Mails: Tottenham’s banter window was bad/good

Dave Tickner
Daniel Levy Spurs

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Scouting for Spurs
For the second time since the window shut I have seen/heard a Spurs fan trying to provide a valid argument that no player movement is a good thing. They will have a ‘consistent squad’, ‘no disruption’, etc is what I am hearing. ‘Who can improve out starting 11’. They can sugar coat it all they want but a team in their position absolutely have to spend. There is no excuse from Mr Levy as to why.

I do not accept that they didn’t want to overpay. £70m for Zaha, PAY IT. It isn’t overpaying, it is market value. They are living in the past and they will likely stay there pootling along winning nothing and ultimately going backwards when their best players move to clubs who actually live in the present.

Could Man City have signed no one? Yes. They were that far ahead of everyone else they may have considered it but Pep is too ruthless. Marhrez was a £65m recent PFA player of the year. Better than what they have got? On his day, Yes. Good option off the bench, 100%. Better squad. Absolutely.

What happens if Ericsson or Kane get a mid to long term injury? This is applicable to other teams but adding to a good squad mitigates this whilst adding competition and preventing players getting too comfortable.

I mentioned Zaha, but I think look at players who moved this window to teams below Spurs and I think there are some gems who would have done the trick.

Seri – Energy in the midfield and younger than Dembele, fitter than winks £25mil anyone?

Schurrle – Surely a good multi position option. Alli not playing well (again), give him a rest. Sissoko or Schurrle? Hmmmmmm

Meyer – May be awful, may be brilliant, but he was FREE (No smart comments about inflated wages and signing on fees please). Ericsson gets a knock? German international?

Bernard – Another Free Transfer. Surely he would be up for playing under the Poch?

Jonny Evans – Not a starter? I’ll give you that one but surely they could then sell an unhappy defender for over £50m profit and use the money elsewhere (or not).

Yarmolenko – Gamble, a little bit older but for £17.5m one that could have paid off?

There are more and then there are those who didn’t move but Spurs could have bought. I’m not buying that any Spurs fan is happy with this window. Total and utter codswallop.

Finally, I am a Liverpool fan and am currently happy as a pig in doo doo. But we are always chipper at this time of year as it is ‘Going to be our year’.
Paul (LFC) (It’s going to be our year… in a universe where Man City don’t exist, but unfortunately they do!).

 

Defending Spurs
Not a Spurs fan or anything, but while people are rolling around on the floor in laughter at an imaginary explosion or lighting vigils for the fallen hopes of a team that had given a bit of freshness into premier league football, I actually, erm, think they had a good window.

They lost none of their big name players, and they didn’t even come close to losing any of them.  Danny Rose all last season was thought to be gone this summer, definitely, gonzo.  There hasn’t even been a sniff of a departure, and left back at the club is secured.  There was nothing heard about Trippier but after the coming of age summer he just had bigger boys would have been circling surely, but not a sniff.  Alderweireld to Man U has been prophesied all summer until the end of the window itself, still there and it appears was nothing more than hear say.  In fact, it hasn’t seemed there is any danger of anybody bolting out anytime soon.  Kane, Eriksen, seem grounded and committed and full of belief, as does Alli.  Lucas Moura fits the “like a new signing” category too, he had brief moments after arriving in January but he’d only played about 4 or 6 games that season, and was lacking sharpness and it would be impossible not to be a bit lethargic after that.

In about a month they move into their shiny new stadium and will reap the benefits of getting the net proceeds from attendance, i don’t know how playing at Wembley works or anything but i can’t imagine they have been getting the proceeds from fans attending their ‘home’ games for the last while.  I don’t know truly, but i doubt they will take in nearly as much as they will.

Things are looking up for Spurs frankly.  The team is settled, and it’s quality.  I don’t imagine the players are as stroppy as the fans, impatient for new toys all the time.
Dave, Dublin

 

Levy in
Interesting mail from Pete this morning although I do think he largely wrote it so he could show off his Eric Dierbility joke. I’m sure his Mum told him it was hilarious.

I genuinely can’t believe he would want Levy out. When I look at clubs like Villa and Leeds who were on our level a few years ago I thank my lucky stars for Levy. What shouldn’t be forgotten is his relationship with Pochettino which is by all accounts superb and a large reason he signed his new contract.

As a Tottenham fan Pete should know we always sell first before we buy and as that didn’t happen it stood to reason we wouldn’t sign anyone. Keeping the manager, along with players like Eriksen, and then Harry Kane signing a new contract was a great summer for us.

It’s fantastic to once again see all the so-called pundits not putting us in their top 4 predictions and the negative Spurs fans on here already complaining.

Bring it on, I love it when we prove people wrong. Thanks Poch and Levy, you have my full support. Keep up the great work!
David (very confident of top 4)

 

Toffees did fine
Calling Everton losers of this transfer window seems more than a bit odd to me.  Every one of their signings looks like either improvement on last year’s first XI or quality depth, and that’s without having European football to offer.  They spent a fair chunk of money, yes, and the Richarlison fee’s high, but they’re a historic club with good support in the Premier League.  They make fistfuls of money just by existing.

If you want to fault them, you should either fault them for having too big a squad and possibly restricting the opportunities for young players like Holgate and Davies to step up, or not getting a good striker after Lukaku departed.  But neither point was mentioned in the piece.
Winston, London (temporarily)

 

United front
There was always a chance we would not sign anyone else and I wrote in to the mailbox a few weeks back about going into the season with the players we have. It didn’t, and doesn’t, worry me too much because our squad is capable of performing better than we did last season; as I said then, Jose needs to take a good bit of responsibility for that. The players and manager have taken a lot of stick over the last year (or two), some of it justified and some not. The results we got left us second, which is relative success given previous seasons, but the performances weren’t good enough on a number of occasions.

This is the year Mourinho has to get best out of the players we have and successfully build that siege mentality (albeit it appears the Utd board will also form part of the enemy now for Jose). Forget the gripes, bitching and moaning; draw a line under it and all start pulling in the same direction (that includes the supporters). We have to perform better as an attacking unit, everyone can see that. If we do then we have the players to beat any team, as we did all of our main rivals last season. To improve the squad we needed a RW and a CB, it didn’t happen so no point whining about it now. Either change shape/formation or give Martial/Rashford a run on the right. Lindelof and Bailly are more than capable CBs if they stay fit (big if mind you). Should performances match potential then we can compete for the league.

So it’s over to you Jose, time to earn your crust and disprove the “3rd season theory”. Regardless of this window, you have had four to bring in players and brought in (mostly) quality. I have defended the poor performances on the basis of progress and results; but what I refuse to defend is giving up before a ball is even kicked, so let’s see what you’re made of and use what you have to the best of their ability. If not, then we’ll have to find someone who can – we fly red flags high round here, not white ones.
Garey Vance, MUFC

 

Big Six Predictions
I waited until the summer window was over to come up with my predictions, why? I don’t like making moves until I have all the info.

EPL winner: Liverpool FC. What? Not our beloved city? For me, the way Liverpool played the second half of the season was incredible. They were the only team that I thought genuinely looked to have City’s number last term. They also addressed the massive holes in defence that everyone was crying about. I come back to the momentum they had built from the beginning of the year. That real Madrid loss would have been a dispiriting for anyone and would have possibly had a knock on effect if Karius was still the keeper, but Liverpool resolved that by replacing the one individual everyone blamed for the loss with a world class keeper. The morale at that camp must be sky high especially with the other additions they made. Neby Keita is a weapon, a front the 4 of him, Salah’s, Mane and Firminho will terrorize defences this year, and if they begin the season well, they will be tough to beat.

Runners up: Man City. Blasphemy I know, but I don’t see City living up to the gold standards they set last year. I just don’t see KDB being as superior as he was at the beginning of last year. Especially with the world cup run and even his performance at said world cup. I will add a caveat and say that Liverpool do have a history of fumbling when they are clearly set up, so it will be a close run and they could end up winning it.

3rd: Man United. They haven’t regressed, but haven’t improved much either. They have improved in midfield however, with Fred and Pereira, but thats it. I don’t see them anywhere near the levels of dynamism that we expect from Liverpool and Man City. The good thing for them is that, the other top contenders haven’t done enough to overthrow them off the top 4. I don’t see United going higher than 3rd, but I can envision a situation where the mood at the locker room caused by Mourinho’s negativity becomes so toxic that results take a hit and United drop down the table.

4th: Arsenal. A year after Wenger leaves, Arsenal will be back and reclaim the 4th placed trophy that they relinquished a few years ago. They have a very qualified man at the helm and have had a decent summer, stabilizing the back, coupled with the attacking acquisitions of Aubameyang and Mikhitryan, they will bounce back.

5th: Tottenham. Despite the continued media media fawning of shrewd Levy, and the importance of squad spirit and keeping the lads together. Tottenham actually regressed last year. The table shows they didn’t fall to far, but for me Clive, Spurs were the fourth best team last year, and only Liverpool’s run to the CL final allowed them to catch up and usurp them. The fact that they stood still while everyone around them improved means they will fall back again this year.

6th: Chelsea: A new manager that barely had enough time with the squad and a camp seemingly in disarray. I don’t see enough quality in that squad to win a lot this year and I suspect they will struggle this season. Courtois has not been setting the league alight the last few years but he was still one of the best in the league. That new keeper may struggle to replace him.

Special mention to Everton who I think could break into the top 6 if Marco Silva hits the ground running and the new additions blend in immediately. It’s rare for this to happen but if it does, Chelsea and Spurs could be in a bit of trouble.
Dave(First day of season), Somewhere

 

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