There has been as usual much talk about the January transfer window and players we have been linked with. I always believe that we must look at players we need immediately to improve the squad, but also look at players who we would consider an investment in the future.
The balance of our squad always never seems to be right. We do tend to pick the same fourteen or so players and we have a large proportion of players out on loan. I think we should have a first team squad of around 20 and a development squad of around 12.
The difficulty is of course knowing when to give players who aren't first choice a run in the first team. At the moment we have a small group of players who have either not delivered for Spurs or have not shown the desire to succeed. One thing I do not like is the player who uses the media to vent his frustration at not playing, maybe if they concentrated this energy on the pitch, then they may be playing more regularly.
So I would like to put our players in three categories. The first one is players who have shown they can do a job, the second one is players who do not have a future at present, the third is the players who may feature in the future.
Squad one Squad two Squad three
Gomes Bale Naughton
Corluka Bentley Walker
Hutton Pavyluchenko Bostock
King Dos Santos Obika
Woodgate Dervitte Townsend
Dawson Taarabt Parrett
Bassong Pekhart Livermore
Assou-Ekotto Caulker
Lennon Rose
Huddlestone Smith
Palacios Mason
Jenas
O'Hara
Modric
Krancjar
Defoe
Crouch
Keane
Of course there is room for manouevre between these squads, but I hope that Harry Redknapp would look at the squad in this way. There is a story around today that Robbie Keane will be moved on after organising that Christmas Party, but I think this would be very unlikely given that Pavyluchenko is likely to go in January.
So who would I bring in? The first priority is the immediate future and considering we will be losing Bassong and Assou-Ekotto to the African Nations Cup, we should be looking in bringing one or two new defenders. A couple of players I ave in mind are Matthew Upson, who would easily fill the central role, the other player I would like is Jack Rodwell. I know the rumours are that Manchester United are interested in him, and maybe Everton are not willing to sell at a price we can afford, but I think he would be a good investment for us for now and in the future. We really cannot rely on King and Woodgate and we needto make plans for the long term for Tottenham.
One other player that I like the sound of is Moses of Crystal Palace, if in the event of us selling Bentley he would be an ideal back up to Lennon and I don't think he would be so frustrated to sit on the bench.
The other position we are vulnerable is central midfield. We have so far coped with Palacios, Jenas and Huddlestone, but if we get an injury to any one of these players long term, then we will sufer, though we do have the altenative of playing Kranjcar or Modric there. Another option would be to recall O'Hara or Livermore.
There has also been much talk of Sandro coming, with Redknapp almost confirming that Levy has been havng discussions with Internacional. So watch this space.
I think it is really important to get this balance right between the present and future. We need to give our young players time to develop but also the opportunity by giving them time on the pitch. I suppose the crucial point is how much can we get for the payers most likely to leave in January.
