Transfer deadline day brain Vaart
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 at 3:35PM Chaotic. You have to scratch your head and wonder about it all, mainly because none of it appears to follow any type of outlined plan written up in the THFC War Room long before battle commences.
"The Premier League are understood to be investigating what Spurs claim were difficulties involving computer servers used in the transaction between themselves and Real, which hindered their attempts to submit the relevant paperwork on time."
Dead line missed. Special dispensation requested. 25 man squad to be named by 5pm. Tick tock tick tock. Drama.
Let's review.
We've been chasing players for a while. Harry wanted Bellamy. Harry wanted Parker. We supposedly inquired about Fabiano. Adebayor another linked one. We've signed a defender, a goal-keeper and a central midfielder. The defender on a free (Gallas), the keeper is extra-extra cover (Pletikosa) and the midfielder was tied up an age ago (Sandro) so good to see him finally arrive from Brasil (having just won the Copa Libertadores title with Internacional).
We've plugged the holes that needed plugging. Perhaps not perfectly, but plugged nonetheless. CB cover was imperative. We probably still need to look at this area going forward, what with Woodgate on the verge of retirement and King's knee. But for now, for the present, the signing of Gallas might yet prove to be one of shrewd astuteness that will bring much need leadership and experience. Tantrums and tears the risk.
Pletikosa is there just in case he's required, what with all the extra games to be played this season and Gomes softy soft skeleton. Sandro is someone I'm immensely looking forward to seeing. I know there is plenty of talk about him taking time (understandably) to settle in England, acclimatise and gradually be introduced into the fold - but he strikes me as a strong personality, one that won't need to be wrapped up in cotton wool. He's built for the EPL. And with Wilson still struggling for composure, the sooner the better.
So, here's the crux of it.
The main hole to be plugged should have been upfront. There is nothing wrong with what we've got (opinions will vary on this from one fan to the next) but we could have really looked to make an impact with something fresh and new. Robbie Keane is spent at Spurs. Although if he's stuck with us until Christmas, he might get the opportunity to shut a few mouths by reclaiming some past form in Lilywhite. Pav (did he reject a move to Anfield?) remains an in-betweener. Sort of okay, sort of not. But he still scores but can sometimes appear to do very little else (Darren Bent anyone?). Crouch is important, as proven last season and this early this term too. And Defoe, for all his minor faults, will always score goals for us. Again, as witnessed last season.
But had we got hold of a brand spanking new forward, someone who could have offered a new dimension to our play, then we'd have been near enough complete. In the eyes of our manager. What with us quite blatantly going after Bellamy. It's an area he knows needs improving.
So no new striker. And to be honest, I'd rather not if there was no viable option for us. Although my argument would be - where are the scouts? We plucked Berbatov from the Bundesliga. Are we to believe that every potential new superstar forward out there is not only known to all, but also demanding excessive wages? Perhaps the risk here was too much. Hence the Bellamy chase.
And there is a distinct lack of targets at home. Babel? On his was to Upton Park in a helicopter apparently, but didn't fancy it, although we (according to Harry) were interested, but didn't get anywhere near discussing a deal. All very meh. Half-arsed. Potential panic buy. But then football is made up of last gasp signings (did we not fail in our bid to sign Ricketts and eventually end up with Keane?)
The Parker Saga is one of much confusion. West Ham friend says he's hardly an update on Palacios and wouldn't offer Spurs as much as he offers WH, because at WH the player is so much better than the ones who line-up alongside him. But then in Harry we trust, and we've all seen players leave one club to turn it on for another, and prove people wrong. How exactly and where exactly was he meant to fit in, I don't know.
Nobody has actually left us, from the list of players tagged with the deadwood label. We can't argue that we don't retain depth, probably too much now. No reserve team for the fringe first team squad players to run around and kick a ball in. So our gaffers man-management skills will be worked over-time. Still, I expect plenty of activity with departures come Jan 2011.
So what exactly was our strategy with consolidation and squad improvement?
The conclusion of the crux is that once more, deadline transfer day proves that when you fail to sign the players you actually wanted in the weeks/months leading up to the 6pm deadline - you just hope for some form of luck or inspired out-of-the-hat unplanned signing, not to appease anyone or just for the sake of it - but end up with something unexpected, which is too good to turn down because it will work in our favour, and do so wonderfully well. One new player at the Lodge, several new options on the field of play.
Rafael van der Vaart. Out of the blue.
Well actually, out of the white storm of Real Madrid. 6pm deadline gone, but since around 4pm on the day, we were attempting to fix up the transfer and get all paper work sorted to beat the clock to sign the player up.
Had we not gone in for him, we'd be all pretty much dejected that nothing much happened on a day of untold expectations. Apparently it was a loan deal initially, then a transfer, although the other suggestion is he was on his way to Munich for £18M (denied by Real Madrid) and that he was then available for just £8M. Levy told Harry, Levy asked Harry if he fancied it. Harry said yes.
Some of you might ask - why? Is it because of the quality on offer, for so little? Did Harry stop to think where and how he would play VdV in our line-up? Would signing the player have a detrimental effect on other players in our squad and their status? Is there a list Levy has drawn up of potential players we'd be interested in if they are suddenly available (not the first time we've flirted with players from Real - so perhaps they've kept in contact with us and vice versa) and Rafael was on that list?
I doubt very much we'd buy a player and not actually consider the impact on first team selection. VdV in the hole behind the forward(s)? On the left hand side (as played by Madrid before Ronaldo was signed)? I hope Harry plans to put his arms around Niko and give him a massive reassuring hug.
We have ridiculous options in central and midfield attacking positions now. VdV is the type of player who can bring some dynamicism to our play. And set-pieces. We have an abundance of creativity of differing guises. The craft and dinking runs of Modric, the beastly power yet sublime touch of Bale, the majesty of Huddlestone's long range to feet passing and disguised angled balls, the speed and tricksy twisting and turning of Lennon and now the technical guile and the versatility of VdV. 4-5-1 would be sweet, but we don't quite have a lone man striker good enough to slot into that spearhead position.
We're not short with other backups. We've got box to box midfielder Jenas. Ball in a skip Bentley. And Jamie Tenacity O'Hara. Hell, dos Santos might even turn into more than just a wildcard this season.
DM wise, you'd think with Sandro and Wilson (if he recovers from his current fragmented play and loss of confidence) we are fixed up. Harry has to sort out the Palacios conundrum because if we're going to hold down our place in the Champions League, we need him to regain the form he possessed when we first signed him. No good having superb footballers if we haven't got a protector screaming you shall not pass at opposing players, standing firm behind them.
It's now up to the front men to find that ruthless streak. One player short of the perfect deadline transfer day. But considering the lack of activity at certain other clubs, I'm not half as disappointed as I should be. We've ended up with a game-changer, perhaps even a talismanic one (something I've banged on about all summer long).
Is he world class? For a long time he was all hype, plenty of promise, but little fulfilment. The defintive under-achiever. But there is no doubt he has allowed his quality to shine through in recent seasons. He's worked hard at it. This will work out just fine.
Can you imagine the carnage we'd have dished out to the EPL had we also got hold of a Fabiano?
Actually don't. Dreaming is so circa 2006.
Facebook group
You Tube channel
Reader Comments (70)
Its official Spooky :) Hope you like teabags!
A strange transfer period. Let's see what comes out of this deal.
Hopefully VdV and (gulp) Gallas are going to be the authoritative, driven leaders we need on the pitch, and Sandro our Essien. COYS!
Corluka
King
Dawson
Ekotto
Lennon
Modric
Huddlestone/Palacios
Van Der Vaart
Bale
Crouch/Defoe
Hmmmm.............
COYS!!!!
Looking forward to seeing his misses at the matches some chance but hell she is a lot of hot skin so it will all be worth it.Great signing best in ages bet the rest are all pulling there hair out at the thought of getting him for 8ml hell the spammers wanted more for parker what a January deal in August.
Chuffed with this signing this guy is the real deal kudos to all involved.
COYS
Nice summary Spook. All yiddos basking in the sunshine now.
Its sexy football time
Bang on the money with that article.....
I was sitting there at 5.45 last night happy that the Babel deal was a load of tosh, but lamenting the fact that the "marquee" signing, who would boost the morale of the squad, simply hadn't happened.
At 5.15, the missus wanted to watch Neighbours, but commented that I probably wanted to watch SSN until the window shut..... I said she was alright, we don't do deals until 3 mins before the window closes, not believing my own comment.
A midfield 5 of Huddlestone, Modric, Bale, Lennon & VDV, with Defoe up front for home games - that's up there with the best in the PL.
Stick Sandro in instead of Modric for the away games..... not a bad little line-up.
As for the lads who haven't moved on - they'll get their reserve games, in the FA & Carling Cup.
We have a squad now with enough depth to challenge on a couple of fronts, assuming everyone plays to their full capacity.
we got Harry Kane...
Naughton
Dawson
Gallas
Walker
Lennon
Huddlestone
Modric
Van Der Vaart
Bale
PAV
Hmmmm.............
COYS!!!!
Parker for £10m???
We have bought Niko & VDV for the same money!
The Wheeler Dealer does it again.!
You just have to stand back and smile and give Dan Levy enormous credit for what he's yet again done for this football club. IMHO this is the most exciting signing since JurgenK. Marquee with a capital 'M'. GIves us more tactical options than a monkey with a bag of bananas and suddenly, we have the look of a team that could really go somewhere.
Excellent read spooky.
Just need Van Der Vaart's squad number and then definitely getting his name on a shirt - Levy & 'Arry we love you!!!!!!!
Makes up for deadline day August 2008. Ridiculous to the sublime.
Very happy in principle with the VDV signing but I don't really know anything about him except what's been in the press. Hope he is as good as his press.
Why do people keep banging on about "Defensive Mid-fielders"....this is definitely a role of the past with the new top teams. They play a 3/4 - 6/7 system where apart from the out-and-out defenders, everyone else is a DM, CM, WM or Striker depending on how the play develops. I admit that this requires a certain level of footballing intelligence by both coaches and players but this is the way forward.
I've seen examples of the "DM" Sandro, winning the ball on the edge of his own box and taking it through to the opposition box and when he does that one of the other "6" covers his position further back.
I hope with the addition of VDV we can begin to play more in this style than the old 424,451 or other systems which imply specialist functions in specialist positions and not the development of all-round footballers.
"more tactical options than a monkey with a bag of bananas"
Don't know what the f*ck that means but it's brilliant anyway!
Ok, we haven't signed the "4-5-1" striker, but crouch can play there. He won't score that many, but he can hold the ball up if its played to feet (not pinged at his midriff or aimlessly punted for him to 'control' with his head, take note). The midfielders we have will score goals, Lennon and bale cutting in and shooting or firing low crosses in for VdV/Mod/Hudd/each other is dangerous. Then bring on Defoe for BAE if we need a change.... works in my head, and probably on fifa...maybe less so in real life.
Levy really worked his magic this year.
Agree with that JC, down to the midfield to really push onwards for the goals now. Tactically, Harry has to change one or two things but not much. I think we have very adoptable players. COYS.
vdv is a great signing. let's face it even if he doesn't fit in at whl, there is no chance that we won't be able to make the 8 mill back in any window for the next 4-5 years. we still could of done with a world class striker but if there are none available we'll have to live with the mediocre quartet we have.
VdV signing - that's a piece of business. Might need a regular, consistent goal scorer come January. Existing forwards have to prove me wrong.
"I think we have very adoptable players."
Then why would no-one adopt Jenas or Hutton in this window?!??!
Not sure I'd adopt any of them personally - my own 2 kids give me enough grief.
Dubaiyid i dont know how football is played over there but over here we usually have a keeper.
I meant adaptable, but then you knew that :)
Just how exactly did this happen? One player away now from a real top team.
Literally cannot wait for our upcoming games, even looking forward to seeing Gallas.
looking forward to seeing Gallas: thats a booking
i have no idea what Van de Vart will be like as a spurs player but please god let his wife be sitting next to me at the lane!
type Sylvie van der Vaart in google images
outstanding
Just run it past me again what ManC paid for Milner.
Wasn't it something along the lines of VdeV + Sandro + Bale + Naughton + Walker + Kranjcar + Gio and a few bob left over for a good night out ?
why did we sign him? Are you aware of Daniel Levy and his agenda? 3 words, 1 Hyphen - SELL-ON VALUE.
Sorry I can’t get excited about this. Someone must be putting ketamine in my Reddy-Brek or something because the only sensation this gives me is a swirling muddle of nonsense. Is he going to play LW? Well thanks, but we already have 3 top class options in that position. Is he going to play at the most advanced part of a 3 man CM? I guess this is his best position. But to do that, you need to play 1 man up front. Does anyone honestly think Defoe can play this role? I don’t. And if you don’t, do you honestly think Harry is going to drop Defoe for Crouch? No, me neither. So is he going to play in a 2 man CM with Huddlestone? This may work, but then again, we know that Hudd and Modric works. So you’re fixing something that wasn’t anywhere near broken.
So it seems we will probably play him at LW. I can’t see him being much more effective than Bale has been in the last few games (if that’s even possible). Bale is good at LB, brilliant at LW.
I can see our formation morphing into some kind of 3-5-2. Bale pushing up on the left, VDV drifting in behind the strikers. Corluka staying put and making it 3 at the back. 3-5-2 has been done away with in recent years, because people forgot what made it so successful. This was having players who could switch positions. It’s no use lumping 3 CB’s at the back and telling them to cover the wide defensive areas. You need to have people at the back who can switch to full back if needed, and a DM who can slot in at CB so 3-5-2 and 4-4-2 are easily interchangeable. In Euro 96 we had Pearce and Neville, essentially full-backs, partnering Adams in the 3 man defense, with Southgate as an anchor. This was the team could be flexible at the back and cover all areas.
So this is my team:
Gomes
Corluka King Gallas
Modric Hudd
Lennon Bale
VDV
Defoe Crouch
Ok now I’m a bit excited
that should basically Bale - Modric - Hudd - Lennon with VDV behind the strikers when we have the ball, and Bale - VDV - Modric - Lennon with Hudd dropping very deep when we dont have it
All we need in January is a world-class lone Striker and a world-class Central Defender and we're laughing all the way to the bank...Sell: Hutton, Jenas, Keane, O'Hara, Bentley and Alnwick and we're sorted !!! COYS
No one seems to haven mentioned the benefit of playing him in the champions league.. 4-5-1 is the way most sides set up away from home.. VdV helps in that role with his experience. Amongst the other four (whoever you want) in midfield, theyll be ammunition from the midfield for a sneaky goal.
And Chrisman.. having been skeptical of Levy in the past, I genuinely think he uses a business head with some footballing heart. Our wage budget is the lowest in the top six and its not like ENIC have scrounged on the transfer money over the years.. Weve achieved amazing value over the years minus the 2 point from 8 season.. so if someone wanted to buy cheap, theyve missed the boat.. Levy has stuck around when there was an oppotunity to sell.. He might just be the real deal.
Dreaming is so 2006! Like it!
I think we can use him in a 4-2-3-1
Gomes
Charlie-Gallas-King-Bale
Sandro-Hudd
Lennon-VdV-Modric
Pav
I'm looking forward to se him playing alongside Modric. Two excellent players, creating a lot of chances.
Will be great! COYS!
Spooky, I'm placing my order now for your first dvd of vdv.
Make that a double - one of Rafa vdv in action and the other of Silvie vdv.......in action.
I'm starting to get sick of seeing this guys name now. I've been having to change my pants every 5 mins!!
We can only thank Levy for everything he has done for this team and not only put his money where his mouth is, but spent it wisely. I think Levy and Harry make the ultimate team in both finding players and getting an absolute bargain for them. Like someone said above, we've managed to get Kranjcar and Van Der Vaart for the same amount of money West Ham wanted for Parker! It's just crazy when you think about it. By seeing how successful we might become this first half of the season might mean the world class striker in January and by seeing the way VDV plays, he'll be any strikers dream. He may even improve our own strikers so there would be no need. Out of the players we have I can probably see Pav working the best with him as he seems like a good goal scored which would not work with Defoe as he is too selfish (although this may change slightly now).
Of course I could be reading into this transfer too much and he could be a load of pony. Lets hope not
COYS!
The man scores about 1 goal every 2.7 games, incredible for an attacking midfielder. He is suited playing off a striker.
4231
Gomes
RB
CB
CB
Bale (2. BAE)
Hudd
Modric
Lennon
VdV
Kranjcar
Pav
Is it wrong that a bit of wee came out?
That is the most attacking set-up we have, and can be tinkered by having:
Bale instead of Kranjcar at LM and BAE at LB
or
A more defensive CM with Hudd and move Luka to LM
The 3412 is a very, very attacking formation, one i'd suggest we would only play if we were chasing a game. Like Chrisman says, we have the players to pull it off. We have two RB-cum-CBs in Charlie and Kaboul, and a CB-cum-LB in Gallas. Bassong is also a mobile left-footer. Hudd is a CM that can play CB. Two pacey widemen. Perfect. The team could be, right to left:
Gomes
Kab or Charlie
King or Daws
Gallas or Bassong
Lenny
Modric
Hudd
Bale
VdV
CF
CF
Scary!!
This signing however it came about could be a statement of intent,which finally sends a clear message Tottenham are back,what will be needed is when Fergie comes sniffing because his old timers have retired ,he gets told to piss off or its top dollar sales every time.Meantime Spurs must make the most of this golden opportunity and progress in Europe and the league,some silverware would be good for the club,fans and the sponsors to get the extended sponsorship.A couple of years down the road and the new stadium will be built and it would be great to have quality football team to put in the new stadium.For the future,we must aquire a prolific striker but not Huntelaar he has turned us down on a number of occasions and shown no interest in joining us.So when he fails at the club he chose over us,we should not be a lifeline club to help him out .Players must show our club respect ,something which has been lacking from a number of players in recent times.This signing goes someway to giving the club its kudos back.A short term goal is to have no repeats of the result/performances like last Saturday against Wigan.With respect but these are the teams we must swat and do what top clubs do and win against the less glamorous sides.We know we can beat the top sides on a given day.
glory glory tottenham hotspur!!! what a signing i love this club van der mother f64king veert stick that up your pipe and smoke it man city!! COYS
Whats peoples obsession with playing 3 at the back. It'll be 442 then 451 in Europe. None of this 352 stuff, we struggle to defend with 4 some days!
Decent player, that lad. Van der Vaart.
Clearly the BBC's article on the signing has been edited by a gooner, who has poster a video entitled "Van der Vaart fails to stop Inesta scoring world cup final winning goal".
twats.
Yiddogray - Just an option mate, i'm a 4 at the back man all day long. All I was getting at is we have the personnel to play a variety of formations now if we choose too, or situations dictate
Enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgZod9t8RV4
VDV is a good player but never a top notch player ,tried his luck in big clubs and he was found not good enuf , so he is back to where he belongs a medicore club.............
Ah bless. Did Wenger fail to buy a goalkeeper? Again.
@| Author of Comment
OOOOOH! I DIDNT KNEW THAT BUT ARE SPURS BECOMING ARSENAL REJECTS ACADEMY ,HEARD TALKS ABOUT GALLAS BEING MADE CAPTAIN OF SPURS .........
Not that I want to be raising to the bait of the troll, but vDv under achieved early in his career, but was superb at Hamburg and was equally consistent for Real Madrid, where the fans loved him. Bullshit to suggest he's not good. And laughable that you can't come up with something more hurtful than 'medicore' club.
4th. CL football.
Deal with it.
Caps lock on. Why so serious?