Re-assessing our aims for the season

[Raziel]

Both our RBs are injured. What was the alternative?

I know I've been suggesting Lennon gets tried there in a cup match, but yesterday wasn't the place for that experiment

Not resting Dier on Thursday was perhaps the mistake?

Managers make choices, and have to react to situations, I didn't agree with the starting lineup, but assuming we started in the same place yesterday, here's how I would have played it

- Once we conceded the equalizer, I would have given the team 10 minutes to respond
- Having seen our response wasn't effective and Dier was struggling, Chadli/Lamela/Ade/Capoue were all being not very effective
- Lennon for Lamela would have given us additional width, cover for Dier and would have made Barcodes more defensive on that side
- Ade/Capoue or Ade/Chadli off for Kane/Soldado
- Lennon should have been on by 60 minutes, Kane/Soldado by 70 for the latest

Again, I get the limitations, hence I'm not going after his starting lineup, but the lack of reaction to a very obvious scenario is what was massively concerning, especially with options on bench.

 

[braineclipse]

same as start of season for me. don't see top 4 as realistic possibility but I want to see us play good attacking football and go for it in all the cup competitions! We are traditionally a cup side anyway and who knows with a bit of luck maybe we can win a trophy?

That's probably the most important point if we take a slightly longer term look at Poch's time at the club. Like Rodgers at Liverpool he really should look to get us playing good attacking football by the last third/quarter of this season at the latest.

 

[90sSpursBook]

Can people remember what the aims were for most seasons between about 1995 - 2004? Back in the days before Champions League expansion you either won the league, finished in the top 6 or avoided relegation.

I can remember going through most seasons always a couple of wins away from top 6 for most of it, then concentrating on the cups before eventually failing and having little to play for from March onwards - usually finishing between 9th and 12th on about 45-52 points.

Having finished the 2004/5 season (under Jol) reasonably well and with some sound but unspectacular acquisitions in Summer 2005 I recall discussing before the first day of the season how we should forget about Liv, Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea and try to win as many other games to finish 5th and 6th - we exceeded that expectation slightly as took the goons to the last day of the season (lasagnegate) in quest for 4th and from then onwards expectations have risen, generally the players have got better and the points tally has been in or around the low 70s.

I want us to have a sense of identity again. Back in 2005 we made a conscious decision to go and buy the best up and coming English youngsters (Dawson, Huddlestone, Lennon) and without wanting to sound like a 'little englander' it did give us something to be proud of especially when we got 5 players into a senior England squad (Carrick, Defoe, Robinson, Defoe, King).

 

[LCLC]

Aim for the season should be to get rid of players we don't need, don't want and who don't want to be there.

Then it should be to tie down our best prospects, blood the ones who are ready and actually have a strategy on who to bring through and who to buy according to the manager and not the ****ing DOF - who has to be sacked after what has been an appalling year in his post.

We lack strategy, a plan and coherence - if we can get that then we may be able to progress.

 

[metalgear]

We shouldn't adjust our aims and goals. The larger the gap between our performance and our goals, the more drastic the measures we need to employ to put us back on track.