Tottenham Hotspur still have slim hopes of reaching the Europa League this season, but with only two games now remaining in the 2019/20 calendar, it means manager Jose Mourinho simply has to take six points from both Leicester City this Sunday, and then Crystal Palace in a weeks time, if we are to have a European adventure in 2020/21.
Unbeaten in four, with back to back victories, should give us some confidence of achieving just that, and Harry Kane will certainly be in good spirits having crashed through the 200 goals marker – but we all know our play is far from perfect and massive questions remain about performances.
Leicester...
Win
Draw
Lose
Whatever does happen with the chase for Europe, we all know it’s mainly about taking some form, momentum and confidence into next season to try and put what has been a massively difficult, and extremely poor year, completely behind us.
Sensible strengthening to really freshen up the group and what many hope will be a major defensive rebuild would put us on the right track again, but until then, all eyes to the fourth placed Foxes as anything other than a win, simply won’t be good enough.
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in other words, I agree with wentworth. Which has not always been the case…
We both used the word progressive in the same way…..
Morning HT – I for one can’t stand Aurier any longer to be perfectly honest – the sooner we replace him the better for me! As regards options yes I’d take a Castagne or an Aarons over him no problem – fed up of the constant mistakes/errors and also the crap crosses that are now coming from good advanced position’s that he gets put in regularly!
Also I would like Hojbjerg as he sounds very interesting indeed and coming from Southampton is no bad thing given their recent track record of developing players – look how many ended up at Liverpool and how they are doing! We need a good solid DMC desperately – indeed against the better sides the Winks/Sissoko partnership regularly struggles especially defensively and even in transition.
Finally I would like Ake but I don’t think we can afford him or that he will want to come when other suitors like possibly Man City, Man Utd and Chelski likely reveal their interest as per media reports lately!
SO even though they are not currently playing for top sides does not mean they are not quality players – indeed all of them are 25 or under and still have their best year’s ahead of them and most players have to start somewhere even the majority that go on to become the very best in the game and world class, etc!
I think there’s a decent chance that 1 of the 2 RB’s and that Hojbjerg could end up with us for next season – I’d be very happy with this (not expensive by any means in fees or wages any of them and they want to come to us apparently so a great bonus already) but let’s wait and see!
EJ, I was actually praising those kind of players at the lower clubs for being good and technically gifted players.
I’m just not convinced that they are any better than we currently have… It doesn’t mean they aren’t but of course we will only know, only if they ever do play for Spurs… 😉
I will emphasise that I loved watching our counter-attacking goals last night. Swift, effective and brilliantly executed. That’s when it can be exciting for me to watch. And it was those 3 goals that did just enough to satisfy me last night… But it won’t always work for us… Will it?
And I’m greedy… I wanted 6! 😉
Anyone else think we should maybe keep Vert’s another 12 months?! Can cover LCB and LB so has to be worth a shout surely! Would give any new recruit at CB this summer (which we should be looking to bring in for sure) time to bed in next season and not be thrown straight in at the deep end (as unlikely we’ll be signing a top class 1st team guaranteed type and even then you still have to earn your spot lol)! The same goes for Sessegnon at LB. I think it’s got to be worth serious consideration especially if he can keep up his usual fitness levels, etc even if he has lost a bit of his pace not that it was ever blistering to start with!
Well have finally read all the post’s after another, note another, win by JM’s team, which is taking good shape game on game, belief is beginning to be the word, no matter what we do there will always be discrepancies and moans, the life and times of a Spurs fan haha.
For me what I saw last night/late afternoon, was a game where the players believed in the coach’s philosophies and even better themselves.
Plan for 1st half, leave no gaps for Vardy to run into, box ticked, let them have the ball but with nowhere to go, box ticked, in own half play in oppositions faces, box ticked, win the ball back hit them on the break because their defence has been drawn forward, box ticked, shoot when possible because anything can happen, box ticked, make own luck.
2nd half, game won so manage it excellently, do not tire oneself out to much, but lets be honest with a few better passes we could quite easily have got 3 more in the 2nd.
Maybe not quite the entertaining football some are shouting and screaming for, but a Win is a Win, I sat there watching never feeling “they are going to score any minute now”, our defence is playing very well, yet my biggest fear was our defending of corners, watching with eyes half shut at 11 or 12 of them, we were great, but then I saw we are 3rd in table at conceding the least amount of corner set piece goals, so why bloody worry lol!
Again I did enjoy the game. COYS
HT – agreed on yesterday – it was palatable because we scored 3 great breakaway goals and were in full command come half-time and only a monumental cock-up in the 2nd half would stop us getting all 3 (relatively crucial) points – forgive me for stating it directly but it’s not exactly the 1st time we’ve ended up doing so, so I won’t apologise for mentioning it lol! That said – Lloris was on top form and if he had not been and if Leicester had possibly been a bit sharper in attack we might not have come away with what seemed such an easy result given the score at half-time!
Most fans are not share-holders and thus winning is not necessarily everything – they want to be entertained and gloat not just about winning but also the style of football in doing so – it’s not called the beautiful game for no reason/nothing!
Yesterday was decent enough overall especially attacking wise but HT is right the amount of times Lloris had to come to our rescue was not that good and spoke volumes about our defending in general! For me though with more coaching from JM whose an expert in such and also possibly the likes of a new RB, a new DMC and a new CB this summer hopefully as discussed already to the hilt by me could certainly see a big improvement for next season – certainly hope so anyway!
Much, much work to be done – starting with the summer transfer window and then the necessary tough work in the shortened pre-season on fitness, tactics, team rapport/spirit building, etc!
Let’s wait and see but I guess we all have to concede that for the moment the results are putting us on course for the right direction – thankfully and for that JM has to be given credit!
Well I predicted it the moaners are out. There was the “weakened team” comment. As I said earlier, this is what JM had to work with for months A weakened injured team. At one stage we had Davies, Lloris, HK10 and Dele injured. Wanyama was past his best. We also had N’Dombele injured. Issues with Erikso, Verts, and to a degree Toby. Yet the moaners gave us no leeway.
We are in transition at present, getting used to new tactics and to a degree a lot of players are still getting used to each other.
Look we’ve just won a few matches in a row here lets enjoy the results of this” write off”season. I’m sorounded by ManU fans in this country. Guess what, not one of em complaining about the 19 pens they were given this year. They are just happy to be in contention for CL place no matter how they get it.
Let’s look to next season, see how we progress in footballing style, league position, and success.
If we are still boring to watch, and win fek all. We’ll get rid of JM.
If we are playing decent and winning I’ll take for a season or two.
Those who said about better players being in lower placed teams. Those teams are in the bottom for 1 reason, THEY DIDNT WIN ENOUGH MATCHES.
Ask their supporters where they’d rather be. Where they are in the league or where we are.
We’re relagated but we played Brill.
Who remembers the year Leicester won the league. We were top for every shot, goal, possession etc..
Guess what we won FEK ALL.
To some here whilst you are entitled to complain, at least enjoy the result, accept we are in a change and had a very unique set of circumstances over the past 12 months or so.
There are plenty of other teams in the Premier league. Pick another one and support them.
I Havnt been on this site for a long time but there are some here who Havnt had a positive statement around our team since I’ve been here.
Tin hat on.
ND, It was me talking about the talented players at the lower end of the table… And I think that you have completely missed my point. Which was to do with me saying that even at the lower end of the table there are some very good players…. And progressive thinking coaches. But there has to be bottom clubs too. My point was that they tend to play more attractive football these days even at the lower end. But, I don’t expect Norwich to be topping Liverpool any day soon. LOL!
I was just referring to the standard of the PL being much higher these days…… But that is just my opinion.
HT – Aurier sticks out like a sore thumb at RB for us and we don’t currently have a proper DMC so for me it would not be that difficult to upgrade/improve these 2 position’s quite frankly and in all honesty! I might add we’re talking 2 x 1st team position’s so for me desperately need to be addressed this summer end of!
I was interested in Aarons but have since favoured more Castagne and would be willing to take a risk on him at RB for the reason’s described on the other Newcastle thread in discussion with Jod. Hojbjerg is another I would like but here I don’t think there is so much risk – he’s proven at Southampton – indeed was there regular team captain! Get these 2 in (want to come to us apparently which is very, very important and will both be relatively cheap in terms of fees and wages as both in last year of contract at lower club’s also so a great bonus) and also keep Vert’s for 12 months and get experience into Tanganga and Sessegnon and maybe go as far as to get in another decent youngish CB ideally LCB and I think we’ll definitely be moving in the right direction as regards building a top defence to compliment our great attacking players!
PY …. I don’t see how you ticked the ‘leave no gaps’ box. In the first half they were cutting into our area at will (almost) and our defensive shape was all over the place. The second half was similar. That would normally destroy any game plan. This game wasn’t normal because Lloris played a blinder. There is still some work to do if Jose wants them successfully playing the same way. Don’t let the result distort the reality of the game …. leave that to the media.
But we won 3-0 and that gives us the chance of European football next season.
Geofspurs…..your response! thank you, to my post pretty much shows how no 2 fans see the same thing, you used the word “almost” at will cutting into our area, the only clear cut chance I remember by them was Vardy’s back heel, yes they had a couple of on target shots which Lloris saved, that’s his job ain’t it.
The 2nd half was in my opinion because we let them have the ball, thus managing the game which we were successful at.
I agree there is still a way to go to play JM’s way successfully, but every game you notice more things for the better.
As for distorting the game’s reality, what I said was my opinion of what I saw, and as prior no 2 of us see the same thing, you predicted 3-0 correctly, I said 2-1 incorrectly, that proves eh! only joking mate, cheers, lol. COYS
Hey PY … I’ve just realised I said ‘our area’ instead of our half. My bad. But the game I saw had them running down both flanks (more so on our right) and crossing into the box time and again, often resulting in corners or shots from just outside our area …. many were not on target but some were, resulting in a MOTM performance from Hugo. As someone else on here said (?) …. something is wrong with the defending if the GK is MOTM. Unfortunately, for most of the game, the Foxes were the entertainers.
It was also frustrating to see so many wild kicks from defence which then came straight back. I guess we can’t play a possession style of football if we keep giving the ball away. To be honest I am totally confused about what our style is right now. But, as you rightly point out, we all see the world from a different perspective. For now, we just need to beat Palace!
I can’t wait for next season! Well, the end of next season.
When we can all cheer the team on and celebrate winning the EL. Then I’ll have the following season’s end to eagerly anticipate when we go on to win the FA cup. By then I’ll be more than happy to see who Jose’s replacement is when he’s gone by December and Harry Kane and the rest of us have all lost our will to live and wished we were all Catalonians in the Spanish sunshine watching Barca, with Messi still banging them in but as an ageing sub to Harry. Managed by Poch!
Lots of talk here about our boring football. Time for a bit of perspective on this matter starting with the need to tighten up a shocking defence and the need to climb the table after Poch’s departure.. Then there were those injuries to key players and the time needed for those players to come up to speed on their return. All this inevitably took its toll in terms of confidence and fluent football. The important ant thing was to get results which by and large José has managed to achieve.
If we are to move on in terms of our performance, the glaring weaknesses to be addressed, as EJ has pointed out are at RB and CMF where Aurier and Winks/Sissoko are not really up to it. Greater defensive and creative qualities are needed in these central midfield positions. The replacements suggested by EJ should cover our defensive and attacking full back needs (Hojbjerg, Aaron’s/Castaneda) and a fit and motivated N’Dombele our creative central midfield need with an on form Dele providing another creative spark somewhere.
When all these pieces are in place I’m pretty sure that entertaining, winning football will return to White Hart Lane.
With all respect Stan. Why will Jose’s tactics be any different or more entertaining with a whole bunch of new players? Surely he will want players to better play his (by now) well known tactics. Not change them.
And, that’s a lot of ifs. And Jose will still be Jose, no matter who is in the first 11.
Or are you saying that we will have a better more solid reason to still be bored.
By the way, when will Ndombele ever come good for Jose? He looks knackered just running onto the pitch.
Jose won’t play him regularly if he can’t run for a solid 90 minutes every week. Let alone in the 1 game.
Jose’s tactics might be different HT because he adapts his tactics to circumstances, to what is available and to what’s needed to win particular games.. More confident players coming back to form plus a couple of new recruits (not a whole bunch of new players) could make the world of difference to the type of football we will be allowed to play under Jose.
With respect HT Poch has gone..It’s time to move on.
I have moved on… I’m joking about Poch!
Why is it that many Spurs supporters didn’t want Jose in the 1st place?
It’s because we were predicting the almost inevitable boredom… It has nothing to do with the club he is at or individual players. It’s why even after winning stuff at MU he was fired. He spent a fortune there on 11 new players by the way!
I’m not saying you won’t be right. I just don’t believe it right now. I’m still backing him but I will make my jokes and I will still want to be entertained. But for now I can only except it is what it is. But we are winning right now… What if we lose to Palace? Because if we keep giving the opposition more chances to score than they had in their previous 10 matches. One day even the likes of Norwich will be beating us after having 70% possession.
I have accepted that we will win some matches the way in which we have been playing under Jose. I think the delusion is coming fro those that are saying it will soon become entertaining…
Hey, it’s up to Jose to prove me wrong and not my fellow posters…
It’s exciting right now though. It’s all on the last day of the season for Spurs. Beat Palace and we get to play in next seasons EL. Except that still may not be the case even if we thrash the Eagles by 6 counter attacks to nil and with just 8% possession stats!. (Although the goal difference might help) It still depends on all kinds of winning/losing perms…
Besides which, I have been reading on here for years that many supporters don’t rate the EL and rather we finished lower in the PL so as to avoid it. (Poisoned chalice and all that). What’s changed?(Not me, I’ll add). But, I don’t care either way. Just thrash Palace, three long ball to zero and I will just be happy to still be alive.
Great thing about wearing masks in this age of C-19, is that they will hide the yawns and the look of boredom on our little spud-like faces, when we are eventually allowed back into the stadiums… And the boos will be somewhat muffled too….
Can you hear me? I SAID… UP THE SPURS!
STAY SAFE ALL! (Just like Hugo’s hands)
It’s a never ending story …. we will always want better players when other cubs have better players than us. It’s similar for all clubs. But, for any amount of reasons, we can’t always get what we want.
It’s really weird the way football works.
It’s just as weird how the minds of us football supporters work.
One minute we are moaning about Poch’s supposedly boring, but CL final/top 4 football. The next we are justifying another form of apparently boring football under Jose because we might just win something a year from now. But only If we can replace all of our apparently rubbish (top4/CL final, mediocre, mid-table players.
Levy’s a clever man… If it’s essential that we keep players like Harry. And the way to do it is only by them having trophies to boast about. (Even though he is still at Spurs after so many years). At the end of each season, just award him and the others with personalised gold or silver replicas of all the major soccer trophies and have him and the team parade up and down the Tottenham High Road for a day. With them all waving to a bunch of pissed-up supporters wearing Harry Kane and Sonny tribute masks. For fun and for safety of course…
His grandchildren won’t know any different when grandpa is all reminiscent of his wonderful trophy winning Spurs days of old. When face-masks were all the rage and hand wash was more precious than gold.
Just do it Daniel!
HT …. At first I laughed at that. But on reflection I thought it was a bloody brilliant idea! Petition anyone?
HT – from our current squad the only one I want gone is Aurier and maybe Foyth – the likes of Rose, KWP, CCV and Amos have already been shipped out on loan most probably with a view to being sold on and are no longer part of the 1st team squad plans! The rest I am OK with but I feel we need some tweaking – with Aurier gone we’d need a RB and we also need a specialised DMC with Wanyama having left and Dier likely moving back to CB! There’s no one to cover HK10 properly in terms of a traditional centre forward and if Vert’s leaves especially and we sell Foyth also then we’ll surely need a CB aswell! That’s hardly saying that all our players are rubbish, etc and all need replacing – lol!
On the EL – I guess Chelski and Arse showed last season it can be a decent revenue stream if you can go all the way to the final and naturally if you win it – it is still a respectable piece of silverware! We’ve never been in a position to win it in the past – we were in it but were not good enough to go all the way – now though between the experience of JM and most of the squad in Europe specifically the CL – we should be in with a good chance of winning it next season if we do end up in it! Much better quality in the squad and also much more experience in Europe specifically in getting to the latter stages of the CL (last 16 and onwards) regularly these last few season’s which is a much harder competition than the EL – so it should bode well for us getting very far in the EL and even going on to win it – I’d like the money such a run would bring (we are pretty desperate after all) and also the bit of silverware that would come with it – lol!
Furthermore the EL gives us all a further chance to watch Spur’s regularly – we are fans after all and that’s what we do and it will also be good for the biggish kind of squad we’re likely to have and to keep all the players playing regularly and keep them interested, etc not to mention earning their wages – lol!
I’m hoping the footy will pick up along with the results and we can be interesting and fun to watch aswell as gaining regular victories along the way and whilst doing this! We’ll soon start finding out and see…..!
HT wasn’t referring to you m8.It was just that your quote stuck out a bit lol. You are usually supportive of the team and much of the same opinion as myself. Agreed there is some lovely football being played by lower clubs. Unfortunately this isn’t winning them games. And it could be easier to look good in an average team. As when I referred to KWP looking good in the Southampton set up.
I 100% agree with Stan and EJ on this at the moment.
Like many here( Im sure) I would love to play the spurs way and win. But it hasn’t happened I’d love to find a new dynamic manager who could challenge Pep, and Klopp. We tried that came close but didn’t get across the line. Now we are trying something else a manager who has and who can beat these guys in his day.
As I remember his Chelsea sides weren’t that bad to watch. So let’s give him a transfer window a full proper season. Then see.
Am up for the EL, always have been, there is money to made, ok not as much as the CL, but still money we have not got, win it, and why not? automatic CL the following year, and Spurs on TV more for us not able to attend live match fans.
So basically I agree with EJ’s last post. COYS