Spursy

Before I start this, I want to give some context into what I think about the current situation at the club. Mourinho is my all-time favorite manager (so far), given that I started watching football properly in 2008. That said, the game changes, and different generations don't react the same way to certain types of managers. Thus, his style and personality don't really work at big clubs anymore, and it never really meshed with the "ethos" let's say of Tottenham. By this, I mean the last two jobs Mourinho has had haven't been "good fits". I wouldn't say United were thrilling to watch or whatever, but they knew how to score goals and win games and titles. Mourinho is about stifling the opposition first and foremost, and at a "big club" which is more like a brand/business nowadays, that's not the way to attract customers, I mean fans. Chelsea was a perfect fit because it's never (to my knowledge) been a club like say Ajax or Barcelona that's all about the style of play, even more than results. I mean, results come when you have more money and better players than the other clubs, but hey. The point here is Chelsea with Abramovich and his riches were about creating a winning culture, which Mourinho was able to do. I don't need to go super in-depth about what happened, but let's just say that this was never going to work at Spurs.

Next, I need to explain a couple departures from the current squad I'm kinda hoping will happen, one likely and one less likely, I suppose. This is that Bale and Kane will not be there next season. For me, despite being a massive Bale fan as well, I don't see him as the answer to any questions at the club. I wouldn't bring him back, whether on loan again or permanently. Kane on the other hand is too good for what's happening, and he's seemingly realized that.

Loan players - Vinicius, lol nope. Bale, already addressed that. Gedson, already gone.

Skipp- not really watched him at Norwich, but the club needs a proper backup for PEH, so I'd be bringing him back.

Sess- my take is he needs to play as a winger or move teams. He's not better as a defender than Reguilon or Davies. He could "do a Bale" as it were and convert to a right winger, which is what the team lacks ATM outside of Lucas and Lamela (neither is good enough), or just play off the left and Son moves central.

Gaz- not sure what's going on here. I suppose it's a case of Hart being the backup and hoping to get the guy some game time, but he's not played at all, and Elche are not good.

Foyth- his loan spot was weird, and it's only been weirder seeing where he's played. As in, he's lined up at RB, DM, and he's supposed to be a CB. I could see him staying at Villarreal, as that squad is super old and needs a guy like him. IDK if there's an option...

CCV- found his level in the second tier. Contract ends in June anyways.

Parrott- yeah, not sure here either as I haven't watched him, but I don't think having dropped down a division (Millwall to Ipswich) bodes well for his future at Spurs.

Manager- like I said, I'd like to see someone else there, for everyone's sake. Specifically, I think a few names could be Parker, though I think that's a bad idea, Matarazzo from Stuttgart, and probably a few others I'm not thinking of right now. Nagelsmann would be lovely, but let's be real, he's at a club that doesn't win stuff already, so why take a sideways step? But yeah, just someone with hope and that plays some decent football, since it's Spurs and they don't win trophies there.

The team:

Right, here's the part I enjoy. I didn't even mention Kane much yet, so I'll address that again. I think he'd fit well at City, and that's certainly a team that wins. Remember, one of the points of this piece is to say how I'd replace him, which would be a serious hole in the squad.

Players I'm fine with include Son, Dele Alli, Lo Celso, Ndombele, Hojbjerg, and Reguilon. Passable I guess could include most of the defenders, such as Davies, Aurier, Doherty, Tanganga, Rodon, as well as Lucas. Toby and Hugo are past it. I never liked Lamela. Sissoko and Winks are not good enough, though that may be slightly harsh to lump Lucas in with the other two. Winks is like Dier in that he's English, so people just act like he's alright or whatever or has room to grow, despite never showing extended good form or any evidence of improving year or year. I mentioned a couple youngsters, in particular Sessegnon and Skipp, as they'll be returning from loan. If you were to play a back three, I'd be looking at two solid wing backs on the left in Sess and Reguilon, as well as Doherty on the right since he played that at Wolves. Plus, you could have Davies as a left-sided CB in that type of system.

The strength in the team IMO is that midfield three of Lo Celso, Ndombele and Hojbjerg. Dele is one I'm not sure on, as he's kinda position-less, a bit like Dybala. Not really tactically suited as a "modern #10" but not a #9. Someone like Gerard Moreno would be interesting, as he's a goalscorer but doesn't take up the traditional striker position, instead going out wide right. Say, a front three of Son out left, Dele false nine, and Gerard out wide right, Liverpool-esque. The thing with that is unlike current Bale, Gerard is fast and scores goals. There's very little space in La Liga, and it's not like every team is gonna sit back and park the bus against Spurs.

Oh, and I forgot the central defenders. Sanchez... that guy, man. It doesn't matter how physically imposing a player is if you don't have a football brain. Rodon in the middle if you trust him on the ball, Tanganga if he's good enough to play at this level, and you bring in a left-sided guy. Rotate then with Toby since he'll stay and be phased out eventually, keep Dier if you must for the English quota and to backup Rodon, and Davies can backup the LCB.

LCB - Bastoni would be ideal. That's unlikely unless that Inter debt thing is way more serious than made out. I'd be selling Lautaro first and keep as many of Barella / Bastoni / Hakimi / Lukaku as possible, but this isn't about Inter. Outside of that, my boy Evan N'Dicka has to be up there on the shortlist. Only thing with that is if Frankfurt get CL football he might not come. Sven Botman should be included as well, given his size and ability on the ball, not to mention his part in Lille and their success this season. Again though, would he come if they win the title or at the very least get CL? Hermoso from Atleti would be perfect for this role, to be fair, but again, is that likely at all? Lisandro Martinez and Marco Senesi, two Argentines currently playing in the Eredivisie, could also be considered. The former reminds me of Davies in that he's calm on the ball, but not as physically dominant. Badiashile from Monaco is another I'd be looking at, given his physical prowess and ability on the ball.

CF - they need a main guy for sure, assuming Kane leaves. This much is obvious. The like for like is what I'm looking for here. May be well unlikely, but Lukaku. Don't need to say much about him. Similarly, Abraham from Chelsea seems to be on the way out, but I'm not sure they'd sell to Spurs. Both of these two have size, which Kane obviously has, and definitely score goals. They're not as good technically, but with injuries, it's not like Kane is bursting through the defense on a regular basis. Dusan Vlahovic, a striker I'll ride for all day, is a younger option who'd (possibly) be cheaper. He's a big guy as well, and being only 21 would fit with Moreno given the latter is in his prime already. On a different note, one I don't see happening but would be interesting is Memphis, whose contract is up. Biggest issue here is the wage, and the fact that Lyon have a decent chance still at CL football, and Spurs obviously don't. Another striker I love is Belotti, and he may be the actual best Kane replacement. He's been wasting away at Torino for years, and it sucks. In a slightly different mold are both En-Nesyri and Cunha. The former is at Sevilla, and I won't roll out the CL line again, but it's still a non-serious selling club. Cunha, however, is at Hertha, which is a joke of a club at this point, and he'll run in behind and create, as he's a converted winger.

CF - this second spot is kinda optional here because I'd be going all in on Gerard Moreno, as I mention below. If he doesn't come in, I'm looking for a complementary player for the guy above.

CM (OPTIONAL) - let's say we have two or three guys in the center of the park, given the system. 4-2-3-1 you'd have Pierre and Ndombele (Dele #10) with Skipp and Lo Celso as backup. I guess you also have Sissoko and Winks, but I don't trust either so I'm not counting them right now. For a club that's so regarded for "not buying success" but still being up there, whatever that even means nowadays, Spurs have spent a ton of money on players that simply aren't that good. Both Lo Celso and Ndombele fit the bill here. I've wanted to see them together on the pitch, but it turns out that doesn't work. Who'd have sanctioned the amount of money each cost if they can't even play together? It's almost a situation where you have to play Lo Celso on the wing, which should never happen, because Ndombele doesn't defend and you need him going forward for him to be effective. Here's the issue I see. They now have players who can dribble and retain the ball, but they don't have goals from midfield. I nearly had a bit of shock just now when looking up the goal stats this year, as I saw a massive amount, but I then remembered they were stat-padding against lesser opposition in the Europa League, a competition they couldn't even make the quarters of. But yeah, Ndombele has 3 in the league, while PEH and Lo Celso have one each. Going ahead a bit, Bale has 2 more than Lucas in less than half the minutes, and Lamela has one in about the same number of minutes as Bale, so that's lovely.

RW - you know what, now that I think more about it, the wing-back system often kills the need for a proper winger. I'd be doing what I can to purchase Gerard Moreno as I mentioned above. If not him, then another goal-scoring wide man like Berardi from Sassuolo. If the winger thing is a big deal, then you could take a chance on Tsygankov or Tete from the Ukrainian league, with potentially good value coming from there. For a more traditional winger, Lucas Vazquez, the meme himself, is actually a really good player and would bring that winning mentality on a Bosman transfer in the summer. I don't see that though because he presumably wants a lot of money, hence why he hasn't renewed yet. Dennis Man is another for good value, given Parma are inching ever close to relegation to Serie B. I noticed him as a prospect or whatever when he was still in Romania, and he hasn't had much of a chance to show how good he is in that dreadful side he's stuck in. Noni Madueke is the last one I'll mention, given he's English and played for Spurs in the youth days. Not sure why/how he was allowed to leave like that, but he'd fill a need as they say, given he's already better that Lamela and would provide a (cheaper) younger alternative to Bale.

Bit of an update, as the first part is dated. Mourinho is gone, which should've happened months ago. To be fair, it was never going to work at Spurs, as I explained at the beginning. Ryan Mason is on 'til the end of the season, and they have the cup final this weekend. The links are still there; Nagelsmann, Nuno, Potter, Parker, one or two others (ten Hag?). Personally, I'd only be going for Nagelsmann and Potter. This season they've both had the same problem, albeit at a different level footballing wise. I've gone into Leipzig with the scoring problems, and Brighton are the same. I could see it being whoever is cheaper, which I'd imagine would be Potter. I was going to say with Nuno and Parker that it's basically a new face for the same football that Mourinho plays, which makes zero sense. Especially Nuno, given Parker at least played for the club. My point here is it's redundant bringing in a manager who's never played "good football" when a big issue with Jose was the football. At least with the others, they may have issues scoring, but in theory that would change with better players who can actually execute the ideas of the manager. Oh, I've also seen Rodgers linked, which is interesting. I don't see why he'd Leicester, to be honest. Even more than Nagelsmann with Leipzig, given the lack of legitimacy in the German club. The quality at RB, CB, and in midfield are miles ahead of Spurs, and it's not like they don't have cash to spend.