spurs squad

On our signin of Robbie Keane, the Spurs squad is startin to look thin.

Robinson (Blackburn)
Gardner (Hull)
Tanio and Chimbonda (Sunderland)
Keane (Liverpool)
Berbatov, Kaboul and Malbranque all looking likely to move.

Even with the big signings of Modric and Dos Santos, I think Spurs fans may be in for another disappointin season unless of course they go out and bring in some real quality up front because Darren Bent and Terry Dixon are unlikely to score 40 goals between them. In me predictions on here I've got them fourth, can't believe I did that now.

It's an interesting thought. At the end of the day, two players leaving Spurs (Keane and Berbatov) are likely to bring in £40m between them, at least. They're looking to buy with the money brought in so they'd better get their acts together. The season's only round the corner!

I like a funny thread like this!

Been drowned in phones and sms from a couple of mates tonight, both spurs fans. Blaming me for taking the trim on the Tottenham squad a bit far! Can help it, must admit I'm laughing a bit

haha it's all your fault Watt. If Spurs fail then blame will lie with you.

haha it's all your fault Watt. If Spurs fail then blame will lie with you.

Hehe




No problem, by the way

Representatives of Spurs are in Russia now and look for the replacement of Keane. They have already made a bid (10 mil euro) for 'Spartak' striker Pavluchenko. But he is not satisfied with contract terms and wants to play for a team that are in CL. So Spurs are not. Then Tottenham turned their attention to CSKA striker Vagner Love (He's good too, I saw him score hat-trick in Russian PL). Also there is information Juande Ramos is going to Petersbourg to speak about Zenit striker Arshavin personally. Instead of Pavluchenko (if he finally said 'no' to Spurs), they can make a bid  (8 mil pound) for Diego Milito from 'Saragosa'.

So now the money from selling Keane will be used to buy one of those players(if only Spurs don't find some else besides those three)...

the rate spurs are getting rid of their 1st team players they will have to enter a 7 a-side league

Also the rs always the sunday league.

There are a lot of rumors now that Spurs are going after Bentley with I assume is the cash we gave them for Keane. 

There are a lot of rumors now that Spurs are going after Bentley with I assume is the cash we gave them for Keane. 

bentley is having a medical there in the morning

http://www.lfcreds.com/reds/index.php/topic,7095.280.html   <<< it has a quote off the transfer clockwatch (last post)

I actually think they will do decent considering losing their best 2 strikers probably.

Modric, Dos Santos, Bentley on his way are just the first steps. I think they should go for Diego Milito. Pavlyuchenko is way to inconsistent and Milito will finish it 9/10 times, has good pace and good header.

They will have money to spend and Ramos will make good decisions for them, he is a wise manager. I wouldnt write them off yet.

They need to sort the defence out soon as well though.

King injury prone, Dawson hit and miss, Kaboul, Gardener, Chimbonda and Rocha all look like soddin off. I think they should look at the likes of Lescott, Steven Taylor or David Wheater.

Spurs are about Arshavin move. They agreed personal contract terms with a player and according to Arshavin words move will be complete in 5 days. Zenit want too much for him. Now Arshavin is waiting for ordinary working visa.

And i think they have signed Bentley as well.

So their starting XI would be?

----------------------Gomes--------------------
Hutton------Woody----King----------Bale
------------------Huddlestone---------------
Bentley--------Modric--------------Dos Santos
-------------Bent----------???---------------

(Under the assumption Berbatov is gone)

It's a decent line-up on paper though I think it will take a bit for time for their mid-field to gel together.

problem is, after that startin 11, it's pretty bland. Just to top things off Jenas has signed an extended contract, Spurs fans must be thinkin can it get any worse

They've got a good lad in the rserves called Terry Dixon, he's only young but he may have to play if they sell Berbatov and don't get another forward in. Arshavin and some other Russian fella look most likely to join, but Spurs have been linked with a host of forwards in european football, Villa, Kanoute, Fabiano, Crouch (at one point) Ashton and Benzema. So maybe it's not gonna be so bad for Spurs. Ramos has made some good signings up to now.

And I think they have signed Bentley as well.

Yes, they have. The move is completed.

Spurs are going to spend 40 m for Arshavin (from Zenit) or as he is called in Zenit "Shava" and Pavlyuchenko (from Spartak). Due to this they lost the interest in Milito.
Spurs want Arshavin, Ramos wants Arshavin, Arshavin wants to Tottenham and only Zenit want a lot of money.

Dixon is a great young lad, abit like Berba but no attitude. He isnt quick at all but good shot and header.

I think they'll start very positively but fall away a tad.

I think spurs have a squad full of quality players- i would even go as far as saying that they are one of the best in the league but what i will also say is that they dont work well with one another. It is an interesting season for them ahead.

last season was meant to be the one were the broke into the top 4 but they failed totally on the league, now they have got rid of alot of 1st team players and possibly more will go i think they will struggle again. they have got ome quality players but like semple said they dont work well together. I also get the feeling Dos Santos and Modric are going to be flops, they have alot of pressure on there shoulders which they are'nt used to, especially dos santos who is still very young

haha so they are like england the hav quality players but dont play together but d.bent looks to be on fore in pre season i think they will do good this season but not top 4 finish

Good article on Spurs from soccernet

Spurs left to plug goals gap

By Norman Hubbard


The cliché is that goals - and by extension, goalscorers - win games, not their suppliers. Tottenham seem intent on putting that long-established theory to the test this season. They may lose a 46-goal strike partnership this summer but Robbie Keane, sold to Liverpool, and Dimitar Berbatov, wanted by Manchester United, could not earn them a top-half finish in the Premier League last year. Exit the goal machines, it seems, and enter the inventors.

Luka Modric, Giovani dos Santos and David Bentley have already joined. If Tottenham, who have left their iconic No. 10 shirt free since Keane's departure, get their way, Andrei Arshavin will follow. There seemed a need for a high-class creator, but Juande Ramos has acquired a surfeit of them. Recruiting Russia's talisman would complete a quartet and highlight the issue of how could they operate together.

Having been so busy in the transfer market, Spurs also appeared to have moved the problem from one department of the team to another. Keane and Berbatov represented arguably the finest strike partnership in England, and certainly the only top-flight duo to both reach the 20-goal landmark in each of the last two campaigns. The midfield, in contrast, prompted much of Ramos' imaginative tinkering.

No central midfield duo could contain Didier Zokora's energy, Tom Huddlestone's distribution and Jermaine Jenas' attacking instincts. No quartet had the requisite blend of resilience and imagination. A revamp results in casualties. Aaron Lennon appeared a source of frustration to his manager, but it may be the winger left irritated; Bentley has supplanted him in the England squad and could replace him on the right flank at White Hart Lane.

Few things remain consistent. A year ago, Spurs possessed perhaps the most envied forward-line in England. Jermain Defoe was sold in January and should Berbatov follow Keane out, the sole survivor will be its least successful member, Darren Bent. While pre-season form is a notoriously unreliable guide, the £16.5million man may be a beneficiary of the sales. The nine goals he scored in a week, albeit against inferior opposition, still exceeds the eight he managed in competitive football last season. While there is talk of Diego Milito, Diego Forlan, Luis Garcia and the outstanding Roman Pavlyuchenko being recruited as Berbatov's replacement, it may be pertinent that Bent's finest form at Charlton came as a lone striker.

The assembly of such a sizeable creative contingent suggests Ramos will struggle to field two. There is talk of the attack-minded 4-3-3. There is a theory, too, that the Spaniard will opt for a 4-4-1-1 formation away from home to reinforce the midfield. Perhaps the likeliest scenario, however, is that he prefers 4-2-3-1, a system that could enable Modric to adopt a central role without forcing the Croatian playmaker into the trenches of the midfield battle. Allow him that more advanced role and discussions as to whether the slight midfielder could adapt to the physicality of the Premier League would be rendered redundant.

It would permit Bentley and the left-footed dos Santos to operate on either side of Modric. Add Arshavin and it is complicated further, however. That could be amended to 4-1-4-1, but then the defensive midfielder risks becoming overworked and as Jenas, who enjoys his forays forward, has been appointed vice-captain, it is safe to assume he plays a prominent role in his manager's plans too. Incorporate all and Ramos risks comparisons to Ossie Ardiles, whose attempts to field five forwards were entertaining but ultimately misguided.

Whatever the system, it certainly represents an ambitious blueprint. It is to Ramos' credit that - unlike in previous summers - he has recruited proven quality. Tottenham's fondness for quantity, sometimes at inflated prices, produced a bloated squad who, belatedly, have been given a dieting regime, aided by Roy Keane's fondness for signing much of their second-string side.

Real Madrid and Barcelona's reserve teams are permitted to compete in the lower leagues in Spain; Tottenham appear to have gone one better by entering theirs in the Premier League, cunningly disguised as Sunderland. With Steed Malbranque, Teemu Tainio and Pascal Chimbonda at the Stadium of Light, Paul Robinson joining Blackburn, Anthony Gardner loaned to Hull and Younes Kaboul on the verge of a move to Portsmouth, an intolerance of mediocrity is being established.

Nonetheless, there is a risk of a shortage of personnel in two key positions, in attack - where an injury to Bent would be problematic - and at centre-back, where Ledley King and Jonathan Woodgate are prone to lengthy absences. Both departments may have been neglected with the focus on midfield, but it may prove telling that pre-season has featured the versatile pair of Zokora and Huddlestone taking their turns in defence.

Moreover, such wholesale changes run the risk of forcing Tottenham into transition. Few clubs spend more seasons in that state, despite their annual commitment to spending. Yet with perhaps half a new team, reshaped and operating a different system with, presumably, an altered ethos to cater for the creators, Spurs need to adapt rapidly if, for once, they are to resemble the finished article.

And, of course, they have to remedy a shortfall of 46 goals. Each of Ramos' flair players should contribute. Dos Santos, whose deft finishing has been a feature of pre-season, is likely to adopt a position furthest up the pitch and is the main candidate to muster most, at least if Arshavin does not arrive.

Precociously skilful as the Mexican is, swift and penetrative as Modric's passing invariably is and expert as Bentley's crosses, corners and free kicks are, a highly-accomplished team should play some excellent football. Yet one question may remain: where are all the goals coming from?