It’s been a strange old season and it’s been a strange calendar year for Tottenham Hotspur. The highs of the Champions League Final and then the lows of seeing our form and usual performance levels fall through the floor – but Crystal Palace this Sunday is a final chance for some joy before we tick quickly into the 2020/21 season.
What kind of performance we see from Jose Mourinho’s charges is absolutely anyone’s guess, but the first half showing against Leicester City certainly gave some cheer and fans would welcome more of that, but there is also the Europa League question to answer and it will go down to the final day’s results with us currently sat in seventh place in the table and a point behind Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Whatever Sunday may bring, the curtain on 2019/20 comes down and we all know we need to strengthen further in the summer, we need a decent pre-season and we need to hit next year running, otherwise fears that the wheels have truly fallen off the Spurs bus will grow.
We can’t allow all that progress and a nice and bright shiny new stadium to fall away as our Champions League hopes did this season. The only question is, will we?
Until then, Palace and all three points, please!
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Fair play HT, me personally I wanted to see Foyth given a chance there last summer but got injured unfortunately and the bloody chance was gone and also KWP to succeed eventually aswell perhaps via the loan route first though as with Walker and especially Rose (latish developer) back in the day! I was OK with Trippier leaving but not for that price and not without a proper replacement either and also wanted and still naturally want Aurier gone also lol!
For me new RB, Foyth and Tanganga also there with Tanganga competing/covering at CB aswell! That’s my ideal situation I think lol!
My original stance on letting Foyth and KWP both go was simply to build funds unfortunately but now willing to try and keep Foyth and see how it goes! On KWP he’s done OK at Southampton but we need money and he’s definitely viable and I think he wants to go so can play much more regularly given now 23! Foyth also at 22 and with that RB spot for Argentina – may also want much more game time aswell so we may again “need” to sell him!
Anyway we’ll soon enough start finding out for sure and can then discuss even further lol!
Therein lies a frequent dilemma when Spurs are perhaps looking at younger PL prospects that are currently first choices at other clubs and just want to play every week. But aren’t guaranteed a start at Spurs… It’s not always the case but it often is…
And the same goes for our own younger players that are not yet getting into the first team. When they know that they could probably get 1st team PL football elsewhere. In the end it’s all down to their personal choice, when given the choice. The rest of it for us, is just mere speculation.
I can remember when Aurier first joined us. He could not take a throw in and was penalised at least 5 times, looking totally bemused. Eventually someone showed him that you cannot drop the ball off the top of your head or lift your feet off the ground. At least, he has got that right now.
ND telling me to support another club like Man. C. No way. I am trying to compare our squad with the top 4/5 teams. We have very few current internationals or star young players coming through. Few of our squad would be considered for the top teams. We are no longer a top 4 club and it will take a clear out and high expenditure to compete. High expenditure will not happen with Levy and we will have to sell certain players at a loss. We can live in hope that we might discover a good value Modric, a young Greenwood, an exciting Ginola or maybe our fantastic training facilities will provide a couple of young stars of the future. At present, we are workmanlike but hardly Prem challenging. Jose has a tough task and an outdated style so I am looking into the future to the time we play with style and outscore the opposition with great goals. 30% possession is not my idea of fun with backs to the wall. When the crowds return, there will be a few thousand moans.
EJ …. Spending big is absolutely no guarantee of success. There are so many other factors that can influence the outcome …. his personality, will he settle in a new city, will he follow the managers instructions (big fee players can have big egos), does he suit the style being played, is he a TEAM player, can he handle the extra pressure/expectations of ‘big’ clubs, etc, etc.
It was 3 foul throw ins in one match, W. It was vs Palace by the way. Unbelievable thing to do, it was!
It made a good few supporters angry. I thought it was funny.
Anyway I’m pretty sure he did actually know how to take a throw-in. And I wouldn’t want to hold that day against him for the rest of his Spurs career…
Imagine …. a forward takes on a defender. The defender gets beaten and the supporters criticise him …. every time! Or, the forward loses the ball and the supporters criticise him …. every time! The reality is that they can’t both win every time. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t. That’s football. They are both trying to do the job they are there for. It’s all about perspective. We all make mistakes. I made one once …. I thought I was wrong but it turned out I was right! (lol)
So Aurier can be trained to improve his performance then. That’s encouraging, isn’t it?
You can focus on the good things a player does in games, you can focus on the bad things a player does in games or, you can forget both and watch a player over a period of time to get the ‘sense’ of what the player is capable of.
So, re Aurier …. I’ve seen him make some stupid mistakes, I’ve seen him fail to take up the best percentage defensive positions, I’ve seen him lose his cool and foul in our box. I’ve seen him fail to find forwards when he crosses the ball. None of that helps the team!! I’ve also seen him make some game-changing tackles, I’ve seen him put some perfect crosses into the box for our strikers, I’ve seen him slip some brilliant through balls for our forwards, I’ve seen him fail to get the through ball quite right but was impressed with his intention and that he saw the opportunity. I am not his greatest fan but I have seen improvement.
To me, he has shown what he is capable of …. it’s up to the manager to help him produce it on a more consistent basis. And it does need to be more consistent.
Virtually every name on this threads wish list will have ups and downs …. just like the players we already have. imo
Geof I could accept your comment about being trained further if it’s as regards a younger player, etc but when for example Aurier is 27 going on 28 – he should be hitting his peak and doing so weekly and the mistakes/errors should be pretty much gone from his game week in, week out (that’s what top players in their prime do – put in quality regular performances every week) – everyone is entitled to make the odd mistake/error granted we are after all human beings but when it happens regularly especially at his age how long do you put up with it for?! We’ve owned him for 3 year’s now aswell!
Trippier after his worst season for us in which there were several un-characteristic high profile mistakes/errors was sold (a season where he had very little rest in the previous summer due to the WC and also as a result of said WC was injured and had recurring problems because of this through-out and was still only 28) – I would now expect the club to do the same as regards Aurier quite frankly – what was deemed applicable to Trippier, should be the same for Aurier also! If Trippier was deemed no longer good enough, then I have to argue the same as regards Aurier end of!
Maybe Trippier would still be at Spurs right now. But he asked to leave.
Exactly Geof.
It is why I put up some stats about Aurier that redressed the balance somewhat. That he was one of our most frequent tacklers (top tackler?) and ball-clearers. This doesn’t hide his mistakes but a thousand tackles beats 10 non-tackles… LOL! Not forgetting him being only 3rd to Son and Dele with goal assists… More than Harry! And Serge has to defend too! Then so does Harry… haha!
Harry will get criticised when he goes a couple of matches not scoring. And worse still if he is not looking very sharp. He is then finished, passed it! He then scores a hat trick and he is a hero all again and back to his best. But nobody. actually continually mentions that he not only misses many more chances than he scores but a very high percentage of those chances don’t even hit the target! Are these to be seen as errors? I mean it’s his job. It’s what he is paid 200k a week for.
Defenders and goalkeepers are always on a hiding to nothing. And I have watched two of the very best (and most expensive) make a good few mistakes (unforced errors) this season. In De Gea at MU and Virgil Van Dijk at Pool. Rubbish, the pair of them! 🙂
But once a. supporter makes up their mind about certain players they see everything that’s wrong and nothing that’s right, it seems… Hey, we all do it to an extent.
And I’m pretty sure that all of those guys at other PL clubs that could possibly take Auriers’ place, have made just as many errors themselves….. But I ain’t about to check them out…
Actually, in the PL Serge is second to Son with assists. Like I said it doesn’t cover his mistakes or poor decisions but his efforts have contributed in a very positive way as well….. Swing and things!
HT I heard he wanted to stay but the club had other idea’s so when Atletico Madrid came in for him – what was he supposed to do?!
Tripper has said himself that he went to Poch and said he wanted out.. Poch has also said the same. Anyway, he did have a bad season and he did leave……
Sorry, I checked it out. Poch said he asked to leave and Trippier said he asked MP if he was still needed because he has the chance to leave for Inter. Words to that effect..
So we are both right depending on who we choose to believe… 🙂
Inter! You know I meant Atletico!
I see the new Prem season starts on Gods day, my Birthday, 12th September, shan’t forget that day eh! COYS
El Jefe – For as long as I’ve been a Spurs supporter a section of the fan base has needed a player to hate, why I’ve no idea. John Pratt was the first, now Aurier is the chosen one. It always follows the same format, everything that goes wrong is that player’s fault. I’ve seen it so often now I no longer take any notice.
Yes jod. And watching Pratt when I was a kid, I used to wonder why he kept getting so much stick from his own supporters. I didn’t get it.
And, he was Tottenham through and through, being one of our all time longest serving players… Boy to man…
Ht …. I saw your comment and just wanted to add to it (knew you wouldn’t mind).