Can Pochettino Rotate?

Rotating a big squad isn’t as easy as it sounds. Just ask Rafa Benitez, who stands by his policy of refreshing the tree of liber…err his team from time to time, yet inevitably faces scathing criticism every time he does it. Most managers prefer to have a core XI who play together as much as possible to develop a collective spirit and cohesion. But at higher levels of the game, where teams compete in three or even four competitions simultaneously, it’s impossible to keep such a small squad healthy and fit through an entire season. Also, now that many elite teams frequently employ two or even three internationals at every position, getting game time for everyone is more a requirement than a luxury, necessary to maintain harmony in the group. For the manager, who already has to deal with a multitude of responsibilities (unless you’re Harry Redknapp), juggling lineups can become quite a burden.

I don’t have the stats from his time at Espanyol and Southampton, but it’s safe to say that Mauricio Pochettino is now in charge of the largest, deepest group of players he’s ever had. Rotating between two full squads worth of quality Premier League players is a new experience, and something he’s going to have to learn to manage. He’s also admitted that part of his hiring at Spurs was contingent on him taking domestic and international cup competitions more seriously than he had in the past. Pundits and critics are quick to remind us of how Poch claimed to “hate” the Europa League last season and how he “cynically” refused to name a strong team in a cup game against Sunderland, one that Southampton lost 1-0. Everybody wants to play in the Premier League, but the cup competitions give Poch a chance to get games for his second stringers and to rotate in players who might be recovering from injury or suspension. The overall depth of the squad means that can still field a strong teams for every game. However, if he sticks too long with a first XI and a cup XI he will almost certainly have players grumbling about their roles.

The results of Poch’s rotation so far have been mixed. Not because he’s been rotating badly, but that he hasn’t really been doing it at all. Instead of moving three or four players in or out between league and cup games, he’s essentially created a first and second team. In and of itself that’s fine, as it allows the two groups of players to begin developing partnerships in important areas – the back four, the central midfield two etc. What’s been somewhat troubling is who Poch has assigned to the backup squad. Specifically, Federico Fazio and Jan Vertonghen, who are likely Spurs’ best two center backs, have begun the season with the second unit. Hopefully this is just about returning Jan to full match fitness after a minor injury, and easing the two into a partnership that will eventually anchor the backline.

It’s early days yet, but it will be interesting to see if players who are currently playing only in cup games can work their way into the first team squad (or vice versa). Poch has said that he examines each player individually after every game (likely for health issues as well as performance), so it’s likely that he considers each position in his squad before settling on a lineup for an upcoming match. Once the season reaches full grind, injuries and form will no doubt force Poch to juggle his lineups. How he handles this, while keeping everyone happy, will go a long way toward determining Spurs success in the league as well as the cups.

Kyle Walker, and Why Spurs Are So Weird About Injuries

If Kyle Walker was an NFL running back or a Major League outfielder we would know by now the exact nature of his “lower-abdomen” injury, as well as the likely time frame for his recovery. We would expect weekly, if not daily updates on the injury, his rehab and even the names of the doctors he has been consulting. In the NFL especially there are strict, although inconsistently enforced, rules governing how teams must inform the public of the status of their injured players. Such is the level of scrutiny in North American sports when it comes to medical issues.

Contrast that to Tottenham Hotspur, where players often disappear for weeks on end and managers have to dance around the fact that they don’t know where their injured players are or when they will return. Official team releases usually refer to general areas of the body when describing injuries instead of using specific medical terms, and rarely identify the exact tests or procedures players have undergone. They use words like, “scans” or “surgical procedures” whereas Americans consider more sophisticated terms like, “MRI” and  “Microfracture surgery” basic parts of their everyday sports vocabulary. English fans aren’t stupid (on the whole), so why the dumbing down of basic medical information? Tottenham are particularly weird when it comes to communicating about player injuries. They tend to play down reports of a player being out long-term before eventually admitting it when it becomes overtly obvious. But perhaps other English Premier League teams are better about it.

It’s fair to question why teams should be expected, or forced, to release specific medical information about their players in the first place. After all, opposing teams can use the information to their advantage, so being vague or nebulous when it comes to injuries is a good way to keep them guessing. Bill Belichick, Head Coach of the New England Patriots, specializes in this sort of obfuscation. But he is something of an outlaw, and a continuing pain in the ass to league officials.

The real answer here is likely pretty simple. Two billion dollar industries in North America depend on precise, accurate information about the status of players: gambling and fantasy sports. Also, the sports media machine here asks specific medical questions and expects specific medical answers. While the gambling industry is clearly huge in England, it either has its own inside sources for medical information or doesn’t yet use its influence to demand more openness from teams. Fantasy soccer is growing in popularity, but pales in comparison to the monolith that is fantasy football in North America. I imagine Brits won’t be seeing a sitcom based around fantasy Premier League on ITV anytime soon.

In regard to Walker’s injury, it does seem likely that it began as a fairly minor issue that he attempted to heal through rest and rehab. At some point recently he and the club clearly decided that it wasn’t working and that surgery would be required to resolve the issue. Does that sound overly vague? Sorry, but I’m going to need more information.

Who the Hell is Going to Start Against West Ham?

I’m writing this on August 7^th, 2014. The Premier League season begins in less than two weeks and the transfer window closes in less than a month. For all I know Tottenham Hotspur could look dramatically different well before then, maybe even in the next few days. But even if nothing further changes I am sitting here struggling to imagine what Spurs’ starting lineup will look like when they open their campaign at West Ham. Iago Falque and Gylfi Sigurdsson are already gone. Most of the club’s World Cup representatives have barely trained, let alone actually had any game action.  Rumors continue to swirl that the club are looking to add new players in defense, on the wings and in the midfield. Players like Kyle Walker and Andros Townsend are returning from serious injuries. Michael Dawson is already hurt, and as far as I know there has been no public update on his status. So the question remains: who the hell is going to start against West Ham?

Brad Friedel wouldn’t be the opening day starter anyway, but he’s fallen further down the depth chart with the arrival of Michel Vorm. So Hugo Lloris is a pretty certain favorite to begin the season between the posts.

In front of him things are hazy, as usual. At center back, I would be surprised if Jan Vertonghen makes it, given that he has only recently re-joined the squad. He also made public comments implying that he was still nursing a minor injury. Hopefully he gets major minutes against Schalke on Saturday and demonstrates that he’s fit. Dawson, as mentioned, appeared to hurt himself against Celtic, so his health remains a question mark. That leaves Younes Kaboul, Zeki Fryers and Miloš Veljković. Of the three, Kaboul is by far the most likely to make the start, with one of the two youngsters perhaps making the bench. Eric Dier, the England u-21 international who Spurs signed from Sporting Lisbon will probably be more slowly integrated into the squad. So the question remains whether Daniel Levy will be able (or willing) to complete the rumored transfer for Mateo Musacchio from Villareal. Recent reports indicate that Levy is willing to play the waiting game, perhaps delaying the eventual transfer, if it happens, until after the start of the season. If I were a betting man, which thankfully I’m not, I’d peg Kaboul and Dawson as the opening day starters. I would also hope to not see that particular pairing again in the 2014-15 season.

At full back, much depends on the health of Kyle Walker, who played one half during Spurs’ North American tour. I naively figured he’d be further along in his recovery from the groin injury he suffered last season, but in his brief appearance he looked pretty sluggish and slow. That’s not shocking in early August, but if Walker can’t go at right back that means Kyle Naughton will get the nod. Everyone has a player on their favorite team who irrationally makes them crazy. For me it’s often a tie between Kyle Naughton and Danny Rose.  I get the sense that both could very well be playing. Excuse me while I hyperventilate into a paper bag. Let’s silently pray together that Ben Davies has been assured of the starting left back spot from day one.

Look, I read, watch and listen to a metric ton of Spurs related content on a daily basis and I have zero clue who will be starting in Spurs’ midfield aside from Christian Eriksen. Here are the options for the likely two remaining spots: Mousa Dembélé, Paulinho, Lewis Holtby, Etienne Capoue, Sandro, Nabil Bentaleb and the biggest long shot, Ryan Mason. Does manager Mauricio Pochettino want a double pivot? Does he prefer a deep-lying passer? Maybe he likes a destroyer alongside a box-to-box player? I don’t think we can read too much into what we saw in North America because of how many players were missing, nor do I think we should assume that Pochettino will simply graft on the same system he used at Southampton. It may depend entirely on fitness, but who knows. You could literally pick names out of a hat at this early stage. Also, there remains the outside possibility that Spurs could complete a deal in the next two weeks to either deal a midfielder or bring one in. The initial fireworks surrounding Morgan Schneiderlin appear to have died down amidst public statements from his club that he is not for sale.  I don’t really see the need for the Frenchman, but I freely admit to suffering a strange kind of Stockholm syndrome when it comes to Spurs’ incumbent midfielders.

On the wings I fully expect to see Aaron Lennon starting, because Aaron Lennon always starts. I look forward to seeing Erik Lamela begin the season (strongly!) on the right. Lamela has looked reborn so far in preseason and I hope Pochettino looks to continue that momentum. That would mean Lennon on the left where he’s looked poor in the past, although he has played well there so far this summer. Unless Spurs swing a deal for Memphis Depay (at which point the name on my new kit is suddenly sorted), Nacer Chadli and Andros Townsend will also be options. Chadli probably won’t start given his lack of training time and Townsend has not looked 100% in his injury recovery. One constant in Pochettino’s system so far is the interchange between the front four, so perhaps the initial formation won’t really matter. If he really wants to mix things up he could also start Harry Kane as a wide forward, which would unfortunately leave whoever starts at left back woefully exposed defensively.

Up front, things are significantly clearer, at least in the short term. Emmanuel Adebayor is still recovering from a bout with malaria and Harry Kane is probably not ready to lead the line every game. Roberto Soldado has looked good so far, especially in his hold-up play, his passing and his movement. He’s also developing a nice connection with Lamela, both on and off the field. I hope to see that continue.

Spurs fans have been somewhat negatively conditioned by the two previous managers to anticipate bananas lineups and to be ready to rage the moment they’re announced. In this case only a few spots seem obvious so we can only trust in Pochettino to know exactly what he wants to begin the season strongly.

Here’s my predicted lineup, in a 4-2-3-1.

Lloris, Naughton, Dawson, Kaboul, Rose, Capoue, Holtby, Lamela, Eriksen, Lennon, Soldado

Can Mauricio Pochettino Learn a Lesson From Brendan Rodgers?

Mauricio Pochettino comes to Tottenham Hotspur with a philosophy and a “system” – he knows exactly how he wants his players to play and what types of players he needs.  At Southampton he was highly successful at implementing his ideas, but he was occasionally accused of being too dogmatic, too beholden to his system to adapt to different situations. In many ways, the personnel at Spurs should fit his system perfectly, as many of the players were acquired with former coach Andre Villas-Boas’ preferred style in mind. Like Pochettino, AVB encouraged a high press and a corresponding high defensive line, looking to create turnovers deep in the opponent’s half and turn them quickly into scoring chances. Unfortunately for AVB, he never got to finish the project, and the current Spurs squad remains somewhat imbalanced. If Pochettino squints hard enough, he may be able to see several like-for-like comparisons between these players and his charges at Southampton. He should certainly enjoy working with attackers like Christian Eriksen and Erik Lamela. Rumors have also been swirling that Pochettino would like to reunite with some of his former players, such as Morgan Schneiderlin and Jay Rodriguez. But as Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers learned in his first season on Merseyside, sometimes the best system is to work with what you’ve got.

Rodgers tried initially to get the Reds to play the way his Swansea team did, to relentlessly control possession and probe until they could identify the perfect scoring chance. The results were mixed and Liverpool finished seventh. A season later Rodgers decided to switch things up: he changed his formation to accommodate both Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge, and he adapted the team’s style of play to be more direct in order to take advantage of the tremendous pace in the frontline. From being one of the league’s most patient teams, Liverpool suddenly became one of the most aggressive – the blitzkrieg attack against Arsenal was a perfect example. 

Without the ability to read Pochettino’s mind there’s no way to know from afar how he’s assessed this Tottenham squad – especially since he himself hasn’t seen many of the players yet. But we have to hope that he will be more adept than his predecessors at finding the right mix, and putting pieces in their proper places. Certainly his bosses will be happy to know that the manager can mold a proper team without breaking the bank (again) for shiny new players. It’s a daunting task, especially in the midfield where Spurs have a collection of players with unique but limited skillsets. Pochettino made his bones at Espanyol and Southampton working wonders with small, cheaply built squads. So we shouldn’t be quick to assume that he will simply graft the setup he had at Southampton onto the personnel he has at Spurs. He has never had the heft of the current squad or the resources now available to him, so it’s possible that we see an evolution in his system.

Hugo Lloris: The One Who Stayed

Tottenham Hotspur announced today that France captain and star goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has put pen to paper on a new five-year contract to stay at the club. Lloris also spoke in no uncertain terms of his commitment to Spurs and of his confidence in new manager Mauricio Pochettino. Despite the cynical (and realistic) possibility that the deal simply represents a way for Daniel Levy to secure a larger transfer fee should Lloris decide to leave, Spurs fans should be thrilled.

There are two reasons for joy: first off, Hugo Lloris on his day is one of the best keepers not only in the Premier League, but in the world. In addition to being a superb shot-stopper, his quickness and aggression in sweeping up behind his defense fits perfectly with the defensive system Pochettino will look to employ with Spurs. His value to the club far outweighs the financial benefit Levy would gain by selling him, so keeping him around for as long as possible can only be a good thing.

The second reason to be excited about Hugo's new deal is more symbolic. By agreeing to stick with the "project" at Tottenham, Lloris has made a bold statement that the club is not a sinking ship, and that last season, while hugely disappointing, was a blip in an otherwise positive trend. Whether his similarly "unsettled" teammates (looking at you Jan) follow suit is uncertain. However, for potential new recruits, Lloris' decision to stay represents a firm endorsement of the work the club has been doing to raise their profile and to make Spurs a perennial Champions League contender. If Michael Dawson leaves this summer, Lloris would also be an excellent choice for captain based on his repeatedly demonstrated level of professionalism and class.

That said, keepers rarely change teams for large transfer fees and should Lloris decide that Spurs' ambitions no longer match his, the club will be able to cash in nicely. Finding a top-ten keeper is hard, but good ones can be had at reasonable prices. The likely net profit could be reinvested in typical Spurs fashion to address other needs in the squad.

Think Before You Rosterbate

It’s funny how fans and even writers, who should know better, still so often boil the transfer market down to a trip to the local bodega. “Oh, we need a striker. I’ll just check to see what coins I’ve got in my pocket and mosey on over to aisle three.” Then again, if you’re Chelsea step one is to check and make sure you don’t already have that striker sitting in the garage (Vitesse). For the rest of the world, evaluating and upgrading a squad involves an array of variables beyond simply identifying a good player and checking out their value on Transfermarkt.

When you think you know what players Tottenham Hotspur should buy this summer perhaps ask yourself some or all of these questions:

How much money do Spurs have to spend, and how will this purchase affect their ability to address other needs?

Is there a “War Chest” or “Transfer Kitty” and if so, how big/small is it? Have Spurs sold players to raise funds? Side Note: Am I the only one who imagines a "transfer kitty" as a small, pink, frilly coin purse? I am? OK, just checking.

Is the player even available?

Like, does his current club have any intention of selling him? Will they sell to Spurs?

How much would he cost? What are his wage demands? Does he expect to be a starter?

Buying Manuel Neuer would be cool and all, but…

Would he want to play for Spurs, live in London or play for the manager?

With Tim Sherwood the answer would always be no.

 

Does he replace a current player? How does his signing affect the current squad?

Or rather, when Danny Rose threatens to leave do you really care beyond needing to buy another left back?

How will he adjust to his new team, the style they play, or the players already at the club?

Hmm, did anyone ask these questions during the negotiations for Erik Lamela?

Is this a short-term or long-term signing? Does it fit with the club’s overall player development strategy?

In Football Manager I buy almost exclusively players under 25 with serious growth and re-sale potential. But sometimes in real life a 30-year-old veteran on a free is actually a sensible move.

How would you rate his current hair quality and style? Will he be willing to change his hairstyle to fit in with his teammates?

These are probably optional (No, they are not).

Once you've answered these questions you are safely free to Bleacher Report. 

Premier League back four groups: Update

Back in March I put up a fan post over at the always sexy Cartilage Free Captain looking at how many different back four combinations Spurs had used up to that point in the season. I also did the same for Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City to see how they compared. Mostly I wanted to illustrate how rarely Spurs best four defenders actually took the field together (spoiler: zero times). I recently decided to go back and update the data to include the remainder of the Premier League season, as well as any additional competitions the teams were involved in after March 11^th. I should note that since ESPNFC’s new layout sucks and constantly crashes my browser, I switched to using www.football-lineups.com for the lineups. UPDATE: Realized it might not be clear, all this data refers to players who started the match, not subs.

You can find the original post here: http://cartilagefreecaptain.sbnation.com/2014/3/12/5498534/the-back-four

What happened since March 11? Well, Spurs played an additional 11 matches in all competitions and managed to use an additional five(!) different back four combinations, including that mind-melting Naughton, Sandro, Fryers, Rose defense against Benfica.

By comparison, Arsenal used only two more different combinations through the rest of their season, which included the second leg against Bayern Munich and their final two FA Cup matches. Arsenal used their most common foursome: Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny and Gibbs a whopping 20 times during the season. Spurs most frequent back four: Walker, Dawson, Chiriches and Rose appeared together only seven times. Walker, Kaboul, Vertonghen and Rose, Spurs’ ideal back four (at least pre-season) still didn’t have a single appearance together.

Chelsea led this table by a mile, using only a single additional combination (thanks to Tomáš Kalas’s two appearances) and a total of 11 all season.

Liverpool, who seemed to be mixing and matching every week, finished the season with 19 different combinations, but used only their two most frequent lineups (Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Flanagan and Johnson, Skrtel, Sakho, Flanagan) after March 11^th.  Despite ultimately falling short in their title bid, Liverpool lost only once in that stretch, in the stunning 2-0 defeat to Chelsea.

Finally, the champions Manchester City used only one additional defensive foursome but finished the season trailing only Spurs in terms of the total number used (21). City's shaky back line was often cited as their major weakness, but their thunderous offensive production clearly made up for it.

The additional data doesn’t really shed any new light, beyond reinforcing the fact that Spurs were a mess at the back in every possible way. They used the most different lineup combinations, and their most common foursome appeared together the fewest times. Not the ideal recipe for success. One manager meltdown and one manager composed mostly of chewing gum were the two primary reasons for all the chaos, but injuries were a constant, debilitating thorn in the side of team trying to create any kind of defensive cohesion. We can only hope that under Pochettino the team achieves some more stability (and health!) at the back.

For ease of use, here is the final data in order or number of total combinations, most popular combination, and how many times it was used. 

Spurs: Total combinations: 22, Most frequent: Walker, Dawson, Chiriches, Rose (7 appearances)

Arsenal: Total combinations: 14, Most frequent: Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs (20 appearances)

Chelsea: Total combinations: 11, Most frequent: Ivanovich, Terry, Cahill, Dave (26 appearances)

Liverpool: Total combinations: 19, Most frequent: Johnson, Agger, Skrtel, Flanagan (9 appearances)

Manchester City: Total combinations: 21, Most frequent: Zabaleta, Kompany, Dimichelis, Kolarov (11 appearances).

The Devil’s Advocate: Keep Paulinho and Sell Dembélé

I just threw up a little in my mouth. Ok, wait I’m better now.

Tottenham Hotspur have too many midfielders. This was true last season, despite Lewis Holtby leaving on loan and Etienne Capoue missing much of the season due to injury. This season, with loanees like Holtby and also English-Xavi Tom Carroll returning and the emergence of Nabil Bentaleb, the glut is only growing. Chairman Daniel Levy needs to clear the decks somewhat in order to streamline the squad and make room for new signings at other positions. It’s difficult to speak specifically to who fits where given that we don’t yet know how new manager Mauricio Pochettino intends to structure his midfield, but Paulinho vs Mousa Dembélé is a good point of entry. 

Paulinho and Dembélé are similar in that they provide one or two very good skills in midfield but also have significant limitations. However, Paulinho’s ability to provide a goal-scoring threat from deep and a more varied passing range makes him the more valuable player. Chelsea rumor aside, his disappointing season for Spurs and poor recent performances for Brazil mean that his potential transfer fee will probably not be much higher than Dembélé’s. 

We know that Pochettino preferred a double-pivot of defensive-minded players to anchor his midfield at Southampton. We also know that the occasional pairing of Paulinho and Dembélé in midfield last season was usually a disaster. Neither player is instinctively defensive, and the pair struggled to balance those defensive responsibility with the desire to push forward. So it’s extremely unlikely that the two will see much time on the field together. Rather than having them compete for a single spot alongside a true DM, Spurs should probably try to cash in on one and give his minutes to one of the club’s younger midfielders.

After the disappointment of this past season, the knee-jerk reaction of many fans would be to ship out the underachieving Paulinho. Advertised as the Brazilian Lampard after the Confederations Cup, his first Premier League campaign saw him more often labeled the Brazilian Jenas. The prevailing image of Paulinho is probably a quick shot from an excellent scoring position somehow fizzing into the stratosphere. However, just from the eye test it seemed that most of Paulinho’s shots (while terrible) came as a result of getting into very good attacking positions. If he can improve his accuracy, which I believe is possible unless he is just an insanely poor shooter, his goal tally should rise considerably this season. By contrast, I will admit that Dembélé’s ability to “ghost” past defenders, seemingly in slow motion, is probably my single favorite skill to watch as a fan. However, Dembélé’s limitations are often glaring. It seems incredible to me that the Belgian began his career as a striker given his weakness as a goal-scorer and his reluctance to test opposing keepers from distance. He also tends to pass sideways, often ignoring the opportunity to play through balls forward in favor of spreading the ball wide. While some of this may be explained by the specific tactical instructions he was given by AVB and Tim Sherwood, his inability to play a key pass was even more obvious when he was occasionally pushed forward to play as the highest attacking midfielder.

Another issue concerns tempo. Dembélé has on more than one occasion dribbled by a defender, only to slow up, wait for the defender to recover, and then dribble by him again. While immensely fun to watch, innumerable counterattacking opportunities for Spurs have fallen by the wayside while Dembélé shows off his bag of tricks. On the other hand, Paulinho seems to prefer playing at a faster pace. His passing range isn’t great either, but he is more willing to deliver a direct ball or play a quick short pass followed by movement into the attacking third. In a system like Pochettino’s, where Spurs will be expected to transition from defense to attack as quickly as possible, Paulinho’s skills seem a better fit.

Dembélé has a single, elite-level skill, but otherwise is a fairly limited player. Paulinho doesn’t possess a single world-class attribute, but his combination of above average offensive abilities, in concert with a defensive midfielder and a more creative AM like Christian Eriksen would create a versatile, cohesive midfield unit. By selling Dembélé, Spurs would still have a group of midfielders with a variety of different strengths, while allowing space in the squad to focus on their younger crop of developing players.  If nothing else, since Spurs won’t have the sort of enormous financial windfall they received from selling Gareth Bale a year ago, selling a midfielder would provide the more modest return that could help them afford other transfer targets.

Author’s Note: This is purely pragmatic argument. As an emotional Spurs fan I love Dembélé and there’s no way I would sell him. In fact I’d probably keep both and put my faith in Pochettino to find a way to balance and rotate the midfield in order to make use of everyone.

Author’s Note #2: I understand that Lewis Holtby is likely not going to be considered a deeper-lying midfielder and will instead be competing with Eriksen and Sigurdsson (if he stays) for minutes as an AM. 

Spurs' Transfer Plans Are a Total Mystery

A number of factors make it almost impossible to tell exactly what Tottenham Hotspur intend to do in this summer’s transfer window. For one, they have a brand new head coach in Mauricio Pochettino, who has yet to meet and evaluate his squad. While he may already have in mind who he wants to keep and who he wants he sell, it seems unlikely that drastic changes would be made before he has a chance to see his players in person. Secondly, a number of current Spurs players could be described as “unsettled”. Hugo Lloris, Jan Vertonghen, Sandro, Paulinho and even Erik Lamela have been rumored to be exploring their options, which may include leaving the club. 

The departures of these or other current squad members would directly alter the team’s strategy, as new positional holes would open up and the money made from any sales would increase the budget for new players. Perhaps most importantly from an outsider perspective, we have no way of knowing precisely what amount of money Daniel Levy has allotted for the transfer budget in the first place. Unlike last season, when Gareth Bale’s transfer meant a massive influx of cash into Tottenham’s coffers, this summer we can only speculate how much spending money Franco Baldini will have. Reports have suggested around £50 million, but who knows how firm that number is, and how it might be adjusted if Spurs sell players before making any purchases. 

One of Baldini's great successes in his first transfer window was basically pre-spending the Bale money, setting up a series of transfers with the understanding that the funds would appear if and when the deal with Real Madrid was finalized. By laying the ground work, Spurs were able to move extraordinarily quickly to wrap up their moves as soon as the money was available. Considering the uncertainty regarding possible sales this summer, and the fact that there isn't a single player who would command a massive fee, it's doubtful that Baldini could repeat this trick. But then again, those of us outside the club don't know how close certain key players are to the exit door. It's absolutely possible that Spurs have a set of targets in mind in the event that a Hugo Lloris or Jan Vertonghen force a move. Seeing a theme here?

Should Spurs hang on to their "unsettled" players, only a few positions need serious reinforcement (or upgrading). It's been music to fans' ears to hear that Pochettino has identified left back, central defense and striker as positions of need. The £50 million that's been floated should be more than sufficient to address these holes but probably means there won't be a single massive purchase. Considering that despite selling Jake Livermore, Spurs have a glut of central midfielders (especially with the pending return of English Xavi Tom Carroll and the emergence of Nabil Bentaleb), it wouldn't be surprising to see Baldini trim the numbers some there. Any midfield additions, such as the bizarre rumored deal for 33-year-old Esteban Cambiasso would necessitate at least one midfielder (but probably two) going in the other direction.

It's fair to predict that beyond some minor repairs Spurs likely won't be making any big splashes in the transfer market unless there is a dramatic departure from the current squad. More to come as things develop.