13 Sep 2013 15:45:21
The discussion about Paulinho has set me thinking.

In June 2011, I analysed our squad to see what changes were needed when the transfer window opened. I have dug out that analysis and compared the squad with our current one.

In 2011, our squad had cost £201m to assemble. Our current squad is slightly more expensive at £208m. The average cost per player has risen from £6.5m to £8.3m.

In 2011, we had 31 players, but this included loan players and dead wood, like Bentley and the perpetually injured Woodgate. Today it is only 25, but only Gomes and Adebayor are unlikely to be used. Only 9 players have survived from 2011: Gomes, Walker, Rose, Naughton, Kaboul, Dawson, Sandro, Lennon and Defoe.

That is a lot of change in just 2 years. Have we strengthened as a result?

In 2011, Gomes was 1st choice keeper with Cudicini as his cover. Today, Lloris is top class and, even at 42, Friedel is keeping out Gomes. We are definitely stronger in this position.

We used to have 12 defenders. Today it is only 8.

In 2011, our best central defensive pairing was Dawson and King and I think this edges out our best current pairing of Dawson and Vertonghen. We also had more cover for them. I discount Woodgate, but that still left Gallas, Kaboul and Bassong, with Corluka and Huddlestone in an emergency. Today, our cover is the increasingly injury-prone Kaboul, the unknown Chiriches and the untried Fryers with Capoue in an emergency.

At right back, Corluka was better defensively than Walker, but his lack of pace could be a liability when he went forward. Hutton was similar to Walker in style, but not as quite as good. Two years ago, Ekotto was a better left back than Rose is now, but there wasn't much cover for him. Today Rose is still improving and Naughton provides good cover for him and Walker.

Defensively, I think we have gone backwards slightly.

In the midfield holding role we used to have Palacios and Sandro, with O'Hara as cover. Palacios started out well, but seemed to lose his motivation, while Sandro was a promising youngster who had too many injuries. Today, Sandro has proved his class, but the injury doubts persist. Capoue could be a major addition, but we need to see more of him.

I don't think there is much difference in defensive midfield, but the maturing of Sandro and the promise of Capoue tips the balance in favour of our current squad.

In central midfield we used to have Modric, who was pure class, but Kranjcar, Jenus and Huddlestone all had their limitations. Today we have the (still unrealised) promise of Dembele and the untried Paulinho and Holtby. They are all versatile players and good athletes but none of them yet makes up for the loss of Modric.

In the attacking midfield positions we had Bale, Lennon and Van Der Vaart, but not much else. Lennon is still around, but Chadli, Sigurdsson and Townsend don't begin to replace VDV or Bale. We need Lamela and Eriksen to prove themselves fairly quickly.

This is where I have the biggest concerns, but they could soon be allayed by Lamela and Eriksen.

We have finally made a big investment in attack. Defoe still with us, but we have replaced Crouch, Keane and Pavluchenko with the expensive Soldado, while Adebayor is still on the books as well. Expensive does not necessarily mean good, and Soldado has not excited me yet, but I have to believe he is better than anything we used to have.

Overall, I think our squad was slightly stronger two years ago, while our best team was definitely better. At its heart were King, Modric, Van Der Vaart and Bale. They are difficult to replace, but we must hope that once all the new players have all bedded in, different strengths will emerge and the overall effect will be an improvement.

Time will tell.

Sorry but our SQUAD is far stronger now than it was 2 years ago, however our starting XI may not be as good just yet, but given a few more games it will be, go back 2 years and we had old Arry wheeling and dealing and a couple of world class players, fast forward to now and we have the most promising young manager in the game and a squad with the potential to mix it with the best. We are IMO far better off now than 2 years ago. The other thing you have to look at is the formations played in 2011 (4-4-2)and now in 2013 (4-2-3-1)

4-4-2 2011 / 2013

GK - Gomes / Lloris
RB - Corluka / Walker
LB - BAE / Rose
CB - Dawson / Dawson
CB - King / Vertonghen

LM - Bale / Chadli
RM - Lennon / Townsend
CM - VDV / Dembele
CM - Modric / Paulinho

CF - Defoe / Defoe
CF - Crouch / Soldado

4-2-3-1

GK and Def stay the same.

DM - Huddlestone / Sandro
DM - Palacios / Paulinho

AML - Bale / Lamela
AMC - Keane / Eriksen
AMR - Lennon / Townsend

CF - Defoe / Soldado

I would say that Verts today is better than Ledley was 2 years ago. Not saying Ledley wasn't great in his day, but 2 years ago the knees left him very vunerabie to pace.