Willian

[minimike]

I really think this guy is average. In my personal opinion he's no better than Lennon and he's a one trick pony, why we didn't go all out for Adam Johnson I'll never know.

 

[Spursking]

I would be disappointed if we don't sign Willian. One of the players we have been linked to that I really want at Spurs. He is the kind of exciting players we want.

 

[Nick]

Too late?

 

[will8587]

Nothing is ever too late for Levy. He has even managed to complete deals after the deadline has passed.

 

[YidSurfer]

Nothing is ever too late for Levy. He has even managed to complete deals after the deadline has passed.

Absolutely, VDV being the craziest!..

 

[Spursking]

What is this???
Signing players for your club should be fun!!! We sell Modric and VdV and sign only Lloris and Dempsey! Dempsey is 29 years old as well!!!

I am so disappointed. I could have done better than this. Signing players is the most exciting.

 

[kitchen]

What is this???
Signing players for your club should be fun!!! We sell Modric and VdV and sign only Lloris and Dempsey! Dempsey is 29 years old as well!!!

I am so disappointed. I could have done better than this. Signing players is the most exciting.

Lloris is a great keeper, and yes, he is better than Mandanda

 

[Spursking]

Lloris is a great keeper, and yes, he is better than Mandanda

Lloris is a good signing, I am not saying that is it not, but overprice.
Dempsey for £6mill. I am not really a fan, but could be ok. Boring to sell a good 29 year old in vdv and sign a more boring 29 year old in Dempsey, but hopefully he will turn out to be good for us. He has scored a few goals in the Prem. £4 mill profit, but are we better?

I really hope it is true that we have some extended time to conclude a couple of deals.

 

[Snarfalicious]

This was just posted (Saw it tied to Spurs News Now).

I found it interesting.

Posted by Duncan Castles who I hold in pretty high regard.

Tottenham still on the trail of WillianDuncan Castles

Tottenham Hotspur have not given up their pursuit of Brazil international Willian and may bid again for the attacking midfielder in the January transfer window.
The National has discovered that Shakhtar Donetsk accepted Tottenham's club-record fee for Willian after an extended period of negotiation in which the Ukrainian champions refused to lower their asking price for a player who had also attracted offers from Chelsea and Benfica.One of the club's principal targets during a characteristically frantic bout of trading last month, the 24 year old would already be a Tottenham player had it not been for a disagreement over the schedule of payments on a €30 million (Dh138m) transfer.
Daniel Levy, the Tottenham chairman, proposed paying the fee in five instalments, a relatively standard approach for such a high-value transfer. Shakhtar refused, asking for €15m upfront and the balance in December.
Levy then came up with an alternative offer matching the schedule of payments to those due to Tottenham for Luka Modric's €30m plus €8m switch to Real Madrid, but Shakhtar elected to hold onto the player.
Andre Villas-Boas, the Tottenham manager, will assess the development of his new eam in the coming months before making a final decision on whether to request a further formal approach for Willian, who would welcome the opportunity to join a Premier League club.
"I have a proposal, but it is complicated because of the board," said Willian in August. "Here are many players in the same position, most Brazilian. They buy and do not let go. That's the problem. Everyone knows that I want out, I'm here for five years, won many titles, so I hope you respect my will."
Any January approach for Willian would represent a third consecutive attempt by Villas-Boas to sign an individual comfortable behind the centre forward or on the wing. Last winter the Portuguese coach was instrumental in Chelsea's failed attempt to sign him.
While both bids ultimately proved unsuccessful, Levy's efforts to support his new coach are underlined by the fees offered for Willian and Joao Moutinho.
A transfer with a total potential value of €30m was agreed with Porto for Moutinho 10 minutes before the August deadline only for the selling club to deliver errant documents to the Premier League.

 

[AJW]

Sounds a massive amount of money to pay for him but Andre has been after him for years - must see something in him

 

[Snarfalicious]

Sounds a massive amount of money to pay for him but Andre has been after him for years - must see something in him

I finished my video of him against Njoeraldjaodujaland and had all the touches/runs etc included in it.

When I posted it on YouTube I got an email asking me to acknowledge that it could include UEFA copyrighted material so I just took it down to save myself a headache. It was my first video so wasn't sure if it was common practice.

However, after watching hours of the game making the cut-up, he's a pretty special player. I think the thing that stuck out most to me is the intelligent runs he goes on and also his work rate. His work rate is unbelievable. He made clearances at the back, he dispossessed players/made interceptions in the final third of his own half. He went on long runs with the ball. And, the one shot that he had from about 25-28 yards out was an absolute missile.

For the most part he stayed outside. In the first half he was primarily on the left but moved all the way over to the right for the last 5 minutes of the first half or so. In the 2nd half he was pretty fluid in his switch but he generally stayed out wide unless a lane for a run opened up in the middle while he was on the ball.

I went into the video thinking he was pretty 'meh' but after making the video and watching all the little things he did I truly think he should be a high-priority target for us.

 

[AJW]

Thank you for the information. It just sounds a lot for someone who seems to play predominantly on the left. Could you imagine him playing in behind a striker?

 

[Snarfalicious]

Thank you for the information. It just sounds a lot for someone who seems to play predominantly on the left. Could you imagine him playing in behind a striker?

It is a lot of money there's not doubt about it.

But he's got a lot of positional versatility and he played on the right as well and has been known to be able to utilized both feet but he seems to prefer his right foot as all of his shots came off his right. So him playing on the right sending crosses in would make sense.

I think the biggest concern I had with him is that he may be too willing to take on defenders. He had probably three times where he had relatively easy outlets but decided to take multiple defenders head on just to see himself dispossessed.

 

[bryanabutler]

IMO. I know he is different type of player, but i would sooner spend these amounts of money on Isco, who i think would bring more to our team, than Willian

 

[Snarfalicious]

IMO. I know he is different type of player, but i would sooner spend these amounts of money on Isco, who i think would bring more to our team, than Willian

I don't think anyone will argue with that one. I'd still say Isco/Aubameyang can be had for similar money to one Willian.

That to me is allocating your funds in a responsible way.

 

[Dharmabum]

Aubameyang and Willian or Isco in January would make me a happy man But January deals are always hard to make and Isco's price has gone up already since last summer.
Spurs could really have done with fresh, speedy legs today vs ManU (yes I know Spurs won!) as Lennon and Defoe had worked their sock off and in the last 20 minutes had no power left to be an counter-attacking threat.

 

[AJW]

Watched him play tonight against Juve. Absolutely brilliant. Can see why AVB is desperate for him. Shows real quality on the ball and in his movement

 

[Partizan]

Yeah he was different class, unlucky not to score a tleast once but he did play a part in their goal.

 

[Hitch]

Yeah, I didn't watch him tonight, but I watched him in Shaktar's last CL game against that Danish lot and I thought he was excellent then. Exactly what we need imo. I can understand the reservations that some have regarding him not being much of a goalscorer given that the 433 system that AVB is likely to gravitate towards in the long term generally requires the wing men to chip in with a decent amount of goals. However, Willian is an assist machine capable of opening up the play for the attackers around him, and while he may not be a huge goal scoring threat I reckon he'd be well capable of scoring somewhere in the region of 5-8 goals for us. His movement, as AJW says, is excellent and his technique on the ball is fantastic. From what I've seen of him he's equally threatening on either side of the pitch, and potentially through through the centre too.

For years now we've been sorely lacking a third wing man to compete with Bale and Lennon. Willian would be ideal. A lot better than Lennon (and it's not like I don't rate Aaron) and better in many areas than Bale also. More versatile than both with a great deal more skill, vision and guile. Would fit into our marauding super quick counter attacking style perfectly. To me he looks like he's made for us. Can definitely see why AVB wants him. More should trust his judgement on these things. Willian has been underrated by many here (including myself originally).

 

[Snarfalicious]

Working on a cut-up of the match in about 15 minutes. Haven't watched it yet. I was left very impressed by his ability after his Njordaljalanadalajand match.

Aubameyang and Willian or Isco in January would make me a happy man But January deals are always hard to make and Isco's price has gone up already since last summer.
Spurs could really have done with fresh, speedy legs today vs ManU (yes I know Spurs won!) as Lennon and Defoe had worked their sock off and in the last 20 minutes had no power left to be an counter-attacking threat.

To be honest, I liked Aubameyang a lot before this season based mostly off some quality flashes.

But, with the form Aubame has been in this season, I have a full blown mancrush on the guy.

If anyone has a chance, search Aubameyang in Youtube, go to the most recent upload date and watch some highlights from his matches. Ligue 1 puts up match highlights for just about every match, and the one consistent it Aubame simply jumping off the screen. Blazing pace, incredible first touches, perfect positioning. He's going to be a star once he gets to a bigger stage. I pray it's with us.