Chimbonda, just the man for a relegation scrap
Sunday, January 25, 2009 at 11:12PM Sky Sports News understands that Pascal Chimbonda is having a medical at Spurs on Monday.
That's right, Chimbonda is on his way back to the Lane.
Pascal 'Kevin Keegan has approached me and they’ve offered me more money. I am definitely leaving Spurs. It’s all about the money. I don’t care about the final, I don’t care about the cup ' Chimbonda.
Pascal 'storms down the tunnel at Wembley' Chimbonda.
Pascal 'I would love to play for Arsenal' Chimbonda.
Pascal 'hands in transfer request to Wigan after the final whistle' Chimbonda.
£20M worth of right-backs at the Lane if this happens.
Gunter. Young and needs development. Talented, but we can't expect him to make the position his own just yet.
Hutton. Still injured. If you believe the whispers, he'll be off in the summer.
Corluka. A right-back, but required more as a centre-back thanks to King's constant trouble with fitness. Bringing in an experienced RB will allow him to play as a CB.
So what of Pascal? Ignoring his indiscretions as a person, can the logic of having him in a Spurs side out-weigh the mockery of a transfer this is, based on the fact he was sold not that long ago?
He can play left-back and he can play at centre-back too. Arguably better at CB (defensively) where he appears to be far more disciplined than at RB. He does possess decent attributes. Determination is there when he's on-form and as an attacking forward he is more than adequate, but he does suffer from lapses of laziness and concentration and has (in the past) undermined the likes of Lennon when playing behind him thanks to his own agenda when pushing forward (i.e. failing to cover and support the right-winger).
Zokora is the one tagged with having no footballing brain. Pascal's lack of positional sense is a deterrent to him being a reliable full-back 100% of the time (not that anyone is) as he sometimes plays for himself more than he plays for the team. Which is what I meant by undermining Lennon and having his own agenda. He has more freedom at RB, therefore, he goes on far too many walkabouts. Stick him at LB or CB, and he concentrates more because naturally, he is out of his comfort zone - but the fact he plays well when called upon proves he DOES have something of a footballing brain and the concentration and discipline to go with it.
However, part of me would consider that the reason for the Lennon/Chimbonda partnership not working was more to do with Lennon than it was Pascal. It's something up for debate.
As for the transfer itself, it's yet another laughable example of how desperate we are. No news on the improved offer for Jones at Sunderland. I'm scared to even listen out for information on that one. Perfect foil or not, if he is signed we'll be guilty of over-spending again. Desperate desperate times.
£3M is the reported price for Pascal. As much as I dislike the principle of this transfer (it's a massive risk) and dislike the man himself, it might just work as long as Harry knows what to do with him and re-ignites that fiery passion we did happen to witness on a number of occasions. We need that in every game, and none of the blasé drifting.
His attitude will remain questionable because of his history, but he isn't guilty of anything just yet.
We are in a relegation scrap, we need the cover. He can hit the ground running. If he shows no immediate impact and fails to do a job for us, then don't fret. He'll pull out that transfer request away to Liverpool on the final day of the season and begone.....
.....let's pray we are not gone.
Reader Comments (9)
I feel dirty for justifying this transfer.
I'm hitting the bottle now...
Lennon got found out, he struggled, Chimbonda got forward more, it all got a little messy. Hopefully Aarons development will make a renewed partnership far more effective. Depends where Harry opts to play Chmbonda.
We sure this is a transfer? Might well be a loan deal. Funny how Sunderland are now willing to do business with us.
Shrewd signing.
Will the bookies be giving odds on the first one to hand in a transfer request at the end of the season; who will be favourite Defoe or Chimbonda?
Cudicini is also a done deal.
I think this might be a big boost for Bentley. If played on the right along with Chimbo, he will have that attacking presence that Corluka lacks to make up for his lack of speed. Bentley + Hutton was actually working because Hutton is an attack-minded RB. Corluka, although great defensively, is not.
I'll be sad if this leads to a summer exit for Hutton. He looked a real class act when he first signed last season. True, he made some howlers at the start of this season but that was surely done to a lack of match fitness following his injury lay-off. You just know that if we offload in the summer, that he'll end up at ManUre being a world beater.
Sad if Hutton leaves, he brought the mongrel we needed out there. I actually had delusional visions of the monster we could have been if Hutton/ Bentley on the one side and Bale/ Lennon on the other worked out. Of course Hutton's will was stronger than his legs and Bale, Lennon and Bently's true selves were revealed under moderate testing...