for 5 more months at least
We've bought a lot of good talent for the future
Planned ahead for the loss of our captain - rare in itself for spurs to plan in advance like this (at least on the field)
Didn't buy Traore. We have a lot of players in his position and his end product is woeful
Strengthened central defence with Romero

I realise a some of the above is beyond the club's control - especially shifting players. Perhaps i'd give the club a 6 for how they've performed in the market overall.
 
Last edited:

Ribble

Well-Known Member
Apr 13, 2011
3,689
5,131
As someone who knows pretty much nothing about players outside of THFC/PL, assuming this link is up to date, I'm wondering if there are any currently unattached players we could still look into?

Think I'm right in believing you can sign an unregistered player at any time?.


Only if you have space in your 25 to register them, or (I assume) if they're too young to need to be registered in that 25. Anyone know if there are spots left?


I've gone for a 7, think the ins have been good and the focus on developing players is where the club should be heading. Would have liked to have done some more business but the transfer market being depressed has been a significant problem in moving on certain players and probably stopped a few more signings from happening. Looking to January I doubt much will change in that respect, hopefully Nuno can get a better tune out of the players currently on the fringe than Jose did.
 

wrd

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2014
13,603
58,007
Prepare for a novel :LOL:

Summer Window

I think if there's one thing we learnt last year it's that it's foolish to say whether a transfer window was good or bad when it closes and you need a large part of the season to see if the window has left the club heading in the right trajectory. So I'd say the feeling I have is that we'll look back on this summer as a mostly positive window.

I think I'd give it a 6.5/10, 3 points for a superb job on the outgoings, 3 points for the quality of the signings we did make and a cheeky .5 additional because signing Romero, I think on last season you'd argue he was among the best inform CB's in the world so that is a coup.

I think to get the remaining 3.5, I'd say 2 points weren't gained because there's still gaps in the squad and the remaining 1.5 I think would have been had we filled those gaps with a top top signing like the Vlahovic's and Martinez's of the world.

Positives

So I think largely a summer where it's a step in the right direction for the long term future of the club and it makes clear that this is a transitional season with expectations low. I think all of us were of course hoping that we'd really push the boat out in order to close the gap on the top 4's quality and it's a shame it didn't.

I think every single signing we made on paper looks a good signing, I don't think we signed any player we are underwhelmed by and I think in Romero, Gill, Gollini and Sarr that we have signed some massive potential. I think as I said above outgoings were superb and there's not a single player who left who fans will necessary be ruing even if a few cult favourites did have to depart, we were aggressive in that area.

Another positive is that vs Watford on Sunday there was a glaring problem which was Japhet being the man in that danger area and we went out and bought a player which means we can adjust our system and fix that issue so I like seeing that approach to our business.

Negatives

The way I was looking at the final week of business was that over the first 3 games I could see a few areas glowing red which could cause problems in our season, I liken them to bullets in the chamber. I thought with certain business we could get a few bullets out of so that the odds of our season suffering from them would be significantly lowered.

I'd say they are 1. Although Dier and Sanchez have started strong defensively (long may it continue), we would be taking a risk to think that their mistakes won't rear their ugly head over the course in the season. Both have shown that they can have a good run of games and then all of a sudden a mistake is made and they go on a bad run. Of course we have Romero but we will need at least one of these CB's to keep their form consistently. For me this was the lowest risk of them all and I'd back Nuno in this department due to his time at Valencia, if there was a risk to take in not doing business then not signing an additional CB I think was the one to take but it's still a risk worth highlighting. My hope is that Sanchez fulfils the promise that caused us to sign him in the first place.

2. Trusting Lo Celso and Ndombele to be our centre midfield creative spark. I've banged the give these guys a chance drum as hard as anybody this summer, I hope they come good, I mean I'm desperate for it quite frankly but the reality is it's a huge risk to trust that one of these two will finally use their undoubted ability to consistently be the top player in the middle of the park we need. I think signing Aouar would have just given us peace of mind and I was hoping we'd pull the trigger there. It's time for these two to come good.

3. The lack of an additional goalscorer. The big one for me. I would love nothing more than Dane Scarlett to come in and absolutely smash it but I'm really concerned by the pressure we'd be putting on those young shoulders. We really should have done some business in this area, I think there's little excuse for it quite frankly. We saw how Son and Kane got crowded out vs Watford because they're well aware they're our only threats. If one gets injured then we will end up running the other into the ground. The Christmas period is going to be grueling on them and we're banking on players coming good to alleviate the pressure on them. I think this will cost us a lot of points whether they're injured or not and for me this was the mistake of the summer.

So those are the 3 areas we need a lot of luck, we need Kane and Son to stay fit and not be burnt into the ground, we need our creative midfielders to come good and we need our defenders to consistently show the fine form they've done so far this season.

The only other hair in the soup for me was disappointment with Paratici, all this talk about being on the phone 24/7 and multiple deals and options and this and that and in the end, the same thing happened as it always does. We go big for a player early in the summer (martinez 70 million) We then go for a player out of our reach and then the money we had for Martinez disappeared when it was time to pay up for Traore (If that was because Nuno agreed that he wasn't worth that then I'm fine with that) And there was no back up option when that fell flat. I thought Paratici was going to bring in a Kvaratskhelia or something along those lines when Traore inevitably fell flat. Somebody who fans would feel was the cheap option but end up coming good but that didn't happen. So I think overall Paratici had a great summer with a lot of deals but just that final bit where there wasn't a creative option I thought that was a shame as I thought that would be the difference he'd make compared to previous years.

Nuno

Regardless of the negatives and to be use an annoying Cliche, he's the biggest signing of the summer reallly isn't he. A transfer window can only be judged relative to what is already in the squad. The squad looked awful last year but in a matter of weeks Nuno has improved individuals. They're so many players who are not fulfilling their potential at the moment in the forward areas. They're players who should be adding our creative spark, have the ability to add 10 goals to their game a season. I think we're pinning it all on Nuno to extract every drop out of this squad. I think he's already proving himself to be a man who gets more out of the squad than the sum of his parts and there's a lot of parts that we have that are yet to be properly integrated so let's see what he can do.

Squad balance

At the start of the summer I made a thread that although we spend a lot of money, we seem to spend it in a stupid way which creates an unbalanced squad. I was about ready with my kermit gif when we had 4 rb's and 3 lb's but we came to an agreement with Aurier and I think given the style of Davies and Tanganga, if we switch to a back 3 then it looks okay but clearly having 6 fb's and 1 senior striker is not a good squad balance. What I'd say is that I think we came a long way this window to making a dent in the problem and that we have to accept that during a transitional season that the squad will not be perfectly balanced.

Next summer with Kane going, I reckon Ndombele will come good and we'll cash in, I think next summer we will make some big moves and I don't expect next summer to be considered a transition, I expect us to have a well balanced squad.

Overall

So yeah positive window I feel, one we'll look back on in a couple of years and think wow that window was when we planted the seeds with the players carrying the team today. I think that I'm not expecting too much attacking football this season. I think this season Nuno will be working with a system which is more needs must, based on solidity and not conceding and forcing the goals to get us over the line. I was annoyed all summer that Levy wasn't sticking to what he laid out to the fans but what I've seen so far, makes me happy to be a spurs fan again. Being 1-0 up and pinning back watford instead of dropping back 20 yards, that's what I was after. I'm happy with a more robust system as long as we're trying to take the game to them rather than clinging on.

Anyway sorry for the novel, I needed this off of my mind and by writing it all out, I'm hoping it's gone now :LOL:
 

King of the Lane

Well-Known Member
Dec 3, 2010
4,357
25,187
Im not sure how anyone could rate it over a 6 at the moment if im totally honest.

Positives:

- Signed a new CB who is supposed to be very good
- Signed a new RB
- Got rid of a few of our deadwood
- Made a few purchases of young players with high potential
- Skipp is being intergrated into the 1st team and offers something different
- Son signed a new contract

Negatives:

- Didnt sign a backup striker AGAIN
- Didnt buy a new WF to help chip in with the goals (so didnt replace Bale's output)
- Midfield is severely lacking in creativity so there is still a big gap there (havent replaced Eriksen)
- Squad still has a lot of holes in it
- We didnt add many 1st 11 players
- Didnt get rid of all of our deadwood that we needed to ditch

The unknown at the moment:

- Kane stayed but it remains to be seen how much effort and return we will get out of him
- Ndombele is still unfit, not motivated and wants out. We really need his creativity but he cant be relied on atm
- We are massively gambling on Dele, Sanchez, Dier and Winks to keep up their form/suddenly show how good they are after years of failing to impress. 3 games hasnt changed made me change my mind about them yet.
- The young players with potential we bought are still gambles as we dont know if they will become good or average players. They dont improve us as of yet (hoping they do though)

Overall:

It all feels a bit 'wait and see' for me rather than going into the season super confident. I appreciate a rebuild takes time but some of the holes we should have replaced a number of windows ago and to still not have filled them is just poor imo. That being said, if players like Gill, Romero and Emerson can step up then we should technically have a stronger first 11 than last season. If we can cut out the dropped points from winning positions then we may be ok.
 

Albertbarich

Well-Known Member
Jul 4, 2020
6,410
24,118
Defence aside and the squad is weaker so it's a 3 from me.

Yes some very good building blocks but we have taken goals out the squad, not replaced them,now have an outcast who we can't shift which means we lack creativity and the forward line is criminally short.

Typical spurs window. 1 step forward, 2 steps back.
 
Top