Following on from last night’s shocking performance and result against Vitesse Arnhem in our Group G Europa Conference League clash, Tottenham Hotspur will be looking to get back on track as we face bubble blowing West Ham United this coming Sunday.
The positive from midweek, if you can call it that, is the defeat can be laid squarely at head coach Nuno Espirito Santo’s decision to rotate the entire pack once again and not even have some big hitters on the bench, so they should be fresh and raring to go – but of course with Premier League struggles and inconsistent form, our place in Europe (and the finances that brings) is now in doubt for the remainder of 2021/22.
West Ham are in mixed form themselves sitting only a point below us, but they will be buoyed by their own European progression, so this is set to be a pretty tight, and I imagine, end to end sort of encounter and we’ll need our big players to step up and be counted now as making it three wins on the spin again in the top flight would be the perfect way to bounce back from our most recent hiccup.
As an addendum,
I saw a quote re Kane, that he looked like a disinterested passanger at times in todays game.
Now on this seasons performances does he (Kane) deserve to be playing for England??
The lack of comments says everything really.
I’m not sure we can blame the manager anymore other than the fact we need one with the balls to appoint a new captain on the pitch, Lloris might show a bit of leadership in the dressing room but he shows nothing on the pitch. We need to give it to Hojbjerg now, if Lloris doesn’t like it tough, play Gollini in the PL instead.
I said from the outset that the job was too big for Nuno and still think that despite liking him as a human being.
Niall….just watched MoTD2 and seen Tielemans performance today which really rubs in the fact we didn’t go for him, and the goal he scored today…….wow, wish we had someone who could do that!
Spurs have become the most boring team to watch in the Premier League. I can get more excited watching grass grow or paint dry. But the bigger problem is this is apparently how the hierarchy want us to play. Nano said he reckons we played well. If that’s how he wants them to play- all backwards and sideways, no spirit no invention in the top third-then it is going to be a long season.
We have a wounded animal next Saturday, what did Watford do in their next game, also away, when they conceded 5 at home, be wary, very wary folks. COYS please try.
As for yesterdays game, describing it as pedestrian is doing an injustice to your average pedestrian.
What a frustrating and disappointing performance . I returned early from my boat to watch this ! Unfortunately Moyes must take credit knowing that Spurs at present are incapable of punching their way out of a paper bag . These players were given a week off for goodness sake so ought to have been refreshed ?
Our 2nd team play badly ( not entirely their fault ) now the first team play poorly . What a shambles and again I say Levy is at the bottom of this shambles by his poor transfer policy , poor lack of manager recruitment and lack of funds for building a team . It appears that he thinks that having a lovely stadium and training facilities will produce a team worthy of those .
Our defence is poor and fills me with concern evrery time a team attacks us .
Reggie gives the ball away too much ( presented them with the corner from which the scored ). Romero and Souza appear to panic with a one on one situation and Dier hits long balls to the opposition putting pressure back on the team .
Having said all that if we had taken those 2 headed opportunities we might have not necessarily won the game but drawn it .
One thing that strikes me reading these comments is that you would think from reading them that West Ham had played a lot better than us. They didn’t. The difference between the two teams was one set piece, apart from that they pretty much cancelled each other out. Still I suppose it makes a much better story to say we were played off the pitch.
We weren’t played off the pitch but we were dismal and totally lacking in anything creative. Even Son took a free kick well into their half and passed it backwards to a defender.
Sadly we have a quiet coach who is totally out of his depth, a captain who is silent, a top striker that has lost his way, no young players of note, a very weak subs bench,a tight fisted chairman who is not willing to invest in top players and a team that are short of ideas and seem demoralised.
It does not seem that long ago that we were dominating possession, having loads of shots on goal and playing free flowing football. We had no shots on target in the second half yesterday despite going a goal down.
I have been saying for a long time that the problems run deeper than the manager. Whether it was MP in his final months, JM, Mason, now Nuno – this group is capable of awful, disinterested performances at times.
Everyone wants to have a go at Kane again, but who stood out? Why is nobody singling out the other 10 passengers on the day?
Having said all of that, while Nuno can’t be blame for the mess we’re in, it seems unlikely that he is the man to improve us. It just seems like it’s going to be 1 step forward, two steps back with Nuno. I am now resigned to the fact that we are stuck with Nuno for a while now, this season at least, but it feel that we will continue to see dull, uninspiring performances this season even if results will go our way some of the time. That is the extent of what Nuno can bring us.
PS: on the Tielemans debate, he’s hit a bit of form lately but he was dropped by Leicester earlier this season and played awful games for Belgium in the last international break. He is about as streaky as players come. Capable of highlight goals, then goes missing for 2 months. Is that really better than what we have?
BS….sadly I believe the answer is yes. :- )
😉
The most telling stat for me is that this was our third PL game this season in which we have failed to have a shot on goal in the second half. That is shocking.
Jod what are you reading?
I re read all the comments here, and not one said that W/Ham outplayed or battered us.
Everyone’s issue on this thread lately was how badly we have played.
BS re Kane and having a go, I was among those questioning his commitment, not just yesterday, but all this season, I agree that our team hasn’t been good, but we weren’t great last season either and by this time Kane had knocked in 9 or 10 goals, now I do believe that as supporters we have a Rite to analyze why our top player isn’t on form, question his commitment and indeed attitude, given that he didn’t show up for training initially, didn’t play our fist 2 games, did little to quash any rumours re a move to Manchester, and all in all looks a bit behind play in most games this season.
I’ll not go into what former managers or pundits or reporters have been saying, because according to you that doesn’t count..
Also re Tielemans (thank you for the correct spelling) if you note both TQ and I were discussing his general merits before a ball was kicked by Leicester, and yes he is better than what we currently have in our midfield.
So what do we do now? Do we rest our first eleven for the Burnley game to keep them fresh for United on Saturday? Didn’t go too well this last time did it!
There are some clamouring for Kane to be rested and put on the bench. Sad fact is we have no other front man. Dane Scarlett is not the outstanding youngster we hoped for. We have failed to sign a decent, back up striker for 5 or 6 seasons despite Kane’s injuries and his recent desire to leave.
Son and Kane are our only scorers. We have no midfield hotshot, dazzling winger, raiding wingbacks or scoring central defenders. How can we replacing tiring players in second half of games when we have such a dismal bench. Yesterday was a prime example at 83 minutes, our “super” subs entered. Then Bergwijn had 90 seconds of play coming on at 91 minutes. Was this a time wasting gesture? It shows how poor a squad of players we have.
We have Burnley away on Wednesday in the Carabao Cup. Who will be picked to play I wonder with the wounded animal of Man Utd looming on the horizon? The mind boggles of what they might do to us. I think I will hide behind the settee.
It was certainly a crap performance from Spurs but I thought we edged the game …. which doesn’t say much for the Hammers. We can be disappointed and frustrated whilst at the same time retaining some perspective. But, no matter how we view the performance, it doesn’t look good.
Niall – I never said you weren’t entitled to question Kane’s form. I just find it surprising that the inquest is aimed at him all the time and never on others. Question Kane all you want, but please, look into the (non- performances of others too.
If every single player in a team is struggling, is it an individual problem or a collective problem? Food for thought.
(I will also re-post the link TQ2Spurs posted a few days ago: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/58958851.
“The verdict on Kane’s start very much depends on whether you are judging him on the Premier League or not. Overall for club and country – as of 20 October – he had scored 10 goals in 15 games. By that date in a season he had only twice scored more goals and only played more games once.”)
Anyways, the Kane debate can go on forever but I don’t think we lost yesterday because of anything Kane specifically did or didn’t do. We lost battles over the pitch.
Kane’s brilliance has often papered over many cracks. Those cracks have been there a while and I find it harsh to blame them on him just because he isn’t masking them anymore.
As for Tielemans, I have been watching him play ever since he made his debut as a 16 year old at Anderlecht. My opinion on him is based off far more than his time at Leicester. I think he’s a great player on his day. But from what I have seen of him so far in 8 years, I don’t think he’s any different than a Gylfi Sigurdsson – sure, the highlights look great but how often do you get them?
you didn’t see anything that Kane did that contributed to our loss? Did you not see him failing to move when marking the man who scored the goal against us? Kane’s value on the market is dropping like crap into a latrine. The man hasn’t lost his talent. He’s lost the will to participate. Kane looked like a 75 year old standing waiting for the bus on that play.
BS
Re Kane, and your analysis, whilst you are entitled to your opinion, for me what you have said (sort of) justifies mine, in that if he is scoring for England, then why not for Spurs?
With that said I do believe even his form and application for England has declined this season.
As I said in a much earlier thread, that I’d hoped that HK’s head wasn’t turned by the Transfer interest plus I hoped that this didn’t make him perform like Moderic or Ericsson, now I may be trying to justify my comments from months ago, but (believe it or not) I may actually be right in my assumptions.
I could be wrong and it is just a loss of form.
I think both HT and I wanted him sold at the end of last season, as (for me) he was at his peak we could’ve gotten top dollar for him and started a proper rebuild of our squad with that money.
As it is now, whether he has spat his dummy out, or a down turn in form, I cannot now see us getting anywhere near the amount of money we would’ve gotten for him last August.
Like it or not m8 for what ever reason, Kane is out of form, he is (was) or talisman in many ways and certainly got the focus when times were good, so why not now when times are bad.
Again I would, ask, on current club form, would he get into the England set up if he weren’t already there?
Re Tielemans
Indeed you may have been watching him from a youth, and he may have had a drop in form both for club and Country, (who does that remind me of), but he is putting a shift in and I still say he is better than what we currently have.
BTW
I hate to be Mr bleme the Ref, but did we not have a really good shout for a pen yesterday?
Did this same Ref not give two very soft pens against us at Leicester last season?
ManU would’ve been given it.
This guy Tierney is another John Moss any team but Spurs.
I know I’m clutching at Straws. 🙄
After that trot about game yesterday, I will give my opinion, it was the final nail in his coffin, HK should be dropped because…either
He’s lost form or….
Has he got the hump cos he wasn’t sold to his beloved MC or…
Has he become the Billy Big Bollox? or…
He is a rotten Apple in the changing room! or…
Is he worried about his weak ankles?
Is there more to add? maybe!
The answer for me is Yes! to all the above.
Has Nuno got the balls he was born with to drop him for the forciable future?
I don’t think so, even if it would be good for the team, as the rest would see something here, cos I honestly believe the rest of the team/squad believe that if HK can be like that so can we!
Now that leads to Sonny Jim, signed a new contract, I believe he thought or was lead to believe he would be our No1, HK didn’t go, thus Sonny Jim has lost it, he has been poor.
Why not play with 3 up front consisting of Bergs, Son, Moura, continuously moving, give it a go we have nothing to lose, we might be pleasantly surprised that it might just work! COYS
Have some compassion for poor old HK. The man’s lost his spirit.
So sit him for a match or two so that he can recover.
He needs to rethink his identity. Who am I? What am I doing on this pitch? Why am i not in paradise/
Let him get away for a match or two. Let him reflect on what he’s losing by playing the shunned lover who’s pouting at being unappreciated. If he stays on the pitch he will be unappreciated. he needs to show some effort for the money is is getting, not pouting for the money he wanted to get elsewhere.
You want to sulk? Go sit with the reserves for a bit.
FFS. He was a statue on the goal we gave up.