This article is not about what team we should be playing next week or even the best XI players at the club but the best team to go out and win matches/
Lloris
walker kaboul verts rose
sandro paulinho
lamella eriksen sigurdson
soldado
GK and LB really do pick themselves and walker whilst he has faced criticism this season has been deccent and has a far better game than naughton. At CB vertonghem is obviously our first pick at the moment and whilst I do feel dawson is a very good professional who works hard kaboul when fit is at another level.
For me we need a DM who can boss the midfield and win the ball back at DM and whilst dembele has been really good lately I just think sandro is better at this ( thus showing our strength in depth). At CM paulinho has been class and has a lampard esque about him in getting into the right positions and whilst he is not putting them away the goals will come. Again dembele can compete for this position I just feel paulinho will get more goals and assists than dembele.
AM again to an extent picks itself with eriksen being class whilst there also being good competition in this area with holtby back up.
At RW Lamella is a class act and as he becomes accustomed to the league he will become a very important player and at LW sigurdson's finising has been suplime. However the fact that sigurdson and Lamella are both inverted wingers who like to come in this raises the question do we lack width with them both in the side. Whilst Lamella and Sigurdsson are definitely are 2 best wide players at the club ( lamella on potential and sigurdsonn on form) would we lack balance to the team and therfore need to include someone with a ffar greater ability to hug the touchline ie townsend or lennon ( lennon adds even more width whilst townsend offers more goals whilst having a reasonable amount of width in the team). If AVB was to share this belief then sigs would be the one to make way in the long term as lamella has just got it. Meaning either Lamella go's to his older position of LW ( risky for a 30 million pound investment) or townsend/ lennon go to the left. I'm in two minds between leaving sigs out for one of townsend or lennon as I think about goals a lot.
I also feel when both are full backs are fit we do not lack width as they both almost act as LW and RW at times. Not having the finicial ability to watch the match's live im almost bamboozled when folk say walker has been mediocre because he has always looked a real threat going forward same as rose( this would give us continued width) when I watch MOTD ( I know its not the same as the real match). Btw walkers stats are not too shabby either having made 14 tackles with a success rate of 71.4% compared to rose making 10 at 60% SR and dawson making 8 at a 75% success rate and vertonghem ( many posters highest rated defender) has only made 4 at a 75% SR.
To be honest I wouldn't mind if we went for 2 inverted wingers or included one of townsend and lennon showing our strength in depth but I think with our attacking wing Backs making runs forward width should be fine and we will score a hell of a lot of goals with sigs and Lamella in the side.
Finally to CF position whilst defoe has been banging them in soldado should remain in the team. He is the same as lamella in the fact he is becoming accustomed to a new style and culture and needs time to find his feet. Both he and lamella are proven goalscorers and dropping him now will ruin his confindence in the same way torress lost his and started to hate the game. We've just spent 26 million on the guy and AVB needs to hold his nerve with him and not waste levy's investment. If AVB does this we should start to see the rewards in November/ December.
By November/ December time I feel all our new signings and players coming back for injury will really start to gel and we should start seeing us banging them in. Remember 6 of the 10 outfield players played no part last season ( well kaboul had 1 game) and sandro was out from January and sigs was a bit part player last season. Leaving just vertonghem and walker as our only consistent first team players from last season.
Remember this is a discussion forum and will take no offence if you take a completely different view of who should be in the team nor should anyone else with 20 odd good players in this squad all deserving of a place
Best XI
posted on 29/9/13
Whoops... Just displayed a 'we are' phenotype
posted on 29/9/13
Analog...
i would actually be eager to see what Lamela can do operating from the centre... but i think his game is built to play from the right...
posted on 29/9/13
Where did Baldini say that? Hargreaves was just mumbling on about number 10s.
posted on 29/9/13
Clearly he's been brought in to replace Bale's goal threat from the right...
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But Bale didn't play from the right too often, so this wouldn't be accurate either...
posted on 29/9/13
He said something along the lines of Lamela being our best #10
posted on 29/9/13
Lamela may be better at 10 than eriksen but lamela is afar greater option on the wing than eriksen. Should one or both of eriksen and holtby get injured we have good options
posted on 29/9/13
Ginger that's right, but a lot of his goals came from there. If you watch his goals from last season Lamela can cut it and hit them in a very similar way. Neat passing, control, and a burst of pace to go with it.. he should be starting big games over Townsend IMO. I wouldn't play him in the middle as Eriksen and Holtby both seem to excel playing through the middle.. great problem to have
posted on 30/9/13
Analog.. haven't heard the Baldini quote but Hargreaves was making the point that the three most talent number 10s were not playing - Willian, Mata, Lamela.
He also made a good point in that they're expected to be midfielders these days. I guess Jose sees that as an issue with Mata. Sometimes its complicated.. going by Lamela's brief record with Roma he scores more than he creates.. he's so young it's hard to tell.
Obviously AVB has stuck with playing him on the right so far, Townsend getting hooked yesterday might be his way in. What, has happened to Lennon?
posted on 30/9/13
I've mentioned this before, Ossie was talking about it in the OS....
http://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/ossieand39s-lamela-dream-040913/
Ossie's Lamela dream
Ossie Ardiles admits to an increasing sense of excitement as he assesses the growing strength of the Spurs first team squad.
And, hardly surprisingly, it is the arrival of his fellow countryman Erik Lamela that’s put a big smile on his face.
Ardiles, our former player, manager and Argentina international, was the real pioneer when it comes to the import of overseas players when he joined Spurs with World Cup-winning partner Ricky Villa in July, 1978.
Ossie’s been following Lamela’s career since the Buenos Aires-born attacking midfielder made an early breakthrough at home town club River Plate. And he is convinced that the man known as Coco has found his spiritual home at White Hart Lane.
Ossie sums him up thus: “He’s a brilliant player. Of all the really top players Tottenham have bought for this season, he is the one that excites me the most.
“And not at all becomes he too comes from Argentina! It’s simply because of the way he plays. He’s a different type of player; to my mind a real Spurs player.
“These days you could describe a lot of players as manufactured. But not Lamela. He is a natural – and very talented. He is also extremely mature in his game for his age.
“He made his debut at a very young age at a big club like River Plate. And he coped very well with the obvious pressure in what was a traumatic season for the club as they were relegated under the format of the Argentina Primera that takes into account the form of each club over the past three seasons.
“Then the move to Roma – and we all know how difficult it is to play in Serie A. Despite his youth – and remember he’s only 21 now – he had a good record there. He showed his resolve and there is something extra about him as he approaches his football from a very different angle.
“He is never predictable in his play; he’s much more subtle than that. I would sum him up as very skilful at pace.
“In Argentina he was seen as a traditional number 10. And only the very special players achieve that acclaim. He can play in that crucial creative area behind the main striker; as an attacking midfielder or more to the left which he has done with success.
“All in all he is very talented. True, like all the new arrivals, he’ll need a bit of time to adjust to the pace of the Premier League. But he’ll do that and he’ll do it well. It’s great to have him here and I’m excited about the immediate future at Tottenham."
posted on 30/9/13
“In Argentina he was seen as a traditional number 10. And only the very special players achieve that acclaim. He can play in that crucial creative area behind the main striker; as an attacking midfielder or more to the left which he has done with success."
That is the bit relevant.
Totti also said Lamela was his natural heir.
To use another example but the other way, Modric was a CM, but played his first season for us mainly at LM. It doesn't mean he wasn't a natural CM any more, but that he could play in both positions.
He sounds like a #10 that can also play wide . Seeing as we are shorter wide he will probably play there for us for the short-term