Why Harry needs to strike a transfer balance
Times could not be much me better at White Hart Lane at the moment with Spurs sitting six points clear of 5th place Arsenal and just three points behind second place Manchester United with a game in hand. Harry Redknapp is deservingly receiving plenty of praise for the job he has done in North London and the imminent Champions League qualification could be the start of something special for all concerned with Tottenham Hotspur.
Redknapp is not only earning himself a great reputation for the turnaround at Spurs but you can bet your last penny that the former West Ham, Southampton and Portsmouth boss is weighing up plenty of options to bring players to White Hart Lane this month. Each window, Redknapp will come out and state that he is not looking to buy anyone in particular but will always go on to make a few signings, especially near the deadline where the future England manager thrives.
However, this year, Redknapp has claimed that he has to sell before he buys, which may be a lot more difficult than it sounds. After conceding that he was only looking for possibly one big signing this month, Redknapp was then told he needed to create the funds for any move and so is set to offload any unwanted squad players in the next few weeks. Unlike Manchester City and Chelsea along with a fully fit Arsenal and Manchester United squad, Spurs don’t have anywhere near enough strength in depth to be able to cope with five or six players being shown the door.
With youngsters being sent out on loan, the Spurs boss is now set to offload the likes of Vedran Corluka, Steven Pienaar, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Sebastien Bassong along with others in the squad. This is surely not an option for Redknapp who must replace any departure as the squad is just not up to being weakened any further as they showed in this seasons Europa League. A couple of injuries to players such Luka Modric, Scott Parker and Gareth Bale would leave the North Londoners extremely weakened. With that sort of quality missing, along with the sales of squad players, who would Spurs bring in? With youngsters such as Andros Townsdend already sent out on loan, with more to follow, there will be no one left at the Lane.
As much as ‘Arry wants to get rid of his deadwood, until they are replaced that is not a viable option and so the Spurs boss will have to use more of his cunning transfer plans to get around it. Do not be surprised to see a few squad players on their way but Spurs fans must be on the edge of their seats every time a player hits the deck from a rough challenge or falls awkwardly as the only way they can continue their brilliant form is to keep their players fit and have able replacements in the wings.
It is every managers dream to have two top quality players in every position but Redknapp does not have that at the moment at the Lane and with the possibility of a few players leaving, that could be a worrying sign for Spurs fans. However, if Redknapp gets up to his old tricks at the end of the month there could be some surprising additions to the white half of North London.
Can Spurs hang on to the back of Manchester United? Let me know on Twitter: @Brad_Pinard
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what makes you think that Arsenal, United or even Chelsea for that matter are better equiped to cope with five or six players going down than Spurs?
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Tottenham’s squad is by far superior to Arsenal’s……
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Stupid, ill informed article. So Spurs are weak because Bale, Modric and Parker being injured would see us struggle? Try taking the best three players from any team and see how they do. Van persie, Wilshere and Vermalean from Arsenal. Silva, Toure and Kompany from City. Mata, Sturridge and Terry from Chelsea. Rooney, Vidic and Nani from United. Some of these players are missing, and the clubs are struggling without them. The others going would see them in big trouble. Spurs would still have a good team, and have replacements who could do a good job but the fact we would not be the same without our three biggest stars hardly makes us unique.
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zer0logy Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 6:29 pm
Bang on mate
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What a load of crap!!! We have Danny Rose to back up BAE who was solid in the back end of the season. Charlie to back up Walker. We will probably look to bring in another CB this month. So defence is ok.
We’ve got 4 top quality Central Midfielders in Luka, Sandro, Parker an Huddlestone, with Livermore and Tom Carroll to back them up.
One place we could do with like for like cover is the wings (I wish he’d give Gio a chance though). If we got Dembele or Hoilett in they could cover either Bale or Lennon.
Defoe can adequately cover Rafa, the only major concern is Ade. Now we do need a like for like replacement there. Demba Ba or Daimao for me.
Let me ask the author this….name one team in England that has 2 world class players for every position?? Not even City with their Arab money!!
COYS!!!
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Robert Reply:
January 10th, 2012 at 4:56 pm
Come on be fair, I think the author has a point. Think if Friedel, Walker, Kaboul, Dawson, King, BAE, Lennon, Bale, Modric, Parker, Defoe, VDV and Ade all got injured we would probably struggle. We need around 15 more players.
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YID_1978 Reply:
January 11th, 2012 at 5:25 pm
LOL! Didn’t look at it like that, time for ‘Arry to go crazy!!
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As the Europa League proved, Tottenham have do not have a good enough second XI that is crucial if you are going to consider yourselves title contenders. If the best three players from Chelsea, United, City and Arsenal were injured, their replacements would be better than Redknapp’s. That was my point.
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