... to bite us in the backside. I fail to see how it won’t to be honest after watching the game today. The glaring weakness of our squad was there for all to see today which was our CM. We lauded it in 16/17 when Dembele and Wanyama whilst weren’t the height of creativity and guile, they certainly gave the attacking players and also the wing-backs the platform to go and play. Well fast forward 18 months or so and what do we have;
Dembele:
By his own admission, he’s rarely if ever fully fit nowadays and the intensity of the league and the frequency of the fixtures is hard for him to deal with. Whilst he had that purple patch last winter during that run of Man U-Liverpool-Juventus-Arsenal, we also saw some quite frankly very poor and lethargic performances from him where he looked like we had to sub him to show mercy on him. Started off in that same vein this season and he has no intention of signing a new deal.
Wanyama:
Not great technically, but he was disciplined in his role and did what he does well. Hampered by injury for a lot of last season which will mean we’ll need to afford him time to try and get back to his level. Will he or won’t he? Remains to be seen.
Dier:
Played most of 16/17 at CB and did alright there, but he sees himself as a DM. Well if he sees himself as one then he has a funny way of showing it. Hasn’t improved his defensive awareness, doesn’t anticipate things quickly and is also limited technically.
Winks:
Did ok in his breakthrough season in 16/17 and then had a couple of good games vs Madrid and a number of our fans went overboard. Even today I’ve heard that Poch is mentioning his name in the same sentence as Xavi and Iniesta.
He’s neat and tidy on the ball, but certainly wouldn’t be the lead midfielder for any of our rivals.
So this upcoming summer I’d say we are looking at replacing at least 2 out of those 4 (I’d get rid of 3 if I’m being honest)? While this will hopefully lead to a shift awag from technically limited physical specimens who won’t take the ball under duress as we saw today, bringing in 2/3 quality CM’s at once will lead to inevitable teething problems as they try and get used to each other as well as the tactics we’re trying to play.
I get the feeling it’s going to be a long season. A season without silverware - again.
This summer is surely going to come back...
posted on 16/9/18
I think levy is playing a very dangerous game. Poch must be furious with the transfer window after signing a new contract and basically turning down the Madrid job to stay.
The fans are being messed around with the stadium and even once we're in, the tickets are extortionate. There's only so much loyalty fans have and if we continue to stand still it will be difficult to convince people to spend £1k+ a year on 19 games a season.
posted on 16/9/18
comment by Spurtle (U1608)
posted 45 minutes ago
How much is this going to change under Levy? He had to defend himself for a lack of spending the summer before last and then this summer he doesn't spend at all, which he has said himself isn't anything to do with the stadium and I believe him because this lack of doing business or the right business has gone on for years.
We can talk about needing to sign this player and that player but I'm just not convinced we're going to show the required ambition while Levy is around.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Agreed.
I was thinking to myself a few days ago; was 2016/17 the peak that we should all enjoy, or do we really believe that this ‘project’ will bear fruit in the next 5-15 years? I’m inclined to say it’s the former as we’ll inevitably lose ground as long as Levy sits on his moral high horse about inflated prices for players... while he continues to inflate the price of our own players. I don’t see our scouting improving anytime soon and I don’t sense a change in the way Levy does things which means we’ll replace the likes of Kane, Eriksen, Lloris, Vertonghen, Alderweireld etc with inferior players and the cycle will continue.
posted on 16/9/18
comment by Ledders the King - 2017/18 FF Enders league ch... (U20121)
posted 12 minutes ago
comment by Spurtle (U1608)
posted 45 minutes ago
How much is this going to change under Levy? He had to defend himself for a lack of spending the summer before last and then this summer he doesn't spend at all, which he has said himself isn't anything to do with the stadium and I believe him because this lack of doing business or the right business has gone on for years.
We can talk about needing to sign this player and that player but I'm just not convinced we're going to show the required ambition while Levy is around.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Agreed.
I was thinking to myself a few days ago; was 2016/17 the peak that we should all enjoy, or do we really believe that this ‘project’ will bear fruit in the next 5-15 years? I’m inclined to say it’s the former as we’ll inevitably lose ground as long as Levy sits on his moral high horse about inflated prices for players... while he continues to inflate the price of our own players. I don’t see our scouting improving anytime soon and I don’t sense a change in the way Levy does things which means we’ll replace the likes of Kane, Eriksen, Lloris, Vertonghen, Alderweireld etc with inferior players and the cycle will continue.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
exactly
posted on 16/9/18
comment by Ledders the King - 2017/18 FF Enders league champion 🏆 (U20121)
posted 17 minutes ago
comment by Spurtle (U1608)
posted 45 minutes ago
How much is this going to change under Levy? He had to defend himself for a lack of spending the summer before last and then this summer he doesn't spend at all, which he has said himself isn't anything to do with the stadium and I believe him because this lack of doing business or the right business has gone on for years.
We can talk about needing to sign this player and that player but I'm just not convinced we're going to show the required ambition while Levy is around.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Agreed.
I was thinking to myself a few days ago; was 2016/17 the peak that we should all enjoy, or do we really believe that this ‘project’ will bear fruit in the next 5-15 years? I’m inclined to say it’s the former as we’ll inevitably lose ground as long as Levy sits on his moral high horse about inflated prices for players... while he continues to inflate the price of our own players. I don’t see our scouting improving anytime soon and I don’t sense a change in the way Levy does things which means we’ll replace the likes of Kane, Eriksen, Lloris, Vertonghen, Alderweireld etc with inferior players and the cycle will continue.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Levy has practically said as much, that this is the way we'll do business and that won't change, so I don't see how we're supposed to get nearer to achieving the success we want to achieve and therefore you're possibly right that 2016/17 might be the peak, at least in the league.
If there was any real ambition to improve we would have done so that following summer, or even the summer before when we got close to Leicester. Levy should have seen that we were that close and built on the momentum, the way that Liverpool have done after coming so close to winning the CL.
It's been a scandalous lack of ambition if you ask me. It's looking like the best we can hope for in the short term is mimicking Arsenal of the past few years and challenging for domestic cups.
posted on 16/9/18
You can compute that Levy has to sign at least 3 players each year for the next 3 years.
If not, then he will need a whole new team in 4 years time - if they haven't left already meanwhile!
posted on 16/9/18
comment by JustCallMeTed (U21528)
posted 45 minutes ago
You can compute that Levy has to sign at least 3 players each year for the next 3 years.
If not, then he will need a whole new team in 4 years time - if they haven't left already meanwhile!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
yes but having not signed any upgrades in the last 3 windows now , it will be 4 or 5, keep slipping behind the front runners every window, stagnating
posted on 16/9/18
I get the feeling that Levy simply hasn't accepted that the market is basically poor value.
I'm sure the increases in stadium costs haven't helped but I don't think he'll like huge agent fees and I don't think he can accept that you have to spend circa £40m to get a good player (and even then it's not nailed on to suceed).
Liverpool spent the most on agent fees last season (a whopping £25m apparently) but it looked like it's got the managers targets over the line as reported we got players that arguably more attractive clubs were in for (VVD and Keita for example). Levy couldn't even get Grealish over the line. Wages too a problem which is strange as he pays himself £150k a week.
Saying all that big contracts were offered to existing players which does cost a lot and it would be no surprise to see Spurs do business in January.
If they are going to run a bargain hunt model then they need to look at players coming to the end of their contracts or not getting time at big clubs. The likes of Rabiot and Pastore would be a good fit for Spurs I reckon.
posted on 17/9/18
comment by Spurtle (U1608)
posted 1 day, 3 hours ago
How much is this going to change under Levy? He had to defend himself for a lack of spending the summer before last and then this summer he doesn't spend at all, which he has said himself isn't anything to do with the stadium and I believe him because this lack of doing business or the right business has gone on for years.
We can talk about needing to sign this player and that player but I'm just not convinced we're going to show the required ambition while Levy is around.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
levy is in no way shape or form to blame for our two defeats so far this season.
shocking performances / tactics / and decision making from playersm / managers that have proven themselves to be quality are.
posted on 17/9/18
basically turning down the Madrid job to stay.
--------
quite a big claim. is there any concrete evidence to back this up? sounds speculative and conjecture at absolute best .
posted on 17/9/18
comment by Dave&Danny (U4428)
posted 1 day, 1 hour ago
comment by JustCallMeTed (U21528)
posted 45 minutes ago
You can compute that Levy has to sign at least 3 players each year for the next 3 years.
If not, then he will need a whole new team in 4 years time - if they haven't left already meanwhile!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
yes but having not signed any upgrades in the last 3 windows now , it will be 4 or 5, keep slipping behind the front runners every window, stagnating
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Lucas Moura is a definite upgrade on Lamela, and probably on Son as well as time goes on.