Tottenham Thoughts: The Kit Number Game, New York and the Odd Transfer Talk

Tottenham offered two surprises on Tuesday night against New York Red Bulls in the final leg of their US tour.

One surprise was that Gareth Bale started and played nearly 70 minutes. The second was that Bale kept the change of his kit number from No. 3 to No. 9.

That is not insignificant in the least.

The No. 9 is iconic in football circles because it represents the forward, the striker and the man leading the line.

While the No. 10 kit is more lionized in Tottenham for the men who have graced it, the No. 9 strip in general is more known for persons such as Alan Shearer, Andy Cole, Bobby Charlton for England, etc.

What’s concerning here about the No. 9 being given to Bale, while he’s certainly not been playing at left back, is that there is no actual forward to take the kit number.

It seems more and more likely the fabled £50-£70 million “warchest” was based in part on the sale of Luka Modric.

If we deduce that Modric was to be sold for a baseline number of £30 million, that would leave anywhere from £20-40 million aside.

With the purchases of Jan Vertonghen and Gylfi Sigurdsson coming in at a price of £18 million, the rough estimate is that the club still has £20 million left to spend at the top end of the market.

That money is expected to be used for a goalkeeper and an (actual) forward in the coming weeks.

ESPNSoccernet’s transfer blog mentioned that Tottenham were again linked with Jose Salomon Rondon of Malaga while the Daily Mail hinted that perhaps Spurs are aiming for Maarten Stekelenburg of Roma.

If they land the duo for under the £20 million left to spend, then the club can consider their transfer outlay a job well done.

Random thoughts on the match versus NY Red Bulls

-First of all, New York is actually a pretty solid squad and adding Tim Cahill to the mix is only going to make them stingier as a unit.

They played a pretty high tempo game with Spurs in the first 70 minutes before things died down as subs began to come in left, right and center.

It made the contest a lot more fun to watch than even the Liverpool match.

-Bale may have changed numbers, but he was not fooling anyone into thinking he was a proper center forward.

Much like Daniel Sturridge in the match versus Uruguay on Wednesday, Bale is far more effective as a player that can attack from the sides, not straight down the middle of the pitch.

It was readily apparent when the second half was under way that Tottenham looked far more menacing with Bale on the left.

-That brings us to David Bentley. Namely, why is he still here?

He wants far too much time on the ball, looked completely lost on the left and defended like he usually does.

That is to say, he did not.

Another loan move looks to be likely, if not on outright exit from the club. His skills are still good but his style completely clashes with the club now.

Tottenham will still rely on pace down the flanks (I think) and Bentley does not have the pace to hang. Unless he finds a way to become a central midfielder instead, he looks to be a revenue enhancer for the club.

-Speaking of the midfield, Jake Livermore and Tom Huddlestone should not be on the pitch together for any reason.

They are effectively the same player, with Livermore faster and Huddlestone a longer passer.

Both often left Tottenham in the lurch because they played more as a double pivot rather than someone linking the defense to the attack.

Sigurdsson often got right behind Bale up front and with that, there was a huge hole in between the deep midfield and the front four players.

This changed once Tom Carroll hit the field. Carroll got forward from the deep spot to good effect and was looking to push passes forward rather than side to side.

Jermaine Jenas also looked lively, though you could pretty much change him out with Livermore and Huddlestone and not really know the difference.

I expect at least one member of that trio to be moved on before the window closes, because there are effectively four players for one position once you throw Sandro into the mix.

Scott Parker could be used as the more advanced midfielder because his range of passing is better than the other four, but if Modric were to stay, then you have a five-man pileup and that is too many for one spot.

-Harry Kane, while he did not light the world on fire, did the job up front well enough to justify him being brought on the tour.

However, his frame is not exactly one that looks to take a beating in the Premier League.

I can’t help but think one more go in the Championship is in his future, especially if the club are really serious about using Bale as a center forward from time to time.

-Vertonghen got exposed slightly for the penalty as he seemed completely off-guard by Cahill’s run.

That is one thing that people will have to watch for early on in the season, namely whether or not Spurs can make the high line work.

New York slipped into a shell for a good chuck of the first half after that point, but when they did go on the attack early, they were looking to attack the high line.

-One gets the feeling that there has to be a decision in the near future regarding the starting XI and that one of Rafael Van der Vaart, Aaron Lennon and Sigurdsson are going to be very disappointed lads.

I would not be surprised at all if Lennon were the man to find himself on the bench, simply because Van der Vaart and Sigurdsson are better scorers.

Lennon’s pace is great, but Kyle Walker can run the overlap all day and all night.

That might be the most interesting battle for a starting birth of them all.

-Completely unrelated, Villarreal are expected to sell Borja Valero for €7 million to Fiorentina, per Soccernet.

Why is that important?

If they’re allowing probably their best player from last term to go that cheap, surely they would let Giuseppe Rossi out for €10-€12 million?

Even if he is crocked, he would be available at a knockdown price and would be worth a punt on the cheap.

Perhaps while they play Valencia on August 9, someone in the form of Daniel Levy could waltz over to the Yellow Submarine and perhaps work a deal out….