Re-assessing our aims for the season

[ringo]

Would be delighted with top 6 and a good cup run in the FA, maybe a final and break our semi final jinx/bottling streak.

There are currently 6 teams who I'd say are better than us;

Chelsea
Emirates Marketing Project
United
Scum
Liverpool
Everton

Plus you have Soton and W Ham who are playing really well. Nothing against Poch as it's too early to judge him, I just don't think our players our that good. When Danny Rose has been one of your better players this season then you know you have problems.

Don't forget Swansea. They look a good side with that Sigurdsson (surplus to requirements at Spurs apparently) making all their chances -and scoring a few too.

 

[glorygloryeze]

Go watch the game again

- Saudi Sportswashing Machine were absolutely there for the taking in the first half, yet we played at a pedestrian pace.
- It was obvious that despite his midweek fun, Lamela was not being effective, nor was Ade (who basically had to have the ball hit his head, because if he has to move a yard for it, its too much)
- Dier was not providing with, therefore Chadli/Lamela IS a problem.
- What the **** were we doing with Capoue on, really we are going to play a DM against a side so out of form at home?
- What the **** are subs supposed to do with 10 and 7 minutes left?

Pardew saw the setup, responded, and even countered our subs (yes, even super late sub Lennon, Pardew opted for double cover on so we wouldn't get width).

I'm sorry, today's loss had nothing to do with Levy/DoF/player quality.

It's about a manager who picked his favorites (Ade/Lamela), used a system that required width from FBs knowing we only have one real FB, failed to get the side playing with tempo/urgency/motivation. Same manager saw his side/plan fall to side, saw opposition manager make half time double sub which was immediately effective, yet we did nothing for a further 30 odd minutes.

A very poor and concerning day at the office for Poch, I'm not calling for his head, but I'm not giving him the out excuse of not his side **** either ..

I think Pardew seems to have a way of playing to keep his team "hanging in there", lull the opposition into a false sense of security and then hit them with real pace and extra forwards come the second half, or especially late in the second half. It seems we fell for this once we didn't put the game to bed and had no pace to counter it at the back or in CM.

Our lack of pace in the squad is killing us big time.

BUT, as poor as I think Capoue can be at times, are you SERIOUSLY suggesting that we start games with NO DM AT ALL???
That's TS all over again, and we'd likely have lost by more if that happened. We are not Real Madrid!

 

[superfaisty]

Top half finish is the most we can hope for- as well as the usual suspects there is no way we're finishing ahead of Southampton everton or West Ham realistically and Swansea and west brom are more like our level atm. You may think that's knee jerking but let's be honest it really isn't. The team lacks cohesion and confidence atm which will take time to come together.

We do not have a goal scorer to match bony or berahino and our overall team play is worse than both. Only one truly world class player in the team and that's Hugo.

This year is all about developing that team style which next year will propel us back into the top 6-8 then onwards to top 4

 

[Jordinho]

Don't forget Swansea. They look a good side with that Sigurdsson (surplus to requirements at Spurs apparently) making all their chances -and scoring a few too.

The same Sigurdsson that couldn't get into our side when he was here.

The same Swansea that had gone 5 games without winning before beating Leicester this weekend.

 

[Gutter Boy]

Win all our away games.

We're not going to do anything at home till something happens about the entitlement ****ers. Our players are clearly petrified of playing at home in the league.

 

[Yermiyahu]

Win all our away games.

We're not going to do anything at home till something happens about the entitlement ****ers. Our players are clearly petrified of playing at home in the league.

Then they need to man up and get over it. Precious little flowers

 

[Roy1983]

I honestly think we'll finish 8th. So downbeat right now.

 

[90291Spur]

I'd like to actually enjoy watching ONE GAME this season. And I'd also like us to stop conceding goals lie Saudi Sportswashing Machine's first that make us a total laughing stock.

 

[El Guepardo]

Mid table mediocrity and the table turned back to before Jol's time. We may as well be the Spurs under Gerry Francis's era. In fact, that Spurs were occasionally good, we seem downright useless. I wouldn't back us to beat San Marino at the moment, especially not at home.

I thought we were poor last season. I wanted Sherwood gone but somehow, we've managed to continue the regression. This would be a knee jerk reaction if it wasn't for us losing at home to both WBA & Saudi Sportswashing Machine in a short period of time.

At least our rare wins will be enjoyable as they'll come as something of a shock.

 

[braineclipse]

Aiming for 4th was always going to be ambitious this season, but I like ambition. After the WBA and Saudi Sportswashing Machine losses that target seems more hopeful at best than ambitious. Not quite giving up yet though.

More realistically, top 6.

 

[Libero]

I will be supporting from afar until I see a substantial change in the quality of performance and mentality. I haven't been to a game yet this season and don't feel bothered by that at all. I am so disconnected that I wasn't interested in trying to catch yesterdays game online and wasn't at all surprised to get a text upon conceding the equaliser and and subsequent winner.

If I was Pochettino I would literally write off the league campaign, we won't finish any higher than 7th anyway and are unilikely to finish lower than 10th/11th which is much of a muchness tbh. I would hang everything out on the cups and treat each round/game like it is a final and see where we end up. We are just an average side really and anyone that thinks we are anything better than that is kidding themselves. With the exception of Lloris, we do not have one player that is even near to being world class yet 3-4 seasons ago we had 4 in the starting 11.

It has nothing at all to do with Pochettino who I think will do a good job if he is allowed to move people on even if it means a loss and bring people in that fit his ethos and will work for the cause. We have just regressed badly as a club overall from top to bottom and made some incredibly bad purchases that will probably hamper us for a while. I can't see us being anything other than a cup side that is detatched from the top 4 for the next 4-5 years in all honesty.

 

[Spaceman]

You think being outsmarted by Pardew, persisting with players who are not performing, playing too narrow, playing too slow has something to with a DoF?

No mate, we weren't beaten by a lack of quality today, we were beaten by poor team selection, substitutions and sub par motivation.

on the money

 

[braineclipse]

You think being outsmarted by Pardew, persisting with players who are not performing, playing too narrow, playing too slow has something to with a DoF?

No mate, we weren't beaten by a lack of quality today, we were beaten by poor team selection, substitutions and sub par motivation.

Pardew outsmarted Poch by letting his team being outplayed throughout the first half?

The early equalizer changed the game. It was an individual mistake, albeit one symptomatic of a bigger problem. It wasn't something special from Pardew, it was a continuation of what we've seen at Spurs for a long time.

Said it in another thread, but swings and roundabouts. Another day we get the 2-0 goal instead of them getting the equalizer. That wouldn't mean that the problems weren't there. But the problems weren't that Poch was outsmarted by Pardew.

 

[diego_maradona]

Poch wasn't outsmarted. It was a poor mistake from Dier. After that I'd put it down to the players. Dier had a shocker in that second half. It could be as simple as that.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Win all our away games.

We're not going to do anything at home till something happens about the entitlement ****ers. Our players are clearly petrified of playing at home in the league.

This is often said and it's far too simplistic. How comes United, Emirates Marketing Project and Scum all manage to win the majority of their home games despite crappy support?

 

[Armchair Expert]

The same Sigurdsson that couldn't get into our side when he was here.

The same Swansea that had gone 5 games without winning before beating Leicester this weekend.

Exactly Jordinho - they now have one win in 6, us one in 7 - i'd say thats pretty much level pegging, wouldn't you?

Or have I missed our recent run of games where we won 4 on the trot? All the evidence is screaming out that Swansea and WBA are our level. West Brom did us comfortably on our own patch! Can you see us going to the Hawthorns and beating them? I can't. I have no idea where our next win is coming from

 

[Armchair Expert]

Pardew outsmarted Poch by letting his team being outplayed throughout the first half?

The early equalizer changed the game. It was an individual mistake, albeit one symptomatic of a bigger problem. It wasn't something special from Pardew, it was a continuation of what we've seen at Spurs for a long time.

Said it in another thread, but swings and roundabouts. Another day we get the 2-0 goal instead of them getting the equalizer. That wouldn't mean that the problems weren't there. But the problems weren't that Poch was outsmarted by Pardew.

I'm sorry, but based on what? Krul barely had a save to make all day. Even during the first half when we were apparently on top we never looked like scoring. Based on what I saw during the game, I never felt there was a second goal for us in the offing. In fact, I expected Saudi Sportswashing Machine to up it in the second half and for us to come under intense pressure. I didn't think we would lose, but that was because Saudi Sportswashing Machine were absolutely terrible.

We just are not a good side. Talk of top 6 is lunacy at this point. The only decent outfield player with have at the moment is Eriksen and even that is based on last season. We have Mason and Capoue as our midfield two, MASON & CAPOUE! Mason looks decent but making predictions of finishing ahead of an Everton or Man Utd when our best midfielder is an academy player making about his third appearance is no reason to think we belong amongst the best in the country. Quite the opposite.

I don't think Capoue would get in any other team in the league - or at least I don't believe anyone would be in for him. If he was to leave then it would be back to France and St. Etienne or somewhere. Our playing staff is woeful! We are all willing Lamela to work but he's been more or less completely ineffective this year, really just a liability at the back. Is that who we are pinning our hopes on? Or Paulinho maybe -17 million's worth.

Nope, were back in 2004 I'm afraid and have to start the process all over again.

EDIT: On a positive not at least 99% of fans can see we have to back the manager. Wether we wanted him or not is irrelevant. He's here and we have to back him regardless of how dire we may be this season. That is one positive point in this situation.

 

[Gutter Boy]

This is often said and it's far too simplistic. How comes United, Emirates Marketing Project and Scum all manage to win the majority of their home games despite crappy support?

That's indifference. We have active hostility. It's more like playing away at Galatasaray every other week for them.

 

[Libero]

That's indifference. We have active hostility. It's more like playing away at Galatasaray every other week for them.

Nothing like a bit of exaggeration. The crowd issue is a fair point but it is a small one combined with numerous other variables and nowhere near the biggest issue that we face. Any player using that as an excuse is ducking the problem. You don't need a crowd blowing sunshine at you all the time to just do your job and work hard for the cause. Thats a minimum requirement and it most certainly isn't being met at this moment in time.

 

[braineclipse]

I'm sorry, but based on what? Krul barely had a save to make all day. Even during the first half when we were apparently on top we never looked like scoring. Based on what I saw during the game, I never felt there was a second goal for us in the offing. In fact, I expected Saudi Sportswashing Machine to up it in the second half and for us to come under intense pressure. I didn't think we would lose, but that was because Saudi Sportswashing Machine were absolutely terrible.

We just are not a good side. Talk of top 6 is lunacy at this point. The only decent outfield player with have at the moment is Eriksen and even that is based on last season. We have Mason and Capoue as our midfield two, MASON & CAPOUE! Mason looks decent but making predictions of finishing ahead of an Everton or Man Utd when our best midfielder is an academy player making about his third appearance is no reason to think we belong amongst the best in the country. Quite the opposite.

I don't think Capoue would get in any other team in the league - or at least I don't believe anyone would be in for him. If he was to leave then it would be back to France and St. Etienne or somewhere. Our playing staff is woeful! We are all willing Lamela to work but he's been more or less completely ineffective this year, really just a liability at the back. Is that who we are pinning our hopes on? Or Paulinho maybe -17 million's worth.

Nope, were back in 2004 I'm afraid and have to start the process all over again.

EDIT: On a positive not at least 99% of fans can see we have to back the manager. Wether we wanted him or not is irrelevant. He's here and we have to back him regardless of how dire we may be this season. That is one positive point in this situation.

Chadli had a great chance after the free kick. We didn't get our long shots on target, but we looked a lot more likely to get 2-0 than Saudi Sportswashing Machine looked to get an equalizer after our initial leading goal.

Mason is keeping Dembele and Paulinho out of the side. Players with double digit international caps for Belgium and Brazil.

We have a lot of quality in our squad. We're lacking a bit of balance and we're lacking some experience. But at the same time we have a lot of talented young players gaining a lot of experience. And I think that will do us a lot of good in the future.

I do hope you're right on the positive note. I'm willing to let this season be a bit dire and gritty if it helps us long term. There are problems that need sorting and it might take a while.