OMT ***Tottenham Hotspur vs Saudi Sportswashing Machine***

[parklane1]

I was at the game and we were shocking, blaming one player over others on that performance is stupid they were all poor ( to be nice), However it seems that even after our best season for years ( in the Prem) we still have the moaning minnies who still want to bitch about this that or the other. I seriously wonder why some fans bother to say they are Spurs fans when after the season we have had they STILL want to bitch and moan.

 

[StephenH]

I was at the game and we were shocking, blaming one player over others on that performance is stupid they were all poor ( to be nice), However it seems that even after our best season for years ( in the Prem) we still have the moaning minnies who still want to bitch about this that or the other. I seriously wonder why some fans bother to say they are Spurs fans when after the season we have had they STILL want to bitch and moan.

We were so good it made the ending even worse - I would have been totally destroyed having made that trek and watched that display

 

[Baleforce]

the last two games broke me, not read any football news or listened to any podcasts since, the only "football thing" I'm capable of is hanging out on here

 

[thfcsteff]

I was at the game and we were shocking, blaming one player over others on that performance is stupid they were all poor ( to be nice), However it seems that even after our best season for years ( in the Prem) we still have the moaning minnies who still want to bitch about this that or the other. I seriously wonder why some fans bother to say they are Spurs fans when after the season we have had they STILL want to bitch and moan.

Agreed, but a couple of things are worth looking at. Of course it matters not what we all chunter in about, Poch will do so and I love him for it.

 

[StephenH]

the last two games broke me, not read any football news or listened to any podcasts since, the only "football thing" I'm capable of is hanging out on here

It has been tough and I hope you can start enjoying the game again soon M8

 

[mudshark]

Normally I would have been gutted to lose a place to Le Arse, but not this time. When we drew with Chelsea I had never been so depressed about Spurs. It looked as if we would finish ahead of The red scum, the Blue scum, Emirates Marketing Project, Yanited and Liverpool and still not be champions. We let Leicester beat us. So, I'm quite relaxed for the Scummers to go into the history books as the club that came second to Leicester. In fact, I secretly believed this would happen four or five weeks before the end of the season.

So did I, but I think I'd still rather they'd gone down as the side that finished third behind Leicester and Spurs.

I'm not sure I subscribe to this 'sacrificial lamb' idea of Dubai's; I'd worry we'd end up cutting off our nose to spite our face, especially if it could be regarded as an unfair example that was being made. I don't think that's who Pochettino is, for one thing. I think Vertonghen is arguably a more likely target than Walker for a dose of cod-liver oil (I'm not talking about a sacking, either, but a benching, possibly yes).

Overall, I'm heading into acceptance of the events of the weekend. I haven't had to suffer the slings and arrows a lot of you have, though, by the sounds of it. I'm probably lucky in the sense there aren't too many football fans at work -- a Surrey Manc, a Manc Manc, a die-hard Orient fan with an evident soft-spot for us, a Swindonian and one woman Arse fan (whose brother is Spurs). She looked at me with big, brown eyes Monday and said, "Are we still friends?" I suddenly felt I could laugh about it and felt a lot better afterwards. As fans, we've got a completely different agenda, compared to the issues Pochettino has to be focussing on, and I think we must always remember that.

 

[thfcsteff]

I didn't give a toss about my gooner mates before, and I haven't after. It's all about us. in fact, the smart goons know that this is quite possibly the worst case scenario if change is what they want...

 

[glorygloryeze]

In a way I hope the ITK about Poch 'binning a few players' is bs; he was tactically schooled by Rafa and it could/should have been 7 or 8.
I also worry about his double-traning/high press system and that it will always lead to Bielsa-style late-season meltdowns.
The players looked simply knackered in the second half vs Chelski as well as vs Soton and Saudi Sportswashing Machine.
I think we/Poch ignore this physical issue at our peril: we must mix it up in terms of physical conditioning/training to not allow this drop-off to keep happening (apparently it's happened with Poch at Soton and Espanyol).

And before anybody mentions not having Alli and Dembele: do me a favour! Dembele was a second choice last season and Alli has only just stopped being a teenager (and would/should not have been expected to be a guaranteed starter for us this season; he should be a bonus!) - if that REALLY is our excuse for not getting A SINGLE POINTS in games against Soton and RELEGATED Saudi Sportswashing Machine, then we have bigger problems than we think!

 

[Bullet]

I just watched the game again here and I didn't think we were as bad as people claimed.

In the cold reality of watching again dispassionately, Rafa did a good job of drilling their defensive block - whenever we worked it forwards Colback or Tiote would snap into the challenge and we'd lose the ball.

The omitted players made a huge difference - without Rose we had no attack down our left side. Mason was weak in the challenge and rarely turned forwards, as Dembele would have done. Son dallied on the ball and got caught, which Alli probably wouldn't have done. Mason broke forward into their box looking for a goal, lung busting runs BUT that is the Alli role, not the Dembele role! He was too far forwards and trying to score, when he should have been shoring up midfield.

So in the first half we got nowhere; we dominated play but were toothless, just like under AVB where we would push against their hard centre but not look like breaking through a really well drilled defence.

Meanwhile when they broke on us, Mason was too far forwards and they have players that enjoy breaking forwards (Townsend, Sissoko and Wijnaldum are good at this).

Poch addressed this at half time, removing Mason and Son, presumably telling Carroll to just sit in there and be a midfielder, don't try to break into their box. And presumably telling Onomah not to dwell on the ball like Son, and to try to create some width.

Anyway, we got a goal back and were looking much better... we didn't look knackered or angry or too bad... we looked OK... then Mitrovic got himself sent off and Saudi Sportswashing Machine had all the licence they needed to stick 9 outfield men behind the ball.

We got excited and went for the kill... Poch licked his lips and thought "I'm sick of pushing softly at this defensive block, let's swap Walker for Chadli's goal threat". Incidentally, Walker seemed to be running strong and was breaking forwards well, he didn't look injured.

Almost immediately TobyA charged down the right wing like Younes Kaboul on acid, and Sissoko pounced, a good ball, skips round Vertonghen who dived in cheaply and sold us short... Eriksen and others scampered back but Sissoko cheated and dived in the box... suddenly it is 3-1 from out of nowhere and we look amazed.

In reality the game wasn't over, we could still have got 2 goals in 10 minutes. But we pushed even further forwards, the game was entirely in their final third with Vertonghen matched versus some pacy players... like matching John Terry against Jamie Vardy, only one winner there. They broke forwards a few times and we made blocks but just didn't learn... we kept pushing everyone forwards stupidly, leaving that stupid foot race... at that point we truly were stupid... we were almost too desperate to score.

All sense went out the window.

But it was quite a different story watching coldly tonight, rather than on Sunday.

 

[Spurs7891]

What a disappointing way to finish our season ! We simply end the season the way we started it : poorly. We were winless in the first 4 matches and now we finish the season without a win in the last 4 matches of the season. After the way we lost out in the title race, thought we would do enough to get at least a draw against Saudi Sportswashing Machine to finish in 2nd place for the first time since 1963 and finish above Arsenal for the first time in 26 years. Instead, we not only got humiliated by 10-man Saudi Sportswashing Machine to finish below Arsenal in 3rd place but we undone all the good works we did this season. It is simply unacceptable to get beaten 5-1 by any team, let alone by a team who had nothing to play, especially after they had went down to 10 man.

Our lack of squad depth has again come back to affect us in this match. Without Alli and Dembele in midfield, we don't look like winning any matches ! Mason and Carroll are simply not good enough, Onomah and Njie is too inexperienced while Son and Chadli are too inconsistent. Apart from Wimmer, we simply don't have the squad depth to replace our first 11 ! Without a doubt, we badly missed Alli and Dembele in the last 2 matches.

Big credit to Lamela for getting our goal. He seems to be the only player to finish the season in good form. He has 2 goals and 4 assists in the last 4 matches. It was a good shot to beat the Saudi Sportswashing Machine goalie from the difficult angle. Disappointingly, Kane was very poor in the last 2 matches. Thought he would score atleast 3 goals against Southampton and Saudi Sportswashing Machine to take his his total goals to 31, equaling last season's total. Instead, he didn't look like scoring a goal in any of those matches. Similiarly, was very disappointed with Eriksen. It was Eriksen who gave away the ball cheaply from which they attacked and scored their first goal. Also, Eriksen wasted another chance to score from the freekick. I think it is time we appoint someone like Kane or Lamela to take our freekicks from now on.

This defeat was a game of shame for our defence. After doing well all-season, never thought our defence were capable of getting humiliated by a shyte team like Saudi Sportswashing Machine ! Alderweireld, Vertonghen and Lloris all had a part to blame for their goals. Alderweireld should have done better with his header from which they scored their first. Vertonghen stupidly gave away the penalty for their third goal, just when we looked like coming back. It was a clear dive by the Saudi Sportswashing Machine player but Vertonghen gave him the excuse to dive. Thought Lloris should have done better with their 5th goal.

Amazingly, despite this humiliating defeat, we still finish the season with the joint-best defensive record, thanks to ManU's last minute own goal against Bournesmouth. But to concede 10 goals in the last 4 matches are simply unacceptable. We need do to much better next season, if we want to fight for the league title again. Atleast, we managed to finish in 3rd to qualify to the Champions League. But if we don't want to get humiliated in Europe, we need a much stronger squad, not just first 11 !

 

[Jordinho]

I didn't give a toss about my gooner mates before, and I haven't after. It's all about us. in fact, the smart goons know that this is quite possibly the worst case scenario if change is what they want...

I'm desperately hoping (in vain, I know) that when we do finish above them we'll show a bit of class.

 

[thfcsteff]

In a way I hope the ITK about Poch 'binning a few players' is bs; he was tactically schooled by Rafa and it could/should have been 7 or 8.
I also worry about his double-traning/high press system and that it will always lead to Bielsa-style late-season meltdowns.
The players looked simply knackered in the second half vs Chelski as well as vs Soton and Saudi Sportswashing Machine.
I think we/Poch ignore this physical issue at our peril: we must mix it up in terms of physical conditioning/training to not allow this drop-off to keep happening (apparently it's happened with Poch at Soton and Espanyol).

And before anybody mentions not having Alli and Dembele: do me a favour! Dembele was a second choice last season and Alli has only just stopped being a teenager (and would/should not have been expected to be a guaranteed starter for us this season; he should be a bonus!) - if that REALLY is our excuse for not getting A SINGLE POINTS in games against Soton and RELEGATED Saudi Sportswashing Machine, then we have bigger problems than we think!

Mate...they have been two of the most productive midfield players in Europe this season! You could argue they are why we went for the title (along with Hazza)...

 

[Glenda's Legs]

I just watched the game again here and I didn't think we were as bad as people claimed.

In the cold reality of watching again dispassionately, Rafa did a good job of drilling their defensive block - whenever we worked it forwards Colback or Tiote would snap into the challenge and we'd lose the ball.

The omitted players made a huge difference - without Rose we had no attack down our left side. Mason was weak in the challenge and rarely turned forwards, as Dembele would have done. Son dallied on the ball and got caught, which Alli probably wouldn't have done. Mason broke forward into their box looking for a goal, lung busting runs BUT that is the Alli role, not the Dembele role! He was too far forwards and trying to score, when he should have been shoring up midfield.

So in the first half we got nowhere; we dominated play but were toothless, just like under AVB where we would push against their hard centre but not look like breaking through a really well drilled defence.

Meanwhile when they broke on us, Mason was too far forwards and they have players that enjoy breaking forwards (Townsend, Sissoko and Wijnaldum are good at this).

Poch addressed this at half time, removing Mason and Son, presumably telling Carroll to just sit in there and be a midfielder, don't try to break into their box. And presumably telling Onomah not to dwell on the ball like Son, and to try to create some width.

Anyway, we got a goal back and were looking much better... we didn't look knackered or angry or too bad... we looked OK... then Mitrovic got himself sent off and Saudi Sportswashing Machine had all the licence they needed to stick 9 outfield men behind the ball.

We got excited and went for the kill... Poch licked his lips and thought "I'm sick of pushing softly at this defensive block, let's swap Walker for Chadli's goal threat". Incidentally, Walker seemed to be running strong and was breaking forwards well, he didn't look injured.

Almost immediately TobyA charged down the right wing like Younes Kaboul on acid, and Sissoko pounced, a good ball, skips round Vertonghen who dived in cheaply and sold us short... Eriksen and others scampered back but Sissoko cheated and dived in the box... suddenly it is 3-1 from out of nowhere and we look amazed.

In reality the game wasn't over, we could still have got 2 goals in 10 minutes. But we pushed even further forwards, the game was entirely in their final third with Vertonghen matched versus some pacy players... like matching John Terry against Jamie Vardy, only one winner there. They broke forwards a few times and we made blocks but just didn't learn... we kept pushing everyone forwards stupidly, leaving that stupid foot race... at that point we truly were stupid... we were almost too desperate to score.

All sense went out the window.

But it was quite a different story watching coldly tonight, rather than on Sunday.

Thanks for the summary. Although I am now undecided whether it actually makes me feel better, or worse, about the outcome.
I may venture to watch the game in the next couple of days.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Thanks for the summary. Although I am now undecided whether it actually makes me feel better, or worse, about the outcome.
I may venture to watch the game in the next couple of days.

The pen changed the games momentum and low and behold the press have hardly made a thing about it. It was blatant a dive as you would get and our cheating from a player not known for it.

That not being Given and the scores 2-1 I would fully expect us to at least get the draw ...

 

[Kandi1977]

The pen changed the games momentum and low and behold the press have hardly made a thing about it. It was blatant a dive as you would get and our cheating from a player not known for it.

That not being Given and the scores 2-1 I would fully expect us to at least get the draw ...

Bollox! The first half "performance" was utter turd, and they showed zero passion or willingness to do anything! It's the worst lack of interest and lack of commitment I have seen in a very long time! They just didn't fudging care at all! The season has been good, but just shutting completely off like that when we still had something IMPORTANT to play for, just showed a total disrespect for the fans and the club, and that really hurt! I'm still shocked how it is possible to show so little will and interest in finishing 2nd.

 

[glorygloryeze]

Mate...they have been two of the most productive midfield players in Europe this season! You could argue they are why we went for the title (along with Hazza)...

There's no denying that they are both VERY good players and key for us. Not having those two would potentially be the difference between us getting points vs the likes of Arsenal, Manure, Liverpool, Emirates Marketing Project etc. But are you REALLY saying that missing those two should mean we don't get a single point in consecutive games vs Soton at home and relegated Saudi Sportswashing Machine away?? I very much doubt that you believe that Steff (did you intimate that in the OMT discussions before the matches?? If so, apologies..) and i'd be amazed if Poch thinks that too.

As i say, the bigger issues for me is the way that tactically he was so easily schooled by Benitez especially when THEY went down to 10 men (it could/should have been 8) and also whether the tactical focus on double-training and the hard-running/pressing Bielsa style of play will always only get us so far and whether we will always have dips near the end of seasons.
Ultimately, i fear skill/tactical aptitude/variance will always trump hard running and brawn long-term.
Poch needs to add more to the hard running and brawn side of his methods long-term if he is to fulfil his undoubted managerial potential. Teams will be working now to counter his method and he/we will need to add another layer to our play next season: if not we will and possibly have peaked imo..

 

[billyiddo]

Bollox! The first half "performance" was utter turd, and they showed zero passion or willingness to do anything! It's the worst lack of interest and lack of commitment I have seen in a very long time! They just didn't fudgeing care at all! The season has been good, but just shutting completely off like that when we still had something IMPORTANT to play for, just showed a total disrespect for the fans and the club, and that really hurt! I'm still shocked how it is possible to show so little will and interest in finishing 2nd.

After the subs at half time we took hold of the game and at 2-1 it look like we could get something out of it, the penalty/Walker sub were turning points and we crumbled from there

 

[We are Tottenham]

What a disappointing way to finish our season ! We simply end the season the way we started it : poorly. We were winless in the first 4 matches and now we finish the season without a win in the last 4 matches of the season. After the way we lost out in the title race, thought we would do enough to get at least a draw against Saudi Sportswashing Machine to finish in 2nd place for the first time since 1963 and finish above Arsenal for the first time in 26 years. Instead, we not only got humiliated by 10-man Saudi Sportswashing Machine to finish below Arsenal in 3rd place but we undone all the good works we did this season. It is simply unacceptable to get beaten 5-1 by any team, let alone by a team who had nothing to play, especially after they had went down to 10 man.

Our lack of squad depth has again come back to affect us in this match. Without Alli and Dembele in midfield, we don't look like winning any matches ! Mason and Carroll are simply not good enough, Onomah and Njie is too inexperienced while Son and Chadli are too inconsistent. Apart from Wimmer, we simply don't have the squad depth to replace our first 11 ! Without a doubt, we badly missed Alli and Dembele in the last 2 matches.

Big credit to Lamela for getting our goal. He seems to be the only player to finish the season in good form. He has 2 goals and 4 assists in the last 4 matches. It was a good shot to beat the Saudi Sportswashing Machine goalie from the difficult angle. Disappointingly, Kane was very poor in the last 2 matches. Thought he would score atleast 3 goals against Southampton and Saudi Sportswashing Machine to take his his total goals to 31, equaling last season's total. Instead, he didn't look like scoring a goal in any of those matches. Similiarly, was very disappointed with Eriksen. It was Eriksen who gave away the ball cheaply from which they attacked and scored their first goal. Also, Eriksen wasted another chance to score from the freekick. I think it is time we appoint someone like Kane or Lamela to take our freekicks from now on.

This defeat was a game of shame for our defence. After doing well all-season, never thought our defence were capable of getting humiliated by a shyte team like Saudi Sportswashing Machine ! Alderweireld, Vertonghen and Lloris all had a part to blame for their goals. Alderweireld should have done better with his header from which they scored their first. Vertonghen stupidly gave away the penalty for their third goal, just when we looked like coming back. It was a clear dive by the Saudi Sportswashing Machine player but Vertonghen gave him the excuse to dive. Thought Lloris should have done better with their 5th goal.

Amazingly, despite this humiliating defeat, we still finish the season with the joint-best defensive record, thanks to ManU's last minute own goal against Bournesmouth. But to concede 10 goals in the last 4 matches are simply unacceptable. We need do to much better next season, if we want to fight for the league title again. Atleast, we managed to finish in 3rd to qualify to the Champions League. But if we don't want to get humiliated in Europe, we need a much stronger squad, not just first 11 !

This..
We simply need stronger players coming off the bench when they are needed.

Our first eleven best players know how to work together and are generally confident.

As soon one of those players is not playing the holes begin.

We need the same class of players to
come on well. International players of class.
It's as simple as that.

If we don't start off with more class players next season..we won't even get top four.
why?
Because even at a subconscious level our players must now know we do not have the depth,
Post Saudi Sportswashing Machine!
This will undermine the confidence.

Mr Levy and the scouting system need to get their heads together big time to change things
unless they want themselves and us to continue being the laughing stock of Football.

 

[Spur of the moment]

Mr Levy and the scouting system need to get their heads together big time to change things
unless they want themselves and us to continue being the laughing stock of Football.

Okay so if we are the laughing stock of football, what the fick does that make the seventeen other sides that finished below us?

 

[Bullet]

After the subs at half time we took hold of the game and at 2-1 it look like we could get something out of it, the penalty/Walker sub were turning points and we crumbled from there

Agreed. I'd urge people to watch it again on the link I provided.

I also just watched the Soton highlights. Again we were not brilliant, but Kane and Chadli both had shots from 5 yards out that the keeper saved. On any other day we get a goal and everyone dances around like Jamie Vardy.

One other interesting point to note... we concentrate on youth and hard work... which automatically means we don't have any/many old experienced heads. When Danny Murphy and Jermaine Jenas (2 of the decent pundits) analysed Spurs v Soton they picked out Steve Davis as the key player as he has that experience, is the captain of his country (only NI) and knew how to pull us apart AND also had the energy to break into the box for 2 goals and should have been 3 or 4. Perhaps that is the type of player Spurs need, a cheap older head playing at Swansea/Soton type of level, rather than Carlos Kickaball