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2008/2009 Season Thread


Bigsby

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Spurs made a rash of mistakes in regard to players sold during Ramos' reign. Defoe should never have gone anywhere, we (the supporters) love the man. He's come back and he's already scored 3 goals in 4 games and has been playing very effectively with Pavlyuchenko upfront and provides an alternative to his more physical game. Anyone who saw Pav's pass on to Defoe for his goal tonight against Stoke can't fail to see the potential of their partnership. Defoe's movement and Pav's physicality provide perfect foil for each other in a similar way to the Defoe/Crouch partnership.

Bentley looked miles better tonight and i think he'll have to buck up his ideas as Lennon, unless he makes a permanent shift to left wing (something i think he's capable of if he stops drifting in to the middle so much), will always be snapping at his heels to take his place. Modric looked more confident tonight but he needs to be a lot more consistent and could do with bulking up a little to stop him from buckling every time a challenge comes in. Zokora is a quality player with bags of energy and vision and an engine on him like a muscle car. The boy can not shoot for shit though, he seriously couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with an Exocet missile. If he'd try and use his abilities to get other people on the ball in the last third of the pitch he'd be a complete box to box midfielder.

Cudicini could help bring on Gomes and at least help tame his nerves. I would hate to be handed a Spurs keeper shirt as it's a thankless task, especially in the eyes of the media. For anyone who doubts Cudicini in any form, he was Chelsea's first choice keeper for quite a few seasons before Cech came in and he's managed a fair few games in the premier league (141) since joining Chelsea 10 years ago not to mention Champions League/FA Cup and League Cup runs. He'll add the missing experience between the sticks that we've lacked. Though why Robinson was sold in the first place will always be beyond me.

I'm not sure why Gareth Bale isn't getting the nod over Assou-Ekotto as A-E has looked pretty ropey as well. I think the main problem is the lack of a true left sided forward thinking player. Both Bentley and Lennon cut in a lot when they're playing on the left and leave whoever's playing Left Back very exposed. Given that neither Lennon or Bentley have a propensity for getting back to chip in that leaves a massive problem. An out and out left winger might not leave that middle part of the pitch on the left hand side so empty and not leave Bale or A-E all the work to do and a large area of ground to cover.

I would like to see another central defender in and either a solid midfielder (i think Miguel Veloso would fill both those roles well) or a left winger (not Stewart Downing though). The striker reassessment can wait until the summer when Campbell goes back to Utd and Harry can maybe look seriously at offloading Bent (that miss against Portsmouth was the most criminal thing i've ever seen. He'd have been better running backwards at it as he'd have had more chance of it going in off him by accident). Getting Keane back in is something i don't think will happen and won't help matters at all. In my mind it would always be either him or Defoe and it's Defoe that has a Spurs shirt on his back at the moment.

I'm not a massive fan of Harry as a man, but he's a great manager. It will take time for him to get the best out of the team, but there is the quality there to work with. I'm pretty sure there's no real danger of going down this year. Can't wait for the League Cup final either. Nobody expected a win over Chelsea last year but the Cup came back to the Lane at the end of the day.

My thoughts on Spurz (and your post):

- Zokora's overrated and should be moved on.

- Bentley would make a better left-sided winger than Lennon (you may have meant that), but should be looking to take someone in.

- Bale and Assou-Ekotto are both poor defensively, so perhaps consider Bale as a stopgap for the left side of midfield and look to sign a quality left-back?

- Stewart Downing is perhaps the most overrated player in the last million years.

- Cudicini is a very good goalkeeper and a great signing for Spurs.

- Robbie Keane would bring nothing to the team and should not be re-signed. He has been found out at a higher level and would be a step backwards for Spurs.

- Bent is adequate cover for Defoe, however another quality striker would be a priority in summer.

SUMMARY:

Ditch Zokora, don't sign Downing or Keane, prioritise the signing of a left-back and holding midfielder this window, re-assess in summer.

[EDIT= I should definitely replace Harry Redknapp as manager.]

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Cudicini is/was a great keeper, but my opinion of him is the same of Shevchenko and Shaun Wright Phillips. They just left him to go stale on the bench instead of either making the most of him or selling him on to a team that could utilise him. I think Chelsea were quite bad for this. Shevchenko isn't on the form he was when he was at Milan the first time, but luckily SWP hit the ground running at City and is still a fantastic player. I do actually hope Cudicini manages to obtain a similar bit of luck to SWP.

There's alot of concern over his age which I think is quite bonkers though. With only a few exceptions, the best keepers in the world really hit their prime in their 30's so it's a good signing, considering the fee especially. Even the great keepers in their 20's still lack the experience needed to be world class. I definitely think Joe Hart has the quality to be the best, but he's young; and whilst he can stop shots as good as anyone, his positioning is often quite cringeworthy to watch. He's still yet to grow into a red-faced Peter Schmeichel type presence, and as his confidence comes, he'll start yelling the shit out of his back four. His control of the 18 yard box would really add to his already increasing qualities.

Is Bentley ahead of Lennon in the pecking order for the right wing? If so, that's just mad. Lennon is a fantastic player and whilst Bentley has almost Beckham-like delivery, Lennon's unpredicatble cutting inside is deadly, and a presence like that was sorely missing from the side that lost at Old Trafford at the weekend. They really could have taken advantage of United's defensive injury troubles and the inexperienced Fabio Da Silva at left back, but it's a shame he was sidelined as well.

Despite having a handful of players I like alot - Lennon, Modric, that Russian with the unspellable name, I still have an irrational dislike for Spurs. I think this has increased since Harry joined. I could never stand that guy.

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Loads of wingers rely solely on their pace. From your statement, I don't see how players like Messi or Ronaldo would be exempt from that generalisation. As long as Lennon stays fit, I don't think his pace is going to deteriorate that quickly. Giggs is still playing the game and was playing on the wing right up until this season where he now takes a central role. despite his age, his pace is still blistering and he's clearly ruling the centre of the attacking third. Henry takes a much wider role for Barcalona than he did for Arsenal, and he still has the legs outpace fullbacks. Same goes for Robben at Real. It really is impossible to predict who is going to lose their pace.

Lennon still has enough going for him. He has excellent control and the vision to create space for himself. His chances for England are limited though. Shaun Wright Phillips is more in favour if Capello is wanting a swift, nippy winger. But he tends to go for delivery over speed, and sticks Beckham out there.

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I just haven't ever really seen anything that gives me any indication that Lennon is technically any better than Championship level. I may be being harsh because he's only, what, 21? But time will tell...

You clearly don't see to many Spurs games. He's got great control and he can pick out a great pass or run well ahead of the game. Yes, his main gift is his movement and speed and he's not the world's best crosser of the ball, but there's much more to his game than just that.

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You clearly don't see to many Spurs games. He's got great control and he can pick out a great pass or run well ahead of the game. Yes, his main gift is his movement and speed and he's not the world's best crosser of the ball, but there's much more to his game than just that.

I'm glad you replied 'cause I'm sure you do watch loads more Spurz games than me, and I was interested to hear what you had to say on it.

I just think for a winger, like you say, his crossing isn't as good as it probably should be, and it seems to me that his 'trickiness' all comes from knocking the ball past a player and beating him for pace (think Didier Agathe ;)).

What did you make of my step-by-step guide to making Tottenham great again?

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Loads of wingers rely solely on their pace. From your statement, I don't see how players like Messi or Ronaldo would be exempt from that generalisation. As long as Lennon stays fit, I don't think his pace is going to deteriorate that quickly. Giggs is still playing the game and was playing on the wing right up until this season where he now takes a central role. despite his age, his pace is still blistering and he's clearly ruling the centre of the attacking third. Henry takes a much wider role for Barcalona than he did for Arsenal, and he still has the legs outpace fullbacks. Same goes for Robben at Real. It really is impossible to predict who is going to lose their pace.

Lennon still has enough going for him. He has excellent control and the vision to create space for himself. His chances for England are limited though. Shaun Wright Phillips is more in favour if Capello is wanting a swift, nippy winger. But he tends to go for delivery over speed, and sticks Beckham out there.

Hahaha. Are you meaning by that that Robben is old? Not having a go as its an easy mistake to make, but he's only just turned 25! He really looks like he's at least 10 years older than that though.

I remember when Chelsea signed him and I was wondering how I hadn't really heard of this fucking ace player before he was touted for a move there, considering he looked about 30. Then I found out he was only 21 or something. Mental.

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I think Lennon would be an absolutely brilliant player if his end product wasn't so erratic. Some of his crossing can be really poor, but I guess he's still young and has plenty of time to improve upon that. I also think he lacks the trickery and ingenuity to really get the better of pacey fullbacks; when we played Spuds at SJP in December Jos Enrique matched him for pace the whole match and had the lad in his back pocket. Maybe he just had a bad game, I dunno, but Jos hardly gave him time to breath.

'Arry is hands down the biggest wankstain in the league; even more so than Wenger, I feel. I absolutely hate the way he conducts his transfers through the media; I don't want to use the whole "tapping up" arguement, but it's certainly very distasteful. And did anyone catch his "I'm a better coach than Fergie" quip the other week? That was hilarious.

I am, however, a big fan of his managerial talents. He's probably one of the best managers in the league when it comes to getting the most out of his players. It might be taking him a little time to get them going, but he'll definitely have Spuds up where they should be sooner or later, as much as it pains me to admit it.

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Boruc's penalty was completely immense. I thought Zaluska's was good, but Boruc well and truly humped that idea!

Good to see Craig Bellendamy scoring on his debut (the first time he's done so in about 8 million attempts!), and Robinho putting his touchy touchy arrest aside to provide a great assist for SWP :up:

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