Article written by nikhilavin.
The transfer window is already 11 days old, and we or for that matter anyone has hardly given it a tangible thought. There’s always a huge question mark about the winter transfer window. We all know buying a player in Jan is not easy, the prices hit the sky, teams don’t want to sell mid-season and put their campaign in jeopardy, and even the team buying is concerned about disrupting the team. But still it doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Where there’s a need, you always tend to find the way.
Poch is not the kind of manager who would spend in Jan, and with the results we’ve had recently it’s difficult to see him change that. He’s emphasised on this time and again, that he would buy only if he feels a player could genuinely help improve his squad. Now the key word here is ‘squad’. We need some improvement in our squad if we want to last till the end. I don’t think we are in position to buy any player that would improve our first team. We have some really class players in our books and finding a better alternative with our policy would be hard to manage even in the summer for that sake. So where do we improve our squad, what else do we need?
The Villa game was a prime example of how poor we are going forward when we don’t play our first team. No disrespect to the Villa defenders who I think did a great job, but Dele Alli when he came on showed it wasn’t all gloom facing them. The attackers just weren’t up to the mark. Vincent Janssen seems pretty adamant on holding the ball up or playing it square rather than busting a gut to get in the box. Son has worldie one game, and ED in the next. And Sissoko is like one of those cars in Asphalt, all acceleration but zero handling. I’m not saying they’re bad players, Son and Sissoko would easily walk into 12-14 of 20 teams the league. But they just aren’t reliable enough for a team vying for its first title in over 5 decades. Those positions are still manageable, these two along with Lamela provide us enough cover if one of the attacking midfielders get injured. It’s not a drastic problem when we have to replace one, it’s only visible when we have the whole second team. The real, and probably the only worry is replacing Kane. We already know what happened when he was injured. And if he does miss out again, we’ll probably have to forget not just the title, but maybe even the Top4. Cause we certainly do not have a replacement in our ranks.
Janssen just doesn’t seem good enough. He doesn’t even look like a striker to me at times. He seems more interested in passing than scoring. He’s hardly in the right place and is perpetually offside for all the crosses. No wonder he hasn’t scored from open play. I’m not saying he’s a bad player, I’m saying he’s just not a striker at the moment. Anyway he might just turn out to be gold next season, but expecting anything from him this season is highly unrealistic even for Spurs fans. Maybe it’s just an issue of confidence, maybe he just needs time. But that’s exactly what we cannot give him now.
So what options do we have? What kind of a striker do we buy?
We need someone who’ll be ready, someone who knows this league. Defoe somehow seems like the best option. Defoe means goals, he’s scored goals wherever he’s played. He would be an ideal foil for Kane if we go two at the top while chasing a game. But how much would he cost? Would he be ok being an understudy to Harry? And will Sunderland sell him at this moment?
Then there’s the option of Berahino. He’s a talent for sure, and we know there’s no one better than Poch to get the best out of him. But will Levy buy him now when he’s available for a free in summer?
Who else do we look at? Do we look at other leagues as well? Do we go for someone like a Charlie Austin, or someone in the mould of Llorente who will surely give us a plan B? Whatever or whoever is the answer to this problem, one thing is for certain that we need one.
