With 3 weeks and 2 friendlies left...

[st.king]

I don't understand why our next friendly is in Finland. Surely it's not as lucrative as the US/Asia.

I'd much prefer the lads being back in London, with Poch putting them through some drills.

I do but maybe that's because I'm going as will thousands of fans who happen to live here

 

[SlickMongoose]

I think we've got quite a significant scandinavian following, so it makes sense on that front.

I'm just worried that, given the size of the squad, we could do with another game or two.

 

[antti19]

I don't understand why our next friendly is in Finland. Surely it's not as lucrative as the US/Asia.

I'd much prefer the lads being back in London, with Poch putting them through some drills.

Because we are here. Spurs fans.

 

[ilikeost]

I think we've got quite a significant scandinavian following, so it makes sense on that front.

I'm just worried that, given the size of the squad, we could do with another game or two.

Not to be that guy but Finland isn't part of Scandinavia. Scandinavia is Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

 

[SlickMongoose]

Not to be that guy but Finland isn't part of Scandinavia. Scandinavia is Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

Thanks, that information was really useful to me.

 

[ilikeost]

Thanks, that information was really useful to me.

 

[jimmy-jojo]

Everyone seems to be in agreement that a CB is required.

I would also like us to add a proper ball playing CM, too. We need our 2014/15 version of a Carrick or a Modric, IMO. Maybe Eriksen could do it but he seems to be better a bit further forward.

 

[mano-obe]

Davies was a great buy so far and so was Vorm.

Agree with OP that a centre back is needed. I'm not 100% convinced on Vlad yet, Dawson is in decline and Kaboul rarely strings 10 games together since his injury. When you look at our back four last season I think a lot of teams fancied their chances with the likes of Walker, Rose, Dawson, Naughton etc

Soldado and Adebayor can be class on their day and Kane is sufficent backup if needed. Holtby and Eriksen can easily play a playmaker role and Sandro or Capoue can play as a defensive midfielder if need be. I'm hoping the likes of Lennon, Chadli and Lamela step up a bit, Lennon especially as he should be at the peak of his career but he seems to have plateaued for a long time, Lamela looks up for it let's hope he delivers.

It's probably one of the first seasons where I don't think too much needs tweaking

 

[ilikeost]

When does the WC players join the squad again?

 

[hodsgod]

Bobby's been brilliant with his assists - two for Lamela and then this one for Lennon which is magic

http://backpagefootball.com/aaron-lennon-roberto-soldados-great-play-spurs-friendly/79673/

When is a pass a pass, and an assist an assist? Lennon had to play the ball twice before he scored, hardly an assist.

As for the other "assists" I will say the same as I say this stage every season. Wait till you see them in the premier league. Getting goals and/or assists against second rate teams means absolutely nothing. You can't judge our performances accurately against these teams.

 

[PeeEyeEmPee]

two-thirds of Premier league teams are also second-rate though, no matter how much Sky and the rest of the English media try to pretend otherwise.

 

[Adamspurs]

I do but maybe that's because I'm going as will thousands of fans who happen to live here

Because we are here. Spurs fans.

Have a good time guys.

It's nice for the club to get all over the globe, it just seems quite a random place and a bit too late in preseason for my liking. You'll all have to make sure it's worth it and give the guys a good reception

 

[mw828]

we have a few players who can LWF including Lamela, Chadli and Townsend...do we need another one?

Lamela is not a good option there. He needs to be right or central to come onto his left foot. He doesn't have the weak foot ability to play the RWF position, nor should he be made to play as a traditional winger.

 

[nssmuckers]

CB really has to be the #1 priority. I really also want Schneiderlin, but we can obviously live with it if we don't get him.

Really even if the only thing we do is sign another CB I think we'll have done fine. We can talk about strikers or LWF in January and beyond.

 

[LexingtonSpurs]

When is a pass a pass, and an assist an assist? Lennon had to play the ball twice before he scored, hardly an assist.

As for the other "assists" I will say the same as I say this stage every season. Wait till you see them in the premier league. Getting goals and/or assists against second rate teams means absolutely nothing. You can't judge our performances accurately against these teams.

Who pissed in your Cheerios? Call it whatever you want but it was a great, forward, attacking, pass that created a scoring opportunity. That is exactly the type if play that was missing a lot of last season, and which seems to be drilled into these guys by the coaching staff.

Sure the competition is not world class,but what is important here is how we are playing, and are we creating scoring chances. Maybe that play is broken up in a league game, but the fact Soldado played it will keep defenders deeper the next time and open up space. The more pressure we put on defenders, the more scoring opportunities we will create.

 

[hodsgod]

Who pissed in your Cheerios? Call it whatever you want but it was a great, forward, attacking, pass that created a scoring opportunity. That is exactly the type if play that was missing a lot of last season, and which seems to be drilled into these guys by the coaching staff.

Sure the competition is not world class,but what is important here is how we are playing, and are we creating scoring chances. Maybe that play is broken up in a league game, but the fact Soldado played it will keep defenders deeper the next time and open up space. The more pressure we put on defenders, the more scoring opportunities we will create.

I would argue the pass didn't create the scoring opportunity at all, that was created by Lennon. Pre season just needs to be kept in perspective, it's against poor opposition at the moment. History has shown pre-season is no indicator of league form. I will judge how well the players are doing against decent opposition.

 

[carpediem991]

Think we could do with another friendly or two.

So many players Poch still hasn't seen a minute.

He could field

Lloris (Vorm) - Davies (BAE), Fredericks, Chiriches, Vertonghen - Paulinho, Sandro, Dembele, Chadli, Bentaleb - Adebayor


For example.

Plenty new faces for Poch to see.

 

[talkshowhost86]

It does seem to have got to the end of July very quickly and the season suddenly seems quite close.

But I think all clubs are at the same place so we can't be too worried. With the World Cup, I think pre-season was always going to be a bit of a mess so we'll just have to hope that Poch can integrate all the players as quickly as possible.

In terms of transfers it's obvious where the problem areas are, but I think we're going to struggle to sort those before the season starts so the existing players will have to step up to start with.

 

[Shanks]

My issue is and has been with the defensive players we have to use.

CB, CDM are two priorities for me.

I'm pretty happy with our team from an attacking point of view and I can't see why we'd go for a striker when we have a pretty decent set of strikers (Sold, Ade, Kane), backed up by equally adequate attacking players - Eriksen, Lemala, Townsend, Chadli, Holtby....

ALl about the defence, we shore that up, we could actually surprise a few 'big' teams this year.

 

[eddiebailey]

Holtby and Eriksen can easily play a playmaker role

If by playmaker role you mean the more attacking of the center midfield two, then no they can't; defensively they are rubbish and this is not the area of the pitch where they are most effective. And if we play Dembele or Paulinho there we will have no supply line to the forwards, because Dembele is a ball carrier with no end ball, and Paulinho is a pop-up in the box player with no all round game; both are probably more suited to playing in the attacking midfield three (though frankly we have better). If we do not sign a playmaker that leaves the youngsters Bentelab, Mason and Carroll. Now personally I have no problem giving them the chance, but I am really interested in seeing what Poch does.