The Daily ITK Discussion Thread - 26th August 2014

[doom]

As for Paulinho, IF Utd is one of the clubs in for him(wouldnt be surprised if they are, they dont seem to grasp the fact they are in dire need of defense) and Mata is available, maybe we could do Paulinho + 15m for him? Im not selling Paulinho for anything less than 20. Utd paid 35m for mata, right? Money back for them, really. And at least it'll give Mata European football this season(while also increasing our chances of CL ten fold)

If Saints want Townsend then do Townsend + 5 for MS. Haggle them up to 15 for Townsend. 20m right there.

If Mata is for sale then snap him up!

As for Townsend, clearly he is a big player to those outside of Spurs - seemingly having so much potential so if I was Levy his value would match MS's. Happy for him to stay though as he makes a great impact sub when we can't break down defences.

 

[yankspurs]

If Mata is for sale then snap him up!

As for Townsend, clearly he is a big player to those outside of Spurs - seemingly having so much potential so if I was Levy his value would match MS's. Happy for him to stay though as he makes a great impact sub when we can't break down defences.

As far as I know, the only club chasing after Townsend is Southampton so I wouldnt say he's a hot commodity at all.

 

[DaSpurs]

As far as I know, the only club chasing after Townsend is Southampton so I wouldnt say he's a hot commodity at all.

I think a lot of that has to do with the price. I'd guess more than just Saints at least made enquiries this summer, but of clubs he may be willing to move to only Saints have the cash available to pry him away, hence the rising smoke indicative of interest.

 

[Sweech]

Please @ me. It makes it a lot easier if I need to stamp something if I've been working for four billion hours non-stop. Ta.

Damn Stoof you ooooold.

4 billion hours would make you at minimum 456318 years old if you began working the second you were born. Keep up the hard work and remember age is only a number.

 

[HappySpur]

Now there's a reference that will be lost on many.

André Gregory? Wallace Shawn? Louis Malle?

It's the theatre, my dear...

I'm glad you liked it.

I try to come up with decent names on the RO's I enter into the section, so that people can give funny/wtf/creative and such without it being construed as an attack on the ITK. Whether its my title or the ITK, nobody will ever know.

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

No, he said:
Tottenham Talk ‏@tottenhamtalk1 2h
Reckon fazio will be the last in?
Gards‏@Gards44 Protected Tweets
@tottenhamtalk1 no more are on the horizon


Which is fucking annoying. Because he's either saying- no, there isn't going to be any more signings.

Or, he's saying- No, there are more players coming in.


I'm going for the latter because his previous info (IIRC) has suggested we are looking for more than just Fazio...and because I'm optimistic.


Oh and @Ledleys Knee - this is Daniel Levy we're talking about

Jesus H Christ.

I think he's saying no he does not want chips with his fish.

Fucking hell.

 

[FreddieYid]

Yeah, cant see Soldado leaving. We're linked to no out and out strikers. Only other strikers we're linked to would be obvious downgrades to Soldado, and they would also be LWF's. Also, I hope he doesnt go. We need him and I think he will be one of our better players this season.

As for Paulinho, IF Utd is one of the clubs in for him(wouldnt be surprised if they are, they dont seem to grasp the fact they are in dire need of defense) and Mata is available, maybe we could do Paulinho + 15m for him? Im not selling Paulinho for anything less than 20. Utd paid 35m for mata, right? Money back for them, really. And at least it'll give Mata European football this season(while also increasing our chances of CL ten fold)

If Saints want Townsend then do Townsend + 5 for MS. Haggle them up to 15 for Townsend. 20m right there.

Been working all day and couldnt check my phone. When i just saw Daws is officially gone, I got sad. I'll miss him. Done so much for the club. Will always appreciate and have love for him.

Btw, can we dump Benny on Hull also? Paging Steve Bruce...

 

[FreddieYid]

As for Paulinho, IF Utd is one of the clubs in for him(wouldnt be surprised if they are, they dont seem to grasp the fact they are in dire need of defense) and Mata is available, maybe we could do Paulinho + 15m for him? Im not selling Paulinho for anything less than 20. Utd paid 35m for mata, right? Money back for them, really.

I don't think UTD are a club that are looking to loose a quality player... They have very few as is so why would they let one go, especially for zero profit?

 

[Strikeb4ck]

I don't think UTD are a club that are looking to loose a quality player... They have very few as is so why would they let one go, especially for zero profit?

To be honest, I think one of Mata/ADM/Rooney/RVP is going to be missing quite a few games now that they have just the Prem and FA Cup. I have no idea where Di Maria fits into this 352, unless he takes Mata's spot or LVG drops on of the strikers.

That being said, I do think Mata is a stretch.

Welbeck or Kagawa (I'd take either in a heartbeat) for Paulinho is a different story...

 

[Barry Mead]

That's an interesting hypothesis but I think Poch thinks beyond just the 1st XI. His first moves were to bring in a LB who is not a guaranteed 1st XI player and a reserve GK. He then brought in a promising 4th choice CB. This doesn't suggest a manager who is obsessing over his 1st XI but rather one who is trying to cover the obvious weaknesses in his squad.

I think he is prepared to work with any players who he thinks could fit into his system or who can add flexibility to his team depending on circumstances. It's easy to see how Dembele brings something different to the table; he is a hard man to dispossess and can disrupt defences by running with the ball. It's harder to see what Paulinho, Holtby or Sandro can do to change a game that other players in the squad cannot.

Paulinho's main asset is his ability to score from midfield but you sacrifice a lot for that in terms of workrate, defence, and passing. Even if you are chasing the game surely you would bring on another attacking player rather than Paulinho.

Holtby's problem is that he is never going to be picked ahead of Eriksen and it's questionable whether it is worth keeping him just to be a backup player in the cups.

Sandro is a ballwinning DM pure and simple and again there doesn't seem to be a place in Poch's system for such a one dimensional player.

I'm sure you are right in so far as if a crazy offer is made for any player then Levy will cash in, but unless that happens I think Poch will get his way and keep any players he sees a role for. The rest we will try to move on.

I don't think you can make too many assumptions on Poch's early deals. We shouldn't lose sight of the fact he wanted Lovren and Schneiderlin early on and clearly with a view to first team starters. He also wanted Rodriguez but arguably given the injury maybe wasn't seen as the biggest early target
Lovren was priced out and MS negotiations have dragged
Meanwhile we tied up a three way deal with Swansea that could be considered opportunity dealings. We wanted a LB we couldn't compete for Shaw we focused on one that was doable and it enabled us to offload Siggy and there was opportunity to get a GK cover, arguably not one we were particularly thinking of
We may well have turned to Hector Moreno when Lovren went to Liverpool certainly a more experienced CB seemed to be our priority but with him injured and an opportunity to tie up a deal for Dier we did so whilst considering other experienced ones

As far as Dembele goes I disagree about him being a better option than Sandro or Paulinho, I think both would offer more. Sandro may not have the kind of passing that Poch might want but he does have so much drive that when he wins the ball he invariably gives us an attacking impetus. The ball goes forward. By comparison Dembele dithers on decisions, invariably playing a negative pass or more often trying to beat player after player on a slow meandering run that slows our attacks and usually end up losing possession.
Paulinho has the vision and nous to be a player that makes himself available as an outlet. We may not have had the level of playmaker to best utilise that yet, but clearly a cleverer player and one who can score goals which Dembele fails to do
I think what it will most likely come down to is who wants who and can a deal be done. It would appear that none are really best suited to Poch's needs so he'll sell where opportunity arises and if he believes he has adequate midfielders that best fit or an opportunity to add one that better fits
I can actually see him happy to sell all three and bring in say MS and Rabiot

 

[Spursidol]

That's an interesting hypothesis but I think Poch thinks beyond just the 1st XI. His first moves were to bring in a LB who is not a guaranteed 1st XI player and a reserve GK. He then brought in a promising 4th choice CB. This doesn't suggest a manager who is obsessing over his 1st XI but rather one who is trying to cover the obvious weaknesses in his squad.

I think he is prepared to work with any players who he thinks could fit into his system or who can add flexibility to his team depending on circumstances. It's easy to see how Dembele brings something different to the table; he is a hard man to dispossess and can disrupt defences by running with the ball. It's harder to see what Paulinho, Holtby or Sandro can do to change a game that other players in the squad cannot.

Paulinho's main asset is his ability to score from midfield but you sacrifice a lot for that in terms of workrate, defence, and passing. Even if you are chasing the game surely you would bring on another attacking player rather than Paulinho.

Holtby's problem is that he is never going to be picked ahead of Eriksen and it's questionable whether it is worth keeping him just to be a backup player in the cups.

Sandro is a ballwinning DM pure and simple and again there doesn't seem to be a place in Poch's system for such a one dimensional player.

I'm sure you are right in so far as if a crazy offer is made for any player then Levy will cash in, but unless that happens I think Poch will get his way and keep any players he sees a role for. The rest we will try to move on.

You make interesting arguments for several players - and I'm sure that you are correct.

However Poch can only accomodate so many players in the squad, so its quite likely that Poch is prepared to sell any player who does not fit into his system to purchase others who do fit his system. So the likeliehood is that one or two of Holtby, Paulhino, Sandro and may be a couple of others may be sold for that purpose (hence the ITK that up to 10 are up for sale). Reality of course is that only 2 or 3 or 4 more will go to accomodate a couple of incomings.

 

[DaSpurs]

To be honest, I think one of Mata/ADM/Rooney/RVP is going to be missing quite a few games now that they have just the Prem and FA Cup. I have no idea where Di Maria fits into this 352, unless he takes Mata's spot or LVG drops on of the strikers.

That being said, I do think Mata is a stretch.

Welbeck or Kagawa (I'd take either in a heartbeat) for Paulinho is a different story...

I'd love to add Kagawa to the attacking mid corps alongside Eriksen and Lamela, but I fear that may stall due to how similar those players are. The great thing about having Chadli out there is that when he rotates and moves into space previously occupied by say, Lamela, his marker has to entirely rethink his game. I'm not sure with Kagawa it would cause as much disruption.

Would still be delighted were we to do it mind. But I think from those two we'd be more interested in Welbeck, especially with our two senior strikers straddling 30.