Gert & TheBoy's Official VNA Soccer... err Football Thread

[Gert-Jan]

Saturday's four draws confirm what we expected, namely that the vast majority of this weekend's fixtures were gonna end up being dull, with exception of West Ham vs Bournemouth. It looks like the Hammers have had their head in the clouds ever since the win over Arsenal on the first matchday. Goalkeeper Adrian was sent off last week and now right back Carl Jenkinson made a total fool of himself as he was in no way able to stop Bournemouth's forwards. Big talking point was obviously Wilson's outstanding hattrick and the visiting team totally deserved the 3 points. If West Ham only get motivated with a top team being the opponent, Slaven Bilic could be in for some serious trouble very soon, cause this was an astonishingly poor performance from his squad.

Thankfully Swansea City always brighten my day. They only collected one point visiting bottom-ranked Sunderland, but another great match from Gomis and Ayew. The Ghana international could have scored at least two goals! The post and Pantilimon's Inspector Gadget arms prevented him from scoring. Dutch manager Advocaat can be pleased with the rediscovered fighting spirit. It's not my favorite kind of football, though it certainly paid off. Sunderland had to be awarded a penalty after Williams' handball....

What were we thinking when predicting Chelsea to win the title?! What happend between the end of last season and the start of this new one?! Over the years they have become famous for their mentality and knowing how to kill games at all cost. Now, basically the same starting lineup has lost its magic and already conceded 7 goals in 3 matches. Plus, Hazard and Fabregas are completely out of form. On the bright side, Pedro was awesome with a goal and assist. It remains to be seen if he can do that weekly.

A very tough away game from historical point of view for the Citizens, but both Kolarov and Nasri showed the importance of having a large group of players available. What's the deal with Clichy? Is he injuried? I totally missed it, lol. Sergio Aguero would have added more goals to his impressive resume had it not been for some awesome saves from American hero Howard, who kept Everton in the match for a long time. The Toffees didn't stand a chance. Barkley tried it, Lukaku shot on target, but City's statistics pretty much speak for themselves. Man City have so much power and strength that you knew they would keep another clean sheet.

Arsenal vs Liverpool on Monday evening. :)

[rokkerr]

http://fantasy.premierleague.com/

Wow... I really sucked last week 19 points and the average is 31??? Maybe the Arsenal game will redeem me...
Still learning the ins and outs of the whole thing...

[AussieSteve]

This weekend I managed to catch 2 EPL Games hoping to see some cracking goals & instead I cop 2 goalless draws
United scrounging a dull draw against Newcastle & Arsenal against Liverpool where the keepers both played well! Lucked out this time

[Gert-Jan]

BOOM!! And rokkerr strikes again with a whopping 38 points, lol. Awesome! It's gonna be important to keep an eye on the latest injuries and bans.

The craziest week of the year has begun.....
- Will Chelsea go all the way and pay big bucks for John Stones?
- Signing Pedro equals exit Cuadrado. He's going to Juventus and has already arrived in Italy.
- What players will be joining West Brom and what's gonna happen with Berahino if Tottenham come back with a higher bid?
- Karim Benzema was heavily linked with both Arsenal and Man United, but the picture he posted on Twitter suggests the Frenchman is staying in Madrid.
- Mario Balotelli is set to join AC Milan on a season-long loan deal.

[TheBoy]

I'm glad you are both enjoying the Fantasy Football :) It's surprising how in depth it can get with all the little nuances and tactics to keep in mind. And it also gets very addictive mulling over potential transfers and picking your starting 11 :) My knee may have jerked a little this weekend and made a couple of transfers. I have in my mind who also will be getting transferred after next weekend, but you never know if injuries or a good performance will change well laid plans...

Arsenal v Liverpool last night was probably the story of Petr Cech as he redeemed himself from the West Ham game with some brilliant saves, especially in the first half to keep out a feisty looking Liverpool side. Coutinho in particular stood out, causing plenty of problems for Arsenal's somewhat makeshift defence. The second half was a different story as Arsenal looked more in control and the most likely to steal 3 points. But it was the same old story with them and the lack of a really top class forward the difference between three points and one. You never know in football, but I would be very surprised if they were to sign a big money striker within the next 6 days.

Breaking news is that West Brom have now rejected a £22m bid from Spurs for Saido Berahino! I have to admit, I'm baffled by this one! This doesn't seem to be following the usual rules, despite being textbook in it's unfolding. We have the all the usual events: Player heavily linked in media, 'insiders' report that a deal is almost done, selling club insist player is not for sale but make it pretty obvious with public statements that actually he is and would quite like a few other clubs to up the bidding... Then we had Berahino not included in the latest match day squad due to his mental stability and finally Berahino's transfer request publicly rejected yesterday. This usually means that the next step is bid accepted and wrapped up pretty quickly, which makes it rather strange that Spurs have by all accounts now met the fee reportedly requested by West Brom and yet still rejected. But it's the very public dealing of this transfer by West Brom which makes it puzzling. Normally when a club goes public about a player not being for sale, it's usually little more than a PR exercise to show the fans that they 'tried' to keep the player but in the end, the big bad wolf turned the players head and the transfer had to happen. But to now reject £22m from Spurs, well as we know it's not like rejecting a bid from Chelsea or Man City knowing that another few million is neither here nor there to them. This is Spurs obviously pushing their limits and the with a man like Daniel Levy, it's a very risky move by West Brom. Berahino has had questionable attitude issues in the past, so how will he react if a move to Tottenham falls through?

I still think the transfer will take place, and maybe Fazio going in the opposite direction is key to the whole thing, but I'm certainly a whole lot less confident about it than I was a few days ago!

I wouldn't be surprised if Chelsea up the bid for Stones and get their man. The Chelsea defence has been below par and with Terry firstly being subbed at half time and then sent off, I think Jose may decide enough is enough and that it's time to get some young blood into the side. As with a lot of these young English players going to big clubs, you always worry about them getting games and not letting their talent go to waste and initially I thought that would be the case. But maybe with how Terry and Cahill are looking, Stones will go straight into the side.

One other transfer to keep an eye on over the next few days is that of Real Madrid midfielder Asier Illarramendi. He's been linked with a number of Premier League clubs, most notably Liverpool and Tottenham, but a transfer back to Real Sociedad could be the most likely outcome. If he doesn't re-join his old side in the next 48 hours, then we could see a deadline day transfer to the Premier League where he would be most welcome at White Hart Lane ;)

[Gert-Jan]

I suggest sitting down when reading the following news, lol. Manchester City and Wolfsburg have reached an agreement regarding Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian attacking midfielder will move to England for an incredible amount of €74m and €6m in add-ons. They will probably announce the deal tomorrow or Friday at the latest. De Bruyne is a great player, but I personally have doubts about him as he never succeeded at Chelsea, not to mention the fact there's much more competition at Man City. EPL's best goalkeeper, four central defenders, four full backs, five attacking midfielders, two awesome strikers. In all honesty, they should really blow Watford away this weekend....

Tottenham Hotspur are in talks with Leverkusen to sign Korean forward Son Heung-Min as WBA are still not very cooperative to let Berahino go. I would think West Brom need the money, so they can start shopping as well? However, this whole thing has been dragging on for quite some time and Spurs have found a new target. The Bayer Leverkusen player is a hero in his own country, but I'm always a little sceptical when Asians go to the Premier League. Success rate? 50/50. He has scored 21 goals in 61 matches for the German side.

There's so much going on right now....
- Illarramendi rejoins Real Sociedad on a 6-year deal and a fee of €16m. Keep in mind that Real Madrid paid €32m for him two years ago!
- Sevilla have bought Juventus forward Fernando Llorente.
- AS Roma have signed PSG defender Digne on loan.
- PSG sign Monaco left back Kurzawa as replacement for Digne.
- Super agent Jorge Mendes has transferred Fabio Coentrao from Real Madrid to Monaco.

Champions League draw Thursday at 5pm GMT.

[AussieSteve]

I'm looking forward to this season's European Champions League (UCL) competition now that Manchester United are back in the group stage after a year's hiatus !!

[Gert-Jan]

Champions League Draw (#UCLdraw)
Group A: PSG, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Malmo
Group B: PSV Eindhoven, Man United, CSKA Moscow, Wolfsburg
Group C: Benfica, Atletico Madrid, Galatasaray, Astana
Group D: Juventus, Man City, Sevilla, Borussia M"Gladbach
Group E: Barcelona, Bayer Leverkusen, AS Roma, Bate Borisov
Group F: Bayern Munich, Arsenal, Olympiacos, Dynamo Zagreb
Group G: Chelsea, Porto, Dynamo Kiev, Maccabi Tel-Aviv
Group H: Zenit, Valencia, Lyon, Gent

If only I could have seen the look on Wenger's face when he saw Arsenal had to play Bayern again, lol. Man City find themselves in another very tough group, I think we can even call it the group of death. Man United facing a Dutch team is really cool, especially with Depay coming home. Chelsea have a relatively easy draw. And I'm really looking forward to PSG vs Real Madrid.

The fun starts in 3 weeks.

[TheBoy]

Transfer news! Tottenham Hotspur complete the signing of Korean international Son Heung-Min from Bayer Leverkusen for a fee reportedly around £18m! I am really excited about this one as he seems exactly the sort of player we need. He's pacey, hard working and very comfortable on the ball. I'm sure the commercial aspects of the deal also helped persuade Levy to pry open his wallet ;) Spurs are already sponsored by a large Korean company (AIA) and I imagine that when Levy pondered the prospect of having one of, if not the best, Korean footballer playing in a shirt sponsored by a Korean company of a team playing in the most widely televised sporting league in the world... I wouldn't be surprised if he had an orgasm just thinking about it lol

The biggest surprise of this transfer is how quickly the rumour was broken in the German media a couple of days ago and now he is already here.

The other big transfer story involving Spurs is that of Saido Berahino, where it's had even more twists. Most recent of all came the quite frankly amateurish statement made by West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace. In his insistence that Berahino will not be sold, he stated two main reasons: First that with Spurs coming in for him at this stage of the window has left them with no time to find a replacement. This is despite them already having signed two new strikers and having a total of 6 on the books! The second reason is that he wasn't happy with Spurs wanting to make the transfer in installments. Which is stupid! Pretty much any large transfer these days is made in installments and incentives. If West Brom paid £15m in full up front for Rondon, then more fool them - no other club would do it. So it's all rather bizarre really and actually done very little to dissuade opinion that Berahino will still be sold. Especially after the striker has gone so far as to unfollow West Brom on Twitter and after Peace made it public he had handed in a transfer request, it makes life very difficult for him. Fair play to West Brom in trying to keep a star player, but they've gone about it completely the wrong way.

Speaking of unfollowing on Twitter, it seems to be a modern trend lol. Victor Wanyama of Southampton also took the step a few days ago after it too became public knowledge that he desires to leave St Mary's. And after last night's dreadful display to dump themselves out of the Europa League at the qualifying stage, who can blame him? Arsenal are waiting in the wings...

[Gert-Jan]

Which team has created 53 scoring chances yet only scored 3 goals? Actually, they have only scored 1 themselves, the other two were own goals. It's Arsenal! Wenger's side played some really good possession against Newcastle on Saturday. Walcott started up front, Giroud on the bench. The Magpies attempted to intimidate Arsenal with a physical approach in the form of harsh tackles and body checks. Lots of fouls during the first half hour or so. Mitrovic was rightfully sent off in the 18th minute for trying to make Coquelin suffer a broken foot. That guy has been a loose cannon from the start of the season. Anyway, not much wrong with how the Gunners played, but the problem of finishing chances surfaced again. Sub Giroud came on in the second half, got at least two 100% chances and Krul saved them both. Coloccini handed Arsenal 3 points with an own goal. Wenger left the North-East with a smile on his face, still, this is becoming a serious problem. What to do?!

The same kinda applies to the Mancunians, who have still not signed a forward and who have still not sold De Gea to Real Madrid. It seems to me like they are in a dark tunnel with no light in sight. You can't just rely on your defense to collect clean sheets and keep your fingers crossed that Rooney and Depay will score a goal from time to time. The EPL is four weeks underway and no goals from either of them. Hernandez replaces Son at Leverkusen, does Van Gaal really want to continue the season with Rooney and Fellaini as forwards? And since when is the Belgian a striker? Man United's midfield is drenched in incompetence and an endless passing game. Depay is a threat to opponents, Mata is sparkling occasionally, but how about the other (attacking) midfielders? This team lacks players who bring something extra to the table and that's a sad conclusion after spending over €120m....

Time for another statistic. What team has now won 8 of their last 10 away games? Crystal Palace! So, was it really a shock to see them beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge? Ofcourse not. Pardew is a magician, who can pull things off with his squad that other managers with more financial resources can not. Excellent result. Mourinho, however, needs to fix his defense quickly as conceding 9 goals in 4 matches equals the average of a team fighting relegation, lol. Terry is not fast enough, Zuma simply doesn't know how to play football, Ivanovic is hopelessly out of form, Azpilicueta constantly wants to attack rather than defend, and Cahill has always been overrated. I just don't know what to say about the Blues. There's no significant improvement. It's the same mess every week. Mourinho preaches "we didn't deserve to lose" in post match interviews, but should the world take his comments serious if his team keeps losing matches like this?

Elsewhere in Europe.... Bayern Munich easily defeated Bayer Leverkusen. A perfect display from Guardiola's team and an awesome Robben goal. So happy that he's back, cause we need him badly in the upcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers this week. Dortmund did well too beating Hertha 3-1. Wolfsburg lost two players during the weekend. De Bruyne has officially moved to Manchester, while Perisic joins Inter. Oh, and Thomas Muller has already scored 5 goals in the Bundesliga so far... will he stay or will he go?

Italian champions Juventus remain pointless after an away defeat in Rome. Gareth Bale got two in for Real Madrid against Betis. I watched Sevilla vs Atletico Madrid (0-3) with an impressive Antoine Griezmann! PSG had no problem scoring 3 goals at Monaco. Zlatan is back, Di Maria came on the pitch in the second half, Cavani scored twice. All those superstars are ready to win another league title and try to reach far in the Champions League. I'd say they are a dangerous outsider to win the big trophy.

DEADLINE DAY
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34091368
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34055347

[TheBoy]

Here's another interesting stat for you Gert: After Saturday's fixtures were completed, there had only been 7 home wins from the 38 games played. The two home wins on Sunday still made it a little more respectable but at 9 from 40 matches, less than a quarter have been won by the home side. Very curious stuff.

And one more just for a chuckle, seeing as you brought up the Pardew victory over Mourinho: Mourinho's last 7 defeats have all been at the hands of managers with surnames beginning with the letter 'P'! Pardew, Pulis, Poyet, Pellegrinni and Pochettino have all left Jose with a furious scowl.

Big transfer news this afternoon as Manchester United go batshit crazy once again and have bid at least £36m for Monaco's 19 year old winger/forward Anthony Martial! The actual size of the bid is spiraling out of control on the rumours with up to €80m being suggested, but whatever it is, Monaco have snapped their hands off and accepted. Martial has now been released from the French national squad in order to travel over and discuss personal terms. It's no secret that United need new striking options, and Martial definitely has promise. But they already spent big on Depay who plays in a similar position and is a relatively untested 19 year old really what they need right now?

The signing will see former promising wide forward, Adnan Januzaj join Dortmund on loan, which is a shame that he couldn't have stayed in the Premier League as I'd have liked to see him develop.

Maybe United are just feeling a little jealous after yesterday when Manchester City announced the signing of former Chelsea castaway Kevin De Bruyne from Wolfsburg for the throwaway sum of £59m? There's still time for a club to lose their minds, but I'd think now that this will be the biggest monetary value transfer of the window. I think he will be a really good signing for City and fit in well, probably on the right hand side replacing Navas. We all predicted Chelsea to win the league again this year, but I think now it's safe to say without it being a knee jerk reaction to their 12 points from 4 games, that City are now clear favourites. They have pretty much done exactly what Chelsea did last year in identifying weaknesses in the team and spending money on buying exactly the right players to fix them. Yes it's come at a cost of nearly £150m, but at least they can say each transfer has a positive impact and purpose.

There are still so many transfers up in the air and it makes for a very tricky situation with various nations having different deadlines. Germany has 6pm GMT, Italy 11pm most of Europe at midnight and with it being a Bank Holiday in the UK, we have it tomorrow at 6pm.

Spurs are currently still being linked with Berahino and Wanyama, whilst Pato and Axel Witsel are now also coming into the frame. Quite who we will get is anyone's guess!

Rokkerr, you had a mare this week in the Fantasy Football! Gert had another good week - great pick on going with the Swansea duo v United! Although I can't say I'm as pleased for you that Howard got 11 points ;) I'm quite happy with how my team is ticking over although the potential injury to Mahrez is a bit worrying. The biggest problem now though is two whole weeks of potential tinkering thanks to the International break lol. I'm pretty sure I have my transfer plan in order, but I can't quite make myself commit to it just yet ;)

[rokkerr]

All I can say is I really sucked balls last week... I might need to research my options to change up my squad...

[TheBoy]

If the worst comes to it Rokkerr, you can always use your wildcard which gives you unlimited free transfers for the week (or in this case, fortnight). Some people use it early in the first few weeks as a way of getting in lots of the current form players, whilst the alternate tactic is to leave it until later in the season when you should have a bigger transfer kitty in which to get in some of the more expensive players. A few have already used it in the league I'm in with work, including one guy who used it after the first round, which sounds madness but his team is now worth nearly £1m more than anyone else...

[rokkerr]

If the worst comes to it Rokkerr, you can always use your wildcard which gives you unlimited free transfers for the week (or in this case, fortnight). Some people use it early in the first few weeks as a way of getting in lots of the current form players, whilst the alternate tactic is to leave it until later in the season when you should have a bigger transfer kitty in which to get in some of the more expensive players. A few have already used it in the league I'm in with work, including one guy who used it after the first round, which sounds madness but his team is now worth nearly £1m more than anyone else...

I picked heavily from Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and MUFC because I was in a rush
... and we all know how those teams basically did last weekend...

I will be patient... next week the big boys have got to come through... right?

[TheBoy]

The transfer that has been lurking all summer looks like it has finally happened. Manchester United have agreed to sell goalkeeper David De Gea to Real Madrid for a fee of £29m. The deal will also include Madrid 'keeper Keylor Navas going in the opposite direction. With Romero looking, well lets just say less than brilliant vs Swansea on Sunday, it does beg the question have United seriously messed up? It's surely too late to move for say Lloris or any other world class goalkeeper and the fact they have accepted Navas in exchange suggests Van Gaal is happy with what he has?

That tactic would normally be sound Rokkerr! But then the early weeks are always a heavy slice of luck really, especially with picking players in the budget price ranges who somehow keep picking up decent point hauls.

[Gert-Jan]

Yeah, I think I'm doing pretty well for someone who has never played Fantasy Football before, lol. I've added 11 players to my watchlist, some are expensive, others are fairly cheap. I don't plan on making transfers until after the international break. You never know if someone gets injuried during the Euro 2016 qualifiers.

It so happens that I have seen Martial play twice recently in the CL play-off against Valencia. He's exactly the same kind of player as Memphis Depay, lol. And I totally agree, you can't expect a 19-year old youngster to carry the weight of a topclub in need of goals. The fee you mentioned is pretty accurate, it will indeed be £36/€50m. Van Gaal has said many times that there won't be any panic signings, but this is certainly not the player I had in mind to support Rooney.

Romero is not the best goalkeeper in the world, but he's generally pretty solid and better than Navas in my opinion. Ajax and Spurs will be happy that Cillessen and Lloris are staying in Amsterdam and London. Lindegaard moved to West Brom. Any word on Victor Valdes? The Red Devils should have made all these changes a month ago, it would have saved them from a lot of drama/gossip. Hopefully the new boys will do well at Old Trafford and I'll be following Januzaj as well as Hernandez in the Bundesliga.

BREAKING:
http://as.com/diarioas/2015/08/31/engli ... 47976.html
David De Gea's proposed move from Manchester United to Real Madrid has collapsed on Monday night because the necessary paperwork was not submitted in time. No official announcement has yet been made by either club. Follow @GuillemBalague for the latest update.

• Nikica Jelavic: Hull City ~~> West Ham
• Fabio Borini: Liverpool ~~> Sunderland
• Dieumerci Mbokani: Dynamo Kiev ~~> Norwich (on loan)
• Ricky van Wolfswinkel: Norwich ~~> Real Betis (on loan)
• Dante: Bayern Munich ~~> Wolfsburg
• Jesus Manuel Corona: Twente ~~> Porto
• Jakub Blaszczykowski: Borussia Dortmund ~~> Fiorentina (on loan)
• Kevin Grosskreutz: Borussia Dortmund ~~> Galatasaray
• Julian Draxler: Schalke ~~> Wolfsburg (€35m + €7m in add-ons)
• Raul Garcia: Atletico Madrid ~~> Athletic Bilbao
• Rolando: Porto ~~> Marseille
• Alessandro Matri: AC Milan ~~> Lazio (on loan)
• Felipe Melo: Galatasary ~~> Inter
• Hernanes: Inter ~~> Juventus

[TheBoy]

The De Gea transfer is now quite something isn't it! As for how it collapsed, there are rumours that United sent the relevant documents in a format that Madrid could not open! The thing is, as laughable as the whole situation is - and a number of United fans thinking they have got one over Madrid - you have to think that really it's them who are losing out the most? De Gea, already not playing due to his desire to leave will surely be furious at United screwing up and thus even less likely to play and meaningful part this season. United will also be aware that with one year left on his contract, an already low fee of £18m (with Navas being valued comically at £11m) will evaporate to almost nothing in January and of course nothing at all next summer.

Of course the big problem here is that unlike in the UK where deals like this get sorted out, the Spanish FA have no precedent for allowing this transfer to happen. In fact, the precedent is for the exact opposite, with the Transfer of Fabio Coentrao - ironically to United - missing out by minutes and thus being blocked. That was for an outgoing transfer though and with this being an incoming to Real Madrid, maybe we might see a different resolution. Certainly it doesn't do anyone any favours to stick to the rules here. United want to sell. Real Want to buy. De Gea and Navas want to sign. If it's true that the documents were sent in time and that there was a genuine problem in opening them, then I'd probably guess that the deal will happen.

Of those transfers you listed Gert, a couple stand out. Namely Draxler finally getting a big money move, although Wolfsburg is a bit of a surprise destination? I know they are flush with cash after selling De Bruyne, but is Draxler still seen as a gamble by the bigger clubs? The other transfer is that of Hernanes to Juve. Didn't Inter only buy him from Lazio last summer and I thought he had done pretty well for them?

Right, time to concentrate on the English deadline now... Come on Daniel Levy, DO NOT screw us over once again!

[Gert-Jan]

Real Madrid released an official statement/timeline: http://www.realmadrid.com/en/news/2015/ ... nouncement

The De Gea deal is 100% off until the window re-opens on the 1st of January. This is exactly why clubs should not wait till the last second to make these deals. For crissakes, Woodward, everybody knew De Gea was gonna join Real Madrid, get the damn paperwork ready then, lol. What an amateurs! Curious to see if the Spanish goalkeeper is gonna be mentally ready to play matches again.

Draxler is still a huge talent and going from Schalke to Wolfsburg is pretty much like going from Spurs to Man City, so it's definitely a step forward. I really think it's a good deal and Wolfsburg only had to spend half of De Bruyne's fee, lol. You're spot on regarding Hernanes. Lazio - Inter - Juventus. Maybe he and Mancini didn't get along anymore? Or maybe he just wanted a real shot at winning a league title? Juventus are the biggest Italian club and they needed a midfielder after both Pirlo and Vidal went elsewhere, so I get why he decided to move along after only one season in Milan. Big opportunity for him. :)

Another transfer soap opera has come to an end; Saido Berahino needs to stay at West Brom! I didn't read anything about Spurs.... no new players?

Southampton have signed Celtic's Van Dijk on a 5-year deal, which is obviously thanks to Koeman. It's funny, cause a lot of Dutchies would like to see him in the national team yet for some reason Van Gaal, Hiddink, and now Danny Blind too, refuse to give him a chance, whereas Ajax youngsters Tete and Riedewald, who have only played a handful of games, are getting the benefit of the doubt. We'll see how it works out. The Euro 2016 qualifiers start on Thursday already!

[rokkerr]

... maybe this helps my Fantasy points this weekend...

[TheBoy]

Your eyes didn't deceive you Gert, no new players for Spurs and yet another farcical transfer deadline came to pass. So much for 'Mr Transfer Deadline Day' Daniel Levy eh! I'm gobsmacked we didn't sign a central midfielder and I have no doubt that will end up costing us any meaningful league position this season. After being linked so heavily with a number of fairly high profile targets - Lars and Sven Bender, Kramer, McCarthy, Illarramendi, Wanyama and Witsel to name a few it was obvious that Pochettino had marked this as a key position. It's crazy we didn't have this sewn up well before deadline day, but to then spend all day in a war that was never going to be won in trying to get Berahino, we completely lost the plot.

As for the exact reasons why we failed seem fairly clear: Jeremy Peace. I have no problem with West Brom wanting to keep their player and wish that in the past we had been as firm and arrogant about doing so. But the problem is, the only person at West Brom who in the end wanted Berahino to stay was Peace and his ever inflating ego. Pulis wanted him gone, the board wanted him gone, his team mates wanted him gone and of course the player himself wanted to go. But once Peace made everything public, I think this was destined to fail. The biggest problem of all though was despite all the public statements of how naughty old Spurs were bidding and structuring their bids, at no point was an officially acceptable number given to Tottenham. Hence why the numerous slightly increased bids went in. I think deep down he fully expected say Man United to get desperate and come in with a big bid so he could justify his actions. Of course, United did get desperate but decided on Martial instead. As we know, Spurs cannot afford to massively over pay just to get their man and so it's more than reasonable to expect bids going in at £18m, £20m, £22, etc.

Whilst the full details of what transpired may never be fully revealed, I think the biggest clue is in the club statement made by Levy yesterday. The choice words of 'ego' and 'public' along with confirming that virtually all transfers are structured pretty much shows where we stood.

Sigh, international fortnight