A few days ago I put an article together covering the Tottenham defence and who we should sell or keep, which you can read here and it is now appropriate to follow up with one on the Tottenham midfield.
Tottenham suffered yet another defeat yesterday, this time at the hands of high flying billionaire playthings Man City in a game riddled with yet more individual errors and while the midfielders were not the worst in that match, they were hardly setting the world alight either.
Pierre-Emile Hobjerg – keep
It is a little worrying that mistakes are now creeping into the Danes game but overall he has been a great signing and I am confident he will be a rock in the Spurs midfield for years to come.
Harry Winks – sell
He has his moments but overall he is not a top-six midfielder, I would not argue with those that claim he is actually Championship quality but he could probably do a job with the likes of West Brom but certainly not us.
Moussa Sissoko – sell
Not as poor as Winks for sure but neither is he good enough for Tottenham, his decision making going forward is very suspect, he lacks creativity and is not the best tackler, simply not the standard we need.
Tanguy Ndombele – keep
He can be brilliant, we all see that but we also see that his stamina is very questionable and I hate to say this but he comes across as very soft, however, his positives outweigh his negatives and hopefully he will continue to adapt and progress.
Giovani Lo Celso – keep
One of our best creative players, he shows passion and Spurs are a different side when he is playing, I am a great fan of the Argentine and hope he stays with us for many years to come.
Dele Alli – sell
Could be argued that he is a forward but I see him more as an attacking midfielder and will keep him on this list. Absolutely sell, I find him toxic, self-centred, lazy and not that good a player any more. He was once, but not now and he needs to move on.
Erik Lamela – sell
Similar to Alli in deciding whether he is a forward or midfielder and for me he is more the latter. I was once a fan of Lamela but he is just too inconsistent, he has the odd moment but they are few and far between, he loses the ball too often, commits too many fouls and don’t get me started on his passing.
Conclusion
I was tempted to include Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn in this category as it can be argued that they are attacking midfielders in the same vein as Lamela and Alli but both are wingers really and so I will hold them back for when I do the forwards.
As you can see, from the seven players I have included four need to be sold in my opinion and just three kept, that may go some way to explaining the lack of creativity and forward-thinking in the squad. There simply is not enough quality in the centre of the park and that will hamper Jose Mourinho until an overhaul has taken place.
These are just my personal opinions and I look forward to reading the comments and what others think. Remember this is a subjective opinion so be kind with your feedback.
Everyone else is a keeper?
Have you fing watched Tottenham?
The market value of virtually all players has dropped significantly, which should mean we can buy at more realistic prices, well maybe.
A decent read that Bruce.
I am concerned now I have read 2 different reports of Winks being a problem off the field.
Jose seems to like Lamela, so moving him on may not be a priority just yet. Lucas may be in a similar situation, and the same goes for Sissoko – all three are probably useful squad players for now, but should be replaced with better players down the line. (Also, I can’t see who would buy them now.)
Winks and Dele offer nothing and certainly have to go ASAP. Skippy will come back, but I wonder if it’s wise to make him a starter immediately. We will still need at least one addition, probably two.
Ndom, PEH and Lo Celso have to stay and play whenever possible. If GLC can’t fix his fitness, he will unfortunately have to be sold as well. No more Lamelas.
Bergwijn isn’t particularly consistent, but deserves time. He’s younger than Lamela and Lucas and has been here for just over a year.
Next window I can only see us selling three central mids maximum – out of this list I’d only see Alli, Winks and Sissy as desperately needing to be shifted.
Skipp coming back takes one spot, then sign two others – I like Elevenstone’s suggestion of Ndidi for one of those places.
I agree with everything about Winks and the decision. Everyone else is a keeper for me Alli gets the benefit of the doubt because it’s too problematic to sell 2 homegrown players.
They won’t sell N’Dombele and on Deles current form we’d do well to get £25 million. Two years ago he was worth 70 to 80.
Don’t you think we’d get good money for Ndombele and Dele, surely enough to buy 2 suitable replacements.
The reason Jose was brought in was to avoid doing what needed to be done on the pitch. Replace our Garden Gnomes with footballers, that is spend money. There is no way that Levy will now do that and he has an excuse. COVID. Even when the serious clubs still spend big.
No they must go and in the defence aurier, Doherty, dier and Davison along with Davies. All not good enough for top four none would make Manchester team, Liverpool team or any other team finishing top four.
Can’t argue with that list Winks and Ali haven’t fulfilled their promise and Sissoko is very limited. However they need replacing and unless we get CL football some astute scouting will be required. I would consider the following midfielders an upgrade on what we have and not entirely out of reach:
Ward Prowse: neat and tidy, wicked set piece and better than Winks
Ndidi: very good defensive midfielder with an eye for a pass and good in the air. Much better than Sissoko and would lighten the load for PEH
John McGinn: a tenacious player with a good engine. Brings more physicality than Winks
Douglas Luiz: same as John McGinn
PEH – Obviously keep.
Winks – Sell the boy, his contribution is not offering anything positive, despite his love for the club.
Sissoko – I doubt he will go but I would sell whatever the fee.
Ndombele – His fitness is a prime concern as he fails to last 90mins regularly, so that is too big an issue for such a young man. The odd flash of brilliance is not enough, so sell while he’s hot.
Lo Celso – Keep, and play him in a more forward role, got injured through making challenges tracking back that he doesn’t look comfortable in.
Dele – Lost his way and is maybe too much affected by his rejection by the manager, moving on looks best option.
Lamela – Just sell, whatever the buttons collected.
Moura – Looks too comfortable in himself whilst offering very little, yet the manager uses him regularly, cant see the difference when comparing to Dele or Bale for example.
Bergwjin – Not sure about this boy, another who is being used in a role he is unaccustomed to by tracking back so much, can’t fault his workrate but needs to offer more when attacking.
Conclusion being I don’t like our midfield.
Agree with yer ‘quality’ and ‘not-quality’ split… but we need 3 first-teamers and 2-3 squad players for the 3 midfield positions. So we do need at (minimum) 3 good uns and 3 okay uns… which we’ve loosely got at the moment if they were all fit. Lamela, Sissoko and Winks are good enough for the ‘squad’ for now because Spurs are too strapped to re-invigorate the whole team. Focus spending any spare change on the defense.
Just looked at the table..if Leeds win the game in hand they are only 1 point behind us playing kamikaze football..it really isn’t good enough.
Levi would have to take a big hit to clear the decks of all the bad stock and Levi won’t do that.
We still have Dani Rose rotting away somewhere.
Agree with your picks but again where is the money to replace them? Covid has cost us a year of Stadium income and there is no guarantee of full houses next season, and our wealthy opponents will all add quality in the summer.
All well and good Bruce, but it’s very difficult to sell what nobody wants!