Patient Spurs find the win

3 points down, 12 to go. The target I mentally set Spurs – 5 wins from 5 over the Christmas period (Swansea, Stoke, Aston Villa, Sunderland and Reading) – is up and running, although Swansea certainly made us work for it. By doing nothing themselves. For a team described as the ‘new Barcelona’, who play fluent, liquid football, they brought incredible negativity to the Lane. And whilst

Looking for football writers

Here at Easy As AVB we are in need of new writers to help us. So if you enjoy writing about Tottenham and getting your opinion heard, or want to add to your  CV, then tweet us (@EasyAsAVB) or email me at abeck99@hotmail.com. Even if you can only contribute an article once a week or even once a month that would be a great help. And remember that our ‘niche’ is the manager but other Spurs articles will also be included if they are well written!

Thanks!

Spurs handed tough Europa League draw

Tottenham Hotspur were drawn in Group J alongside Italian side Lazio, the Greek Panathinaikos and Maribor of Slovenia. Lazio have had the most success in this competition out of our 3 opponents, being runners-up in 1999.

As each game is on a Thursday this group includes two long away days to Slovenia and Greece before league games 3 days later – but Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas could well opt to field a weakened team in this competition.

Mallorca sign Gio

Tottenham attacking midfielder Giovani Dos Santos has joined Mallorca on a permanent deal. Spurs originally signed Gio from Barcelona  in 2008, but found first team opportunities to be at a minimum. He never truly fulfilled his potential at Spurs and will be looking to do just that at his new club.

The Mexican international only played 33 times in 4 years at the club.

 

Rose loan to Sunderland

Danny Rose has been loaned out to Sunderland by Spurs in an attempt by the London club for him to receive Premier League experience. In his few appearances for Tottenham he hasn’t performed to his best but Spurs see potential for him.

He will return to Spurs at the end of this season – hopefully match fit and as an improved player.

What’s happening on the 30th August in the Tottenham Transfer Window?

– Hugo Lloris is expected in London today to sign a 5-year contract at Spurs, with a reported fee of £13m.

– Negotiations continue between Porto and Spurs to reach an agreement over Joao Moutinho. However, the Spurs hierarchy seem confident that a move will go through eventually.

– Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy is reportedly in Marseille for talks over winger/striker Loic Remy.

– Hamburg remain confident that Rafa Van Der Vaart will be their player come Saturday. It appears that the player doesn’t figure in Spurs’ manager Andre Villas-Boas’ plans.

– Talks are ongoing between Birmingham and Spurs over young goalkeeper Jack Butland. The fee appears to be in the region of £8m.

– In other news, Arsenal haven’t signed anyone.

Dembele is a Spur

Moussa Dembele, courtesy of wikipedia.org

Moussa Dembele, a Belgian midfielder, has signed for Spurs this afternoon in a fee believed to be around £15m. Dembele completed his medical today after Spurs had beaten interest from Manchester United to sign the player.

The 25 year-old made 62 appearances for Fulham, scoring 5 goals in the process. He is known as a creative midfielder who can beat an opponent, and can also play as a striker or a winger. He appears to have been signed by Spurs as a replacement for Luka Modric who they sold to Real Madrid a few days ago.

He may make his Spurs debut on Saturday 1st September against Norwich.

What will the Spurs team look like at the end of this transfer window?

Spurs have been linked with many top players in this transfer window, and as it draws to a close we are getting a better idea of what the team will look like. This below is our best case scenario:

Lloris

Walker-Kaboul-Vertonghen-BAE

Sandro-Dembele

Willian-Sigurdsson-Bale

Adebayor

This would be an interesting set-up for Spurs. The defence is fairly self-explanatory, with AVB’s High Line in full effect and Walker and BAE able to attack down the wings. But the midfield is where it starts to get interesting. Dembele and Sandro would operate some sort of double pivot system, where one attacks at a time – except it would mostly be Dembele. The other option of course is to play Dembele where I’ve put Sigurdsson and play two holding midfielders – an option once Parker returns, and a potential strategy for tricky away games.

Further forward, Willian and Bale are down to operate on the wings, however, they would drift inwards a lot. Imagine if Willian, Bale and Sigi all appeared in the same area of the pitch at one time! It would be a nightmare to defend against! Bale’s pace down the left always offers Spurs a way out and an option to break, and with Willian, Sigi and Ade to aim at there are 3 incredibly adept finishers.

Ade would be able to hold the ball up effectively, as he proved last season, or directly offload the ball to one of our three attacking midfielders. Moving into goal, Lloris has got to be chosen ahead of Friedel – he’s one of the best goalkeepers in the world and has excellent control of the penalty area.

This is certainly an exciting team for Spurs if the claimed transfers do end up going through – and players on the bench that I haven’t even referred to include Defoe, VdV, Lennon, Gallas, Friedel, Parker etc.

Let’s just hope this is how it turns out!

 

What’s happening on the 29th August in the Tottenham Transfer Window?

– Lyon have accepted a bid from Tottenham for goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, for a fee believed to be in the region of £12m. Personal terms have yet to be agreed.

– Moussa Dembele looks set to complete his medical at Spurs today after Fulham accepted a bid of around £15m for the midfielder and personal terms were agreed.

– Rafa Van der Vaart could be joining Hamburg again before the transfer window closes after it was rumoured that Spurs had accepted a bid and that talks between player and club were happening.

– Former Spurs player Dimitar Berbatov looks set to join Fiorentina today from Manchester United for a fee of around £4m.

– Theo Walcott could be leaving Arsenal after it is believed that he turned down a contract offer from the club.

– Spurs have reportedly bid £20m for Porto midfielder Joao Moutinho although it is believed that the Portuguese club want £30m for his services.

– Today, Spurs are hopeful of wrapping up a £15m deal for Shakhtar attacking midfielder Willian after clubs agreed a fee.

 

Check back tomorrow for your latest summary of all the transfer rumours associated with Spurs.

Modric to Real Madrid

Tottenham’s Luka Modric is having a medical at Real Madrid today after the clubs agreed a fee and the player agreed personal terms. The fee is believed to be in the region of £33m.

The Croatian midfielder has been looking to leave Spurs for Champions League football for the past 2 summers, but only now has Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy decided to sell. Modric made 160 appearances for Spurs, scoring 17 goals in the process.

He will be a Real Madrid player subject to his medical.