Strike A Striker Deal, Daniel
By: Robert Reed | January 28th, 2013
Whilst watching the cup defeat to Leeds at the weekend, a fact suddenly occurred to me which none of you appear to have picked up on; we could really do with signing a striker before this transfer window closes. Inspired, I know.
‘But,’ I hear the slightly more theatrical of you cry; ’twas ever thus,’ and you have right on your side. Every transfer window we are lamenting the failure to sign a real top forward to cement us in the Champions League places; and why is that? BECAUSE WE NEVER SIGN ONE!
Didn’t we used to be all about the strikers? The rest of the team would be a shambles but we would often be the envy of many opposition fans in the centre forward department. Sheringham would be injured for a few games and the team would perform abysmally, but we were all certain that it would change once we got our Teddy back. That’s the kind of, often misguided, confidence you get from having a class act up front.
Gary Lineker, Teddy Sheringham, Jurgen (son of a German baker!) Klinsmann, Les Ferdinand, Robbie Keane, Dimitar Berbatov….
Dimi left five years ago, and we have patiently (or not so patiently) put up with mediocrity ever since.
Don’t anybody mention Adebayor, please. He did OK as a loan signing, but the world and his wife knew that wouldn’t last. Signing him this season was another cheap skate option, and the wrong option.
Defoe? During his career I’ve heard him described on numerous occasions as an ‘arch poacher’ or a ‘fox in the box’. How did he get to have that kind of reputation? I’m beginning to think he must be really good at killing pheasants because the guy has never scored 20 league goals at any club in his entire career. Who else creased up when AVB compared him to Falcao earlier in the season? Even Harry couldn’t have coined that one with a straight face, and he once compared Thud to Glenn Hoddle!
What the game at the weekend showed was that Dempsey is no centre forward. He can score the odd goal, but he doesn’t know how to perform the role and to the detriment of the entire team. Time and again our midfield would look to make a forward pass, see that old Clint had once again failed to make a run and then either pass it sideways or get caught in possession. Even Huddlestone, who is certainly a guy who likes a forward pass.
I can see why we bought Dempsey. He was cheap (who’d have thought!), has a good attitude and an impressive scoring record from midfield. He strikes me as a handy utility player to have in the squad. What I don’t understand is the apparent decision to swap Rafael van der Vaart for Sigurdsson. Siggy wasn’t particularly cheap at £8 million, and is very clearly a Happy Shopper version of VDV.
When AVB came in with his rumoured liking for 4-3-3, the manager had to be allowed to decide Rafa’s face didn’t fit in his formation. I could even agree, rightly or wrongly.
What we have now though is 4-2-3-1 with a guy floating behind the forward. In that role Rafa oozed class; he unlocked defences, created chances and scored goals. Plus opposition teams were afraid of him. Where we could have had a bit of magic and a slice of the unpredictable we now have a workmanlike presence and a clunky chunk of the very predictable. I despair.
But, what’s done is done and we are where we are. Where we are however, is potentially at a crossroads.
In one direction we sign a striker who is better than those we have, expensive but not ludicrously so (I could make suggestions but that’s what the comments are for), which sees us finish fourth or conceivably even third and achieve Champions League qualification. In the other direction we decide to either buy no striker, or this season’s version of Louis Saha, and quite possibly finish fifth.
Ignore the third direction, there is nothing that way. Actually let’s just say we are at a T junction.
I am not being overly dramatic here. If past evidence is anything to go by Defoe has probably had his good phase of the season and will now nuzzle comfortably into his crappy phase. Either that or go under the knife at some point leaving us with two options; Dempsey or Adebayor.
As I said before, on Sunday’s evidence Dempsey is no forward. So that would leave us all praying that Adebayor doesn’t get injured, or fall out with the manager, or fall out with his teammates, or fall out with the fans, or fall into any of his other numerous pitfalls which includes him just failing to score more often than not.
We know we need a forward, and in spite of what he says AVB knows we need a forward. He can’t say, ‘Yeah I want to buy a striker but Levy’s just being a dick about it.’ George Graham did that in a round about way and his feet didn’t touch the floor.
If we fail to get fourth again this year then Bale is gone next season; the big players we could go for in the summer won’t want to come, and the club will just start to stagnate. Not buying is a false economy for Levy, he’ll be losing money in the long run. Everybody by now has heard the maxim ‘Speculate to accumulate.’ Surely Levy has, hasn’t he?
I’ve stood up for our chairman countless times before now, but even I must concede that his intransigence now has the potential to stifle the growth of the club. It needn’t be that way though, and he can make us all love him. All he has to do is give us a Teddy.
COYS!
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Category: Blogroll, Carling Cup, Champions League, FA Cup, Game Review, Harry Redknapp, Juande Ramos, Premier League, Team News, Transfers, UEFA Cup
Comments | Add your comment
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Van Wolfswinkel. I know he’ll get the piss taken out of him but he’s a good player. Tallish(6′1′) quick and clever. £10m should do it. Shane Long is a good player also, much much better than Defoe and very tough for his size. Cavani or Lewandowski we might as well be talking about signing Van Persie, it could never ever happen. We need to be realistic to avoid disappointment.
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Hi : ). First of all I think Defoe is a class predator and really excelled in the first part of the season where we were playing 1 up and he was the tip of the attacking arrow with bale and Lennon on the wings. He was the most inform striker in the prem all looking rosy then ade was finally fit and over suspension then we had to accommodate him and change our formation etc even tho we had been really successfull ecspecially with the 3-2 win at OT.
I think we should sign a strike who is fairly young but a goalscorer like Defoe but is a bit taller and can hold up the ball, one that can play the loan striker role. Sell ade to Russian or chinese league I’m sure he will love a big wage packet. Levys new strategy I think will be to look at players that are either making a fuss at their current club to leave hence hopefully getting a lower price or players coming into last year of their contract, he would rather do it this way than pay top dollar like 23m for moutinho and he has an eye on their future value if they get hunted by the Barca, real predators. That’s why I can see us bidding for players at teams that are in financial crisis and would accept late bids.
I think Ricky van wolfswinkle at troubled sporting could be a target, Leandro Damaio possibly as internacional are not doing very well and he wants to leave now I think, but deal is complicated with all the 3rd party owners having to agree. I don’t think villa will sell benteke as that would basically relegate them and they can’t be that stupid. I think van wolfswinkle is the best shout has the attributes and great value at 7-10m quoted ..he has the potential to be the next ruud van nisterooj / Huntelaar and only 24.
Going with this same buying formula (holtby was superb business by the way) I think diame at 3.5m would be a great buy great prescence and perfect ability to back up or rotate with Sandro as first choice and a replacement for ageing Parker …that’s only 11m for both spent so far! I’m sorry but huddelstone is woefully out of shape and that ridiculous hair he was the reason we lost to Leeds because of his off the pace midfield performance against a hungry Leeds fa cup up for it team. Sell him to someone Fulham , Sunderland , villa …he will look like cousin IT by the time he scores going on current displays. Also Livermore just hasn’t got the quality, throughout late goal period of conceding it seemed to happen after livermores introduction as substitute. Not blaming him completely but I just think if we’re winning we seem to let one in when he comes on.
I also think rather than Willian which might happen but maybe too pricey but has kicked up a fuss like Belhanda also which is why I believe we should and hopefully will go for Erikssen, he is young, has bags of talent , a great attitude and the Vertongen Ajax connection and we can get for 15m tops worth it and Alderwield who wants to leave Ajax and is vertongen a old centre back partner 10m again …that’s all we need in my opinion also recall rose to rotate. Huddelstone, Livermore, Adebeyour, Jenas , Bentley , Khumalo, Gomes NEED to go now or end of season because they don’t have the quality or attitude. We are doing well I love our manager it’s just this final squad cleanse that needs to happen then the league and CL are legitimate goals achievable in the future. Thanks for reading COYS!
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Thomas Muller is our man! Bring back the german fever.
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What, measles?
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Cavani would be amazing but I cant see Cavani wanting to sign unless were top 4.
This window will really show what Levy is about.The last one was AVBs first, there was alot to do.
Now we’ve seen how the team have developed Holtbys a good addition but he can’t be the only one. Everton, Arsenal and Liverpool are all strengthening.
In the past windows its been reported Levy bid for Soldado and I think negredo along with Aguero(haha) for big money. Now I dont know if that was just for show but both Soldado and Negredo will be available for less now. Both their clubs are broke.I know we’re looking for sell on value but a player in late 20’s who has ice cool proven know how in front of goal would be worth the 10 or so million .Fuck the loss that was reported we’ll lose more missing out on top 4 this year as Robert Reed was saying.In an ideal world I like to hear at the end of the window we have Holtby, Son heung min and either Soldado/Negredo or Lisandro lopez.(that type of striker)
Im fed up with talk of Damaio. He doesnt want to come to Spurs its obvious if he did he’d be in a Spurs kit by now like Sandro who really wanted to leave Brazil and try out London.
I reckon Son heung min will be a better player anyway.I’m talking Bale level of impact and he’s under 10 mill. If Levy doesn’t make a move for this kid he needs his bald head examined. VDV would put a good word in for us Im sure. -
Is every one forgetting about Negredo? he is a class striker and would cost around 15m maybe less i think he is the best option we can go for with the budget, benteke is not a bad player but he cant play for us, Gary Hooper would be a waste of money any half decent player can perform in the spl. Alot of fans hear names that are thrown around and jump on the bandwagon Villa, Llorente, Lewandowski, Cavani, Balotelli??? dont be daft it will never happen lets be realistic! Willian would be a good shout but is Levy really gonna pay the 20m + shaktar want?? i doubt it. A loan move for somebody then a permanenet move for a striker is more likely
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https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BBtIc53CEAE7dDs.jpg:large
The player we are most likely to buy is Willian. I have yet to read about one bid for other striker than Damiao. Do you guys play CM or something? Unless we pay City wages, Three is absolutely no chance of a player taking a paycut to play for us outside theCL.
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The photo is meant as a joke by the way…
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I’m desperate to get Damaio, but sadly have to agree with Brucegrove Bob that if he wanted to come, he’d be here by now. This leaves Levy with a terrible problem. Get a cheap striker in now, as a sticking plaster, knowing full well that you will keen to sell him for a loss in July. I feel a Rasiak moment coming on!
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we need a bonfire. put on naughton, hud, jennas, gommes, bentley, gallas, sigerson etc. and then go out and buy michu for gods sake. levy would probably get the guy for 15 mil
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Wilfred boni ivory coast plays in holland check him out only 10 mill strong as an ox scores goals
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oh and light the bonfire with jake livermoore. these players qpr would snap up surely,and raise funds for one world class top striker! come on levy you tight ass!
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Mr Levy. As a life long fan, frustrated, but loyal, i as many would like to ask that you seriously consider the now, consider the potential, and realise the dream.
we are, as a club, as a family, four, possibly five players away from shocking the premiership. and running ragged over the other nineteen for years to come. look at the age, look at the team, and dream the potential……add to it an we shall achieve…… ignore it an we shall but dream……… now, now now.. DL please
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I’ve got a bad feeling that Levy and Co. got us in the right position to get people talking about us, but will now do everything possible to stop us from going any further. If they keep us in 4th or 5th our club is in a good position to be sold for a huge profit to someone who then wishes to take it further. If they really wanted to secure CL football last season they would have invested properly and not gone on the cheap. People were saying, Levy doesn’t want to invest in Redknapp, which doesn’t make any sense due to the fact that Levy does the buying and if he bought in good versatile players they could play for any manager, or can be sold. There is no excuse for what was done last time round, but we’ll soon see if Levy was saving for this new manager or is he just saving? I think way more money has been made from the sale of players than is spent on new ones, I know it’s a business but there’s a limit to how little you can invest without a poor reaction.
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Fortunately AVB knows a little more than you, mind you so does Levy. We sit 4th and the daft are panicking.
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Couldn’t agree with you more COYS (yet another well written article again). We need a striker desperately (despite AVB saying we don’t), yet I read this morning that we are still looking at another midfielder – WHY ?. We have just spent between 1.5 & 2m on a player who we would have been getting for free in 6 months time – surely that money could have been put towards a striker. I think we should buy a bargain striker now be it the likes of Bentecke, Odemwingle or any body who is a proven goal scoerer in the Premier League, and then when we secure ourselves a place in the Champions League next season, then go out in the summer and get a big name world class striker (and anybody else we might need to make us a stronger & better team – who will be in the Champions League year after year — so come on Mr.Levy open your wallet and do what is best for the club and help us to ensure that we are in the Champions League in the 2013/14 season – the reards will be worth it (financially and attracting world-class players).
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The other day I read a bit of history on DL,and I had to ask myself the question,does he really care about THFC or is it his company and his drive to make more profit.Since he took over we have not achieved anything of note,and for me as a loyal Totts supporter(40yrs) that’s not good enough.Yes we had some quality players,but sold them as soon as we got somewhere.2011 we played CL and things were great,we expected the club to carry on & invest more to keep the momentum upwards,WE FAILED with stupid & waste of money signings,lost 10 points to our arch rivals Ars. which was a hard pill to swallow.2013 we are going the same route,just speculating and no signing.Why do we have to look over our shoulder all the time,and when we are pipped at the finish line we always say,Well there’s always next year.
So Spurs fans u tell me if DL really have the best interest of THFC in his mind,because we will not be having this issues year after year.
We are not a midtable club nor a club that has to struggle to get the best players playing for this club. -
Well, what is evident (apart from Villa away win) is that we don’t possess the killer instinct to finish off teams. We were fortunate against Liverpool (at home) in my opinion and were hanging on away to Man Utd earlier this year – a win is a win but overall you have to agree we don’t score enough goals for the opportunities we create. We should have a much better GD because at the end of the day the gooners will come strong, Everton are still there (expected them to fade by now) and Liverpool despite the FA Cup exit are improving and for me buying Sturridge to combine with Suarez is a nice partnership to form (provided they can keep Suarez).
Berbatov for all his faults had a great understanding with Robbie Keane and this partnership scored many goals and Defoe also chipped in as he was always sharp early in the season – no surprise to see him left out of the squad vs Leeds (he’s simply knackered and needs to recharge).
We managed a couple of 5th places under Jol. Enter Redschnapps after Ramos interlude and we get the likes of Modric playing VDV signing and two 4th places in 3 seasons. Lose Modric, VDV and add mediocre replacements in Sigg, Dembele and Dempsey and we now lack goals from mid-fielders or attacking midfielders – VDV hit the ground running even if unfit, lazy say all you like he scored goals and had that ‘winners’ mentality. Don’t get me wrong Dembele et al are decent players but not year in year out CL players for me (still finding their feet at Spurs). Unless you add something with that extra bit of class we’ll not finish in top 4.
Ade and Defoe don’t seem to gel too well and Bale sometimes is guilty of wanting to do it all himself when better placed players are available. Lennon could chip in with a few more goals too. Overall it’s a little thin on top-class players for the key positions up front is what I’m saying.
My view is to keep the two we strikers we have but as back-up or with the addtional player use rotation better so they are fresh and can support the main guy up front. Goals win games people – we seem to be a little better at the back these days but right now in my view there’s a lot pressure on the current front players because if they fail to score it’s up to Bale, if he fails to score who chips in – hardly anyone! Dempsey is not a natural centre forward, Ade should score with this head more given his height and physique but seems to drift out to the left for some reason – a striker should instinctively now where to be and finish 99 times out of 100 but to do this you need them to be fighting for their place and busting a gut when they get a chance to play!
I agree we are a crossroads/t-junction whatever you want to call it – Holtby may be a good addition (time will tell) but if DL wanted to move in a different direction by replacing Redschnapps with youngblood AVB its time DL backed his manager and clear out the dead-wood if only reduce wage bill and get that class act in NOW! Audere est facere!! COYS
Thanks for reading – bit long I know.
Chris M.
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Did you mention Les freaking Ferdinand? He was one of the worst striker busts we`ve ever had alongside Rebrov….that`s brutal.
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I can’t believe people are shocked and are only just realising hes in it for the profit. Once the stadiums sold Tottenham Hotspur will soon be snapped up. Every transfer window is pretty much the same. Most people feel that at 10 30pm on Thursday kenwyne Jones could be passing a medicAl. I hope this is not the case but theres no point in dreaming of a star man just because the daily star said we bid.
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K. Honda from Moscow please. Amazing CAM with beast of shot and tekkers free kicks (which we miss)
T. Muller would be great but won’t get him from Munich.
Best striker to fit spurs IMO would be bob lewandowski ! Perfect no. 9..
If not try Huntelaar, he also commands a good understanding with Holtby.
If we are aiming high why not Higuain from Madrid? We supposedly have a relationship with them and he’s used as a bit part player behind benzema. Might fancy a shot at prem?
Or more reasonably Keibling from bayern lever. He’s I believe 2nd highest scorer in the division and can operate as a lone striker. -
Just curious, I only stumbled on your blog last summer and I thoroughly enjoy your writing. Is your posting going to be a regular thing or is it a few posts every few months?
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Thank you. I’m aiming to be writing more frequently now, and will be starting my own additional blog for next season. If you follow me on Twitter you will be alerted to when I have written an article
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Levy has missed the boat more than once. While I really hope that levy has realised that its time he got us a proven, quality point man , and I want to have faith in levy but, the truth is, I don’t think he realises. I don’t think he’ll buy Damiao, Lorente, or anyone else who will send a shiver of excitement through any of us. So having faith will come hard to me. Please prove me wrong.
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