I agree that it's doubtful we'd get both of S'hampton's CMs, but I was asked about ideal signings. And I'm not suggesting Ings as a winger as such, but more as a forward attacking player without playing two up top.
I'm fine with Dier, since he's been "young and learning" this season and has done reasonably well all things considered (including our lack of a Schneiderlin-quality DM). I also think that Walker and Rose are better than some give credit for - Rose in particular. Besides which, the wing-back position in the modern game is one of the most challenging, if not the most challenging. And in any case I don't see replacements for Rose or Walker that we could realistically sign who would definitely be better ... although I'm open to suggestions. But Yedlin is hovering in the background, and Davies arrived last summer, so who knows, perhaps one of these will step up to claim a regular first team slot.
Spurs have conceded the 5th most goals in the entire Prem! Of the 17 teams set to stay up, only Newcastle have conceded more.
Signing Schneiderlin or another very good DM would reduce that, but if you want to consistently get top 4, you need to go from the 56 you're on pace to concede down to no more than 40 a year. More likely, Schneiderlin's comments on planning to play in the CL come true and he goes to Arsenal.
Dier, Walker and Rose are all young enough to improve and Vertonghen and Lloris are very good players, but I still think it would be a mistake not to upgrade around those 2.
Maybe Davies and Rose is worth giving another year simply because there are 2 of them, but Walker could do with a challenge and Vertonghen could have a new partner and Fazio and Dier would still get a fair amount of time in the cups and if you edge out Southampton, the Europa League.
There are guys out there. Valencia's left-back - Gaya - looks like another Alba type and his release clause is around 13.5, though they have CL football coming. Darmian can play either side and Torino to Spurs is a big upgrade for him.
If I was Pochettino, I'd see this is the core:
-------Kane-------- (
Striker)
LW----Eriksen--Lamela (Chadli, Townsend, Delle Alli)
----
CM-Bentaleb------ (Stambouli, Mason)
LB--------------RB-- (Walker, Rose/Davies)
-Vertonghen-
CB------ (Fazio, Dier)
-------Lloris---------- (Vorm)
For a nice, tight 22 man squad with presumably one or two youth players joining in.
That's 6 new starters and a backup for Kane, which is a lot to ask for in one summer, but you have a lot of deadweight to get off the books like Rose/Davies Paulinho, Dembele, Soldado, Adebayor, Chichires, Holtby, Lennon, Capoue and Kaboul. With the TV contracts enriching the mid-table sides, maybe you can entice teams to spend more than they should for what is in some cases Prem-proven talent.
