Spurs 3 Wigan 1 Transfer Window 0
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 2:21PM So we got what we wanted in the end.
I’m talking about the three points rather than the transfer market. More on that later. Firstly Wigan and it’s great to be able to look back at my preview of the game and bask in the fact that Spurs delivered with both professionalism and focus to brush the bottom club aside comfortable. Dominated possession, had a plenty of chances. Okay, so there were moments in the second half where we displayed questionable defending, going through the motions without much intent, but all things considered the result was never in doubt. Even if we switched off a little in the second forty five.
Wigan didn’t park the bus although they attempted to defend deep with emphasis on their back-line, waiting and building a sponge wall of protection to soak up the pressure. The opening goal the perfect illustration of them attempting to do so with every man behind the ball. But alas, Xavi found Messi with an absolute gem of a pass, so perfect it split an atom on its way through. Lio expected, wanted the pass and took it with confidence for the 1-0. A thing of beauty.
Second goal was also tasty. Fortunate how the ball came to be with Luka but his turn and shot was decisive and clinical. The third was majestic. Bale again into his favourite corner giving the keeper no chance. This was routine stuff, never really shifting out of third gear. Although I prefer not to concern myself with results elsewhere, results elsewhere proved to be kind to us. 13 points off 6th spot and 11 points away from 5th. Happy days. How to improve? Perhaps next time shift out of third gear and into first and torment and destroy.
A few highlights. Bale (the beast), could have, should have had a hat-trick. Loved some of his mazy runs. Modric was sexual. Harry getting love from the crowd. Lancaster on for his début. Kaboul enjoying the evening. Some downers include Rafa and Walker going off injured and Benny (very fortunate) not to be red-carded. Norty.
Now the supposedly tricky fixtures begin. Most of the games, IMO, are winnable. That’s if we line up with our strongest side. Which links this post-match musing into the transfer market review and the distortion the January window brings leaving many of us confused and bewildered when perhaps it’s not necessary to feel this way. But then maybe confusion is the only reaction to it.
The problem with Tottenham is that we are very finely tuned. We’re a top side when we field our very best line up. Such is the quality of the first team that if we lose a key player or two the entire shape of the side is affected, sometimes with ill-effect. Meaning we have to readjust our style and some fluidity is lost as a consequence. We don’t quite have like-for-like players when looking to replace. Lesser teams, they can chop and change and appear to be more comfortable in doing so without a massively detrimental knock-on to the way they approach every game. If we lose Bale and Lennon, we have no pace and no width. If Adebayor is out, then our movement up front and the way we attack has to change to work. We don’t have convincing depth in squad. It’s looked that way but only on paper and not when applied practically.
I’ve been an advocator for consolidation. Remember 2006? We didn’t make any major changes in the Jan window and that might have been costly. Okay, so losing points in the final minutes of games cost us, but still...we could have strengthened. Make an outlay, speculate to accumulate. Take a risk but one that shortens the odds substantially meaning the risk equates to ‘guaranteeing’ the target (say top four). Nothing is guaranteed, but if you make powerful changes to personnel then positives should shine through with very few negatives interfering. So, my thinking was that looking at the squad...at our team...and taking into account that an injury or two would seriously impede us then the logical thing would be to sign quality long term players rather than spend less on short term solutions. We did neither in this window. Why?
I guess we never learn. Take away the opportunistic signing (a van der Vaart) we are left with the mundane but required exercise of balancing the books. We have unhappy players, players that aren’t even fringe or backup as they are hardly called upon. Now this might be an irritant of lack of squad rotation or the fact that they are simply not required at all. The other factor is, the players in question want to play first team football on a regular basis. Hence the unhappiness. Hence the necessity to move them on (unless your name is dos Santos).
So we have:
Pav – He’s never quite fitted in. Supremely lazy and at times lacking any on-field intelligence, he stuttered too often and could never quite claim a first team place. Not his fault. We should never have signed him in the first place. If it was ever going to work he would have had to be first choice from the start. He wasn’t. At times he displayed technical brilliance. A scorer of great goals. In 2010 (when we finished 4th) he scored important goals for us. But he’s always been distant, always a misfit. Always apologetic. Please don’t disagree and suggest we were not expecting him to move on. It’s taken how many windows for this to finally happen? £11M isn’t too bad either.
Bassong – Another player simply not fancied. A shame because he wasn’t that bad at all when he first arrived here. Confidence and lack of game time can knock you. He’s also too far down the pecking order so it makes sense to shift him on so he can get some game time in.
Pienaar – I did my best to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s a fairly non-descript type of player. Can deputise in a couple of positions but isn’t truly a direct replacement for anyone we have. It’s now easy for me to question the ethics behind signing him in the first place when again he was not used often enough (injuries aside). If you’re going to play the squad game, then you have to look at resting/protecting players effectively and allowing the likes of Pienaar game time. Harry doesn’t tinker unless injuries force him too. This signing has proven to be a redundant one.
Corluka – Walker (from what I know at the time of writing) is fine. But if he gets injured – we have no genuine right-back cover as our ‘kids’ are out on loan. Now if it was me, I’d keep Charlie. Even if there was the potential of him playing only twice between now and the end of the season. The player though, he probably would not find that acceptable. Which is why he’s been loaned out.
Have we weakened the squad? Yes, but we’ve not weakened the first team and all the players that have left in this window are neither key or overly called upon to wear the shirt. These are players that had to move on.
The fundamental problem with January is that this is not the month where you traditionally sign super-star players (keep ignoring the opportunistic signings). End of season, the summer...that’s when players/agents/clubs begin to play ball because it’s easier to sell and buy and build your squad for the next season. This is where it gets distorted and contradictory. We don’t know and can only guess what Levy is planning for. Whether it has something to do with Harry and the court case/England job and waiting for the summer to finance big money deals, it’s tricky to work out without being a fly on the wall.
Now you could cite the fact we bid around £20M (or so) for Remy and had it rejected and that its proof that we:
a) Have the money to spend and the inclination to do so
b) We are thinking long term regardless of potential managerial upheaval
c) We are aware of the type of quality we need and we are looking to bring it in
Now c) might require a caveat that outlines we have very specific targets we wish to splash the money on and will not sign lesser targets (for less money, say £6M-£10M) as a stop-gap/panic buys simply for the sake of consolidation. Money is tight, the NDP is on the horizon. It looks like we have it to spend but we’re not going to repeat mistakes of old.
It’s frustrating when you consider we haven’t actually bought a striker out-right for a while. In the summer, Defoe is the only player we’ll have (unless Adebayor is signed permanently). So there’s no doubt we need a massive signing in that department, regardless of Ade remaining here beyond the summer. Could we do with that signing now? Yes, we could have done with him before the window closed. Because we’re 3rd and because mathematically, 1st is still not beyond us (humour me). We also cannot afford to drop out of the top four. I don’t believe we will, and I guess that’s the crux of it. Levy and Harry believe this to be the case also because faith is being placed in the risk that consolidation of our position is not imperative. We were not expected to be in this position at the start of the season and have done so off the back of signing a 40 year old keeper and the much maligned (and now loved) Scott Parker.
We should still be aiming higher for sure. Strengthening our current stature. But there you go. We tried. And cheaper less quality driven alternatives do not appear to be options when looking to splash the cash.
Krasic, according to reports, was more than an option. We wanted him on loan. Juventus agreed to it. The player didn’t, preferring a more permanent role. He would have covered off the flank, another one of those consolidation question marks. Players in the Prem that we considered viable alternatives might have been too pricey to follow through on. How many times have we been burnt in the past? Too many.
So, all I have left is the fact that we must be aiming high. It’s frustrating. It’s a harsh reality. But if clubs won’t let the players leave then you’re going to be hitting that brick wall over and over again. In the summer just past, I was told a story about Gervinho, the Arsenal striker. We were interested. He didn’t fancy us. That turned out rather well. I think the lesson to be learnt is we have to be decisive and certain. Unequivocally. I think the club know the players we want and won’t look elsewhere and we’ll have to go back in for them again. What we have to hope for is that we have enough about us (and luck) to see the season through to be in a position to attract. And when we do attract we attract the very best.
Saha and Ryan Nelsen are nothing more than replacements for back-ups. They are not there to strengthen the first team but rather make sure we have cover if cover is called upon. Saha is on a short term contract. He can hold the ball up, protect it and fit into the style of football we play presumably as an impact sub at best. Nelsen is a curious one. Free-agent, nothing more than an experienced footballer that fits into the role Bassong had on the sidelines. Samba might have been the first choice target but if Blackburn wish to hold onto their player and price him out of a move, well, we of all clubs can’t complain about that stance. Also Caulker will be with us next season. We can’t over spend for the sake of the short term. One thing of note here worth mentioning. All this ridicules the signing of Khumalo.
I know. Its underwhelming because the window distorts expectancy and everyone feels disappointed when a big signing isn’t made. Again, I’m going to refer back to consolidation. We haven’t achieved this. It’s the way it’s played out. The players will need to dig deep and we’ll have to cope with injuries. I felt underwhelmed during the summer and the start of the season, but this run and our form has proven that faith in both manager and chairman has to be respected. Benefit of the doubt. I can’t spend time wasting it on complaining when the team need me to support them. Regrets, they only come into play after the fact if we’ve failed. Something I do not wish to entertain.
Simply put. If we claim Champions League, then this summer there will be no margin for error or indecisiveness. We’ll need top drawer, dare I say, world class signings. Not for consolidation but for stepping up to the next level and to be able to retain the new founded stature.
Until then, the window is shut. No draft, and the temperature is about to rise.
We are Tottenham. We're third, five points off the top of the table. Believe.
Daring is achieving. Love the shirt.
Reader Comments (32)
11 points clear of 5th place, 13 clear of Arse....
Yesterday's game was like the proverbial curate's egg--good in places but wanting in others. On the good side you have mentioned Bale etc. but I thought Niko, apart from one glaring defensive slip, looked like he belongs and can play the kind of game Spurs currently play. I would hate to see him go. It would also be good to see the lad Lancaster again, he looked lively but we cannot really see his potential with a 10 minute cameo. I am sure the last minute signings are just cover and are obviously not ones for the future, but Saha, if he is on song, can be a real handful and we get more than we expect there.
I think if we claim a CL spot at the end of this season, top European players will start to take us seriously. Up until now, any team that has broken the "Big 4" grip on the CL spots has flirted with it for one season and then disappeared (Leeds, Newcastle & Everton). If we can get in the top 4 for 2 out of 3 seasons, and keep close to the tails of United & City, we will look an attractive prospect.
The only area we aren't so attractive is the wages, so I still think we will struggle against the History of United, and the endless money of City & Chelsea. I'd like to think that players will start to favour us over Arsenal and Liverpool from this summer on, especially if both fail to get top 4 this year.
Let's just hope that the 11 point lead over Chelsea and the 13 point lead over Arsenal can be maintained to a reasonable level over the next 3/4 weeks.
Liverpool on Monday - at worst a draw surely?
Newcastle - new strike force may test us, but should still take the points.
Arsenal away - An opportunity to make Wilshere pay up early
United at home - we're overdue a win against them
We play with confidence, and the City defeat may have been a blow but we were back on form last night. If anything, Wigan were the ideal PL opponents to play next.
As you said Spooky, our first XI is no weaker this month than it was at the start of the window. Sure, the squad hasn't improved but, fingers crossed, we shouldn't need to delve too deep into it over the next 3 months.
Agree with you David.
Saha is not the marquee signing with have wanted. But he is an upgrade on Pav, fits the mould we need in case Adebayor isn't playing, is experienced and free. So we have actually upgraded our squad and then sold Pav for however mmany millions. Good business once more, especially as Saha isn't on a long contract, he also seems to be over the worst of his injuries (*cue usual tottenham career threatening injury*).
Yidango, corrected.
I forgot about Liverpool. It happens.
Dont think i agree. not entirely anyway. Superstar signings were simply unavailable at this time. As per last year. Corluka could and really should have been allowed to leave at the end of the season, Kaboul or even Livermore will have to do as cover for now if needed. Could recall Naughton I suppose, if necessary, though it would be considered somewhat unsporting. Saha was definitely not the striker we were dreaming of. But I for one would rather him than Pav. And he's more able to play up top alone, so if Ade is out, less damage to the shape of the team. Nelsen is another strange one. But if called upon I imagine he'll be more trustworthy than Bassong. If fit. Pieenar, never saw the sense in him coming in the first place. So no great loss there. Slight improvements on two squad players in my view, some unhappy players out. A couple of short term, if elderly and injury prone, quick fixes to see us through, then on to the summer and doing proper business. A solid, if unspectacular, window. Pragmatic. If only we kept Corluka.
Great 3 points, good performance, although it is sometimes tough to maintain that level of focus when you're cruising.
Good to see Kranjcar get some game time.
I love BAE, but his brain farts do let him down sometimes. A few occasions last night he reverted back to his old self: turning his back on crosses and not getting tight enough (bit of a cowardly tackle too). I'll blame it on the afro-poof!
Totally underwhelmed by the transfer window, last Jan it was the Olympic Stadium farce, this Jan the HMRC/HR farce?
Was of the impression that if we were going to land someone it was going to be a "special" player"? Kind of understand Saha and Nelson signings in a way but can't help feeling disappointed. Saha, great on his day but his days are far too infrequent due to injury, as long as he's fit when we need him i'm sure he'll prove to be a very astute buy... bit of a gamble though. But if he does deliver, it'll keep Adebayor on his toes and reduce our reliance on Adebayor as the lone-striker.
As for Nelson, excellent character and spirit, a natural leader but over the hill. He is only a short term fill but we definitely needed someone with experience to fill in at left side of centre back as none of Kaboul, Gallas or Dawson are comfortable playing there.
All in all i'd rather Saha and Nelson on the bench as opposed to Bassong and Pav so can't grumble too much. The squad didn't need too much tinkering, I just would've like a top drawer winger that can give us options out wide / cover for both Bale and Lennon... but hey, apparently Jan isn't the right time to buy???
Levy's probably holding back the funds to give to Mourinho in the summer...!
COYMFS!
Nelsen mate. Nelsen.
Have to disagree with you there DY. Im sure Gallas & Kaboul could play lCB, with the other / Dawson on the right no problem.
Interesting to see what we do if Walker goes out injured. Other than Livermore, I can only think or recalling Naughton / Corluka or playing Kaboul out there, as if fit, Gallas, King, Dawson should be good enough in the centre. But with Kaboul at RB, if Lennon was injured, we would have no width that side at all. Although didnt think Kranjar could play on the right when seen him in years gone by, but the last few performances there he has impressed me, but still lacks pace as an out and out winger.
Wigan are a poor side, We played well job done. The next six games are going to be the aceeeeed test of our season. We can do the bindippers (again) and follow up with a nice home win against the toon. They got lucky (we got sloppy) at St. James. we should have finished them. Onwards and upwards. 100% confidence, this is Tottenham 2012, Love the shirt!!!!!!
I saw some kiddy complaining on Twitter that we had signed Saha, "goodbye title" she said.
Says it all, really. A couple of years ago it would have been "goodbye top half"; then "goodbye top four"... now Spurs are hopelessly disappointing for being out of the title race!
Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal scrapping for fourth? Spurs 11 points safe from the Europa League? Can I get a SHA-MONE! ow!
One of your best Spooky! It's nice to see some really thought out conclusions on what all happened yesterday, instead of all the twitter meltdowns. Agree with others that I would rather have Saha and Nelsen on the bench then Pav and Bassong...(who knows if Gallas will ever come back). We showed our intent with Remy and like you said if they don't want to let players go then I don't think panic buys are the right thing at the moment. With Harry in court, the NDP coming up surely Levy is looking at the summer to set things in motion. If it doesn't happen over the summer then i think we have to start asking questions but given where we are (please remember that yids), my trust in Levy and whatever it is Harry does are holding steady.
I dont get it.12th hour transfer again and two players who dont strengthen or improve on what we had.
Bassong is every bit as good as Nelson when on form and Saha better than Pav? mm maybe but then so are a lot of people.The criteria seems to be cheap ,old and available.
I m not doing anything next Monday Harry.
Kranks really was pleasing yesterday. Despite one goof, he really displayed. The pin point cross to Bale's feet was a thing of beauty. He's got a good boot and eye for goal too. I am happy he is staying. Hope to see more of him out there soon.
Saha.....I'll trust Harry on that one. He is dangerous but this hasn't been his season. Also, things can change drastically when you give a man decent service. And our midfield gives delivers better than any other in the EPL. Fact.
One Further note on Krancjar is he can really shoot and is not afraid to give it a go--not unlike VDV, and while he might not quite have the ability to see the field like VDV he could well play thet role if VDV injury worries continue.
We all know Kranjcar is a very good player. Not a superstar. But very good. Deserves to play. If he gets a run of appearances he might just secure a couple of points with a goal here and there, as he's done before (remember that goal and three points over Bolton?)
Bentley can't do that. Pienaar can't do that. Niko can.
And if Rafa's carrying a knock, why not try Niko through the middle, or even if there's width on the right Niko left and Bale central?
Great article, Spooky.
Has anyone else watched the video of Arry's post-match press conference? It's available on The Current Bun (i know...) website.
The way he announces the Nelsen deal is, for me, pretty f*ckin hilarious and absolutely classic Redknapp.
COYS!
The Arse in 7th!
7th heaven for a Spurs fan?
There's an Opta league table doing the rounds that shows Martin O'Neils record at Sunderland since arriving. They are top.
We are 3rd place just behind Man Utd.
The scum?
16th.
LOL.
When is the Hudd back?
No idea. He was running in training a few weeks back. Not heard much since.
arseanl away ticket for sale any 1 intrested?
At the end of each of the previous last two transfer windows, with no proven young international striker delivered, I banged and sulked around the house for days - in the summer until the fires on the High Road died down and the points began to accumulate .... and then I began to think: we've got to start to trust Harry and Dan - they might look like Trotters' Independent Traders at times, but Parker, Freidel and Adeyboyar proved to be buys of both imagination and economy. They might be (relatively) short term, and this window's buys are even more so, but they worked! If this window goes anywhere near as well, we will be over the moon, and so I'm really going to trust Harry and Dan, and hold my breath and cross my fingers. I'm going to trust that Charlie will get into the Croatian squad by going on loan, hope peanuts gets what he wants, that Bassong enjoys playing next to that c**t Frimpong, and that Pav finds a side lazy enough to put up with him. And while they get on with the rest of their lives, NOW we need to get behind the lads because the next month is going to be decisive ....... This game is all about glory!
COYS!!
Rest of the season will be the test of both the team and management strategy.
We appear not to have strenghtened (although a fit Saha for 45 minutes is more likely to score than either DeFoe or Ade) and neither have the other top 6 clubs, at least not significantly, but for me the catch is that the lower teams that we have beaten with style and a good measure of luck in some instances, have strengthened and we have difficult away games at Liverpool Chelsea and Arsenal to come.
In my opinion, we have climbed the mountain in the first-half of the season without a top-class goal-scorer, and this has required a certain amount of luck. The question is, has the team improved sufficiently to repeat the results against improved sides currently mid-to-bottom half of the table in the second-half of the season...I offer Sunderland away as an example or even Aston Villa who are showing some good form of late.
I can only hope that Saha has a very positive swan-song with us and Gallas, Kaboul and King are fit enough to cover every game so that Dawson is not needed (love the lad's attitude but too dodgy for us).
Peter,
If that's serious, mate, I'll take it. How much is it going for? I'll definitely take it.
I think that in retrospect the transfer window may work out well for us. It was important not to disrupt team morale. Saha and Nelsen may just be the steady back-up that was needed; we can't keep on buying young players with potential, otherwise we would be descending into the hell that is presently shaping at The Death Star. Let's just get through the next month without losing ground to the ones below us, then let's just have a blast at the top spot.
COYS
In other news...... Bentley & Khumalo are in our PL squad for the rest of the season.
Also, we've withdrawn from the Next-Gen competition with immediate effect. Apparently there was a clerical error of some sort (presumably player registration).
Can't believe the NextGen thing. Scandalous fuck up there.
I like the signing of Saha. Been in the doldrums at Everton, but just the sort of player that Harry can turn around. He'd be licking his lips at what our mid field can do.
And don't underestimate Nelson. If he is over his injuries and fit...very,very solid.
Ade provides us with shape and leads our attack and creates space and chances for the team so obviously it would make a big difference if he can start at Anfield. We would not miss Defoe or VDV nearly so much.
If Ade and Saha are fit I hope we play both with Parker/Sandro in the middle and Bale/Luka on the flanks. Saha is a good buy imo and if Ade is alongside him on Monday I fancy one or both to score and us to win too.
Spooky,
very interesting piece. Mirrored a lot of my thoughts and I am Sure many others.
Keep up the great work.
Cheers Greg Meyer.