Giancarlo Galilifuoco - from Aussie junior football to Spurs

A kid from a junior club in Australia to the Under 21's at Tottenham, that's quite an upheaval, that's quite a journey but it's the one made by Giancarlo Galilifuoco.

Playing for the Sutherland Sharks juniors, a team from south of Sydney, he travelled to Italy for a trial and received a call from his mate and Spurs youngster Massimo Luongo.

Q - How did a youngster from Sydney get to end up at Tottenham?

“I was trialling in Italy but I was signed to a club in Australia, and while I was trialling in Italy, I was talking to Massimo (Luongo).”

“A club in Italy had offered me a contract and I told Massimo, and he talked to Tim (Sherwood) and some people here, and then from there, they got in contact with me and I flew here.”

While part of the Australian Institute of Sport’s football program, they told him that he simply wasn’t good enough for a professional football career. Well no kid wants to hear that so he did what kids do, he didn't listen.

Q - Are you happy you didn't give up on your dream?

“I feel incredibly happy that I didn’t let somebody’s opinion change me, or my game.”

“I’m very happy that I worked hard, but I do have to pinch myself that a club like Tottenham appreciated me and took a chance on me, and I’m now the player that I’m becoming.”

Giancarlo arrived at Spurs in February 2012 as an 18 year-old. He had never seen anything like our training facilities, and that was the old place not the spanking new state of the art complex we now have.

Q - What did you think of the facilities and how have you improved as a player?

“Even in the old place, I’d never seen facilities like that before. I’d never seen a football culture like England before.

“It’s hard to say one specific thing. I think as a player all-round I have got better. As a person being away from home, I’ve matured, and I feel like my football has matured. I’m more responsible now, on the pitch.

"I feel very good and very happy at Tottenham. I consider myself a very lucky footballer to be at such a club. You get looked after very well here."

Put yourself in his shoes for a minute, a young kid from Australia, not a major footballing power, told he is not good enough, now in a strange country the other side of the world and he plays against Barcelona at White Hart Lane, with a big crowd present in the NextGen Series. What a thrill that must have been for him, can you imagine how he must have felt.

Q - What was it like playing in that match?

“It was unbelievable. There were a lot of people there, it was incredible. It’s beautiful there."

Q - Now as we all know AVB loves a versatile player, what is your position.

“My preferred position is defensive midfield, but I love centre back as well. There’s one player that comes to mind, but he’s incredibly good, and I’m not trying to say I’m as good as him, but I feel like I could play a similar style to Patrick Vieira.

“He was smart in possession, tall and powerful, wins a lot of the ball, but his range is long, but he’s responsible, and has a big stride pattern."

Q - What is it like working with Andre Villa-Boas?

“He’s awesome. He’s a very good coach, I love training with him, I love his training drills. Every tip and bit of advice he’s given me has been very good.  He told me he was pleased with the way I was progressing and he urged me to work even harder so he could make me a better player.

Q - And what of Gareth Bale Giancarlo?

“Unbelievable, incredible, fantastic, and any other adjective you can think of. When you train with players like him, it brings out the best in you, because their touch is perfect, their pass is perfect, their movement is perfect. You have to keep up with that, and you find yourself competing with these players. It’s great.”

Now 19 he is hoping to make the next breakthrough which will be into the first team squad. Loans will come first of course to gain experience.

Q - What does the future hold for you?

"I am the kind of person who does not like to look too much into the future. I would much rather concentrate on my next step. I have trained many times with the first team under three of the best coaches in Europe so that has helped me a lot.

"So far this season I have trained as much with my group as with the first team. In fact I did a few sessions of pre-season with the first team and the good thing is that the coaches seem to be happy with me.

"I have played with the first team in a friendly against Enfield Town and I feel I have progressed to such an extent that I am a more reliable player. If I keep working hard and well I feel like my chance will come this season. I hope so, anyway. Being in the squad for a competitive game would be a great step forward for me. More importantly I can feel like a professional player now."

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A pat on the back

It is always pleasing when you watch a Spurs performance and listen to experts who make the points or inform us of events that you yourself have been making.

It vindicates your opinion, it shows your readers you know what you are talking about, that you are not just a supporter taken in by a show pony, a flashy eye catching display, that you can look deeper, the way a coach has to.

Time to pat myself on the back then. Our last 2 performances have seen TV experts expressing my opinions.

I watched Etienne Capoue in his half hour cameo against Crystal Palace on our opening game and commented that this was going to be the next Patrick Vieira, yes an Arsenal player I know, but a quality one. Move one game forward and Graham Roberts on Twitter is making the same point followed by TV experts saying the same thing. He doesn't just play in midfield, he commands it. If Sandro is a beast, this guy is a tank. We are well blessed in defensive midfield.

Moving on to Andros Townsend and when half our own fans were fawning over a 'show' display, but with some substance, against Dinamo Tiblisi, I raised points he needed to work on to play on the right ahead of Aaron Lennon. Much to the annoyance of some I might say I said he had to learn to stay wider, to attack outside his man and cross with his right foot. From a wider position not only does he stretch the defence providing gaps for others, he can go outside or inside at a lesser angle towards the goal.

He had, indeed has, a tendency to turn 90 degrees from the touchline and cut straight into the centre of the pitch 40 to 50 yards from goal, which quite frankly is a waste of time, there is never any end product to it. A defence will happily let you do that all day. I made the additional point that he thought he was Gareth Bale as he has a me me me game where he looks to shoot all the time rather than pass. We have a £26 million striker who needs crosses along the floor, ala Nacer Chadli for his second goal in the first leg of this tie.

Cue Spurs coach Les Ferdinand who tells is Andros has said he wants to be the next Gareth Bale and that he is learning to go outside his man and use his right foot. Music to my ears.

Jermain Defoe divides opinion, he's a bit like marmite, love or hate. OK hate is probably a bit strong but you get the message. The main problem I could see with Defoe was that he never scored tap-ins, he was never in the 6 yard box. I estimated he would score an extra 6 to 8 goals a season if he did.

What does our Les tell us, well he has a chuckle when he sees Defoe score a tap-in telling the audience you never see him there and a striker would score 10 to 12 goals a season from 6 yard box tap-ins. It's the reason we have had to go out and buy Roberto Soldado. How many times did Gareth Bale flash the ball across the 6 yard box and our forwards were nowhere to be seen? Defoe is always pulling back to the penalty spot getting in the way of late arriving midfielders.

From 12 tap-in, 8 would possibly be in the league which would make him a 19 goal striker. It's a no brainer.

People will say anyone can score a tap-in, well you can't if you are not there. Robbie Keane never used to do it but at Spurs he realised this and worked to add it to his game, better late than never so could we have some more please Jermain.

Let's pat our coaches on the back, lets pat our players on the back for spotting areas of their game that need improving and working on them. Ferdinand has taken stick from a section of our fans wondering why he hasn't taught our strikers the 6 yard poach, clearly he must have done but for some it doesn't sink in how important it is. I await the next Defoe tap-in.

And so finally to last night's game, a 3-0 win against a poor Georgian side. The whole team played well quite frankly, excellent movement, interchanging and passing. Kaboul had another training game to help his quest for match fitness. Like Holtby and Sandro he is unfit, by that I mean not match fit yet having missed some of pre-season.

Sandro had an excellent first half, he threw himself into the game and played the way we know he can, the commentators were certainly impressed and even started using our phrase, telling us he was a beast in midfield. He coasted through the second half but the outing will have done him a power of good.

Lewis Holtby caught the eye but his performance had substance as well. His footwork was excellent as he put in probably his best display for us. he saw passes, made some lovely flicks in areas where it mattered and played a sweet reverse pass to create the first goal for Defoe. Congrats on the debut goal and thanks for the Klinsmann tribute dive.

The Daily Mail wrote a story about him being loaned to Ajax with a view to buying as part of the Eriksen deal which personally I don't believe for a second. Listening to AVB afterwards he doesn't want him going anywhere and Holtby seems quite happy where he is.

Arsenal next, bring it on.

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Carroll, Gallas, Lamela, King, Spurs XI v Dinamo Tiblisi

Tottenham Hotspur's bright young prospect Tom Carroll is rumoured to be in talks with Crystal Palace over a loan move.

I have to admit I have been expecting this to happen earlier. Carroll going on loan to a Premier League club and getting a seasons football under his belt returning a more complete player ready for next year make perfect sense, or it did to me at the start of the window.

It makes even more sense with the players we have and are signing.

Also At Palace Ian Holloway has met with William Gallas about playing for them. He said he was a very pleasant man but they were miles away from completing a deal. They have had a chat and he'll wait and see if anything comes of it.

Erik Lamela has shown Gareth Bale how to leave a club with dignity. He even trained with Roma!

“Perhaps I wasn’t able to express all I could’ve and wanted to do here [Roma]," Lamela told ANSA.

"It’s also true that there was something missing for the whole team.

“I hope this season will go better. I saw the lads are hungry to do well and are very concentrated. I wish the club, the coach and my team-mates to go as far as possible.

“I am proud to have played for Roma and hope one day to return.

“As for myself, now I hope to do well with Tottenham in London. I am ready. I want to thank and salute the fans who always behaved well with me. I embrace them all. They will always be in my heart.”

Ledley King has been speaking on Spurs response to losing Gareth Bale to Real Madrid.

"It's a difficult situation for everyone involved.

"They've dealt with it well. The club always tries to deal with these things as professionally as possible. If you do lose players you have to replace them as best you can and the club have been brilliant at that.

"In the past they've always brought in new players and that's what the club will continue to do if they want to compete.

"They have been brilliant in the market though. I've seen Paulinho in his first few games and he's been brilliant. Soldado is a goalscorer and he knows how to find the back of the net.

"He was so calm with the penalty [against Swansea] and that was great to see. Etienne Capoue also looks brilliant. I didn't know too much about him but I've been very impressed with him.

"The future for Tottenham looks very good."

I had to chuckle when I heard Harry Redknapp had tried to contact him to come and play for QPR. Ledley said he didn't get hold of him but he wouldn't have played if he did.

Finally the Spurs XI for tonight is: Friedel, Walker, Kaboul, Vertonghen, Naughton, Holtby, Sandro, Carroll, Sigurdsson, Townsend, Defoe

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A teamsheet pointer for AVB

The team for tonight against Dinamo Tiblisi at White Hart Lane, which is again on ITV4 by the way, is a tough one to call. That's not going to stop me though so let's look at some options.

Spurs hammered their opponents 5-0 in the first leg which gives Andre Villas-Boas the choice of playing a strong team to gel or giving players a break. His other option is to select players working on their fitness as they come back from long term injuries and develop some youngsters.

Brad Friedel I am expecting to start in goal tonight to give Hugo Lloris a break but also to just give Brad some game time should he be needed. Personally I'd put Gomes on the bench and wouldn't have Lloris in the squad at all.

Unlike previous seasons when we have been unable to give Walker a rest this season we can so Naughton takes over at right-back in my side. Walker will be having a long season so Naughton should get plenty of opportunity on the right instead of the left this season with both League and FA Cup ties being on his agenda.

On the other side at left-back we can play and develop the positional play and crossing of Rose or we can give him a rest and play Zeki Fryers there. Whilst his pre-season appearances for us have mostly been at centre-back he is primarily a left-back so it would make perfect sense to give him a game there. Benoit Assou-Ekotto has a knee injury so is unavailable.

Moving into the centre I think it is fairly certain that Kaboul will play assuming the swelling in his knee has gone down, which surely it must have after a week. He is building his fitness, remember the other players have had 6 weeks of pre-season training but he, Holtby and Sandro haven't so are a little behind them.

The final member of the four. Zeki Fryers could play centre-back with Rose at right back, we might draft in a youngster like Kevin Stewart or Michael Dawson could play for his experience. He had an excellent game in Tiblisi where he looked after a clearly unfit Kaboul who was rusty and only to be expected, a little slow and sloppy.

Jan Vertonghen has only recently returned from injury so having nursed himself through two Premier League games another rest is in order. I'm selecting Dawson to captain the side and just hold things together.

Midfield where we have an abundance of players. First me on the teamsheet here for me is Sandro. He has had little cameos so far and may be in for a longer one tonight, it all depends upon his fitness. We don't want to over exert him at an early stage so he could perhaps come on a half-time or with an hour to go to cruise through the remainder of the match. However I'll assume his fitness level is up to it and suggest starting with him with a view to taking him off when required. If he plays I's expect him to sit a lot and do less forays forward that we are used to seeing.

Having put my midfield rock in place I'll plump for four midfielders in front of him, two wide men, an attacking midfielder and a link man.

Next name on the teamsheet for me is Tom Carroll in the link man role taking the ball from the defenders or the defensive midfielder to the attack, wingers or attacking midfielder and joining in the attacks. It's an ideal game to start him in and give him 90 minutes.

Lennon did not train yesterday so he is out which leaves us with Townsend or Sigurdsson to play on the right. Siggy usually is put on the left but if he is off to Germany then how would it help us to play him? By a process of elimination Townsend gets the nod.

On the left we have Chadli, Townsend or Sigurdsson. Well having looked at two of them already you'd think I would plump for Chadli but no I'm going for another player coming back from injury, I'm going to select Lewis Holtby on the left. He has played one game for the Development squad so I would expect to see him involved at some stage tonight if not starting then coming off the bench. If ITK is correct and AVB sees his best position as a number six rather than as an attacking midfielder I've left that slot for a youngster. Lewis is a versatile player so getting game time and fitness is the priority with him.

That leaves me with the attacking midfielder or number 10 role player and here I'm going to give Harry Kane a run out. Tonight should see us dominate the game and be attacking a lot so harry should see plenty of the ball and will hopefully tuck away a chance that comes his way.

The lone striker role goes to Jermain Defoe so Soldado can grab some time off in what may be a long season for him. Arsenal is more important, don't want the slightest chance of injury thanks so not even a place on the bench for him. Adebayor I hear you shout, the guy isn't fit, if you twist my arm I could find a place on the bench for him.

That leaves my team looking like this:

Friedel

Naughton Dawson(c) Kaboul Fryers

Sandro

Townsend Carroll Holtby

Kane

Defoe

I might as well go the whole hog and pick a bench as well which will need to comprise a keeper, a full-back, a central defender, defensive midfielder, two midfielders and an attacker.

Subs: Gomes, Rose, Stewart, Capoue, Bentalib, Ceballos, Coulthirst

A young bench to give them experience of a full house at White Hart Lane and show them what they are aiming for. I would bring on all three subs during the game and not bring on Rose or Capoue unless absolutely necessary. Hotlby, depending on fitness could move into Sandro's role if needed.

A message sent to Adebayor by not including him and unfortunate Sigurdsson doesn't make the squad but for me if he is being loaned or sold what is the point in including him? If he were staying I'd start him and bring Holtby off the bench, leaving Capoue out of the squad, but I believe he is going.

I doubt that's what AVB will plump for but then he's paid and I'm doing it for free!

For those who missed it The morning Spurs round-up article

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Eriksen, Sigurdsson, BAE, Rose, Chiriches, Lamela, Bale, Adebayor

It's been quite a transfer window with a transformation of the squad. We have not just changed players, we have bought upgrades, young upgrades with years ahead of them, years we hope of success.

So what is the latest news.

Well Spurs opening bid for 21 year-old Danish international Christian Eriksen of £6.9 million (€8.03m) was rejected according to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf but Daniel Levy has agreed a fee of £10.29 million (€12m) with his Ajax counterpart. The fee will be paid in three parts £3.43 million (€4m) now, next summer and the final installment in the summer of 2015. In addition there is a clause to pay an extra £428, 668 (€500,000) if Spurs reach the Champions League.

Marc Overmars the Director of Football at Ajax confirmed that Daniel Levy had travelled to Holland to arrange the deal himself. The attacking midfielder now has permission to talk to us and finalising a deal with him is not expected to prove a problem.

That does rather give us a glut in midfield which will mean a departure or departures. We know there are bids in for Lennon and Townsend but it is Gylfi Sigurdsson who is probably the first one to go with interest in him from Premier League clubs and from Germany.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto now looks like he might be staying having apparently failed two medicals. Our staff have been saying he is not fit for some time even though he has said he is. I guess two failed medicals say our medical staff were right all along. AVB backs our medical staff and doesn't play players if they are not fit so his attitude may have to change if he is to command a regular spot.

That is good news for Danny Rose who may well have the chance now to cement his place in the side but he'll have to improve his defensive work if he wants to stay there. Mind you this window is such that you wouldn't rule anything out so Benny could still go somewhere on loan perhaps.

Vlad Chiriches has arrived for his medical today and to sign a contract so we could hear the official announcement of him and Erik Lamela who as you must all know by now has signed. Those of you thinking he still has to pass a medical think again, he has already passed it.

I did enjoy News at Ten last night with them suggesting that we are delaying the Gareth Bale move so Arsenal can't sign Real Madrid players! No doubt we will release him in the next couple of days. AVB is not happy with Bale and has quite frankly been let down by him going on strike since mid July.

Spurs have actually pulled another masterstroke right at the end of the saga by telling Bale to turn up for training knowing full well he has refused to train since before the Hong Kong trip. The result is Bale had to make a decision. Does he train and risk injury or does he refuse and show the world there has been no injury, just a strike. He chose the latter.

AVB has asked Spurs to fine the player for 'undermining his authority' so publicly and it is believed the Bale camp would treat such a fine with contempt and refuse to pay it. Could that actually drag the saga out a little longer with Spurs refusing to release him until he did. I doubt we are going to go that far but the chances of Bale playing against Athletico Madrid on Sunday are diminishing.

Spurs have come out of this smelling of roses, the world now knows Bale has been forcing a move, refusing to train and refusing to play. We have had to play a game, a game in the press, but we come out of it, not despondent like we would have been if this happened at the beginning of the window but excited by a new squad and with a feeling the club in the end had no choice.

We have new heroes to cheer now.

What else is happening, oh yes, Emmanuel Adebayor who knows he is not in AVB's plans, who has plenty of offers from home and abroad but who wants a golden handshake. We all know Ade is only interested in doing as little as possible to pick up as much money as possible so forcing us to pay him off is second nature to him.

Not coming back from the African Cup of Nations was the last straw as far as Villas-Boas was concerned. To play for Spurs you have to have the right attitude and he doesn't. We may get stuck with him but my fingers are tightly crossed that we get shot of the guy this window.

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Mortgage done, survey done, transfer on

After a couple of articles on Daniel Levy, the masterstrokes he has played in the development of Tottenham Hotspur and in the transfer market this summer we'll have a look at why transfers take so long.

Previous Articles:
Daniel Levy - you're hired
Transfer Window Masterstroke

Wherever you go around the net you see thousands asking why hasn't player X signed yet or player Y had his medical when it was reported he would be. The answer is simple.

Buying s footballer is not like popping into your local supermarket and buying a pint of milk, not is it like getting a bunch of quotes for replacement windows and making a purchase. It's more like buying a house.

Let's use the Bale saga as an example. We are selling Bale, we don't want to but we are. Real Madrid have to sort out a method of payment, just as you would sort a mortgage, over a period of time. We want it over a short as possible period, they want to pay over as long as possible. Then there are medicals which are like surveys, you agree everything and then make sure nothing is wrong you can't see before finalising the deal.

If Bale is moving 'house' to Madrid then we need someone to move into his vacant place. It was thought that Erik Lamela would only arrive when Bale goes and that may still be the case but we wanted Willian as well before we sold. That deal fell through so Bale has had to wait, Madrid have had to wait.

Lamela, currently with Roma, would need replacing and Fiorentina's Adem Ljajic is their choice. He has a medical tomorrow which allows Roma to let Lamela have a medical with us and Bale a medical at Madrid.

Fiorentina need a replacement for Adem Ljajic and have lined up 19 year-old Croatian Ante Rebic from RNK Split.

So in this deal we have a chain of at least 4 players. If we are going to want two players in then we'll have two chains where something can always go wrong.

When you buy a house you are part of a chain and football transfers when they involve big players are often the same. We have a chain here. Each has to sort finance (mortgage), sort a medical (survey) before they buy. One goes wrong and it messes the chain up, you either lose your purchase or you have to wait longer. Willian was the piece that went wrong so nothing has been completed.

Going the other way Madrid need to recoup some of the money they are spending. They have sold players but spent that money already on other purchases so are making players available which the likes of Arsenal are interested in.

Now players don't want to leave Madrid, why would they, tradition has them as the number one team in the world, just ask Bale. I wrote earlier about the masterstroke of our main rivals for fourth not having bought anyone but hoping to sign Madrid players surplus to requirements. Bale not arriving yet is scuppering that and nerves are starting to jangle with only 6 days to go.

Fiorentina have completed the negotiations for Rebic , “The negotiations have now been concluded,” confirmed FIFA agent Mauro Cesarini on Radio Blu.

That has allowed Ljajic to move and he has a medical booked at Roma tomorrow. Assuming he passes that then Roma will release Lamela to come to London and have his medical with us. When it is convenient to us we will then release Bale to have a medical for Real Madrid and finally when he has passes that medical Real Madrid will look to offload a couple of their players.

There is no rush on our part, we don't need to. We are the ones sitting with the prize asset, the key to the chain for others still wanting to buy Real Madrid players.

We got Rafael Van Der Vaart on a last day late transfer from Real Madrid, perhaps levy will pop back there again and see who he can pick up. Fabio Coentrao wants to stay in Spain but who knows perhaps on transfer deadline day he'll have a change of heart. Perhaps Levy will grab another bargain although I remain convinced he is waiting for Damiao on deadline day.

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Ljajic leaving Fiorentina this window + Chriches update

Fiorentina owner Andre Della Valle expects Spurs, AC Milan and Liverpool target Adem Ljajic to leave in the next few days.

The Serbian was not in his sides squad on Monday to face Catania and was told he would be put up for sale if he didn't sign the contract extension he is currently refusing to sign.

"The boy is a bit nervous, and Montella [Fiorentina manager] has decided not to bring him here.

"In the coming days he will almost certainly leave Florence. Not selling to Milan? Never say never."

The 21 year-old could be available for around £7.5 million (€9m) and with a salary in 2012 of only £602,632 (€700,000) which is £11,589 (€13,461) a week, the wage bill would be kept under control to help meet Financial Fair Play regulations.

Ljajic plays as a secondary striker or attacking midfielder at Fiorentina, a position we are actively looking to fill. He can even play left wing so suits various formations.

Earlier posts today:
Transfer Window Masterstroke
Daniel Levy - you're hired
Benzema no to Arsenal, Caulker and Chriches

Moving on:

Personal terms have been agreed with Vlad Chiriches on a 5 year deal worth £1.03 million (€1.2m) a year which is £19,867 (€22,867) a week according to his agent Victor Becali.

Chiriches is considered to be one of the better ball-playing central defenders in Europe and looks set to cost us £8.18 million (€9.5m) from Steaua Bucharest.

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Benzema no to Arsenal, Caulker, Chiriches

Benzema no to Arsenal.

"We can't stop the rumours. But I tell you: Karim will not go to Arsenal. It's never been a question for him and no contact has been made. He will stay at Madrid.

"The probable arrival of Gareth Bale at Real Madrid doesn't threaten him at all. Cristiano Ronaldo and Bale will play on the wings and Karim in the centre. Karim could very well finish his career at Real, the club of his dreams," Benzema's agent Karim Djaziri has said.

Steven Caulker wishes Spurs well.

"I knew what I was coming here for and I am not looking back. I wish Tottenham well.

"I understand why people question why I have dropped down. But people who knew me know I want to play football and challenge myself every week. I am young and want to play and get as much experience as I can.

"Tottenham is a club that has not produced a player since Ledley King, so it was slightly difficult to see your future there as a youngster."

Steaua coach Laurentiu Reghecampf all but confirms the Vlad Chiriches transfer.

"Chiri's condition is good and the clubs have agreed to transfer him. I'm very happy for him," .

"I hope he will help us on Tuesday night (Steaua's second leg Champions League qualifier against Legia Warsaw) and of course that he stays healthy.

"The club made money on him and I cannot say the amount for which he is transferred but it is very high."

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Daniel Levy - you're hired

Gianluca Di Marzio, who is a reporter for Sky Sports in Italy, claims that during the Spurs/Roma Erik Lamela discussions the idea was mooted of swapping left-backs Federico Balzaretti and Benoît Assou-Ekotto.

With Benny surplus to requirements now at White Hart Lane Balzaretti would be a cheaper replacement, his salary was £24,760 a week in 2012. Di Marzio explains that the idea is only at discussion stage and that swap deals are notoriously difficult, but the will is there to explore the situation. Balzaretti is 31 but would provide some experience in a position where Rose and Fryers are wearing their L plates.

Roma and Spurs seem to be forming something of a good working relationship with former Roma employee Franco Baldini as the natural middle man.

Before he signed for Southampton Pablo Osvaldo was offered to Spurs but we declined his services. The clubs seem to get along well and to form a working relationship with a club in Italy would certainly be beneficial in the long run.

The success of Spurs in the transfer market this summer can be placed firmly at Daniel Levy's feet. He had a strategy, he brought in Baldini and Franco has carried it out with aplomb.

You hear plenty of plaudits for Baldini and quite rightly, with his people skills and extensive contacts, he is regarded as one of the best in the game in his role. He was sourced, courted and signed by Levy after over a year of trying.

Hong Kong told us Bale was leaving but the masterstroke of blocking other clubs transfers by not releasing Bale until we have done ours and filling our squad with signings to make us forget all about Bale has worked a charm. The question now is how long we will make them all wait, he certainly isn't being bullied by Madrid who are painted as wanting everything now.

For all you Levy haters out there, and you must be dwindling, it's time you let bygones be bygones and finally admit he actually knows what he is doing!

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Transfer window masterstroke

Clubs are starting to circle waiting to pounce before the window shuts, but they are circling Real Madrid.

The Goon Squad are said to be interested in two, but who would be interested in the Goons, nobody has so far.

It would seem this transfer window has been waiting for the sale of Gareth Bale to ignite other transfers. The hierarchy at Tottenham have played a very good game by making them all wait.

Given that Bale has already said goodbye to some of the staff there can only be a few chimpanzees left who believe Bale is staying but making everyone wait so they have little time to conclude their business when he does eventually go is a masterstroke. The latest ruse of a 'mystery bid' is all designed to keep everyone waiting while we complete further purchases. The deal would have been announced earlier had Willian signed but now everyone will have to wait a bit longer which is probably frustrating them.

Real Madrid have to make their preparations for his arrival, they have a podium built to present him as is the way in Madrid which many claim was erected for Raul's testimonial last Thursday, begging the question why hasn't it been taken down then? Diving off at a tangent, who is disappointed with the £86 million fee?

With 60/70% of purchases already made we are ahead of the game, there are two (Lamela, Chiriches) but more probably three, maybe even four still to join our squad transformation. This window certainly hasn't been a cosmetic exercise has it.

Of course arrivals mean players have to go, there are only 25 squad places available and 8 of those have to be homegrown. Several players have therefore been told to find new clubs, Huddlestone has reluctantly already gone and the same for Parker, neither wanted to leave but were left with no doubt they would see very little game time.

Adebayor is another told to find another club, he has offers from both home and abroad in addition to the pie in the sky Besiktas talk. Benoit Assou-Ekotto is in the same boat, whilst Livermore was sent on loan to get some game time, Caulker went because he wants to play every week and wouldn't at Spurs. Dempsey was given the opportunity to return home so we didn't stand in his way.

As has been expected for a while Fabio Coentrao declined to join us so Danny Rose has been filling in. There are stories now of us looking to being in an experienced loanee at left-back, a week is a long time in a transfer window so we'll wait and see.

A possible movement that has gone quiet is the departure of Heurelho Gomes, given game time in Hong Kong he looks set to stay as the number three keeper on £50,000 a week, which would surely end any World Cup hopes.

The Lane is certainly gaining a South American feel with Paulinho, Sandro and Gomes, Lamela likely to arrive, a failed attempt at Willian and now we are said to be talking to an agent of other Argentinian players, a creative attacking midfielder is still on the agenda.

Plenty of time left in the transfer window for some twists and turns yet.

Previous articles (open in a new window):
Quotes from Roberto Soldado and Jan Vertonghen posted last night - Soldado and Vertonghen
The Monday morning Transfer Options Round Up article.

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Soldado and Vertonghen

New signing Roberto Soldado has begun his preperations for our next game. He is being told of the importance of the London Derby, as are all the new signings, by his teammates so that the atmosphere doesn't take them by surprise.

"Yes, my team-mates have told me what the derby means. Tottenham against Arsenal is one of the most beautiful games for the club and everyone who has come in from outside will want to play in it.

"It's the game with the biggest rivalry for Tottenham and I cannot wait to play in this environment and I hope we can get the three points. It's always important to score goals and I hope to keep on doing this for the team.

"The welcome I have got since my presentation here in the friendly against Espanyol has been great. To hear the fans singing your name is special and I hope it happens a lot more throughout the season.

"The physical aspect of the game is the biggest difference. The referees here allow much more contact and the games are a lot quicker. This is something that I have been taking in bit by bit.

"I've had a much shorter pre-season compared to my team-mates but I have scored one penalty against Crystal Palace and another against Swansea.

"The first few games I think are the hardest of the season and we have played well, but we can still improve a lot."

Incredibly there are some supporters have been wondering why Mousa Dembele is not playing well, don't know what games they have been watching but they are wrong. Clearly these people only believe you are having a good game if you are catching the eye rather than having and end product but Jan Vertonghen knows better.

He has been heaping praise on our hard working midfield players.

“Swansea is one of the best footballing teams in the Premier League and I thought we did very well.

“We had great pressure, especially the midfield players, who did a lot of work.

“The midfield was unbelievable – that made it an easy job for me and Daws at the back! They did so much work. For me and Daws it’s all about organisation, they work and work all the time. We were happy, they did a great job.

“I think we can be proud of our performance.”

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Transfer options round-up

Willian is not to be, he would have been excellent for us but not to worry, move on to Pjanic, Eriksen is still a possibility.

There are plans in place for these disappointments happening. We have gone into this window with a strategy and we have been carrying it out with the backing of Joe Lewis.

Daniel Levy is prepared to pay more than he would normally do for certain key players and has done so. Soldado is an example of that as was Willian. These were signed because the club have the utmost faith in AVB, not that he makes all the transfer decisions, he doesn't, he has his input into the think tank.

Targets suggested by all parties are discussed, priorities set, we'll go for player A, if we can't get him then player B and player C. We have this for all the areas we are looking to strengthen.

Franco Baldini goes to do preliminary negotiations and arranges deals in principle before they get handed over to the money men to finalise. Some deals are on the back burner, you go and chat with the representatives of player C for instance so you have a complete picture of the rough costs of each option and whether they want to come, the possibilities of their club wanting to sell.

In addition you must have players lined up or in mind for most positions in the squad, you never know when you might receive an offer to good for one of your players and decide to sell.

Some deals you don't get you return to and try again, the selling club may not have been able to sell, the clubs the player wanted to go to didn't come in for him, there could be a whole host of reasons. How many times have we tried to sign Damiao for instance even after AVB said in February he doubted we'd be back for him, we were right at the start of the window.

This pieces seems to have morphed somewhat, it was to be a quick round-up for Facebook but seems to have expanded to a whole article so let's get back on track with quotes from Andre Villas-Boas:

“We’ve been very active in the market and the only thing I can tell you is that we will keep on adding to the squad. We’ve been linked with numerous names during the transfer window but what you can expect is Tottenham to bring more players in. That is the only thing I can tell the fans.”

Erik Lamela is expected early next week, wages were a stumbling block for the 21 year-old Argentinian but I believe that has now been overcome. Fabio Coentrao is having second thoughts, he is saying he wants to remain in Spain, perhaps it's Champions League football he's really after and young winger Todor Nedelev, who was watched again this weekend, is on our radar as is Real Betis 18 year-old winger Alvaro Vadillo.

Vlad Chririches is again the centre-half target we are after, he is flying in on Tuesday or Wednesday. Erik Lamela is is expected to be tied up around the same time, we'll also try for Pjanic but Roma won't want to be loosing all their players.

Benoit Assou-Ekotto needs to pass his second medical having failed the first to depart for foreign soil, we have had offers for Andros Townsend and Cardiff have come in for Aaron Lennon.

Defoe and Adebayor can both go but shifting Ade is a problem. We may be seeing another striker come in, certainly will if one of them goes, which may well be Damiao for a price more to Levy's liking than before. Can't see us getting Benzema because of his wages or Adem Ljajic of Fiorentina who is refusing to sign a new contract but you never know this window. Hulk still wants out of Russia and is another option if we can get Zenit to lower their asking price to around £30 million.

Enjoy what remains of it because you won't be seeing this type of transfer window again.

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The Townsend Debate - his game minute by minute

Andros Townsend is a player who divides opinion among the Tottenham faithful. The Lennon haters want Townsend to replace Lennon, the Lennon lovers think Townsend isn't up to the required standard for a top 4 Premier League side.

He played against an awful Dinamo Tiblsi team in the Europa League qualifier away from home on Thursday and the 5-0 scoreline tells you all you need to know about the opposition. Now there will be plenty of sites who will a match report and tell you how wonderful Townsend was so I have taken a different approach for you.

I had a critical look at his performance which on the surface caught the eye, but does it stand up to scrutiny?

I'll lay my cards on the table and say I'm not a fan, he has to win me over, however I am seeing things in him that show, with work he could be quite a player. I've looked at his performance last night with my mind on Premier League defences and the way they defend.

Many fans merely look at an individual rather than the team, how it all fits together and the required pieces of jigsaw needed to fill it. A player has to fit a system otherwise the system has to be changed just for him and unless you are a certain Welshman that isn't going to happen. We have to appreciate what we require from a wide man in the Premier League in our system.

We need him to drop back to defend into a 4-5-1 system and break forward either in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. Either way we need them to create width to stretch the defence allowing gaps for our midfield runners to arrive late in the penalty area. Our wide men need to be able to beat their full-backs on the outside and cross on the run with little time and space. They also need pace and an ability at times to cut in and shoot or pick a pass.

Our modus operandi on the right is for Walker to play balls inside the full-back for a wide man to run behind or for the wide man to cut inside and allow Walker to overlap, but there again plenty of fans think Walker can't cross a ball.

Townsend was picked to play on the right where my views prior to the game were that he would always cut inside on his left foot, which is fine if you are on the break but not if you have a midfield and defensive wall in front of you or you want late arriving midfielders. Continually cutting inside doesn't suit our system in the Premier League with Soldado as an in the box poacher. Premier League defences will happily usher a wide man inside to a crowded area backing themselves to smother them out.

So let's get on and look at Townsend's game.

First half begins.
2 mins - Ball given away cutting inside to centre of pitch 40 yards from goal.
5 mins - Poor control knocks the ball out for a throw in.
7 mins - In centre of field makes a short pass to Dembele.
8 mins - Cuts into the centre 40 yards from goal ending up in the inside right position.
10 mins - Inside left position plays simple pass back to teammate.
12 mins - Break from corner and runs centrally, not closed down, not tackled and allowed to shoot to score.

For the first 12 minutes every time he has had the ball he has run inside offering no width, then takes an opportunity and scores an eye catching individual goal. Well done, pat on the back. He took it very well but it was made as easy possible for him and he wouldn't be allowed that run without being closed down or tackled in the Premier League. If you think Bale verses Norwich City he had to ride a tackle that tried to bring him down and beat a defender  who closed him down. None the less he did what he had to do and he did it well and at the end of the day that's all you can do.

15 mins - Receives ball and cuts inside towards the middle.
16 mins - Receives ball and cuts inside towards the middle again and stays at centre forward.
17 mins - Goes outside his man for the first time but attempted right footed cross is feeble.
20 mins - He receives the ball 15 yards from goal 5 yards from the centre, loses possession but it bobbles back to him off the defender and he is fouled in a dangerous position.
26 mins - Out wide he plays a simple pass backwards.
30 mins - Central he loses the ball.
31 mins - Cuts inside to centre, simple pass and stays there for the next 2 minutes.

In 31 minutes he has gone outside his man once and run into the centre 8 times. All very predictable and exactly what Premier League defences want, easier to defend against at that level. Whilst he is catching the eye, all he doing is cutting inside and this is the big problem in his game if he is to be played on the right in the Premier League. Ideally he needs to learn what Bobby Charlton did and train himself to use his wrong foot.

33 mins - Out wide he plays a good short ball inside, however he then walks backwards and we are only 22 yards from goal. When the ball breaks free in space, he is not ready for it and can't take advantage of the space available.
34 mins - Out wide good first time flick inside as he is bundled over from behind.
35 mins - He is to be found standing centrally, passes the ball wide 40 yards from goal.
39 mins - Break in play and AVB has a word which hand gestures appear to be saying, get out wide.

At the time I was thinking, indeed hoping AVB was telling him to stay wide. attack on the outside and stop cutting in so much. For the remainder of the half he did just that, staying wide, creating width to stretch the defence and create gaps for others to exploit.

42 mins - Plays a give and go with Naughton (good ball from Naughton) out wide and attacks on the outside, drags back to his left foot and the defender sits on the floor. With all the time in the world a lovely little dink to an unmarked Paulinho arriving. Simple header, goal.

Half time and receiving all the plaudits from Carlisle but brought down to earth by the studio guests who tell us how abysmal the Dinamo Tiblisi defence is. They are but you can only play what is in front of you. He has had a good half but cut inside far too much.

Second half begins.
53 mins - Cuts inside and loses the ball.
56 mins - Edge of own box centrally runs the ball out of play on the left.
57 mins - Attacks his man from wide on the outside, leaves him for dead and simple pull back for Spldado to score.
63 mins - Inside left position edge of box dinks ball over defence for Paulinho overhead kick.
65 mins - Good simple ball inside to teammate.
73 mins - Cuts inside and loses possession.
74 mins - For the second time in the game he runs with the ball in space and there is no tackle on him again, ball bobbles as he shoots and it goes high and wide.
79 mins - Cuts inside low left footed cross comes to nothing.
82 mins - Runs out of defence, cuts inside, pass to Chadli.
83 mins - Attacks full-back and loses possession.
85 mins - Centre forward position misplaced pass.

He did well against the opposition and will certainly play in the return leg at White Hart Lane next Thursday, as for the league, there was far too much cutting inside. His whole game shouts me, me, me. It's all about him having shots, it's almost as if he thinks he is Gareth Bale.

To have any chance of taking Lennon's place he has to extend his game and attack the outside, which he can do on the left of course. If he can learn to do that on the right, then he'll be a player, until that time he'll continue to be an understudy.

To be fair to him when AVB had a word after 39 minutes to tell him stay wide, he did for the rest of the game until the dying minutes and that helped us immensely. His runs were towards goal or out wide generally, rather than the previous right angled runs into the centre of the pitch.

I know I sound very critical but if people want to improve they have to look critically at performances and sometime be harsh and yes I do know you also have to pat on the back. He was Man of the Match and Dawson wasn't far behind as he was carrying Kaboul who was very rusty as isn't ready for a weekend start yet. He is not fit enough and was clumsy on the ball.

If you think of Nacer Chadli's Bale like cross for Soldado's second goal, that is what you are saying you don't want if you want Townsend on the right, he can't play that ball with his right foot. That's the element of his game he needs to learn if on the right, on the left he can play it. previously we have had nobody to tuck this type of cross in, Defoe and Ade are never there for the tap in. Now we have a quality striker who is so the more of these we can play the better. Stop playing them and you are taking a supply line away from our main goalscorer, we can't do that in the Premier League.

Townsend now needs to play the return leg before playing against tougher opposition in the tournament but this was another encouraging performance, there is something to work with and it'll be down to him if he wants to do the work. If he does he could take his game to a whole new level.

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AVB praises Townsend

Andre Villas-Boas had praise for Andros Townsend after his man of the match performance against Dinamo Tiblisi in the Europa League tie. There will be an article posted at 9am on Townsend and his minute by minute performance last night, the 39th minute was hugely significant.

Speaking after the game about Townsend AVB said:

"Andros has been working well in training, so we felt it was time to give him an opportunity and he did very well. If we have the type of performance we had to today (from him) we can always count him.

"For all the young players we are bringing through the competition they face is extremely difficult and in my opinion, when you overcome that type of opposition you can only become a top player.

"He is doing it the right way. He seems very focused after last year's experience.

"We had some very good moments and the thing that was the difference was scoring from the chances we had. The killer instinct was there from the chances we had and that didn't happen in Dinamo's case.

"That is why, in the end the result is as expressive as it is.

"We want to ensure qualification and in the second leg anything can happen. We are expected to win at home after this result away from home but we won't play with fire. We will be strong and want to ensure we are in the group stages."

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Spurs XI guess

Picking the team AVB may pick tonight is a tough one, far tougher than usual. There are so may question it raises and so many options it's not easy to know which ones he'll go for.

Do you give Friedel a game?
Rose or Naughton?
Should Kaboul or Vertonghen start?
Should Sandro and Capoue start?
Do you pick a near 1st XI to help them gel quickly?
Soldado or Defoe?

The objective is to win the tie over two legs. Defeat away must be avoided and a win gained if possible. Scoring away is another consideration if the game is a draw. What will AVB do?

To try and help answer that I thought I'd look back at last years opening Europa League game, however we didn't play a qualifier we went straight into a league game against Lazio, which we drew 0-0. The team on that occasion was:
Lloris, Walker, Caulker, Vertonghen, Naughton, Sandro, Dembele, Lennon, Dempsey, Bale, Defoe.

Subs used were; Sigurdsson for Dembele after 76 minutes, Townsend for Lennon after 81 minutes and Mason for Dembele after 89 minutes.

Can we draw any conclusions from that, well he played a strong side, we had centre-backs to rotate and gave Naughton a game. Also at the time Friedel was the league goalkeeper while Lloris found his feet, does this suggest Friedel will get game time or will play with the result a priority?

To start my wild guess eleven I'm this time plumping for Lloris between the sticks.

Walker picks himself with Dawson alongside him for his leadership and experience.

I'm going for Vertonghen to start with Kaboul coming on as a sub and Rose at left-back.

Midfield is tough, so many options. Paulinho, Capoue, with Sandro coming on as a sub.

Lennon, Sigurdsson, Soldado, Chadli with Defoe coming on as sub.

Lloris

Walker Dawson (Capt) Vertonghen Rose

Paulinho Capoue

Lennon Sigurdsson Chadli

Soldado

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VIDEO of Under 21 win, Bale, Willian, Lamela

Let's start off Thursday with some video highlights of our Under 21's 6-3 defeat of Manchester City, a game in which Harry Kane grabbed a hat-trick.




Right having cheered you up lets get on to the other news, Bale, Willian, Lamela.

Franco Baldidi is racking up the air miles travelling around Europe and putting together the transfer deals for Levy to sanction and finalise.

A 5 year deal for Willian sorted with wages in the region of £85,000 a week, passed to Daniel, on then to Erik Lamela, not in Rome though and not in London but in Madrid.

Baldini is negotiating the sale of Gareth Bale whilst also negotiating for Erik Lamela and it is believed in some quarters Miralem Pjanic also.

Reports are now suggesting a deal in principle has been agreed for 21 year-old Argentinian Lamela. Wages in year one will of £40K (€2.4m a year) rising in the subsequent years of a 6 year contract. The fee agreed is a basic £25.65 million (€30m) with add-ons, the add-ons have not been agreed upon though as like Valencia Roma want easily achievable targets that will almost guarantee them more money. The add-ons will take the total cost of the deal to £29.92 million (€35m) it is believed.

The other potential stumbling block to the deal is the payment schedule. Roma want the money over 2 years, we want to pay over 4 years. We clearly want a deal to be done with Bale leaving probably by the end of the week, it would be a surprise if an agreement is not reached very soon.

Lamela is expecting to be a Spurs player, his girlfriend is expecting him to be a Spurs player tweeting 'What a farce' when he was presented as a Roma player yesterday, his brother is expecting him to be a Spurs player tweeting when asked where he is is going, Tottenham. The deal is dependent on Bale leaving so nothing can be confirmed with the deals yet until Bale is finalised (announced as finalised or not), then it's dominoes (draughts) time.

As Spurs fans we don't want to lose Gareth Bale but even those who have been in denial must now be starting to accept he is off. To use him to assemble a strong team will mean hardly any dissenting voices I would have thought with the array of vast talent he has been replaced with.

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Roberto Soldado

Roberto Soldado became the 74th player to score a debut goal in a competitive game for Spurs.

He showed intelligent movement and created opportunities for himself which augers well for the future, it's something the side have been lacking up front. His 50th-minute penalty means he has now scored 11 in his last nine games in league football, scoring 10 in his last eight La Liga games for Valencia.

The two penalties he has taken have showed what a cool customer he is in front of goal. He moves to the ball with a hesitation whilst watching the keeper. Not for him a head down look at the ball and a last minute peek at the keeper, he knows where the ball is. The penalties this week where all predictable, they all went to the players favourite area, which is exactly what a keeper would expect first game of the season. It was no surprise that Benteke and Walters had one saved.

With a striker showing a good touch and intelligent movement the next step is to improve the quality of the balls into the box from our midfielders. With new players and more to come this will be addressed soon, The other pleasing aspect of Soldado's play was to see him attack the six yard box. This left room for advancing midfielders to exploit instead of having Jermain Defoe hold back and take the space around the penalty spot.

With a striker attacking the 6 yard box a defender has to go with him which creates space and a potential opportunity for someone else. This is how Frank Lampard is able to score 20 goals a season every season for Chelsea.

Soldado is adding more than just goals to Tottenham, he put a chance on a plate for Sigurdsson who unfortunately couldn't even hit the target. He will be a joy to watch this season and I'm looking forward to seeing the midfield grabbing their share of strikes as a result of his movement.

SPURS Premier League Debut Goalscorers
05.12.92 Sol Campbell
05.02.94 Ronny Rosenthal
20.08.94 Jurgen Klinsmann
29.09.01 Dean Richards
23.08.03 Frederic Kanoute
19.10.03 Mbulelo Mabizela
07.02.04 Jermain Defoe
05.02.05 Mido (2)
09.03.08 Gilberto
16.08.09 Sebastien Bassong
14.04.10 Danny Rose
10.09.11 Emannuel Adebayor
01.09.12 Mousa Dembele
18.08.13 Roberto Soldado (pen)

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Press Conference ahead of Europa League tie

The Spurs press conference before the Dinamo Tiblisi Europa League qualification round game featured Andre Villas-Boas and Younis Kaboul. It began with questions for Younis.

He was asked if the strengthening of the squad would allow Tottenham to go further in competitions at home and abroad this season:

"We are going to carry on like last season. We will take every tournament seriously with complete concentration.

"Our target is to go as far as possible in every competition.We are trying to build something at Spurs. Big squad with good quality. Now we are facing some big games in the league against some good teams.

"We will be ready for each games. And everyone has to be ready for every game and concentrated for that.

"It is exciting to see the club try to sign so many players. But the main thing is to try and win football matches. Everyone is welcome at Spurs. We are waiting for the new signings. We just need to compete even better than before."

Kaboul was then asked about Gareth Bale: "Of course Gareth is a great class player and we need him in the team but we have some good players also.

"He is injured at the moment and we have some good players to replace him. Most important thing is to win football matches. Whoever is playing is the most important."

He was asked which competition will AVB prioritise this season, the Premier League or Europa League?

"Last season I think we prioritised both competitions in the end. Same objective this season. We approach this season the same.

"We often played the same team Thursday to Sunday last season and had good success on Sundays. This playoff is very important to us."

Younis then left the press conference to train and questions where then aimed at AVB. He was asked about the possible signings of Willian, Erik Lamela and Fabio Coentrao.

"None of the names you have mentioned have signed for Spurs. I have answered about Willian in the past, not only my time with Tottenham but also Chelsea.

"All the players are great, great players.

"On the players that are here, we are moving forward. We are not only trimming the squad but adding tremendous talent.

"I think we can become very, very strong regards to last season. It depends what deals we are able to conclude before the end of the market. We are looking to be stronger than before."

AVB was then asked again about Willian and the contribution of technical director Franco Baldini:

"I can't really confirm anything regarding Willian. There is interest in the player and there have been conversations.

"Franco is a massive appointment for Tottenham. Someone I wanted last year and it wasn't possible then. He has massive experience, Real Madrid, Roma and the FA. He is one of the best technical directors there is."

AVB was asked if the new signings are to play alongside Gareth Bale or replace him.

"Ideally we want to keep everyone. Anything can happen. We are in the last few days of transfer activity.

"The objective is always to be stronger than the year before and I think we are on the right way to achieve it."

The press persevered and asked AVB iif Gareth Bale has already signed for Real Madrid:

"I cannot say anything about that but it is not true."

He was then asked if Tottenham be stronger than last season at the end of the transfer window and is this now a potential title winning team?

"Yes I believe we can be stronger than the season before. I believe what we are doing will show this.

"I don't agree we can be title contenders for the season coming. Everything is coming and everything is happening. We have to create a team. We haven't had time to work with them."

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Gylfi Sigurdsson

Last season Glyfi Sigurdsson was like a fish out of water. He was stuck out on the left and struggled but did score some important goals for us towards the end of the season. He could have left in January when Reading bid £10 million for him but the word is AVB likes him and Spurs decided not to let him go.

In the latter pre-season games and against Crystal Palace we have seen him in the number 10 role, playing in the hole between the midfield and the lone striker. It is a position he enjoys and which would seem to suit his game. At only 23 he has time on his side to develop the creative aspect of his game.

He had 4 attempts at goal in the game and arguably should have converted one of them. Clinical finishing can separate sides at the end of the season and Sigurdsson showed for Swansea he knows where the net is. If he is to stay in the side he'll need to find his shooting boots.

Statistics can tell you what you want, Siggurdsson completed 36 of his 43 passes (83.7%) for instance, average, but throw into that he is trying to make defence splitting passes and the stats start to take on a different look, you expect passes to be cut out. Watching the game you would say, well I would, could do better. He gives me the impression of being nearly there, the talent seems to be there and only a run at number 10 will show if that talent will come to fruition. He doesn't want Spurs fans to start seeing him as the next Tom Huddlestone.

One stat that surprised me though was the tackles, he made 4, joint top with Walker, Paulinho and Rose, Chadli had 3. That indicates to me that Sigurdsson was effective in the high pressing game we employ, hunting for the ball in a pack with the midfield or wide men. Having played for Iceland in a deeper play making role he has everything to be a success at Spurs, his desire and mental ability will determine whether he gets overshadowed or not.

If I had to mark Spurs against Palace I'd give then a 6.75 or 7 score, adequate. Gylfi I'd also give the same score, an adequate performance, something to build upon. Not a performance to complain about or rave about and that kind of sums up his time at Spurs so far. This season he has to start to blossom.

"It was nice to play there again," Sigurdsson said after the 1-0 win.

"I enjoy playing there. Hopefully I'll stay there behind the striker because (Roberto) Soldado and Jermain (Defoe) are top strikers and it's good to play behind them.

"I'll play anywhere the gaffer wants me to, but that's one of my better positions, playing behind the striker. That's what I prefer."

Inevitably in any interview with a Spurs player the interviewer will ask about Gareth Bale, which once again just shows the massive interest the player attracts and why his non promotion of Spurs in the Far East was hugely significant.

"I think we've dealt with (the Bale situation) quite well. The club has dealt with it really well as well. Us as players, we can't really do anything. We just keep training. We don't really think about who is coming in or who is leaving.

"When they come in hopefully they'll fit in. But when you're at a big club like Tottenham, there is always going to be a few players coming in and a few players coming out. That's just how it is.

"We've brought in a few good players. Hopefully there'll be one or two more to strengthen our squad because it's a long season, many competitions, we need a lot of good players.

"We've had a good pre-season. It's been difficult for them to come in, they need to know how we play and we need to know how they play. A few more games and everyone will know each other a lot better."

Tottenham are now putting a squad together that has real depth, a squad that can be rotated rather than having to rely on too few players. You are after all only as good as your back up and our squad is looking like it may have the WOW factor.

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Bale to Madrid to happen soon

Bale to Madrid to happen soon.

Very interesting what Guillem Balague had to say on TalkSport that Real Madrid asked Gareth Bale to play for Wales and not for Spurs to show he was not injured and wanted to leave but he refused. There are a few people still left who are clinging to the belief that he is injured, but quite frankly they are not being honest with themselves in my opinion.

Bale did zero promotion for Spurs whilst in the Far East, not one single photo opportunity, as I've said before that speaks volumes. Football is about generating an income off the field to be able to buy and compete on the field. He sat in a changing room out the way and did nothing to promote Spurs.

Madrid wanted him to do a press conference and say he wants to leave but he refused to do that also, he is going to the training ground every day which Balague says Spurs have agreed to, but he is not training with the team as we know. He has told Levy he wants to leave but is not doing anything to cause unrest, apart from not training or playing, solely so he doesn't get injured.

We might see him gone by the end of the week, there is always a chance a deal will not be reached but Balague is expecting one to be finalised for around £82.17 million (€96m) plus probably Coentrao.

He says Real Madrid have offered £73.61 million (€86m) plus players at the moment which won't be enough and Daniel Levy wants a deal totalling £102.72 million (€120m).

I have long held the view Bale told us he wants to go, his agent doesn't do things without his knowledge so engineering a move hasn't been a plan hatched by his agent and Real Madrid without his knowledge. They tried to get the price down it didn't work, now they simply have to accept it and pay up if they want him and Perez wants him.

Our failure to qualify for the Champions League has cost us. That was the minimum requirement last season and the bottom line is, we failed with it. Had we succeeded then I'm sure Bale would have been here for another year and enjoying another Champions League adventure with us.

Erik Lamela's camp are waiting for that deal to happen and then he'll be signing on the dotted line. The deal apprears to be dependent on Bale going reading what his agent says although plenty are trying to convince us otherwise.

"I'm not in London and what is being said is not the truth," Pablo Sabbag (players agent) told Italy's ANSA agency. "I'm in the [Italian] capital along with Erik's father.

"Lamela's relaxed about it all. We're just waiting for developments. Let's see what happens."

Paulinho, Capoue, Soldado, Chadli, Willian, Lamela, Coentrao all are signed or look likely to sign. I said on Facebook right at the start of this window to expect 5 or even 6 new faces in the starting line up next season. It's looking like I knew what I was talking about.

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Holtby, BAE, Willian, Lamela, Capoue, Raul, Bale, Defoe

Little snippets from around the internet say that:

• Andre Villas-Boas tells us that Lewis Holtby has returned to training after the knee injury he suffered at the European Under 21 Championships where he was captaining Germany earlier this summer. This is a big season for Lewis who hopes to go with the full national side to the World Cup in 2014. To do that he will have to perform well for us when he gets the chance and force AVB to keep picking him. We have a strong midfield so it will not be easy to cement a place.
• Benoit Assou-Ekotto has a medical lined up with another club very shortly and has played his last game in a Spurs shirt. A player who divides opinion, I've certainly been in favour of him but last season he simply went through the motions whenever he played. That attitude has no place in a squad under AVB. He is another player you wish all the best to and leaves us with fond memories, just like Tom Huddlestone and Scott Parker, who have both played their part for the club.
• Willian wants to come to Spurs, his agent however wants him to go to Liverpool, presumably for more commission for him and that despite stories of them not being interested Manchester United have put in a bid. Is this a case of try for Lamela and Willian to see which one comes off?
• Etienne Capoue enjoyed his debut - "It was a great experience, a great feeling to be out there. it was amazing to play a part in a win on the first day. It was hard work out there, but that’s my job, to defend and then join the attack." You did it very impressively Etienne.
• Erik Lamela's representatives are flying to London to discuss a move to us according to a source in Italy who gets leaks from agents. Gianluca Di Marzio is an Italian today journalist who specialises in transfer news and gets a lot of it right. He says Roma and Spurs have already met to discuss Lamela who Roma don't want to lose.  Last week it was reported by Gazzetta dello Sport that Roma officials flew to London after we made a bid for Lamela. The new story gains credibility when Di Marzio says he asked Roma officials about it and Roma suggested Lamela's representatives must be going on holiday!
• Raul has been wheeled out by Madrid to give his views on Gareth Bale. The campaign now is to try and convince everyone that Bale is overpriced. “He’s a brilliant player and would bring a lot to Madrid, but his price is too high" Raul is quoted as saying by Spanish sports newspaper AS. “Tottenham have overestimated his price. The Real Madrid board is working hard to assemble the best team possible.” The guy obviously knows little about the commercial side of football and the income a player like Bale would generate.
• Stoke City are considering a late bid for Jermain Defoe. 

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VIDEO: Transfer target Todor Nedelev £2.18 million winger

A report from Bulgaria suggests we are close to reaching an agreement for a young 20 year-old winger, Todor Nedelev. The suggested fee is £2.18 million (5m Belgian Lira).

Seen below playing for his club Botev Plovdiv, he certainly looks as if he has some talent from this You Tube clip even taking into account the poor defending. A major attribute though is his ability to use both feet, something that never ceased to amaze me with professional footballers paid vast sums of money to be the best they can be. Would you not become proficient with your weaker foot instead of missing chances trying to score with the wrong foot? Bobby Charlton did it and he didn't turn out to bad.

He has one cap for Bulgaria having represented his country at Under 19 and Under 21 level. He has been a professional since June 2011 and has therefore only played 56 league games scoring 15 goals. This season he has scored 4 goals in 4 league games and 3 goals in 5 Europa League qualifiers.

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Parker leaves, AVB and Jan Vertonghen

Scott Parker has signed a 3 year deal for Fulham. QPR were going to pay £2 million and we wanted Fulham to pay £4 million so the final fee, which is undisclosed will probably be £3 - 3.5 million. Thanks Scotty.

Q - AVB, have Spurs bid for Willian? 
A - "No, no."

Q - Do you admire the player?
A - "Yes. This is a player who I have spoken about in the past, not very long ago. He is a player who I appreciate. He belongs to them and I respect them so I wouldn't like to extend myself too much."

Q - Will there be new signings?
A - "We haven't finished. We have a very, very good squad. We have done most of our activity in the market, but we are looking further on that. There is a possibility (of new signings), yes."

Q - Has Gareth Bale played his last game for Spurs?
A - "He is a player who has had a clearing session [a light training session] today. Hopefully if everything goes well, the player will be involved and I can give you further news about the player in the future."

Q - Is he travelling to Georgia?
A - "He is in our Europa League squad, but he is not available [for Thursday's game] because he is injured."

Q - Jan Vertonghen, what did you think of the performance against Crystal Palace on Sunday. 

A - "We were very dominant, but we kept them alive and they had a big opportunity in the 89th minute.

"We should have more of a killer instinct. If we did we could have scored two or three more, then we would have been able to relax a bit and make more substitutes."

Not having that killer instinct was something I wrote about on Facebook last season which drew complaints that I should be satisfied. Like Jan I know without a killer instinct a side wins nothing. It has to learn it, develop it and implement it. Both Sigurdsson and Defoe should have scored, not doing so was not good enough and is why the club are continually looking for upgrades. Good is not good enough anymore. Three points, first game of the season, congratulations, learn the lessons and move on.

"We were happy with the win. It would have been a better result if we had got two or three goals more.

"We had quite a good season last year but at the end we didn't make what we aimed for.

"But this year we have learned from this and we can't make the same mistakes again.

"We have the quality (to make the top four). It's going to be very difficult because everyone has spent money, but we have bought some good players too.

"We have also been playing a year longer together. Everyone believes that we can do something this year.

"We have bought some good players. I can see already that we are playing well, but we can still play much better."

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Halilovic, Bale, Willian, Fryers

Croatian news outlet Jutarnji are claiming that Alen Halilovic's family held talks on Friday at the Maksimir Stadium and agreed terms on a transfer to Tottenham. Until now his father has not wanted him to join Spurs wanting his son to play first team football now.

They go on to claim that Hallovic will now stay at Dinamo Zagreb, where his Dad is a coach, on loan until he is 18. The deal would mean the best of both worlds for Dinamo Zagreb. Their chairman wants the money and he'd get that plus the player for another year.

Another Croatian news outlet, Sportske, reported last week that Alen's father travelled to England to watch his other son Dino play in the Nike Premier Cup for the clubs youth team. They claim he stayed on in London to have talks with Spurs, successfully if Jutarnji are to be believed.

The fee is suggested as being £12.79 million (€15m).

Spanish football expert Guilleme Balague has tweeted that he believes Real Madrid want Gareth Bale to force Spurs to lower their asking price by handing in a transfer request and refusing to play. He goes on to say that he won't do that and Spurs want him to stay another year. Also that Real Madrid won't stop trying but are less optimistic than they were.

AVB was disappointed not to get Willian last summer but he went for daft money to Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala. He wants to leave Russia and has turned down Zenit St Petersburg who had agreed a £34.12 million €40m) deal with Anzhi.

Liverpool and Spurs are the two clubs said to be chasing the player who has made no secret of the fact that he wants to play in England and would cost £29.85 million €35m).

Must be something about Russia because Hulk is desperate to leave the place too but all has gone quiet about him at the moment.

Danny Rose was taken off yesterday with 5 minutes to go and when AVB was asked about his defensive options he said: "We have options in defence, we still have (Kyle) Naughton, we have (Younes) Kaboul coming back, we have Zeki Fryers who did very well in pre-season.

"I think we are covered, we might (buy) we haven’t decided yet bearing in mind Fryers' progression."

It would seem the words Tim Sherwood and our coaching staff had with Zeki Fryers about his attitude and work is beginning to pay off. He was bought as a replacement left-back so it can not have been easy for him spending the remainder of the season in the Development squad for us to try and show the league we weren't deliberately trying to circumvent the rules.

His progress is one to keep an eye on.

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AVB, Holloway, Souness views, player success stats

Andre Villas-Boas was happy with Spurs opening performance against Crystal Palace on Sunday. The Palace defender shouldn't have had his arms in the air outstretched covering an area so there can be no complaints, not that that stopped Ian Holloway complaining of course.

"(It was) a good performance," Villas-Boas said. "There's always a surprise factor to Palace because of the amount of signings that they have brought (in) and the fact that we don't know them as well as the other teams so I'm extremely happy with the performance.

"We had good chances during the whole of the 90 minutes, chances to put the game to bed when we were 1-0 up, so I can only be pleased with the performance. We had to hang strong in the last minutes of the game to take it to the final whistle, but I think overall we were the deserved winners.”

He was asked if he though Soldado would score 20 goals this season - “Of course, I think so. His career speaks for [itself],” he said.

“You know, to see him so confidently step up and put it to the same side as he scored against Espanyol was important for us. So, good to see him out there, created some chances, good to see the forward coming in with that hungriness for goals that he has. So extremely pleased for the work that he did.”

"Most of these players arrived at a later stage – particularly Paulinho and Soldado, who had only two or three weeks with us.

"We can only see them and develop towards the future. Bearing in mind that for all them the Premier League is a different proposition to the leagues that they have played in terms of intensity and passion for the game, I think they did extremely well.”

He was asked about the central defence and would there by another signing there - “At the moment we don’t have lots of options in defence. We might still but we haven’t decided yet.”

One reporter tried his best to get news on Bale when asking is was the first match of the post Gareth Bale era and how did AVB see the team performing without him anyway? Andre spun him the agreed party line.

“The (way the) team performed, I just answered your question. The other question that you want to know and everybody else wants to know I’m not going to comment about. The player is injured and he’s not available for selection, and he’s not likely to start in neither the Tsblisi nor the Swansea game.”

Ian Holloway had his own views of course: "I'm a bit disappointed if I'm honest. We normally play a bit better and quicker and sharper than that with the ball.

"Did we get to grips with it quick enough first half? I expected us to do what we did, blocking up their spaces and I don't think their full-backs got forward as much as they normally do because we blocked a few things up. But I was disappointed with our lack of belief in our movement and our passing really.

"It was a completely unbelievably dubious handball. Was it deliberate? I didn't think he had chance to get out the way. Yes his arms came up, but he was diving on the floor." No he wasn't he was blocking standing tall with his arms up where they shouldn't be and in the rules if the ball hits them when they are in an unnatural position it is a penalty.

"You ask anyone, if you're falling, what happens to your arms? I've never seen anyone fall with their arms by the sides. I don't think he had a chance in hell of getting out the way of it." He wasn't falling he was stretching standing up, only falling after the ball had been stopped by his arm deliberately there for that.

Spurs: Lloris; Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Rose (Kaboul, 86); Dembele (Capoue, 57), Paulinho, Sigurdsson; Lennon, Soldado (Defoe, 83), Chadli. Unused subs: Friedel, Naughton, Carroll, Townsend.
Goals: Spurs - Soldado (penalty, 50).

Kaboul was given a few minutes on his comeback, Capoue was arguable the most impressive debutant when he came on after 57 minutes.

The team average pass success rate was 85%.
Jan Vertonghen had a pass success rate of 97% touching the ball 47 times.
Kyle Walker had a pass success rate of 86% touching the ball 114 times.
Michael Dawson had a pass success rate of 84% touching the ball 75 times.
Danny Rose had a pass success rate of 76% touching the ball 76 times.

He gave the same impression than Sandro gave in his debut, one of being a high quality player. The 'formidable four' of Capoue, Paulinho, Sandro and Dembele gives our squad a very strong look in midfield.

In 33 minutes, Capoue's made more interceptions (6) than West Brom (5), West Ham (5) & Sunderland (4) all managed across the whole 90 minutes of their games. He had a pass success rate of 90%.

Paulinho had a pass success rate of 91% touching the ball 68 times.
Mousa Dembele had a pass success rate of 97% touching the ball 36 times.
Gylfi Sigurdsson had a pass success rate of 84% touching the ball 68 times.
Aaron Lennon had a pass success rate of 88% touching the ball 53 times.
Nacer Chadli had a pass success rate of 87% touching the ball 70 times.

Sigurdsson was slightly disappointing, he should certainly have scored, but it's only one game and after being stuck out wide last season he has to take his chance now moved to the middle or the club will buy to replace him. Harsh I know but that's life at the top for you, you get a chance you have to take it, not moan that you need a run of games. He did OK, but OK is not good enough if you are the creative heart of the side behind Soldado.

Roberto Soldado had a pass success rate of 83% touching the ball 41 times.

Holtby is injured and will need to develop quickly this season to force his way into the starting line up. What it does do is give us the chance to rotate the squad and keep players fresher than they have been in previous years for the latter part of the season.

We attacked 48% down the right hand side, 31% down the left hand side and 21% through the middle. Walker touched the ball the most followed by Rose which indicates our desire to have them overlap down the flanks. Dawson was just behind with the option of bringing the ball out of defence, passing short into midfield or switching play to Chadli on the left wing. Some supporters complain about his long passes but it is what he is asked to do. If the ball is on we are immediately on the attack with space to exploit while the opposition have to all shuffle across the pitch.

Our shots came 67% from central, 22% from the left and 11% from the right. 50% of our shots were from outside the box, 39% from inside the 18 yard box and 11% from inside the 6 yard box.

We made 544 passes, 456 were short passes, had 24 crosses and played 64 long balls.

The game was played 32% in the final third, 43% centrally and 26% in our defensive third. Walker made 32 passes in the final third, 12 more than anyone else. At half time Graeme Souness said, "That's been the biggest threat for Tottenham, down this (right) side. They are there in numbers Palace and sooner or later someone is going to go to sleep."

The result a Lennon cross from the right is handled, penalty. Whilst Holloway didn't like it AVB thought it a wise decision. "I have been told it was clear cut, although I haven't seen it again. People tell me that just before that shout there was one on Paulinho as well so that's the information I have - that his arm was stuck out. Although it doesn't look deliberate his arm is quite some distance from the ball. The referee decided wisely."

AVB's view was interesting, "We spoke before the game how difficult it would be because of the surprise factor. Ian put his team together very well because he had three players very narrow just behind the striker, which we weren't expecting. That caused a bit of unpredictability and it was a tough game. We had some good chances to put the game to bed but, bearing in mind 90 minutes, I think we deserved to win."

So the first half of the game the players were having to think for themselves and work out how to play against a system they weren't expecting, which I have to say they did very well.

The game, being the first and away from home against a promoted side up for it, was all about getting a result while the players gel. The performance was efficient, nobody had a bad game, mistakes were made of course and Lloris saved us. He had as good a game as anyone although the Lennon/Walker partnership produced plenty of opportunity down the right flank.

Graeme Souness summed the game up for Sky viewers. "Today was exactly what you'd expect from Palace. They were spirited and they never gave up. But they were against a team that individually were better than them.

"I know they had three shots on target but I never really felt they were a threat until they made a few substitutions midway through the second-half. I think that's where they're going to fail or survive. Scoring goals is paramount in this league. You've got to be scoring goals at home to win games."

Three points, move on. Fly out to Georgia on Tuesday, game Thursday against Dinamo Tbilisi, fly back for a game on Sunday at home against Swansea.

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