The College Dropout

Weird game to bring him in. You want Livra for his 1v1 defending ability and on the transition.

Unimpressed with Tonali today.

Poor from Trippier and Burn. Tonali maybe too.

That was part of our problem last season too. A lot of players played through injuries and then got other injuries.

More that they are worth more to us than other teams. Schar could be here for years imo.

Agreed. One thing Spurs do really well is not giving players the supermax unless they really deserve it. Kane, Son. The rest - you can go to Man City for megabucks if you want the massive contracts

This is why we need to get back to the press and forget the possession thing. When we spent all that money on Tonali we committed to the press. He’s not going to our football Alexis MacAllister. But he can outrun and fight him.

That’s all part of it. He takes risks with his passes - so some don’t come off. You would want an 8 or a 6 to be pretty secure passers at an elite level. Someone like Fernandes gives the ball away a lot. And he can’t dribble much which is why he’s not in the very elite. But his chance creation stats are elite. Tonali’s best passing stats are good but not that good but he does play a deeper role. And he’s not as secure a passer as many of the best in his position. But he makes up for some of that in physical ability.

Interested to know what the new wage is. I don’t have him as high as Bruno or Isak. It needs to be less than £200k - ideally £120-150k. Anymore then he becomes hard to shift if he doesn’t replicate his form of last year.

I love Isak and Cal. But they are both too fragile.

Agreed. Isak has been performing better for longer. But we have him on a long term deal. The 3.5 years for Gordon was crazy and left us exposed.

Leaving altogether to focus on his health and family. But not immediately.

Awful news. Praying for him and his family.

But that’s not what the club thinks. The club thinks we should finish in Europe this season (and last).

Aye but that doesn’t align with being happy to finish 8th either.

The Cartel club rules benefit midtable clubs a lot too. The ones just happy to be on the gravy train. Like us under Ashley. Too many ambitious owners make it more difficult and expensive to stay in the within.

They will try and install a workaround. Maybe they go for anchoring as the lesser evil for example.

the club have stated these ambitions year on year now. Saying publicly the goal is European football. That's the top 6 to be safe, usually 7. 8th is possible I think but that's not the clubs aim. You don't bid £65m for a CB to be happy with 8th. I personally disagree with our approach and having numerous £50m+ signings. If you're happy with 8th for this season, you probably try and sell a crown jewel. But seemingly the club have ambitious targets. I take the club at what the owners say/do. Ashley wanted to run a skeleton PL club. In that context staying up midtable was a good result. PIF are talking best-in-class still and the CEO is talking about European football every season. The moves they try in the transfer market align with that. So I'm going to judge them on that curve. I think it's overly aggressive without the right tools. I'd take faster moves on infrastructure and a step backwards to try and be the RB of England or a super up Brighton. Put our money on younger kids and try and build over a couple of seasons. But when you buy your Tonali's and try and get Guehi - you need immediate results.

Fair. You’ve been questioning whether stadium is a good investment as the barrier/hurdle. It’s more likely that PIF just move slowly.

Agreed. Tron's been defending this lack of action for weeks and I don't understand why. If PIF are as ambitious as they say - we need better facilities. Bottom line is - PIF are seemingly slow to move in general. The general sound is they will invest but will be slow and cautious. Football is fast-moving though.

This is the point you're missing. A new stadium increases the value of the club on day 1 of it opening. So it doesn't need to pay you back in cash. When you sell the club, you sell the value of that new stadium. You don't build new stadiums to get back the cash you immediately put in 5 years. You get it back on sale or a much longer period. Football clubs aren't quick flips either. Every ambitious club is making efforts to modernise stadiums. Madrid, Barcelona, Man U... Everton and Luton. It helps ensure the long-term value and prospects. Can't talk about "best in class" and have a third-rate stadium.

No don't know enough about construction. But generally speaking - if you want to maximise an football clubs value - you invest in the assets.

A new stadium ?

Thats not a barrier to investing in infrastructure to me. Give yourself a cheap loan, the value of the club increases and the next owner will continue to pay for it potentially. Liverpool and Spurs have some of the most money hungry owners. They’ve invested in the Stadium because it’s good for business.

Somewhat reassuring. Reads like a lot of waffle at the same time. “There’s this tendency to concentrate on what is happening on the field with Newcastle and far fewer people look at what is happening off the field,” Simon Chadwick, an expert on Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, tells i. Nothing of major substance has happened off the field though. And there’s still a jar between Howe’s expectations and what’s possible with the club aligning to PSR.