A follow up from To the Lane and Back’s piece on who is expected to leave in January. Naturally, we believed that the quartet Heurelho Gomes, Sebastien Bassong, Giovani Dos Santos and Roman Pavlyuchenko will be looking for greener pastures in the new year then a comment on the article caught my eye; what about David Bentley and Jermaine Jenas?
‘Don’t cha wish you’re left back was B-A-E’ should be echoed around White Hart Lane until the Cameroonian international retires from football. Admittedly, I got this from Dear Mr Levy (thanks Spooky) but, I wonder how many teams and fans wish they had a player like Benoit Assou-Ekotto?
Having looked at two potential incomings already, To the Lane and Back will now take the opportunity to focus on the players that face a potential January exit as part of the Tottenham shake-up.
To the Lane and Back’s recent piece took a look at who Spurs should sign in January and while Gary Cahill looks to be the top of Harry Redknapp’s defensive wish-list, a lot further forward, two strikers are being linked with moves to White Hart Lane; Leandro Damiao and Seydou Doumbia.
The days are getting colder, the nights are getting longer and you can pretty much assume that the Premiership is back in full swing. Now is the time when any manager’s squad is put to the test. With over two months still to go until the re-opening of the transfer window, it is essential teams star players steer well clear of any injuries in order to help boost their teams league position.
There is always a silver lining to every cloud, even Tottenham qualifying for the Europa League. The competition, as Harry Redknapp rightfully pointed out, is a ‘killer’ and it is no surprise the Spurs boss has been predominantly picking fringe players and youth as the games have dragged on, with, of course, the odd first-teamer there or thereabouts.
Last season, Tottenham’s main problem was the distinct lack of a striker that could hit the back of the net on a regular basis. Granted, Rafael Van der Vaart helped the club through a dry spell, finishing with 13 league goals that helped Spurs to a 5th placed finish. But, it could easily have been higher had the man leading the front-line been more prolific.
The third Europa League encounter of the campaign sees the joint group leaders come up against each other at White Hart Lane on Thursday night.