7 Days Left, Is There Still Work To Do?

The transfer window for clubs in the English Premier League closes shut at 11pm on Friday 30th August.

Whilst Tottenham Hotspur have done a decent job so far, certainly of moving on players that Ange Postecoglou doesn't think fit into his system I still have concerns over the recruitment.

Again, credit must be given for bringing in Dominic Solanke, a direct replacement for Harry Kane who left for Bayern Munich a year ago. By the standards of our owners, this is quite a quick reaction. For example, Michael Carrick left for Manchester United in 2006 for £18m (two years after buying him for £2.5m) and it took them 6 years to replace him with Moussa Dembele who cost £15m. Okay, so we played a whole season using either an out of position Son or an often unfit Richarlison in the place of arguably the best centre forward in Europe but it was enough to get the club into Europe's second best competition for this season.

It also appears that the current policy is based on signing young players, some of whom may go straight into the the first team as opposed to players for the 'here & now'.

Gray (18), Bergvall (18), Yank Min-hyuk (18) coming in January & Odebert (19) are the only other arrivals. 



This is all well and good because just maybe every other club in the Premier League won't attempt to improve their first team over the next couple of years and in three seasons time a Spurs side with a 28 year old Romero at the  back, a 21 year old Gray and Bergvall running the midfield and a Mikey Moore / Will Lankshear inspired forward line will fire us to our first title in nearly seventy years.

Unfortunately we have to play football in the real world and there are genuine concerns for me that need to be addressed before the window shuts. In order of importance:




Cover for Left Back. If Odogie gets injured / suspended its back to either Davies (not suited to the system), Spence (a right back playing out of position) or worst of all, moving Van der Ven or Dragusin from centre back to the left hand side.

A Number Six. Bissouma started last season like a house on fire and if he could get back to that level he could make the position his own but even if he did he cannot play every game (especially if we go against all recent evidence and have a good crack at the the league and go further in the cups / Europe than last year). Maybe Gray will be the natural successor in that position but I'd like to see an experienced player (Locatelli?) brought in for a couple of seasons to help that transition.



Back-up Keeper. The thought of any injury or even suspension to Vicario leaves me cold. It means either 'steady Eddie' Fraser Forster, a decent keeper completely unsuited to the playing out from the back that we do or one of our inexperienced younger keepers that seem to have been around the club since year dot. Oh for the days of a Michel Vorm style replacement.

I appreciate that the owners have already spent a fair whack of cash in this window. However of course there have been quite a few very high wage earners removed from the books in the last year. Kane, Lloris, Dier, N'Dombele to name a few. Spurs now have the lowest wage to turnover ratio in the Premier League at 46%. They're always happy to boast of any new business related highs that they hit and have laughingly just been named the best run club in England despite the highest ticket prices, highest shirt prices and the lack of silverware.



I am by nature a middle aged moaner. Like me, there are people who were lucky enough to be there at The Lane for the second leg against Anderlect in the 1984 UEFA Cup Final when a team shorn of Hoddle and Clemence and with an only partially fit Ardiles won the competition, our third European trophy bettered only at the time by Liverpool. I was also at Wembley in 1991 to see our eighth FA Cup win against Notts Forest. At the time it put us ahead as the most successful club in that competition. A record long since eclipsed.


Although I hope Spurs can do something this season I don't have any expectation whatsoever. This is a combination of having to compete with clubs that have systematically cheated financially over a period of years plus our own poor management decisions spread over a long time that have left the club well behind their peers on the field. However, if they're to carry on year on year increasing income both from supporters pockets and from ever more concerts at the stadium and commercial deals the supporters must keep the pressure on the owners to invest in the squad with same level of enthusiasm that they show when the annual financial figures are published.

  


 



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