👨🏼‍💼 Fabio Paratici - Consultancy | Page 6 | Vital Football

👨🏼‍💼 Fabio Paratici - Consultancy

Who do you regard as our best signing?

  • Emerson Royal

  • Rodrigo Bentancur

  • Christian Romero

  • Bryan Gil

  • Richarlison

  • Yves Bissouma

  • Djed Spence

  • Ivan Perisic

  • Fraser Forster

  • Kulu


Results are only viewable after voting.
I know you cannot overhaul a complete squad but when you look at ours it has not really improved or changed for many seasons. We are in desperate need of a change and someone to light a fire under our so called top players.

PJ, I agree with you as well as many others about the general 'decay' in our squad. However, deep down, I think it is blown out of proportions based on what has been witnessed on the pitch since the final year under Poch.

Let me put my thoughts across:

Firstly, in Poch's latter time, if I were a professional footballer, flogged to death during the previous 4 years and nothing to show for it, I would've sought a move or succumbed to 'easing off'.

I personally want to write off Jose's tenure. I do not believe for a minute he had a coaching method. Those that praised Jose are merely teacher's pets and were generally always picked to start. ... and they were sucked in by his trophy record. Those that questioned his mantra found themselves on the outside. Also his tactical setup all but destroyed natural talent, forcing everyone to become very rigid and nervous, hence more mistakes were evident.

I do not ever recall being so critical of our players under any of our past managers as I have been under Jose.....can you?...Not even during AVB's era.

Therefore, I do feel majority (bar 2/3) would need to be re-appraised under the new regime. Harry Redknapp picked up a demoralised squad and we made top 4. The Jose bounce lasted 3/4 months but his stubbornness prevented any sustainable uplift.

Let's see the new guy's man management skills along with his football philosophy before writing off majority of the squad.

My list of players (and reasons) that need to be moved on or redeployed:

Dier - Not a defender. Put him back in DM, else sold.
Lamela - Enough of looking after an injured player. Bollox to the sentiments.
Sissoko - zero football intelligence.
Davies - No improvement over 100 years and adds nothing.
Winks - squad player/ He may not want that, then GL fella Skipp in.

I would give everyone else a chance to reflect and regroup.
 
Last edited:
PJ, I agree with you as well as many others about the general 'decay' in our squad. However, deep down, I think it is blown out of proportions based on what has been witnessed on the pitch since the final year under Poch.

Let me put my thoughts across:

Firstly, in Poch's latter time, if I were a professional footballer, flogged to death during the previous 4 years and nothing to show for it, I would've sought a move or succumbed to 'easing off'.

I personally want to write off Jose's tenure. I do not believe for a minute he had a coaching method. Those that praise Jose are merely teacher's pets and were generally always picked to start. ... and they were sucked in by his trophy record. Those that questioned his mantra found themselves on the outside. Also his tactical setup all but destroyed natural talent, forcing everyone to become very rigid and nervous, hence more mistakes were evident.

I do not ever recall being so critical of our players under any of our past managers as I have been under Jose.....can you?...Not even during AVB's era.

Therefore, I do feel majority (bar 2/3) would need to be re-appraised under the new regime. Harry Redknapp picked up a demoralised squad and we made top 4. The Jose bounce lasted 3/4 months but his stubbornness prevented any sustainable uplift.

Let's see the new guy's man management skills along with his football philosophy before writing off majority of the squad.

My list of players (and reasons) that need to be moved on or redeployed:

Dier - Not a defender. Put him back in DM, else sold.
Lamela - Enough of looking after an injured player. Bollox to the sentiments.
Sissoko - zero football intelligence.
Davies - No improvement over 100 years and adds nothing.
Winks - squad player/ He may not want that, then GL fella Skipp in.

I would give everyone else a chance to reflect and regroup.


Crit, just a couple things from me. Good post!

Remember we will need some depth to have a solid second team. I think some of our players fit that mold now. (thinking Davies, Winks and a cheaper Lamela (just on too high a wage for second team).

Maybe you left out the obvious, but I add Kane to the list. If folks are asking to leave...I say help them out the door if you can. For Kane it would be great to get 2-3 solid starters to fill needs and some cash. Maybe Reggie and Dele will want to stay now...who knows...?
 
PJ, I agree with you as well as many others about the general 'decay' in our squad. However, deep down, I think it is blown out of proportions based on what has been witnessed on the pitch since the final year under Poch.

Let me put my thoughts across:

Firstly, in Poch's latter time, if I were a professional footballer, flogged to death during the previous 4 years and nothing to show for it, I would've sought a move or succumbed to 'easing off'.

I personally want to write off Jose's tenure. I do not believe for a minute he had a coaching method. Those that praise Jose are merely teacher's pets and were generally always picked to start. ... and they were sucked in by his trophy record. Those that questioned his mantra found themselves on the outside. Also his tactical setup all but destroyed natural talent, forcing everyone to become very rigid and nervous, hence more mistakes were evident.

I do not ever recall being so critical of our players under any of our past managers as I have been under Jose.....can you?...Not even during AVB's era.

Therefore, I do feel majority (bar 2/3) would need to be re-appraised under the new regime. Harry Redknapp picked up a demoralised squad and we made top 4. The Jose bounce lasted 3/4 months but his stubbornness prevented any sustainable uplift.

Let's see the new guy's man management skills along with his football philosophy before writing off majority of the squad.

My list of players (and reasons) that need to be moved on or redeployed:

Dier - Not a defender. Put him back in DM, else sold.
Lamela - Enough of looking after an injured player. Bollox to the sentiments.
Sissoko - zero football intelligence.
Davies - No improvement over 100 years and adds nothing.
Winks - squad player/ He may not want that, then GL fella Skipp in.

I would give everyone else a chance to reflect and regroup.

No Aurier or Ndombele on the list ?
I don't rate Davies but I think he is a better defender than Reggie.
I would keep Dier and Davies for versatility and experience.
 
Crit, just a couple things from me. Good post!

Remember we will need some depth to have a solid second team. I think some of our players fit that mold now. (thinking Davies, Winks and a cheaper Lamela (just on too high a wage for second team).

Maybe you left out the obvious, but I add Kane to the list. If folks are asking to leave...I say help them out the door if you can. For Kane it would be great to get 2-3 solid starters to fill needs and some cash. Maybe Reggie and Dele will want to stay now...who knows...?
USA, I had Kane down as a forgone conclusion in the departure lounge. On that note, I don't think he is worth north of 100 mill tbh. May be with add-ons. Certainly in his current form not suited to Citeh.
 
Last edited:
No Aurier or Ndombele on the list ?
I don't rate Davies but I think he is a better defender than Reggie.
I would keep Dier and Davies for versatility and experience.

Nick, personally I see a bit of Walker in Aurier. I hope your ratings did show some matches where he had excelled. Back to the old coaching issue, just lacks discipline imo.

ND imo, unless we are prepared to take a major financial hit, I would persevere with. He has shown he has quality but not stamina. Another imo a coaching issue where we should be utilising his skillset by complimenting with correct partners.

Davies has always been a peripheral player for me, a very rare good game. Sess and Reggie for me all day long.

As for your comment about versatile. The whole bloody squad was versatile last season bar Hugo. No one had a clue where they were playing and what their roles were. Square pegs and round holes. Ask yourself, how many of the top 4 coaches will put up with mediocrity for this long. I'd rather give the youngsters a chance. Can I also say, a real shame about Dier and his Mr Versatile label. IMO, it derailed his career under Poch.
 
That is whole point I am trying to make. We are finding severe faults in almost every player. Surely they are not ALL that bad. Get our house in order top down and we will quickly see the green shoots. Need to plant the seeds 1st though!!....where's that manager?!
 
It's all about the Paratici / Fonseca's football philosophy. Hopefully that means a higher defensive line with some pace at the back. Hopefully there is more press without the ball and more pass and move with it. Especially the "move" bit. Hopefully we'll see expansive full-backs and dynamic, pacy forward play.

So that puts question marks on Toby's pace, Aurier's touch and passing and let's not even think Sissoko has much to offer. Sanchez has the pace, but perhaps not the control and passing. Ditto Davies.

If / when Kane goes, I'm not sure we need a Kane clone as a replacement. I'd rather see a fast intelligent forward who runs between the lines. We have enough guile with Dele, Ndombele and Gio to worry about the assist side of Kane's game.
 
It's all about the Paratici / Fonseca's football philosophy. Hopefully that means a higher defensive line with some pace at the back. Hopefully there is more press without the ball and more pass and move with it. Especially the "move" bit. Hopefully we'll see expansive full-backs and dynamic, pacy forward play.

So that puts question marks on Toby's pace, Aurier's touch and passing and let's not even think Sissoko has much to offer. Sanchez has the pace, but perhaps not the control and passing. Ditto Davies.

If / when Kane goes, I'm not sure we need a Kane clone as a replacement. I'd rather see a fast intelligent forward who runs between the lines. We have enough guile with Dele, Ndombele and Gio to worry about the assist side of Kane's game.

I can see Doherty improving massively in this set up.

Won't be surprised if Son is our main striker with some attacking AMs in behind him.

With 2 attacking wing backs wingers won't be needed as much.
 
PJ, I agree with you as well as many others about the general 'decay' in our squad. However, deep down, I think it is blown out of proportions based on what has been witnessed on the pitch since the final year under Poch.

Let me put my thoughts across:

Firstly, in Poch's latter time, if I were a professional footballer, flogged to death during the previous 4 years and nothing to show for it, I would've sought a move or succumbed to 'easing off'.

I personally want to write off Jose's tenure. I do not believe for a minute he had a coaching method. Those that praise Jose are merely teacher's pets and were generally always picked to start. ... and they were sucked in by his trophy record. Those that questioned his mantra found themselves on the outside. Also his tactical setup all but destroyed natural talent, forcing everyone to become very rigid and nervous, hence more mistakes were evident.

I do not ever recall being so critical of our players under any of our past managers as I have been under Jose.....can you?...Not even during AVB's era.

Therefore, I do feel majority (bar 2/3) would need to be re-appraised under the new regime. Harry Redknapp picked up a demoralised squad and we made top 4. The Jose bounce lasted 3/4 months but his stubbornness prevented any sustainable uplift.

Let's see the new guy's man management skills along with his football philosophy before writing off majority of the squad.

My list of players (and reasons) that need to be moved on or redeployed:

Dier - Not a defender. Put him back in DM, else sold.
Lamela - Enough of looking after an injured player. Bollox to the sentiments.
Sissoko - zero football intelligence.
Davies - No improvement over 100 years and adds nothing.
Winks - squad player/ He may not want that, then GL fella Skipp in.

I would give everyone else a chance to reflect and regroup.

I agree with you about Jose I must admit I could not have played my best under hi but then I was lucky enough not to have to play for him.

I agree with the latter part of Poch's time incharge. He demoralised some player's especially when it came to picking favourites.

Everyone knows how much I like Lamela but I to think it's time for him to move. It's know point for him at his age to be a non starter he needs to go to a club and play.
Sissoko,Davies,Dier,Doherty,Winks, Lucas and Aurier have to go.
Dele, Hojbjerg,Reg and Berg have big question marks over them. Dele is to flash , Hojbjerg is so immobile and easy to get at , Reg dives to much and gets caught out a lot and Berg is just a headless fast chicken.
Hugo and Toby I love but are getting on a bit.
Harry has to be sold as it is not good keeping a player against his will.
Son has class but is very selfish and does not do the dirty part well .
We have some half decent youth players coming through which I would like to see Sess,Skipp and Parrott given a chance . Also Alfie , Scarlett and Cirkin
I know this is harsh and it's just my opinion
 
I am, but much of it is pure speculation and conjecture. I would await announcement(s).

Whatever and whenever (hopefully soon) we have an announcement, and on the basis that we are encouraged by the appointment of Paratici, we have to accept his judgement of both his appointment of manager and the players that he both brings in and gets rid of. Obviously we will all form opinions but if we are happy with the principle of Paratici as DoFO we must trust him and get behind him. PJ has confirmed in his opinion he is the best DoFO in Europe maybe the world. I had never heard of him but naive or not I am happy to trust him and his judgement until that trust needs to be questioned.
 
I agree with you about Jose I must admit I could not have played my best under hi but then I was lucky enough not to have to play for him.

I agree with the latter part of Poch's time incharge. He demoralised some player's especially when it came to picking favourites.

Everyone knows how much I like Lamela but I to think it's time for him to move. It's know point for him at his age to be a non starter he needs to go to a club and play.
Sissoko,Davies,Dier,Doherty,Winks, Lucas and Aurier have to go.
Dele, Hojbjerg,Reg and Berg have big question marks over them. Dele is to flash , Hojbjerg is so immobile and easy to get at , Reg dives to much and gets caught out a lot and Berg is just a headless fast chicken.
Hugo and Toby I love but are getting on a bit.
Harry has to be sold as it is not good keeping a player against his will.
Son has class but is very selfish and does not do the dirty part well .
We have some half decent youth players coming through which I would like to see Sess,Skipp and Parrott given a chance . Also Alfie , Scarlett and Cirkin
I know this is harsh and it's just my opinion
Well, it's fascinating reading everyone's opinions on keep/discard. Almost like a predictor game and we'll soon know how many we got right in our list.

Let's see how our new man jump starts our flat battery motor!
 
I can see Doherty improving massively in this set up.

Won't be surprised if Son is our main striker with some attacking AMs in behind him.

With 2 attacking wing backs wingers won't be needed as much.
Something like the below? I'm not usually a fan of a back 5 but I think it makes sense for our squad. Similar to how we previously set up when Kane is out injured with Dier sliding into CB when in possession. It's probably the best formation for bringing out the best in Doherty and also Sessegnon.

Lloris
Doherty, 3 CBs, Reguilion
Hojbjerg
Dele, NDombele, Lo Celso
Son
 
Something like the below? I'm not usually a fan of a back 5 but I think it makes sense for our squad. Similar to how we previously set up when Kane is out injured with Dier sliding into CB when in possession. It's probably the best formation for bringing out the best in Doherty and also Sessegnon.

Lloris
Doherty, 3 CBs, Reguilion
Hojbjerg
Dele, NDombele, Lo Celso
Son


Superb utilization of existing assets to the point that I WANT to see that.
 
Something like the below? I'm not usually a fan of a back 5 but I think it makes sense for our squad. Similar to how we previously set up when Kane is out injured with Dier sliding into CB when in possession. It's probably the best formation for bringing out the best in Doherty and also Sessegnon.

Lloris
Doherty, 3 CBs, Reguilion
Hojbjerg
Dele, NDombele, Lo Celso
Son

If you've sold Kane, and that's the team you are able to put out, something is amiss.

You could have something like

Donnarumma
Hakimi, Varane, Botman, Reguilion
Locatelli
Dele, NDomb
Berardi, Dybala, Son

or

Hugo
Rodon, Varane, Botman
Aarons, Locatelli, Dele, Reguilion
Berardi, Dybala, Son

Which is maybe more Fonzie style.

Just sayin.

.
 
If you've sold Kane, and that's the team you are able to put out, something is amiss.

You could have something like

Donnarumma
Hakimi, Varane, Botman, Reguilion
Locatelli
Dele, NDomb
Berardi, Dybala, Son

or

Hugo
Rodon, Varane, Botman
Aarons, Locatelli, Dele, Reguilion
Berardi, Dybala, Son

Which is maybe more Fonzie style.

Just sayin.

.
Of course if we were to sell Kane that line up would have new players in it.

Donnarumma almost certainly going to PSG
Hakimi has Chelsea & PSG chasing him for rumoured 50m. No chance we spend that on a RB even if we sell Kane
There's no chance that Varane comes from Real Madrid to us. He's 28, he's looking for one more contract at a big club that competes for titles.
I like the sound of Botman. But when the likes of United & Liverpool are linked to him, it doesn't fill me with any confidence that he's going to be a spurs player next season.
No chance Dybala comes here. That ship has sailed.
No idea about the 2 Italians.
 
If you've sold Kane, and that's the team you are able to put out, something is amiss.

You could have something like

Donnarumma
Hakimi, Varane, Botman, Reguilion
Locatelli
Dele, NDomb
Berardi, Dybala, Son

or

Hugo
Rodon, Varane, Botman
Aarons, Locatelli, Dele, Reguilion
Berardi, Dybala, Son

Which is maybe more Fonzie style.

Just sayin.

.

In what sort of parallel universe could little old Spurs get Donarumma, Varane, Hakimi, Botman, Locatelli, Berardi and Dybala in the next 6 weeks? The new Famous 7.

I think you're onto something with Aarons, Locatelli and Botman though. Perhaps Berardi as well. Thuram could be another.
 
If you've sold Kane, and that's the team you are able to put out, something is amiss.

You could have something like

Donnarumma
Hakimi, Varane, Botman, Reguilion
Locatelli
Dele, NDomb
Berardi, Dybala, Son

or

Hugo
Rodon, Varane, Botman
Aarons, Locatelli, Dele, Reguilion
Berardi, Dybala, Son

Which is maybe more Fonzie style.

Just sayin.

.

You're assuming N'domn and Son stays?

I wouldn't do that yet, there is a huge battle to be had before we can say with confidence that they won't get their (or their agents) way.
 
Well, it's fascinating reading everyone's opinions on keep/discard. Almost like a predictor game and we'll soon know how many we got right in our list.

Let's see how our new man jump starts our flat battery motor!

I still don't think Fonseca is the right man he is just the available man who doesn't demand to much. I am still struggling to see what Levy has seen in him. Yes success at Shakhtar but let's be honest they win the league nearly every year anyway. He had troubles at Roma but that is what a manager has to deal with. The more I look into things the more I am underwhelmed. He has a massive and I mean massive job with us. It's not as simple as instilling confidence in our squad as it is stale and needs a complete overhaul.its not one or two it's 90% and that includes Harry. We will never be a true force while Harry is here. Competition for places is healthy and needed but there is no competition. Even Jose who has fallen out with many top players and dropped them did not drop him. Why would any top striker come to sit on the bench .
 
I still don't think Fonseca is the right man he is just the available man who doesn't demand to much. I am still struggling to see what Levy has seen in him. Yes success at Shakhtar but let's be honest they win the league nearly every year anyway. He had troubles at Roma but that is what a manager has to deal with. The more I look into things the more I am underwhelmed. He has a massive and I mean massive job with us. It's not as simple as instilling confidence in our squad as it is stale and needs a complete overhaul.its not one or two it's 90% and that includes Harry. We will never be a true force while Harry is here. Competition for places is healthy and needed but there is no competition. Even Jose who has fallen out with many top players and dropped them did not drop him. Why would any top striker come to sit on the bench .
I doubt very much it has anything to do with what Levy sees in him. Or that when he fired Jose Fonseca was even a consideration.

But it is what Paratici sees in him. Of course he will have had to have made a persuasive case to Levy but ultimately Levy has to back Paratici's judgement.

And let's be honest: Levy doesn't have a great track record of identifying and recruiting the right manager at the right time for the club.
 
I still don't think Fonseca is the right man he is just the available man who doesn't demand to much. I am still struggling to see what Levy has seen in him. Yes success at Shakhtar but let's be honest they win the league nearly every year anyway. He had troubles at Roma but that is what a manager has to deal with. The more I look into things the more I am underwhelmed. He has a massive and I mean massive job with us. It's not as simple as instilling confidence in our squad as it is stale and needs a complete overhaul.its not one or two it's 90% and that includes Harry. We will never be a true force while Harry is here. Competition for places is healthy and needed but there is no competition. Even Jose who has fallen out with many top players and dropped them did not drop him. Why would any top striker come to sit on the bench .

PJ, it's not what Levy sees in him.

This is now the decision of another man, who you have lauded.

Harry is gone, he will not play for us again.