Spurs article: Rumour whoring

By Sunshine
November 25 2004

Let’s face it, there’s no chance of second guessing what Arnesen is going to do in the transfer market. We don’t know how much money he’s got to spend and we don’t know what his intentions are.

The press are rife with rumours about Birmingham preparing a £7m bid for Keane, Spurs being after Portsmouth’s Yakubu in a deal which would see Kanouté move in the opposite direction as a makeweight and, last but not least, Defoe being on Mourinho’s post-Xmas shopping list for an absurd amount of wedge.

…and that’s just our striking department.

In midfield, our need for quality, proven wingers is starkly apparent. Davies is so out of sorts he barely makes the bench, ‘forcing’ Jol to play Mendes out of position (great show of faith in our youngsters Ricketts, Dilevski and Yeates, by the way), whilst over on the left, a ‘barely-back-to-fitness’ full back, Atouba, waltzes straight back into the first team against Villa in that wide midfield berth.

It doesn’t take a scientist to work out that something is very seriously wrong.

This summer, with Carrick, Davis and Mendes in the middle, I was quite sure we were well covered, but with Davis out injured and Mendes thrown out onto the right flank, Carrick (who is yet to settle in that most delicate of roles which is playmaking) is left to hold the fort with Brown, who is an attacking midfielder and who, despite his truly admirable levels of effort, isn’t really Premiership quality…at least, not for where we would like to be in the Premiership. The alternative would be for Jol to pick Redknapp, but he doesn’t seem over enthusiastic about our captain, as not picking him even with Davis sidelined and Mendes out on the right suggests.

So, wingers are very much on the cards when the transfer window re-opens. Great, but who?
Well, the press are linking the club with the likes of Wilhelmsson (lefty, who can also play on the right), Andy Reid and Routledge (who will be out of contract in the summer). Goodness knows.

In defence, snipers are already taking pot shots at Naybet, despite his unique (in our squad at least) organisational skills making the Spurs defence a much more serious outfit than what we’ve been used to for many a year. Our Moroccan stalwart has not been playing well over the last few weeks, a period which coincided (incidentally?) with his strict observance of Ramadan. Just to clear up any misunderstandings, Naybet was perfectly up front on this issue on joining the club and even admitted that it’s physical implications affect his performances. He has every right to follow his religion and it is the manager’s choice whether to select him or not for games during this period.

It would be foolish and unfair to suggest that our recent defensive frailties were just down to Naybet’s dip in form. Perhaps even more significantly, our entire first choice left flank (Edman and Atouba) were out injured and it became quite plain to see that neither Gardner, nor Jackson were up to the task of replacing them. We got to see young Ziegler in action and although he did well, he’s only a teenager and his presence still left one position unsatisfactorily filled.

Over on the right, Pamarot has come in for a bit of stick due to his clumsiness, especially in the game against AFC. True, Pamarot is not the deftest player I’ve ever seen, but he too is new to the club and new to the league – I’d suggest he be given time to iron out the more naïve aspects of his game and settle into the environment at WHL a bit more. He’s a solid, if not brilliant, defender and I think he can do a sterling job for us until Kelly or Ifil have enough experience to make the right back position their own.

In goal we have probably the most on form keeper in the Premiership, so no issues there.

So what are my points?

The defence is ok as it is (especially now Davenport has been recalled to the club), the keeper is one of our few saving graces, the midfield desperately needs a couple of quality wingers and…I wouldn’t be against changing every one of our strikers if the money was right.

I know, I know, nobody wants to see Defoe leave and nor do I. The fact is he and Keane do not complement each other, so in an ideal world, one of them has to warm the bench and I can’t see either of them being happy about that. One of them has to go. In fact, both could go.

If Chelsea stump up the silly money being spoken about for Defoe (at least as much as they shelled out for Drogba), then it would be silly not to let him go (he’d also probably start stamping his feet if he got a whiff of a chance to play CL football as early as the beginning of 2005).

Keane is aplayer that WHL loves, despite the limitations which by now are obvious to the majority of objective fans: He’s never going to become a world class player. He has the potential, but it’s not panning out that way. If Steve Bruce were to come in with a solid offer (around the sum we paid for him when he came from Leeds), then I’d let the Irishman move on to his next destination…with regret, but with the firm belief that we were doing the right thing.

Now we come to Kanouté. Crikey, has this guy got potential! Still only 26, 6ft 4, good control, deceptive pace, good in the air and the ability to stick out a gangly leg to get to the ball before an opposition player does. The problem with Freddi is psychological. He doesn’t realise he has the ability and the characteristics to dominate defences. If he had one tenth of Batistuta’s determination, he’d be world class (and playing for France, instead of Mali). Kanouté lacks the killer instinct and, by his own admission (allegedly), has difficulty in motivating himself for certain games. As much as it pains me to say so, if he’s the key to getting Yakubu from Portsmouth, then he too should be winging his way out of White Hart Lane (£5m plus Kanouté should do the trick).

So, if I had my way, we’d see 3 strikers leave and only one (so far) join up. One, true, but what a striker! Does what a good striker should do: Puts the ball in the net with enviable frequency. Every team needs at least one of those.

One striker and a shed load of wonga. There’s lots you can do with a healthy bank account in today’s transfer market (though forwards tend to cost a lot more). One thing Spurs could do is find a partner for the new man who actually complements him. My choice would be Ernesto Chevanton, currently with Monaco and predecessor of Bojinov (the Bulgarian wonderkid) at Lecce last season. The man from Uruguay moved to Monaco for £6m and since the French club have embarrassing riches in attack, I’m pretty sure a bid of £8m would do the trick. Failing that, I’d stay in Montecarlo and raid the same club for Kallon, a striker who learnt his trade in Serie A from a very young age and who is still in his early twenties.

Yakubu and Chevanton up front would be an awesome pairing, in my opinion. Unfortunately, I have my doubts that two forwards would be enough for the rest of the season, so I’d also bring in Carlton Cole from Chelsea (via Villa) as a makeweight in the Defoe deal. He may not be the bees knees, but as back up to Yakubu, he’s more than adequate. Last, but not least, we’d need a fourth choice attacker. I’m not really bothered about this one, so I’d wait until the end of the season and, should they get relegated, I’d knock on Palace’s door for Johnson. He’s a goalscorer and I don’t think his ego would impede him from accepting a role as understudy at a club which, by then, should really be showing signs of going places (nice places, hopefully).

Finally, to the midfield. Much as I’d like to see Andy Reid at Spurs, the idea of teaming up Edman with his Swedish flank ‘partner’, Wilhelmsson, intrigues me even more. The state of Belgian football is such that I doubt a firm offer for the winger would be turned down, especially if he too starts making noises about wanting to move clubs (and earn much, much more than he does currently).

Over on the right Spurs need to pull out all the stops and get someone who will truly provide an outlet to the creativity of the central midfielders (Carrick in particular, if he gets the nod ahead of Mendes). The man on the right flank needs to be hard working, too. Wright-Phillips would be a good acquisition, but I think that if he does move, it won’t be to Tottenham. Routledge would be ok, but I think we need someone who really will make a big difference. Someone who’s mere name instils confidence. Time to go Dutch, methinks. I could be wrong, but I don’t think Andy Van der Meyde is having a great time at Inter. He’s been poor since joining them in 2003, but seems to be improving under the new manager, Mancini. I’ve seen him play badly, but I’ve also seen him in unstoppable form. He’s not very defensive minded, being more used to playing in a wide attacking role as part of a front three, but his 18 months (so far) in Serie A will have taught him at least the basics of getting back to defend. Were he to become available (and it wouldn’t be the first time that we’ve dealt with Inter), then I’d take a gamble and invest a few million in the lad. He, too, is still quite young and has the potential to do very well indeed in the Premiership, from what I’ve seen of late.

Do I sound like a broken record? Thought so….

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