Toby Alderweireld

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Raoul

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I disagree with this. Our CBs hinder our build up play massively. Smalling gets deserved stick for this but outside of Bailly and sometimes Lindelof, our other options in Jones and Rojo are simply poor and/or risk averse.

I've lost count of the amount of times when one of them has the ball and refuses to bypass a square ball to their partner to make a direct pass to the FB on the opposite side of the field who is standing in acres of space. These are not difficult passes and ones I see made by CBs at top clubs routinely. This slows up our build up and the additional pass which needs to happen often means our FBs, who are also problematic in possession/attack, are closed down without space to advance the ball.

Additionally Smalling, Jones and Rojo are all reticent or unable to do anything in possession aside from playing square passes or directly to Matic, Pogba or Herrera when they drop on top of them to collect the ball. It's a major source of our issues and affects our entire structure as players drop deeper and deeper to get involved in the build up play.

I'm not saying Toby fixes all of these issues, but his quality on the ball is so far ahead of anybody we have currently and defensively he's at least par with whomever you want to say is our best. As long as he's not in physical decline he's a clear cut upgrade over what we have and, imo, a necessary one.

The next step, if we were to sign Toby, is to then sell Jones or Rojo.
We would have to sell at least one of our current lot as otherwise we would have 6 CBs (7 if Tuanzebe comes back) going into next year.
 

Kostov

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I remember this. Smalling too lost the header to Kompany's goal when we played City (he got a nod in later, mind).

Also agree re. Vertonghen but I think Toby is more of an all rounder than what we have and has a better injury record to Jones in the very least. A steadfast consistent CB pairing is probably why Jose is in the transfer market.

I do agree with anyone who has a view that we don't really need another CB. We managed one of fewest goals conceded in the last 4 seasons and that's not ALL David De Gea's doing. But in any case we're in the market for one and I wouldn't look much further than Alderweirald from those available.

£75m is a fecking stupid fee though, I'd be pissed to pay that much regardless of how much we can afford.
Toby will definitely improve our defense, but as you said not for 75m, if we are to spend that much I'd rather we do it on Koulibaly for example, who is younger and to date even better injury record.

Look at how Spurs’s defence and Vertonghen improved as soon as he went there. And no defender loses every challenge they go in for. I’d be more concerned if he had a history of stupidity and brain farts like our Dumb and Dumber.
Spurs defense obviously improved with him, it's simple logic you have two very good CBs, compared to whoever was partnering Vertonghen before. I'm not sure about his history of brain farts, but he never really came into attention until his Spurs days, which is very interesting.
 

VP89

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It's a bit odd stat that, goals scored with and without a defender. Interesting, il have to look at who these 13 games were against.
It's got me curious now. Annoying there are articles from Guardian or Skysports etc. on it.

Best I have for other new info is the COYS subreddit which actually a smaller sample & refers to the season before last (but it still points to his value as a defender).

https://www.reddit.com/r/coys/comments/5edqjx/spurs_record_this_season_with_and_without/

This one highlights which games, too.
 

dove

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That's part of it, but I have my doubts it has anything to do with our CBs and more to do with the lack of a proper holding player and higher quality FBs.
Yeah I agree fullbacks should be top priority this summer, I would even say RB is a bigger priority compared to LB.
 

Cassidy

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We would have to sell at least one of our current lot as otherwise we would have 6 CBs (7 if Tuanzebe comes back) going into next year.
Sell or play 3 at the back
 

Idxomer

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I agree that our fullbacks need upgraded first, they are as guilty as the defenders in slowing our build-up play from the back, they take too many touches and spend a lot of time on the ball and at the end they either pick a simple pass to the nearest midfielder or hoof it up the pitch to no one in particular.
 
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Gbenger

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If we pay anything more than £35m for a CB considering our budget and the positions we have to fill, then we are mugs.

Attack is our problem FFS.
 

ehsanul

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I think his injury record is a myth,he hasn't been injured that often.His injury last year was a one off incident so i don't think we should be worried about his injury history.
 

JMack1234

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I'm desperate for Alderweireld, but whenever I see these rumours I just think to myself 'we've spent £65 million on two centre backs and we're starting Jones and Smalling in a cup final AND we're in the market for another centre-back'
 

Cathy Ferguson

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I'm desperate for Alderweireld, but whenever I see these rumours I just think to myself 'we've spent £65 million on two centre backs and we're starting Jones and Smalling in a cup final AND we're in the market for another centre-back'
Toby is proven in the PL and has shown a good consistency over several years. Lindelöf and Bailly are younger and were brought in for their potential. Toby is rock solid if he can stay free of injury, he is on another level compared to those two.
 
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I think his injury record is a myth,he hasn't been injured that often.His injury last year was a one off incident so i don't think we should be worried about his injury history.
It is a myth, people have a weird habit of repeating false information over and over again.
 
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If we pay anything more than £35m for a CB considering our budget and the positions we have to fill, then we are mugs.

Attack is our problem FFS.
The ball doesn't just go from De Gea straight to Lukaku, it starts from defence first then into midfield. At the moment we struggle to do that because our CBs aren't able to bring the ball forward.
 

Sultan

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Toby is one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League without question. Someone who can actually both defend and play football. However, age is not on his side. I hope we don't get mugged. Anything over 35-40 Million would be mad. It's not our money but reduces the budget on players we need to cover other positions.
 

Sultan

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Jose is wanting experienced players here and now. The problem will come when he leaves with a massively ageing squad.
 

cyberman

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If we pay anything more than £35m for a CB considering our budget and the positions we have to fill, then we are mugs.

Attack is our problem FFS.
We can't defend properly if it's not in a block.
Its why we play better v too sides when we go a goal down. The opposition drop a little deeper to hit us in the break which allows us to push further forward.
We need the quality in defence to push forward when the opposition aren't taking a back step. We need to be able to play against the press.
The foundations behind our attack just isn't there at the moment.
 

cyberman

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Jose is wanting experienced players here and now. The problem will come when he leaves with a massively ageing squad.
With Toby, Matic and Sanchez we have 3 players even approaching 30 in our starting 11 ( hopefully Valencia and Young are displaced)
Our squad isn't old! Its par for the course. City even have older, more important players than we would have!
 

Bojan11

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Jose is wanting experienced players here and now. The problem will come when he leaves with a massively ageing squad.
To be fair this is the position where we need a experienced player. I’m more concerned about his fitness.

It wouldn’t be a bad deal if we sign him for £50m and sell Jones for maybe £20m. I’m sure some suckers would pay that much for Jones.
 

Nick7

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To be fair this is the position where we need a experienced player. I’m more concerned about his fitness.

It wouldn’t be a bad deal if we sign him for £50m and sell Jones for maybe £20m. I’m sure some suckers would pay that much for Jones.
Why would we sell Jones over Rojo?
 

AKDevil

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Toby will definitely improve our defense, but as you said not for 75m, if we are to spend that much I'd rather we do it on Koulibaly for example, who is younger and to date even better injury record.


Spurs defense obviously improved with him, it's simple logic you have two very good CBs, compared to whoever was partnering Vertonghen before. I'm not sure about his history of brain farts, but he never really came into attention until his Spurs days, which is very interesting.
Was at Ajax, Atletico and Southampton before. In interests of balance, think he wasn’t that impressive at Atletico who also had plenty of options at CB hence him being allowed to join Southampton initially on loan IIRC.
 

haram

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Jose is wanting experienced players here and now. The problem will come when he leaves with a massively ageing squad.
Pogba, Bailly, Lukaku, Lindelof and Fred are all 25 or younger though.
 

SBD

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If we are buying this lad and not selling either one of Jones and Smalling, there's a possibility that we could be playing a back three for some stretches next year. If that's the case, there's a possibility Pogba might be dropped when we revert to a back three.

However, considering Conte is leaving, the possibility of that happening is small as I don't think Sarri would play a back three.

For what is worth, I do not think Toby is worth the quoted price or anything above 40m. The pressing concern for us is a RB considering our attack is always lopsided to the left. There's always plenty of vacated space on the right screaming to be exploited.
 
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Akshay

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If we are buying this lad and not selling either one of Jones and Smalling, there's a possibility that we could be playing a back three for some stretches next year. If that's the case, there's a possibility Pogba might be dropped when we revert to a back three.

However, considering Conte is leaving, the possibility of that happening is small as I don't think Sarri would play a back three.

For what is worth, I do not think Toby is worth the quoted price or anything above 40m. The pressing concern for us is a RB considering our attack is always lopsided to the left. There's always plenty of vacated space on the right screaming to be exploited.
What do Conte and Sarri have to do with this?
 

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I think his injury record is a myth,he hasn't been injured that often.His injury last year was a one off incident so i don't think we should be worried about his injury history.
Also worth noting that his "injury" this season was more likely to be one of the symptoms of a player indicating he want to leave under Pochettino. He makes is quite clear (and has oft repeated) that anyone who doesn't want to be at the club is not likely to find himself first on the teamsheet.

Kyle Walker had the same mystery "injuries" after he asked to leave in March last year.
 

LilyWhiteSpur

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Also worth noting that his "injury" this season was more likely to be one of the symptoms of a player indicating he want to leave under Pochettino. He makes is quite clear (and has oft repeated) that anyone who doesn't want to be at the club is not likely to find himself first on the teamsheet.

Kyle Walker had the same mystery "injuries" after he asked to leave in March last year.
What? No doubt from March onwards he was dropped to the bench, but his injury wasn't fabricated.
 

ArmchairCritic

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Best age for a CB is their late 20s and early 30s. Godin and Ramos are two of the very best about and they are both 32. They've got all the errors out of their system and have the right balance of experience and physical attributes to play at a good level consistently. No idea why people are worried about his age, we've needed some experience at the back since Vidic and Rio left.
 

cjj

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What? No doubt from March onwards he was dropped to the bench, but his injury wasn't fabricated.
Pretty much every other key player comes straight back from injury. Walker/Alderweireld took much longer, and both were pretty much objecting to the fact that they were 'injured' as long as was claimed.

Walker being on the bench was almost always reported as 'minor injuries' like a foot/knee knock. It's a Pochettino thing - it's rare that anyone is dropped without it being blamed on injury, conveniently after discipline-related issues.
 

Sparky Rhiwabon

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Best age for a CB is their late 20s and early 30s. Godin and Ramos are two of the very best about and they are both 32. They've got all the errors out of their system and have the right balance of experience and physical attributes to play at a good level consistently. No idea why people are worried about his age, we've needed some experience at the back since Vidic and Rio left.
To be fair, Smalling, Jones and Rojo all have plenty of experience, they're just not that good!
 

Garethw

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Jose is wanting experienced players here and now. The problem will come when he leaves with a massively ageing squad.
Yep, I’ve been saying this for months and have been slapped down by the Mourinho can do no wrong brigade.
 

Cassidy

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Yep, I’ve been saying this for months and have been slapped down by the Mourinho can do no wrong brigade.
You do realise 50% of his signings to date have been under 25 and younger. Also it looks like our first signing of the summer may be 25 and we were also chasing a 22 year old highly rated CM

I don't even like Jose, but this age of signings stick we keep beating him with is bullshit
 

charlenefan

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People cant have it both ways, you cant demand instant success and players who'll be here for 10 years

Besides assuming they stay the future is covered with the likes of Lindelof, Rashford, Martial, Pogba, Fred, Bailly
 

SBD

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He played a back 4 in the FA Cup final :confused:
It was a back four on paper.

When we attacked, both fullbacks moved up and Ander went back and form a back three. That's also why we saw Jones being positioned where he was before he conceded the penalty - on the far left.
 
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Gordon S

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People cant have it both ways, you cant demand instant success and players who'll be here for 10 years

Besides assuming they stay the future is covered with the likes of Lindelof, Rashford, Martial, Pogba, Fred, Bailly
Perhaps the posters that wants us to focus on younger players understands that it will take some time before we become successful?
 

Scroto Baggins

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Reckon he'll end up signing a new contract with their new stadium and all.
He wants more money than Spurs are offering on his new contract. He realises he has one last big contract in him so he wants 180k a week, Spurs have put 130k a week plus bonuses on the table which he hasnt signed. Id imagine the only people who will be on around 180k or more will be Kane and Eriksen when the new contracts are sorted. Kane's contract was rumoured to be around the 200k mark when they move into the new stadium.
 

Catt

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He wants more money than Spurs are offering on his new contract. He realises he has one last big contract in him so he wants 180k a week, Spurs have put 130k a week plus bonuses on the table which he hasnt signed. Id imagine the only people who will be on around 180k or more will be Kane and Eriksen when the new contracts are sorted. Kane's contract was rumoured to be around the 200k mark when they move into the new stadium.
But the new stadium will make up for lower wages :)
 
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