The Annual Summer "It's been a poor transfer window" Discussion thread - Apocalypse Now - 30th August 2024

[For the love of Spurs]

I do not understand all the talk of other clubs signings are going to improve them and ours are not. Manure have spent multi millions since Ferguson left , has it improved them , no they are worse.

Because a lot of theirs are ready made.

United - Ugarte is a very good player, I would have taken him as our ‘pressing 8’. De Ligt is a good signing for them as well.

You can look at City with Gundogan, Arsenal with the Italian left back and Sterling.

In our defence I think Solanke is premier league proven. The others are just unknowns, they could be amazing they might not be. My gut is Bergvall, Gray and Odoburt will do well but that is different from say Eze who you know will almost certainly do well.

its actually very hard to judge our window due to it being so youth heavy.

 

[talkshowhost86]

A pretty good window

Not a great one

We were promised more once the stadium was done but it doesn't seen to have changed our outlook that much

Up to Ange and the squad now

 

[Tucker]

I understand leaving centre back open for now but at least get cover/competition for Udogie then.

I suspect a lot of that was down to our inability to move Reguilon, much like Dragusin/Sanchez last summer/January, we’ll probably see that revisited in January if we can get Reguilon moved on to Turkey or what have you.

 

[Albertbarich]

I suspect a lot of that was down to our inability to move Reguilon, much like Dragusin/Sanchez last summer/January, we’ll probably see that revisited in January if we can get Reguilon moved on to Turkey or what have you.

I hope he gets reintegrated until January then. I don’t know what he did but he isn’t a bad player and off field issues aside I think he is on as a back up.

 

[mr ashley]

We have Davies who is a CB for all intents and purposes now, Gray can also play there. Tell me all about other teams 4th choice CBs that are better

Man city
Stones/Dias/akanji/ake
Arsenal
Salina/Gabriel/white/calafiori
Liverpool
Van dijk/konate/Gomez/quansah
Villa
Torres/konsa/Carlos/mings
United
De ligt/Maguire/Martinez/lindelof/yoro

no midfielders filling in, no untried academy players

 

[BENNO]

A pretty good window

Not a great one

We were promised more once the stadium was done but it doesn't seen to have changed our outlook that much

Up to Ange and the squad now

Surely the stadium guarantees the income to buy players, not what players are actually bought ?

 

[mr ashley]

I suspect a lot of that was down to our inability to move Reguilon, much like Dragusin/Sanchez last summer/January, we’ll probably see that revisited in January if we can get Reguilon moved on to Turkey or what have you.

You have to say that our approach to selling dier and Sanchez was a mistake based on how our defence imploded in November

 

[BENNO]

I hope he gets reintegrated until January then. I don’t know what he did but he isn’t a bad player and off field issues aside I think he is on as a back up.

That's not happening - listen to Ange in his Presser, Reggie wont be in the squad.

 

[$hoguN]

To play devil's advocate:

Arsenal: Saliba, Gabriel, Timber, Calafiori
City: Dias, Akanji, Ake, Gvardiol, Stones
Liverpool: Van Dijk, Konate, Gomez. Quansah
United: De Ligt, Maguire, Martinez, Yoro, Lindelof, Evans
Newcastle: Botman, Schar, Lacelles, Burns
Villa: Carlos, Konsa, Mings, Torres

Absolutely unfair to list Chelsea as their situation is ridiculous.

I'm not posting this to dig you out or even be argumentative on the matter. I am unsure of Gray there as of now to be honest, but I actually think Davies is OK for now really, but I only posted that because I could understand the argument that other teams seem to have 4 actual CB options, and not just a LB/RB who can sometimes fill in at CB as their fourth option. Can also understand the argument that Davies lack of speed doesn't make him the greatest of candidates.

The only reason why I'm not massively concerned is because I am hopeful that what we have can see us through to January at the very least, and that I think we'd possibly be very unlucky to have a situation where we'd have to put out a CB duo of Dragusin and Davies for any sustained period of time. Would be nice to have a greater luxury of being able to rest one of the CB's at certain opportunities with an actual CB though. We have that ability with Romero and Dragusin, but not with VDV.

Out of that list only City are in a much stronger position. Arsenal have bought Calafori to play LB.

 

[Fredo]

Man city
Stones/Dias/akanji/ake
Arsenal
Salina/Gabriel/white/calafiori
Liverpool
Van dijk/konate/Gomez/quansah
Villa
Torres/konsa/Carlos/mings
United
De ligt/Maguire/Martinez/lindelof/yoro

no midfielders filling in, no untried academy players

didnt need to kill him like that bro

 

[SirHarryHotspur]

With the new additions I have faith in this squad to do well. Some of last seasons regulars and back ups are open to big improvement as they are all pretty young, Destiny 21, Brennan 23, Pape 21, VDV 23 & Radu 22 have all got scope to improve, even Deki at 24 can improve , judging by his performance against Everton there's more to come from him.

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

We had 1 striker who's perennially injured. We signed 1 more and our other is a youth prospect who's never played a minute in the prem.

These are facts.

lol what is your point? We shouid have signed 2 first team strikers and just discounted our 60m Brazil international? You do realise they’re our squad limits? We can’t just stock up on players in one position as it has a knock on affect on other positions?

 

[sparx100]

We don’t have room in the squad for another CB. Romero, VDV, Dragusin and Davies is as good as any club especially when Gray can cover it. At 6 (which I don’t even truly think fits as a description in our system) we have Bissouma, Bentancur, Gray and Devine/Hall. Would we really add depth there?

yeah another GK would have been positive but the academy lads are highly rated and Austin had a decent preseason.

LB is the only real concern we have

Centre Back
Arsenal - Saliba, Calfiori, Gabriel, White, Timber with Kiwior at a push
Man City - Gvardiol, Akanji, Ruben Dias, Ake, Stones with Walker at a push
Liverpool - Light - Virgil Van Dijk, Konate, Qansah and Gomez at a push
Man United - De Ligt, Maguire, Martinez, Lindelof and Evans
Chelsea - Badiashile, Colwill, Fofana, Tosin, Disasi adn Chalobah
Spurs - Radu, Romero, VDV and Davies

I just see more options in most of the other teams - at least specialist centre backs. You can challenge quality, but Arsenal and City have got a lot of depth.

Left back - we have Udogie. Davies cannot play the role and Spence can do it at a push. VDV can do a job, but then we play our 3 best centre backs (only centre backs) and if one gets injured, we are screwed. There is no backup. Phillips has gone on loan (correct decision), but squad wise, we are light in LDB and LB.

The 6

Maybe Gray will get in there, (he is definitely the future) but raw - so Biss and Bentancur are the only options. Biss is in the last chance saloon and is very "streaky" in his form. Bentancur is struggling to get to his pre-injury levels. Neither provide that insane shield in front of the back 4, but as you say, the team dynamic is different - Hall is nowhere near the squad and Devine I am surprised has not gone out on loan. but neither are the more "defensive" minded player that I think we need.

Goalkeeper
Academy lads have gone on loan, Forster is ahead it would appear of Austin who is just here for the quota. If Vicario gets injured, I am really concerned.

Up Front

Spunked a lot of money on Solanke and Odebert, but still a lot of questions about the wingers and their ability to service the front man:

Werner - pace, but timid
Johnson - pace but timid - cannot seem to either beat his man or get a cross to go beyond the first man
Kulu - Evolving into a different player, but never been the most efficient from an assist perspective
Son - On his day can be great, but can be an absolute bystander on others
Odebert - positive debut, but 19 years old and learning his craft.

So regardless of either Richy or Solanke being up front, I just dont think we have done enough on the wings to really make a significant difference this season.

I think this is typical Tottenham. We have invested in the future - Bergvall and Gray are going to be epic players - Odebert and Yang bought, but are they for the now? We go in a constant cycle:

Buy players for the future, first 11 get older and don't win anything as they are not good enough - look to the younger players - younger players leave as they want to challenge for trophies or are just not developed enough to move into the first 11. We have not improved the first 11 enough to challenge for anything - we are gambling on investing in youth players to become the next big player. I genuinely don't mind the strategy of buying younger players and I am excited about Gray, but we just never seem to progress beyond "potential" and really putting a stake in the ground to be considered a challenger.

Great to get rid of deadood, and yes we have kind of "backed the manager", but I think when looking at elite options, considering their wages and transfer fee - we have bottled it.

 

[Albertbarich]

That's not happening - listen to Ange in his Presser, Reggie wont be in the squad.

The second manager he had pissed off. I remember what he did to mourinho too. It’s a shame as he is an ok player

 

[ajspurs]

If discussing centre back options or lack thereof you also have to mention that Davies is also back up to Udogie now. We’re short there, I find it mental people are trying to defend it.

Let’s see , when the games come thick and fast these debates are going to get tested because we’re really relying on having no real injuries back there and players staying fresh

Yeah good point, forgot about that to be fair. Not the most ideal state to be in with that in mind, but I will say that's it's also very Tottenham. We seem to often think we don't need a new addition because if needed, *insert player who primarily plays elsewhere* can fill in there.

I can understand us holding off on centre back somewhat. Next summer we are likely to lose Romero imo, so we are probably thinking we should wait and use that cash to sign a really good defender. We also have Vuskovic coming who looks a real gem. We probably didn’t want to sign someone who we didn’t really rate highly enough who’s going to be stuck on our books in the same way Rodon, Reguilon and Sanchez were/are.

It’s pragmatic, and it does leave us short, but I can see the logic.

I agree. I think it's just an overall shame as it would be easier to overlook if we got cover for LB, or a competent CDM, or a bona fide RW, but we've somehow left ourselves short in multiple areas. We even had the luxury of not having to buy backup to Porro after Emerson went as Spence surprisingly came back into the fold. Hopefully we can just start to properly round the squad off in the coming windows.

Out of that list only City are in a much stronger position. Arsenal have bought Calafori to play LB.

I don't think it's so much about the quality of the players though, it's the number of options and whether those options are actually CB's that's the issue. Calafori may have been brought in as a left back, but unless I'm mistaken, he was one of the best CB's in Serie A last season, so that's a massive difference where he's concerned.

 

[Albertbarich]

Alfie Devine didn’t get a move right? Does he get game time? I’ve only seen him in friendlies

 

[BENNO]

The second manager he had pissed off. I remember what he did to mourinho too. It’s a shame as he is an ok player

Yeah there are bits to his game that are very likable. I get the impression he's a bit childish, or to put it better, not as focused as other top players, both on and off the pitch (e.g the incident that annoyed Mourinho off the pitch and his lack of tactical awareness on it). Shame really 'cos as i say, he has bits about his game that are worthy, but clearly hasn't wanted to work very hard at improving himself.

 

[sparx100]

Alfie Devine didn’t get a move right? Does he get game time? I’ve only seen him in friendlies

I dont think he moved on loan. I like him, but I am not sure how much game time he will get - nothing in the league - perhaps in League Cup, but FA Cup I doubt and I suspect that even in Europe he wont get much game time. Feels like we have made a mistake not getting him out on loan as in the friendlies he was a positive.

 

[HildoSpur]

We only have 3 CB's. Thats not acceptable

What you are not thinking about here is that we have two/three extremely good CB prospects that should be almost ready for first team football next season. Do we buy another one now and block any chance of those lads getting a spot in our first team? We also have a couple of players who can cover at CB - Davies has done it many times and Gray can also do it. What I agree we could use is cover at LB but CB i wouldnt be looking to bring anyone in, at least not permanently.

 

[djhotspur]

Centre Back
Arsenal - Saliba, Calfiori, Gabriel, White, Timber with Kiwior at a push
Man City - Gvardiol, Akanji, Ruben Dias, Ake, Stones with Walker at a push
Liverpool - Light - Virgil Van Dijk, Konate, Qansah and Gomez at a push
Man United - De Ligt, Maguire, Martinez, Lindelof and Evans
Chelsea - Badiashile, Colwill, Fofana, Tosin, Disasi adn Chalobah
Spurs - Radu, Romero, VDV and Davies

I just see more options in most of the other teams - at least specialist centre backs. You can challenge quality, but Arsenal and City have got a lot of depth.

Left back - we have Udogie. Davies cannot play the role and Spence can do it at a push. VDV can do a job, but then we play our 3 best centre backs (only centre backs) and if one gets injured, we are screwed. There is no backup. Phillips has gone on loan (correct decision), but squad wise, we are light in LDB and LB.

The 6

Maybe Gray will get in there, (he is definitely the future) but raw - so Biss and Bentancur are the only options. Biss is in the last chance saloon and is very "streaky" in his form. Bentancur is struggling to get to his pre-injury levels. Neither provide that insane shield in front of the back 4, but as you say, the team dynamic is different - Hall is nowhere near the squad and Devine I am surprised has not gone out on loan. but neither are the more "defensive" minded player that I think we need.

Goalkeeper
Academy lads have gone on loan, Forster is ahead it would appear of Austin who is just here for the quota. If Vicario gets injured, I am really concerned.

Up Front

Spunked a lot of money on Solanke and Odebert, but still a lot of questions about the wingers and their ability to service the front man:

Werner - pace, but timid
Johnson - pace but timid - cannot seem to either beat his man or get a cross to go beyond the first man
Kulu - Evolving into a different player, but never been the most efficient from an assist perspective
Son - On his day can be great, but can be an absolute bystander on others
Odebert - positive debut, but 19 years old and learning his craft.

So regardless of either Richy or Solanke being up front, I just dont think we have done enough on the wings to really make a significant difference this season.

I think this is typical Tottenham. We have invested in the future - Bergvall and Gray are going to be epic players - Odebert and Yang bought, but are they for the now? We go in a constant cycle:

Buy players for the future, first 11 get older and don't win anything as they are not good enough - look to the younger players - younger players leave as they want to challenge for trophies or are just not developed enough to move into the first 11. We have not improved the first 11 enough to challenge for anything - we are gambling on investing in youth players to become the next big player. I genuinely don't mind the strategy of buying younger players and I am excited about Gray, but we just never seem to progress beyond "potential" and really putting a stake in the ground to be considered a challenger.

Great to get rid of deadood, and yes we have kind of "backed the manager", but I think when looking at elite options, considering their wages and transfer fee - we have bottled it.

Great post and very detailed.

I guess it depends on what comes out post transfer window. If it turns out we’ve done what we’ve done in the past and not bought a skriniar etc who we could have and bought a cheap Rodon then yes, absolutely we have bottled it,

But, if we went for our key targets who suited the style and who ange agreed to and we couldn’t get them, like Neto, like eze, etc and refused to just move on to opportunistic signings like a chiesa, sancho etc due to them not fitting the plans and style then I’m fine with us not buying.

Yes we have been left short, yes ange hasn’t got all he wanted but it depends on how we now move in the next two windows.

It takes time to build a squad and challenge, if we retain ange and we see improvement we get top 4 and then we use that to build and we bring in a LB in jan, we use the fact we’ve cut all our dead wood, we use the fact we’ve shifted a lot of wages compared with our wage bill 18 months ago, and we look to challenge next season, when our youth is all a year older, we’ve hopefully retained our best players etc.

I feel we are in a good place, we are short but as long as we kick on and use our position and money we should have in abundance, as we have a very low net spend this window to add that money to our next transfer kitty by signing 2-3 players on big money then life is good.

The way I view it is we’ve looked at what it takes to become a city, a chelsea etc and realise we can never compete financially with clubs cheating and looked at the arsenal way and say ok let’s buy younger players with huge talent and use that to build for 2-3 years time, we only have 1 old player left so we don’t have to worry about an ageing squad and then add 1-2 big acquisitions a year whilst those youth develop massively.

the issue in the past is we haven’t really backed a manager and we’ve then sacked that manager. As long as we retain ange and keep building the squad we are in a good position. If it was always a 3 year plan before we compete I’d say we are very much on track now.