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Shouldn't Spurs Buy Some Defenders?
Is no one else getting at all concerned about our defence? I think the signings we have made are great and our attack will be one of the most formidable in the Premiership.Bbut and a big but is what about gettin some bloody defenders? We leaked as many goals as we scored last year, Woodgate, King and Bale for that matter are highly injury prone. Bearing in mind Ramos will blatantly go on big cup runs this year wherever possible how are we going to cope if, and more likely when, Woodgate or King get injured. Huddlestone looked a mess at centre-back yesterday. I know he's a midfielder but if that's out back-up then I'm worried. We really need some defenders and fast.
Theo Shilton-Smith (Spurs Fan)


...In response to Alex Keuny's query, alas no, even as a Spurs fan I have no idea why we're after the ruddy-cheeked Russian, when it might be quite handy to have a centre-half not made of spun glass.

I too am concerned by the prospect of at least 10 of our players permanently pirouhetting about in the opponents' half to no avail, tho if they have to run back and actually defend, the fact that our squad now weighs a couple of tonnes less (and that's just thanks to boro signing Mido) may help.

Plus with Blobbo gone, I reckon can take at least ten out of the 'against' column so nothing but good for our average.

The real reason I think is the board realise that this season, along with every other season until the Sun goes red dwarf in some 4-5 billion years, the usual mugs will be in the top four, so we might as well have a larf with the other scrap chasers and look quite nice on occasion.

Also before everyone starts nose thumbing that all Spurs' fans think we'll beat the Real of the 50s achievements in a single season, I'd like NOW to affirm, that as someone who actually watches them and has done so for a while, from a family that watched them as amateurs (so have I thanks to Christian Gross, boom-tish), and along with every Spurs fan I personally know, think; we have a good chance of UEFA through the league (I fancy sixth at a push, tho I think Villa & Toffees may pip us, I think they have sterner stuff than we do), a flatter to deceive Euro run, a decent run in one of the cups, You know same old same old.

I know papers like to make much of bigging all this up pre-season but we're stuck with the Axis top 4 until the end of time, and whilst it's romantic, no-one gives a monkeys about cup finals without them in (convienently forgetting the MY v C cup final that ranks as the worst match I think I've ever seen and I include ones I've played in).

So another season of both end 'WTF is going on!!!' mayhem at the Lane, get one over on the Arse, and a plastic cup in the trophy room and no relegation and I'll be happy.

Just like last season in fact.
Domski, London


No, They Should Buy A Defensive Midfielder
To Alex Kueny (yesterday's mailbox), who managed to draw the most difficult of conclusions about Spurs i.e. lots goals scored = good attack, lots goals conceded = bad defence. After watching a lot of Spurs last year, it's more than anything a big reflection on our midfield. Our defence definitely had problems, but this was hindered by Robinson's form and the Bale and King injuries, then improved by buying Hutton and Woodgate. A defensive line of Gomes, Hutton, King (Dawson if need), Woodgate and Bale is pretty solid and a decent foundation to build the team on.

Up front we were good, but there was a lot of reliance on Keane and the Berb, one who's left and the other who would rather be somewhere else. I still think this Arshavin chase is very much related to the possibility of Berbatov leaving, but he can drop back to midfield with Modric moving to the left.

Our midfield played some fantastic football, but too often lacked fight in tight games and lost shape very easily, which caused a lot of problems when we lost the ball. Modric and Bentley should go some way to addressing this, even if Dos Santos could need some time.

The only position (now) I'd like to see us chase is a decent defensive midfielder. Diarra would have been perfect if not a potential headcase. Financially so far we've spent around 45 mil, but re-couped around 35 mil with thanks to Sunderland, so not as bad as it may seem and at least all our purchases this year make sense. Top four would be a big call and there's no evidence to trump that yet, but the balance of the squad is much better than when we were being touted for it last summer.
Graeme (In Juande We Trust), Spurs


Nothing Wrong With OUr Defence, Fellas...
I am getting sick and tired of fans from other clubs who probably have only seen maybe two Spurs games (the games Spurs played against their team) last season and think that they can make judgements on what needs to be done. Yes, we shipped in a ridiculous number of goals last season, but there were four major factors that lead to these goals, the least important of which being a 'poor' defence. By far the number one reason was due to players in the MIDFIELD giving up the ball in ridiculous positions, unable to keep possession and then not doing a good job helping out at the back. This has been dealt with by adding quality players who can pass the ball and keep possession, none more important than Luka Modric.

Secondly, anyone who had a pop inside our half would score against Robinson last two seasons (it's not normal when players like Makelele, Ivan Campo, Rochemback, et al are scoring regular scorchers outside the box against you). This has obviously been dealt with by the acquisition of a huge beast of a keeper in Gomez.

Third, our ability to defend free-kicks in dangerous areas including corners was appalling. With the proper coaching, this should be handled.

Finally, our defence was weak at times, but mostly due to injury and lack of quality players to replace the injuries, but that was dealt with at the January transfer window with the addition of Woodgate, Hutton (and to a lesser extent Gilberto). As any Spurs fan knows Dawson will play like a chicken with his head cut off when next to a player like Kaboul, where Daws has to take the leadership role. But, when he plays next to an experienced centre-back like Woodgate, he is quite the opposite. After those players arrived last season, our defence looked much better, but still needed time to gel. I would agree that maybe one more back-up centre back would be nice, however, teams gunning for European places are lining up for our 4th-choice centre-back (for a decent 4-6 mil), so there's obviously something good there.

With a starting line of Woody and King (Dawson when not fit) in the middle with Bale and Hutton on the sides, that looks like a pretty good defence to me.
Wasif, Spurs


Ngog More Impressive Than Keane
Just read the Sunday afternoon mailbox (quelle surprise I think the term is) and there was no mention of Keane's performance against Rangers. After watching the game in its entirety along with both of Liverpool's two new strikers, I think I know which one I'd rather have - and it's not the £20 million Irishman who probably should've stayed at Spurs. Apart from CL football what can he achieve at Liverpool that he couldn't at Spurs?

I'm drifting off topic here. As a United supporter, N'gog looked very promising doing in 10 mins what Keane failed to do in 55. However, I can't help feeling he'll be treated somewhat similar to Crouch i.e. gets to play the first 70mins or the last 25. If he gets the playing time he'll do well, no doubt about that. Of course, we all know that Keane and Torres will be playing all the time no matter how s**t Keane is.

Dossena as well looked excellent and the thought of him and Babel linking up down the left seems somewhat daunting.

Of course, Liverpool were only playing Rangers, whose keeper thought the ball was on fire until he was taking off so best not get too ahead of myself. I don't think Liverpool will get higher than fourth again this season and I think Spurs will give them a good run for their money.
Brian 'The Dog' Griffin


Fergie Can't Do A Wenger
I'm a Liverpool fan and would like to respond to 'Fergie: Better Than Wenger by Gerard ('Witty Remark') McLaughlin'.

Please don't insult Arsene Wenger's youth purchase and development scheme (or poaching scheme for some cynical fans out there) by comparing him with Fergie. I have to admit that even I grudgingly admire Wenger's ability to spot gems regularly and turn them into stars, either for his current team and/ or to be sold for profit. The latest six mil that Spurs have had to hand over to their arch enemies highlights this point excellently.

What has Fergie done with regards to youth development? Surely he's bought success more than developed unproven gems. The last successes he had developing youth in the Man U Academy are on the wrong side of 30 and about to retire. He's spent 23-30 mil on Rooney, 18mil each on Nani and Anderson, C Ronaldo for 12.6mil. Surely these were already budding stars in their own right! Has Fergie recently bought/spotted any youth bargains and turned them into world beaters (or for a humongous profit)? Maybe Evra or Vidic who in today's climate commanded relatively bargain prices, but they were not exactly youths were they?

I don't begrudge Man U's ability to buy success. They earned that right from years of success on the field. But credit where credit's due. Fergie hasn't had much success sighting unproven gems and developing them and selling them on for profit or keeping them in his team, the way Arsene Wenger has done. If not for Wenger's prowess in this area, skint Arsenal would have been in the footballing waters already and the Emirates would have been nothing more than a distant dream.

I certainly don't get all these Arsenal fans slamming Arsene for not spending rather than blaming their skint board. Nor those who claim Fergie's been great at developing unproven youth gems.
Gab


...Why do Man Utd fans feel the need to strip every other English club of any scrap of dignity or pride, with their unbridled arrogance and glory-monopolising. I am of course talking about Gerard McLauglin, who despite Arsenal recently unveiling a statue of Arsene Wenger in commemoration of all he has done for the club, seems to think he has the right to take this away.
Don't even talk about Man Utd's 'youth academy' which hasn't produced a half-decent player since the Beckham/Scholes/Neville generation in comparison to what Wenger is doing at Arsenal. Wenger's faith in his young players is incredibly brave and has paid dividends to the club and helped them achieve the status of third richest club in the world.

Also, how is the way Arsenal play even close to 'counter attacking'? Counter-attacking football relies on allowing your opponents to have large spells of possession and waiting for the opportune moment to make an attack. What Arsenal do is control possession and play the game at a high pace which either cuts their opponents' defence in two or runs them ragged until they can regain possession. The style Arsenal play is closer to 'total football' which is considered the holy grail of football by most experts, this is where every player on the pitch is a talented footballer who likes having the ball at their feet and are able to rotate positions at will to offer more options when attacking, this is evident from the number of goals Arsenal's central defenders score from open play.

What Wenger has done is assembled several teams on a smaller budget than most of the big Premier League clubs which ooze technique, creativity, vision, pace and athleticism; attributes which allow the team to play exciting, attacking football this is why people suggest Wenger has revolutionised English football.

Trust a Man Utd fan to not know their arse from their elbow.
Tom (if this doesn't get posted I'll kill myself) Creasey


...Whilst I can see your point, you also fall foul of the same logic. Fergie didn't invent counter-attacking football on the break. There are loads of people who have done this prior to him. Think back to some of the great Dutch teams for example and even the Argies on their day.

I think that by revolutionised English football you could read into that many different things apart from the style of play imposed on Arsenal.

Do you not remember 'Boring, boring Arsenal' and where the '1-0' to the Arsenal expressions came from? Remember George Graham?
The success of Wenger's style of play has encouraged others to try to immitate it and seems to have helped to change the style of play in our top division to a much less long ball style.

Think back to when he arrived; Arsenal had an ex-alcoholic as captain and had a 'lads' dressing room culture that had brought the likes of Paul Merson's various addictions to the world's attention. Wenger brought a new found professionalism to the club, and that wasn't really evident elsewhere in the league to the extent he imposed it.

Whilst Fergie has done a great deal towards this I think he has taken some inspiration from Wenger's style too. Arguably Wenger extended the playing life of the infamous Arsenal back line by a good few years. Read anything that Dixon/Bould/Adams/Winterburn/Seaman have ever said/written about the effect it had on their careers. Why do you think so many young coaches want to go and see what he does and how he works?

You could also think about the way his dealings in the transfer market have changed the way that people operate. The development of international scouting networks and the import of young talent from around the world. Whilst people will say that it has made it harder for Engliush youth it has helped his club enormously. He has proved you don't have to buy this summers big thing to compete with the financial giants such as your club who have always had far more money to spend. He managed to make a club that had a very restricted income (Highbury only held 38000 on a good day) competitive with far bigger clubs such as your own, Liverpool and others. Won the double in his first full season and is the first foreign manager to win the double in England.

Since he came to Arsenal he is also the only person that has managed to break the ManU monopoly before a certain well funded Russian moved to London.

So to some extent I think it's not totally unfair to say that he has revolutionised English football.
JT, AFC, N4


A Tribute To Ole
It was great to see a true gentleman of the game honoured on Saturday at Old Trafford. Even amongst all the ABUs out there I get the sense that no-one would begrudge Ole his day. He has always conducted himself in the 'right' manner, never complained at being on the bench a lot and gave it his all when called upon. His goalscoring record was slightly better than 1 in 3, which on first glance doesn't look all that good, but when you take into consideration that includes substitute appearances (of which he made 152 out of his 368 appearances) it is easy to see his value to Man Utd. He scored 127 goals for United and will always be remembered for his late goals. He scored 12 goals in his career that occurred in the 90th minute of later which is not only an unbelievable figure but a record for the Premiership. Not even Shearer, Cole, Ferdinand, Sheringham et al come close to that. He was never first choice at United but I don't think there has been a more popular player with the fans than him. Proof, if proof were needed, that the good guys can win!!!
Tim (we could do with a few more like him around) Collins


An Apology From Burke
Okay, okay. having had a few days to calm down, maybe I over-reacted. I'm not some humourless drone and do not write letters of complaint to anyone. Just felt it was a little close to the bone is all. Football365 is still bookmarked and I will continue to read, in no small part, cos of the humour. Keep up the good work.
Kieran, never apologised to a website before


Now We've Upset The Romans...
In the same vein as your recent Irish and boy Scout faux-pas, I would like to object to your '56 years ago' article which needlessly brings up the Battle of Cannae. As I am of Roman descent, I find this a blatantly xenophobic and, dare I say, racist attack on Romans and their many descendants which needlessly brings to mind the events of 1792 years ago in which so many of our ancestors were lost.
Marcus [this is how bored we get without football], Dartford nr. Noviomagus