January Transfer Gossip

golfball37

Ormus wrote: »

Relatively new to the Premiership but all signs are that he has taken to it like a duck to water. It's not that big an adjustment from the Bundesliga, especially as he was player of the year for Reading before he went to Germany.

Why would a mid table German club send him out on loan though?

I've always worried about that.

pleasant Co.

golfball37 wrote: »

Why would a mid table German club send him out on loan though?

I've always worried about that.

So they dont have to pay his wages

Rob094

Ormus wrote: »

Link?

Don't have one sorry, it was on today fm this morning.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Bodie Doyle wrote: »

I am all for bringing in afew new faces if they make the team stronger but this is getting ridiculous. Last season we finished 4th ( our joint best finish in donkeys years) and if we didn't have that wobble after Feb we would/should have finished higher. But Levy and AVB are dismantling that team. Why?
I know AVB has his own methods and ideas but why sell ALL your best players? If VDV gets sold I will be p*ssed off. Yes he might be lazy at times but look at what he has contributed over the past two seasons.

Because, whether you like him or not, Modric was the central figure in our team last year. I'm not saying he was our best player, but he was our most important, he made us tick. Our possession based game hinged on him. With him now gone, using the same system as last year just won't work.

Ormus

golfball37 wrote: »

And from a county of course with a great track record of marking defenders out of the game !:)

Not last Sunday!

Ormus

golfball37 wrote: »

Why would a mid table German club send him out on loan though?

I've always worried about that.

Yeah it's a strange one alright. Hopefully they just massively underrated him.

Bodie Doyle

THFC wrote: »

Because, whether you like him or not, Modric was the central figure in our team last year. I'm not saying he was our best player, but he was our most important, he made us tick. Our possession based game hinged on him. With him now gone, using the same system as last year just won't work.

Not too sure our possession game hinged on him. Its not like the rest of the team cannot pass. Thats what Tottenham teams do. We are traditionally a good footballing team who would rather pass our way to goal. Modric gives the ball away too much, doesn't do enough in the final third and his goals/assists record is dreadful for an attacking midfielder. Our win percentage over the few sesons he was a Spurs player is better when he was not in team team. With him out of the team we will play one up top and have 5 in the middle who can roam. This should bring the best out of VDV and/or Siggy who like to get forward and can shoot ( something our little Croatian is not very good at also - 3 league goals a season for an attacking midfielder is woeful.).

2nd Row Donkey

Bodie Doyle wrote: »

Good article. But why should we back AVB/Levy no matter what happens in this window. He was handed a team that finished 4th (minus Modric who was always going to leave). King was retiring so a replacemnt was needed and he bought Vertonghen - all fine there. But are wholesale changes needed?

We didn't bring him in because we had a disaster last year and needed a complete change. Yes we had a lot of deadwood that needed to be shifted but selling your best players and hoping the new guys who come in adapt to the EPL and gel with what we have is going to be a huge risk. Avb needs to start well or the knives will be out.
Fans do not like when their favourites are shown the door and eventually they get over it but only if those replacements are better than the players sold. Whats the point in wholesale changes to a team that got into the Champions league position last season just so AVB can use us to mould a team in his liking, if its not successful.

I agree with all alot of this.

Its not as if we were in a relegation fight last year and need a complete overhaul. As someone else pointed out yesterday the last time we hard this many faces come and go was in 07/08 - the famous 2 points from 8 season. I'm all for getting rid of deadwood but the amount of changes is worrying and risky. If history repeats itself we will end up buying the half of them back anyway :rolleyes:

nbar12

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11675/8011199/Spurs-locked-in-Willian-talks

golfball37

Ormus wrote: »

Not last Sunday!

Thats what I was getting at

Ormus

2nd Row Donkey wrote: »

I agree with all alot of this.

Its not as if we were in a relegation fight last year and need a complete overhaul. As someone else pointed out yesterday the last time we hard this many faces come and go was in 07/08 - the famous 2 points from 8 season. I'm all for getting rid of deadwood but the amount of changes is worrying and risky. If history repeats itself we will end up buying the half of them back anyway :rolleyes:

Yeah but we haven't hired a manager in the same mould as 'Arry to keep things ticking over. We have gone for a completely different approach. AVB isn't gonna change his tactics just to keep 'Arry's ethos. That would be crazy. 'Arry barely even had an ethos.

Revolution is inevitable when you bring in a manager so different to the one before.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Bodie Doyle wrote: »

Not too sure our possession game hinged on him. Its not like the rest of the team cannot pass. Thats what Tottenham teams do. We are traditionally a good footballing team who would rather pass our way to goal. Modric gives the ball away too much, doesn't do enough in the final third and his goals/assists record is dreadful for an attacking midfielder. Our win percentage over the few sesons he was a Spurs player is better when he was not in team team. With him out of the team we will play one up top and have 5 in the middle who can roam. This should bring the best out of VDV and/or Siggy who like to get forward and can shoot ( something our little Croatian is not very good at also - 3 league goals a season for an attacking midfielder is woeful.).

:eek: the mind boggles!!

First, there is a big difference between ball retention and being able to pass a ball. Take Xavi for example, what percentage of his passes are over 20 yards? I'd hazard a guess at less than 10%. Same with Scholes, same with Modric. I'm not saying for a second that Modric is as good as either of them, he's not, but he has a similar style.

He gives the ball away too much?? What..! How exactly are you forming this opinion? Modric had the third best pass completion rate in the PL last season with 88%.

Modric is not an attacking midfielder. His stats don't need to be high for him to have a significant influence.

This win percentage thing with him not in the team, any links? Try and keep it to the last 3 seasons though, that's when he really showed his class.

The rest of your post is just typical 'Arry "run around and play" Redknapp mentality, with no basis to it whatsoever.

SuprSi

2nd Row Donkey wrote: »

I agree with all alot of this.

Its not as if we were in a relegation fight last year and need a complete overhaul. As someone else pointed out yesterday the last time we hard this many faces come and go was in 07/08 - the famous 2 points from 8 season. I'm all for getting rid of deadwood but the amount of changes is worrying and risky. If history repeats itself we will end up buying the half of them back anyway :rolleyes:

But again, so far the only person of note that had any part in last seasons results that has left is Modric. Outside that Thudd, Dawson etc didn't feature so as such they're no real loss. The squad has been changed and imo (with the exception of Modric) has improved, and most of last years players are still here

Bodie Doyle

Ormus wrote: »

Yeah but we haven't hired a manager in the same mould as 'Arry to keep things ticking over. We have gone for a completely different approach. AVB isn't gonna change his tactics just to keep 'Arry's ethos. That would be crazy. 'Arry barely even had an ethos.

Revolution is inevitable when you bring in a manager so different to the one before.

Why bring in a manager who has a completely different approach. The one we had was successful ( ok no trophies but the highest league positions) and the team we had/have was successful.
I always knew it was going to be a huge gamble bringing in AVB but i did not see him making as many changes so soon - especially after he himself admitted he tried to make too many changes at Chelsea too soon.
Not knocking him but AVB and Levy face a huge backlash, for dismantling a team that finished 4th so that AVB could bring in his own ideas/systems, if it fails. At the moment it looks good as the changes have remained somewhat small but the talk of getting rid of VDV, Defoe, Daws, Hudd leave me wondering is he doing the right thing.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

2nd Row Donkey wrote: »

I agree with all alot of this.

Its not as if we were in a relegation fight last year and need a complete overhaul. As someone else pointed out yesterday the last time we hard this many faces come and go was in 07/08 - the famous 2 points from 8 season. I'm all for getting rid of deadwood but the amount of changes is worrying and risky. If history repeats itself we will end up buying the half of them back anyway :rolleyes:

No chance will we end up buying Dawson, Bassong, Modric (if he goes), Nelson, Corluka or Kranjcar back.
There was a lot of similarities between our team last season and the Villa team under M'ON. Under both managers the same XI, or as close to it as possible, was chosen each and every week. Neither team had great strength in depth. Both teams started off the season strongly but ultimately didn't get CL football. Both clubs relied more on individuals rather than a system. Tbh, I'd rather some sort of overhaul rather than continuing the way we were going. Short term pain, long term gain. Swansea are a perfect example of that, putting belief in a system rather than individuals. Will Rodgers leaving have a big impact on them? Almost certainly not. Another club that put belief in a system is a club called Barcelona.

Ormus

Bodie Doyle wrote: »

Why bring in a manager who has a completely different approach. The one we had was successful ( ok no trophies but the highest league positions) and the team we had/have was successful.
I always knew it was going to be a huge gamble bringing in AVB but i did not see him making as many changes so soon - especially after he himself admitted he tried to make too many changes at Chelsea too soon.
Not knocking him but AVB and Levy face a huge backlash, for dismantling a team that finished 4th so that AVB could bring in his own ideas/systems, if it fails. At the moment it looks good as the changes have remained somewhat small but the talk of getting rid of VDV, Defoe, Daws, Hudd leave me wondering is he doing the right thing.

Redknapp was successful I agree, but I think the club has ambitions of going even further, of being able to compete with the top clubs. That's why we've taken a gamble on a manager who has had success in Europe and may or may not be able to replicate that with Spurs. We have given AVB a chance and are determined to back his vision.

That means players who don't fit the system he wants to play have to go.

Modric leaving was not AVB's choice. Defoe, Daws and Hudd weren't regulars last season. It would be very inaccurate to say that AVB has dismantled the team.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

I'll just say this and I'll leave it at that, if AVB's system is successful with Tottenham, it will see us challenging for the league, maybe not this season, or next season, but the season after that. That is a far bigger potential that what Harry was ever able to give us. If he fails, he will be cast into the shadows of football management, and it will take a long time for him to rebuild his reputation, Tottenham won't take as long to rebuild, maybe a season at most considering the squad. That, for me, is worth the risk, to be able to see us challenging at the top compared to another few seasons of challenging for fourth.

Bodie Doyle

THFC wrote: »

:eek: the mind boggles!!

First, there is a big difference between ball retention and being able to pass a ball. Take Xavi for example, what percentage of his passes are over 20 yards? I'd hazard a guess at less than 10%. Same with Scholes, same with Modric. I'm not saying for a second that Modric is as good as either of them, he's not, but he has a similar style.

He gives the ball away too much?? What..! How exactly are you forming this opinion? Modric had the third best pass completion rate in the PL last season with 88%.

Modric is not an attacking midfielder. His stats don't need to be high for him to have a significant influence.

This win percentage thing with him not in the team, any links? Try and keep it to the last 3 seasons though, that's when he really showed his class.

The rest of your post is just typical 'Arry "run around and play" Redknapp mentality, with no basis to it whatsoever.

i thought that post might annoy one or two people. Under HR we played a 4-4-2 formation with Parker or Sandro as the Dm. Modric was supposed to be the attacking midfielder. There cannot be an arguement about that point.
Secondly Modric has a great pass completion ratio because he makes most of his passes in the first two thirds of the field. He fails in the final third by either running into corners, defenders or by trying a killer pass which never makes it. The guy is a lovely player if you want someone to pick it up from the centre halves and play it to the wingers or forward. But for someone who is supposed to be an attacking threat he is way short of "world class". That's why i could not believe Levy turned down 40m for him. He is nowhere near that evaluation. Saying he is similar to Scholes may be true now as a 38 year old Scholes doesn't get forward enough either.
Will try to find the link to the stats but basically up until last summer we had a win percentage of 53% without him in the team and 42% with him in it.

Bodie Doyle

Ormus wrote: »

Redknapp was successful I agree, but I think the club has ambitions of going even further, of being able to compete with the top clubs. That's why we've taken a gamble on a manager who has had success in Europe and may or may not be able to replicate that with Spurs. We have given AVB a chance and are determined to back his vision.

That means players who don't fit the system he wants to play have to go.

Modric leaving was not AVB's choice. Defoe, Daws and Hudd weren't regulars last season. It would be very inaccurate to say that AVB has dismantled the team.

Has everyone forgot about what AVB did at Chelsea?

AVB has not yet dismantled the team but reports/rumours today about VDV is leaving would mean maybe 3 changes to our starting 11 and maybe a lot more changes on the bench.

But at the moment its all rumours. Personally I don't want VDV to leave.

Ormus

Bodie Doyle wrote: »

i thought that post might annoy one or two people. Under HR we played a 4-4-2 formation with Parker or Sandro as the Dm. Modric was supposed to be the attacking midfielder. There cannot be an arguement about that point.
Secondly Modric has a great pass completion ratio because he makes most of his passes in the first two thirds of the field. He fails in the final third by either running into corners, defenders or by trying a killer pass which never makes it. The guy is a lovely player if you want someone to pick it up from the centre halves and play it to the wingers or forward. But for someone who is supposed to be an attacking threat he is way short of "world class". That's why i could not believe Levy turned down 40m for him. He is nowhere near that evaluation. Saying he is similar to Scholes may be true now as a 38 year old Scholes doesn't get forward enough either.
Will try to find the link to the stats but basically up until last summer we had a win percentage of 53% without him in the team and 42% with him in it.

Spurs played 4-5-1 under 'Arry. VdV was the attacking midfielder. Modric is a deep lying playmaker.

Ormus

Bodie Doyle wrote: »

Has everyone forgot about what AVB did at Chelsea?

AVB has not yet dismantled the team but reports/rumours today about VDV is leaving would mean maybe 3 changes to our starting 11 and maybe a lot more changes on the bench.

But at the moment its all rumours. Personally I don't want VDV to leave.

If VdV leaves that will be the first time AVB has chosen to sell one of last season's starting 11.

Mr. Guappa

Bodie Doyle wrote: »

Has everyone forgot about what AVB did at Chelsea?

AVB has not yet dismantled the team but reports/rumours today about VDV is leaving would mean maybe 3 changes to our starting 11 and maybe a lot more changes on the bench.

But at the moment its all rumours. Personally I don't want VDV to leave.

He failed at Chelsea in large part because he tried to shoehorn unsuitable players into his system.

Bodie Doyle

Ormus wrote: »

Spurs played 4-5-1 under 'Arry. VdV was the attacking midfielder. Modric is a deep lying playmaker.

Surely 'Arry old school would not play a 4-5-1 system. I thought all he did was tell the players to just run around a bit.
Parker/Sandro sat in front of the back 4 and the other little fellow was supposed to help out attacking. Maybe I expected too much from our world class Croatian.

Bodie Doyle

Ormus wrote: »

If VdV leaves that will be the first time AVB has chosen to sell one of last season's starting 11.

True. He had nothing to do with Modrics departure or Ledders retirement. But he has to manage a team that had those changes forced upon them. 3 new starters a new bench ( hopefully they will bring in some reinforcements if all these sales go through) will be tough. Hopefully they will be able to gel quickly.
I think the fixtures will help AVB. Next up we have WBA and Norwich at home - winnable games even with an unsettled team. Reading away and then QPR at home should give us a chance of getting a few points.

But the bloody transfer window does not close for another 8 days so who knows what may happen.

Ormus

Bodie Doyle wrote: »

Surely 'Arry old school would not play a 4-5-1 system. I thought all he did was tell the players to just run around a bit.
Parker/Sandro sat in front of the back 4 and the other little fellow was supposed to help out attacking. Maybe I expected too much from our world class Croatian.

4-5-1 is no more tactically complex than 4-4-2.

Modric did not play attacking midfield last season I promise you.

Bodie Doyle

Ormus wrote: »

4-5-1 is no more tactically complex than 4-4-2.

Modric did not play attacking midfield last season I promise you.

Maybe I am wrong but I thought his role included supporting the forwards more like Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes etc. If Real want to pay 40m for a deep lying player who rarely scores then good luck to them.

Is 4-2-3-1 more tactically complex than 4-5-1? Quite similar?
It will be interesting to see what AVB does when teams come to WHL and park the bus. Will he stick with the 2 defensive midfielders in front of the back 4? If he is a good tactical coach he should be able to change his formation to adapt.
The fact we are linked to a few DMs in the transfer window would suggest he will play with 2 Dms - surely he is not thinking about dropping Parker/Sandro.

mickman

Modric can't place attacking midfield cos he just can't shoot

Hatch99

AVB Interview on SSN a few minutes ago.
Said Leandro was not on his wishlist anymore and not in negotiations.
Also said he didn't know Sherwood was at the Malaga game last night. All managers are spoofers when they want to be

2nd Row Donkey

Hatch99 wrote: »

AVB Interview on SSN a few minutes ago.
Said Leandro was not on his wishlist anymore and not in negotiations.
Also said he didn't know Sherwood was at the Malaga game last night. All managers are spoofers when they want to be

I hope he was joking and that isn't true...

Leinstersqspur

Bodie Doyle wrote: »

Maybe I am wrong but I thought his role included supporting the forwards more like Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes etc. If Real want to pay 40m for a deep lying player who rarely scores then good luck to them.

Dude, you are wrong, Modric plays the same style as Alonso, Xavi etc.... Not many english teams have a player like him i.e. lying deep, recycling the ball, spread passes, looking for space... Thats why clubs want him...

Vdv is the attacking midfielder/forward playing similar to the players you mentioned.

If your convinced our team played better without Luka in it I think you could be in The Nile!