The Weekend ITK Discussion Thread - 25/26 August 2012

[pallettWHL]

I'm in a rather pessimistic mood at the moment, WBA are a team that we should have beat and feel that if our team stays like this for the rest of the season (bar Modric) we wont get in the top 4 this season, and that thought sickens me, as that means that Arsenal and Chelsea will probably get those 3rd and 4th places. Levy and Co. need to work their socks off this week!

 

[stevenurse]

i know, if new signings need time to gel (as they often do) then lets wait until there are 3 minutes left of the window as apposed to the 3 months+ that we could have got them in and integrated. brilliant.

if we dont sign anyone truly world class (as has been made out with lots of etc) then im going to cut back my wanking to only 4 a day. stick that in your pledge thread

 

[Living Legend Colm G]

i know, if new signings need time to gel (as they often do) then lets wait until there are 3 minutes left of the window as apposed to the 3 months+ that we could have got them in and integrated. brilliant.

if we dont sign anyone truly world class (as has been made out with lots of etc) then im going to cut back my wanking to only 4 a day. stick that in your pledge thread

Only if you disclose with which hand you will be handing over the cash with

 

[AJW]

I am really pessimistic tonight but I am struggling to blame Levy in a way. I think AVB would have looked at our squad and said he wanted a striker, attacking winger and a Modric replacement.

He went for Adebayor and managed to agree a fee early on. Adebayor then didn't sign because he was having issues with Man City. Not Levy's fault and I don't think there were many other strikers he could go for instead.

With Modric I get the impression Real just won't get near to what we want. If they are only offering 24 million as suggested then Levy is correct not to sell. We were offered 40 million last summer and he is worth more than that. It is hard for us to replace him if he isn't definetly leaving.

Finally, wing forwards there aren't a massive number of options. I doubt Levy wanted to pay a ridiculous amount as it isn't a priority area with Lennon and Bale in.

If we had sold Jenas, Gio and Bentley it would have been easier to bring in replacements and centre mids earlier but noone seems to want them.

 

[Stupid like a fox]

I am really pessimistic tonight but I am struggling to blame Levy in a way. I think AVB would have looked at our squad and said he wanted a striker, attacking winger and a Modric replacement.

He went for Adebayor and managed to agree a fee early on. Adebayor

No one can deny Levy is one of the best business men around, if he had a job in a regular industry he would be in his element.

Sadly football just isn't for the business minded, Running a club like a business and trying to always turn a profit will only get you so far. In football you have to speculate to accumulate and Levy needs to realize that it isn't always about the mighty dollar.

I'm not saying that we would be in a better position if we had got our business done early, no one can say that, who knows what would happen. All i'm saying is it would be nice just for one season if we weren't all about the penny pinching and we managed to give our manager a fighting chance at the start of the season instead of giving the teams around us a 2/3 game advantage which they don't need.

Speculate to accumulate Mr. Levy, give us a fair chance and the money will come with success

 

[tony0379]

it aint Willian, the bloke in the pic is too dark

 

[LeftKickDeath]

I know emotions are high but I would like to express an opinion--perhaps one that maybe unpopular and one which may see many of you disagree with me. I would just like throw a word of caution to those who are urging Levy to throw around the cash wanton and get deals done early....I understand. I truly understand, especially with how the first two games have gone. But this strategy is not without repercussions either, the most recent example was as fresh as last summer with Liverpool....they made a major outlay to get transfer business done early in the summer...the result was that they grossly overpaid for nearly all their targets. In a previous window they panic purchased with a "star" striker. Not only did those poor purchases impact them that window, but that poor investment has had a certain long term effect that is going to loom over them for seasons to come.

Not to get too off topic with another club...the point I'm trying to make is we as a club can not afford to write off 10,15,20 million pounds annually like some other clubs if a certain signing doesn't pan out. It's unpopular yes, but it is the reality of the club, we have our targets, we will pay our valuations and not over pay....unpopular yes, but a necessary evil. We seem to have a plan of attack in approaching the market....the one thing I have to say is we aren't reactionary, which is positive. As a fan I think there is a problem if we are buying Moutinhio for more than Modric or Damiao for more than Villa; we have to be smarter...if that means more stingy so be it. Short term pain for long term gain.

 

[y1dk1d]

Clearly Daniel is waiting for deadline day to try and get Mouts cheap. Fair enough as we got VDV for £8m on deadline day but I don't see how we're gonna get him for anything under £22m, they have no reason to sell him and he is a great player. I see us loosing out on Mouts and if we don't get a replacement for Luka as good as him it seriously jeopradises our season. We missed Luka today, not enough creativity so we're loosing out on goals. Sometimes DL can be a hero, other a villain. What will it be this time Daniel? Come on, pull it out the bag!

 

[playboypaul]

Jj says we are 'close' to signing someone though and clarifies its not Mountiho or either of the Brazilians...Any suggestions?? Am thinking it could well be a Gk because if we are still after signing the above 3 (as jj confirms we are) then logic suggests its not gonna be someone who plays in the positions of those 3 aforementioned players...

Go Spock!

 

[Stupid like a fox]

I know emotions are high but I would like to express an opinion--perhaps one that maybe unpopular and one which may see many of you disagree with me. I would just like throw a word of caution to those who are urging Levy to throw around the cash wanton and get deals done early....I understand. I truly understand, especially with how the first two games have gone. But this strategy is not without repercussions either, the most recent example was as fresh as last summer with Liverpool....they made a major outlay to get transfer business done early in the summer...the result was that they grossly overpaid for nearly all their targets. In a previous window they panic purchased with a "star" striker. Not only did those poor purchases impact them that window, but that poor investment has had a certain long term effect that is going to loom over them for seasons to come.

Not to get too off topic with another club...the point I'm trying to make is we as a club can not afford to write off 10,15,20 million pounds annually like some other clubs if a certain signing doesn't pan out. It's unpopular yes, but it is the reality of the club, we have our targets, we will pay our valuations and not over pay....unpopular yes, but a necessary evil. We seem to have a plan of attack in approaching the market....the one thing I have to say is we aren't reactionary, which is positive. As a fan I think there is a problem if we are buying Moutinhio for more than Modric or Damiao for more than Villa; we have to be smarter...if that means more stingy so be it. Short term pain for long term gain.

This is an excellent point but if you aren't willing to outlay for the better players you will not advance. I understand that we can't waste money and throw it round like other clubs but that's what we have scouts for, they are out there looking at players daily and if we are just sending these people to watch the best games knowing we can't buy that type of player, then this is where our policy is falling down.

we have been chasing Leandro for 2 seasons now and have made no progress, all ITK's have said that the inter president is impossible to deal with and he keeps moving the goal posts so why have we wasted that amount of time chasing 1 player instead of moving on to a new target.

There is a flaw in our policy somewhere and until it is discovered we will not improve, we don't need to waste millions of pounds on players we just need to look at our policy and if we are chasing unrealistic targets time and time again then we need to ask ourselves why.

 

[WestBelfast Spurs]

Well are we up shit creek with no rubber ring

 

[Bizness]

Nicknesta on FTL, probably not one for the RO

I sit next behind someone who is very involved at the club - cant give any more details but suffice it to say he has a very good idea of what is actually going on.

I asked what was really happening and he told me that :-

Leandro Damiao is signed and will be announced "soon" - what is interesting given what AVB said in his post match interviews is that the deal is he stays in Brazil until January and will join when the brazilian season finishes.

Luca said his goodbyes yesterday and the deal to madrid is done - will not be announced until we finalise the deal for his replacement - trying v hard for Mountinio still with Will-I-Am as back up.

Dawson doesn't feature in AVB's plan as seen as too slow.

Hudd will be back in January if proves his fitness.

Passed in on good faith - personally think madness to wait until January but ties in with AVB's interviews today.

 

[bigpalacios]

Nicknesta on FTL, probably not one for the RO

I sit next behind someone who is very involved at the club - cant give any more details but suffice it to say he has a very good idea of what is actually going on.

I asked what was really happening and he told me that :-

Leandro Damiao is signed and will be announced "soon" - what is interesting given what AVB said in his post match interviews is that the deal is he stays in Brazil until January and will join when the brazilian season finishes.

Luca said his goodbyes yesterday and the deal to madrid is done - will not be announced until we finalise the deal for his replacement - trying v hard for Mountinio still with Will-I-Am as back up.

Dawson doesn't feature in AVB's plan as seen as too slow.

Hudd will be back in January if proves his fitness.

Passed in on good faith - personally think madness to wait until January but ties in with AVB's interviews today.

Not seen these quotes.

 

[werty]

Willian as a back up to Moutinho?

 

[AJW]

Nicknesta on FTL, probably not one for the RO

I sit next behind someone who is very involved at the club - cant give any more details but suffice it to say he has a very good idea of what is actually going on.

I asked what was really happening and he told me that :-

Leandro Damiao is signed and will be announced "soon" - what is interesting given what AVB said in his post match interviews is that the deal is he stays in Brazil until January and will join when the brazilian season finishes.

Luca said his goodbyes yesterday and the deal to madrid is done - will not be announced until we finalise the deal for his replacement - trying v hard for Mountinio still with Will-I-Am as back up.

Dawson doesn't feature in AVB's plan as seen as too slow.

Hudd will be back in January if proves his fitness.

Passed in on good faith - personally think madness to wait until January but ties in with AVB's interviews today.

What interviews today did he mention Leandro?

 

[nferno]

we'll get torn to pieces with midfield trident of sandro/parker, willian and vdv/siggy. let alone with livermore instead of sandro/parker.

 

[tony0379]

when the fuck did AVB say that?

 

[nedley]

Absolute madness to wait until January for Leandro.

We simply must move on (or should have already) onto other viable targets.

We have 7 days in counting to get ALOT of business done.

 

[Snarfalicious]

I was trying to refrain from writing a post like this, but I felt it's important to speak my mind (if only for cathartic purposes).

I don't know how anyone can't feel bad for AVB. He had to go into a very strong Newcastle side with what felt like spare parts. Defoe is not a line leader. His role was perfect as it was last year in being an impact sub. If we were running a 4-4-2, I could see him being the 2nd striker, but he also doesn't know how to distribute effectively enough (similar to how Cisse and Ba struggle coincidentally). He's attempting to infuse his brand of football at Tottenham, but he has to do it with players who really don't fit what he likes.

Livermore is a nice little player, but he should not be a starting holding midfielder for Tottenham. Him and Sandro are too like-for-like. Unfortunately, who else would AVB play there? Parker's out, Huddlestone just doesn't seem to have the agility to really be anything more than a guy who takes the ball and looks to drive it in a seam. Sandro is a perfect fit as the defensive minded midfielder as he knows how to seek and destroy (Boy, was he great today).

Creativity is a must. This attack as it stands is lacking beyond words. The attack consistently turns into "Get the ball to Bale, let him charge down the flank" or "Get the ball to Lennon, he can run fast, and then, sometimes he can hold it up and Walker will overlap him." It's getting way too repetitive. The middle of the field is a black hole. We've got Siggy and VdV who are immense goal scorers behind the striker, but they can't be utilized because the guys who need to feed them just don't have the creative talents. Sandro is a defensive midfielder, I won't fault him for that. But Livermore is just an active player who really does not look comfortable driving forward with the ball. He's looking to get rid of the ball as quickly as possible.

The solution to this problem is quite simple in my mind. Our defense is good enough to win plenty of matches. Our wingers are great (Bale) to decent (Lennon) but I do believe Lennon needs a serious threat to his position. Lennon is fabulous with finding space and utilizing his pace, but his last touch is dreadful more often than not. The problem continues to be that we have no creativity from the deep-lying midfield. We have uninspiring passers of the ball. Neither Livermore or Sandro can really dribble up the pitch effectively, both need space to feel comfortable on the ball. Dembele, Honda, Moutinho, and Isco all remain out there, all fit the bill in terms of creative, great dribblers, can play from a deep-lying position. It's just a matter of fucking manning up and paying for someone.

For me, it comes down to 1 key signing. For what AVB has been using, we've had so many chances to score. Imagine if we actually had the correct personnel? It's unreal. We are on the verge of being great, and while I understand holding back for the best deal, at some point, perhaps paying a little extra is worth the extra points. With that in mind, extra points now = extra money later from a Champion's League birth. We don't have enough depth to keep losing out on points now in one of the easiest stretches of the season.

 

[vonn]

I am leaning towards Willian

Quite possible.

Shakhtar have got a league game tomorrow, kick-off at 5pm. Will be interesting to see if he's involved or not. Checked their website and he is not listed as an injury doubt or suspended, so no reason to miss the game, unless of course he's in London.