With an embarrassing performance in the defeat to Leeds United in our last match, Tottenham Hotspur now have three more chances to try and end, what has ultimately been a disappointing 2020/21 campaign, on a high as we welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to White Hart Lane.
After so much early promise when we were challenging well on all fronts, the wheels well and truly fell off after the turn of the year, and even the relative high points have still been tinged with disappointments given our inconsistent, pragmatic approach to attacking.
It’s going to be a difficult, but big and important summer, for Spurs – the main question for fans will be answered by the next managerial appointment. Get that right and there will be renewed hope of the type of player turnover most seem to want, get that wrong and many will take it as a sign that nothing has changed and certainly, that nothing has been learned.
Wolves first, Aston Villa next and then Leicester City for the curtain closer.
To Dare Is To Do, so will we do just that?
I know it’s the ar#e end of the season, but some results even this weekend, from City through Liverpool and w/Ham even Everton, show that no matter how low the club, sometimes results are hard fraught.
The Premier League isn’t there for the taking.
This is why, Niall, no matter the depths of crappiness that THFC attained this season, they can be competing next season for a top spot. The Englis situation is not like Spain, where for years it’s been Real Madness vs. Barrça. A really strange season where neither of them might win. But the PL? We might be crap this season, but competitive next. Four or so new players, a couple of youth come good, and a player of two who retain their touch and it’s a new game.
Do not give up hope ye who enter here.
Back to one of the previous threads, BS, giving me ‘N’ HT a bit of stick re Poch and PSG ooops only one point in it with one fame to go, PSG aren’t in the drivers seat but it could go their way almost at the top of that hill, closer than you thought m8 😉
TK – I love your optimism- don’t forget it could get even worse next season as well! In fact, with Levy choosing the new manager and controlling everything, it almost certainly will.
Good performance, but too little too late. In a way it makes last week’s result even harder to swallow.
Dele on the road back. Playing with a swagger and smile on his face. Eat your heart out Moaninho….you failed to destroy him. We have our first new signing (age 25) as someone has pointed out.
Now to get rid of the many mediocre members and sign some top players.
One swallow doesn’t make a summer but I think there is some justification for a little more positivity than we are seeing this morning. I know we have all perceived this season to be pretty dire in many respects but the stats don’t suggest this.
We currently rank 4th in terms of goals scored and the same in the least number conceded which suggest we possibly haven’t been quite as bad as we all think over the whole season.
We complain about our lot but look at those around us, Everton have hired a manager widely seen as one of the best and their Russian benefactor has allowed them to bring in Godfrey, James and Allan to add to Richarlison and Calvert-Lewin to make what many see as a good squad and yet, they have lost 9 home matches so far this season.
I think yesterday’s match saw us starting to shake off the negative play instilled by JM, the second half saw us going forward with purpose for a change and the result was obvious with many chances created. I still think that with the right managerial appointment, and the addition of two or three players in specific positions, we can be competing for top 4 again. I still want to see Hojbjerg installed as on field captain though!
A way better performance yesterday, but there was still that niggly! creeping in, not going for the “kill em off!” get 2 ahead then ease off, the biggest eff up other than defensive errors of this pretty poor season.
I said a pretty poor season! we have dropped 23 pts, think that’s correct from winning positions this season, say we had halved that we would be sitting 3rd comfortably and guaranteed CL next season, makes you wonder eh! COYS
TQ yep, about three or four really good signings and get the six or so out many of us have listed.
PY a rare disagreement, For a change I actually felt comfortable at 2-0 up and I thought the tactics to bring the subs on to close off the game was spot on.
But as you said losing points from winning positions that has cost us, to mention a few, Wolves, Wham,
N Castle, Palace, all easy wins lost out.
I feel TQ2Spurs nailed it on the head. We haven’t always been as bad as some have suggested. And unfortunately, we’re not suddenly very good, just because we beat a struggling Wolves team.
Personally, I find it difficult to be encouraged by this performance, as we have shown as recently as last week that a bad result is really still just around the corner. It’s adecent result but there is hardly any reason to read more into it than that.
I also think it’s hugely premature to read anything into 90 minutes of decent football from Dele Alli. After the 2 years he’s had, he needs to string about 15 good games in a row before I can accept that he has turned a corner. 1 down, 14 to go. The talent is still there, always has been. Will the application and dedication be there for prolonged periods, and not just when Gareth Southgate is watching? It’s a valid question at this stage.
The only thing I would point out re TQ2Spurs’s comparison with Everton, is that Everton finished 12th last season. As underwhelming as 8th this season might sound given the manager and the players involved, it still represents year on year progress, if only mild progress. We, on the other hand, are trending backwards.
BS….I agree regarding Dele, we need to see him working hard in the middle of the park as he did yesterday and indeed alluded to himself post match. The telling thing for me is that Jose seemed unable to get him to do this consistently, it will be interesting to see if a new manager can find the right buttons to push.
We live in hope.
But it’s the hope that kills you.
Doncaster,
getting worse can be just part of the path to getting better, no? lol
Although, I suppose, getting worse can be on the path to death. But as Glenn Hoddle told us, that, too, can be on the path to getting better. Depends on one’s metaphysics.
COYS. Get better, whichever path is taken.
Dele just needed some kisses from Pep’s daughter? Now he’s off and his engine is running?
As an aside, Belgium have just named their 26 man squd for the Euros.
Toby is in, as are Jan Vertonghen (who has had a solid season for Benfica, playing at a slower pace under the Portuguese sun) and… Nacer Chadli. This has to be the most controversial pick of the squad.
Chadli’s career has gone downhill since leaving Spurs. Currently playing (very sporadically) for Istanbul Basaksehir, his club form has been spotty at best, in recent years. But he has never disappointed with Belgium, and Martinez trusts him. The fact that he can play 4 different positions also helps.
For the rest, it’s the usual suspects. In goal, Courtois and Mignolet pick themselves, and the 3rd keeper (in this case, Mats Selz) feels like he is randomly picked amongst the supporters ;-).
The back 3 is a worry. It’s an ageing group of players. Someone like Thomas Vermaelen (now 36 I believe) still being picked tells you everything you need to know about the lack of younger options coming through the ranks. The brightest prospect, Zinho Vanheusden, is only just recovering from a torn ACL and is only on the reserves list (however, this is a name to watch for the future – he reminds me of Vincent Kompany).
In midfield, there was talk of recalling Marouane Fellaini (currently playing in China) because he offers something different. In the end, Martinez opted against it, but there are plenty of familiar names: De Bruyne, Tielemans, Praet, Castagne, Meunier, Thorgan Hazard, Witsel, Carrasco…
Up front, again plenty of familiar faces: Lukaku, Eden Hazard (who has had a torrid time with injuries at Real but seems to be recovering, finally), Mertens, Trossard, and even Benteke and Batshuayi, who are picked for a lack of better options, despite underwhelming club form.
It’s the last hurrah for many in this golden generation. There are reasons to be worried (clearly, the window of opportunity is closing, and 2016/2018 felt like better chances to win something with players like Kompany, Fellaini and Dembele still in the squad).
But there is also a lot of big tournament experience in the squad, and international football often tends to be played at a slower pace, with tactics all the more important. Belgium should in theory cope well with the stress of tournameent football.
Clearly not the favourites for the title, but one of the teams with a decent chance to do well. We’ll see!
Looking at the midweek games a win for Leicester against Chelsea would guarantee them a top 4 finish which might make our task at the King Power a little easier in our quest for 6th spot. I hope our players respond to the challenge of getting maximum points from our final 2 games. If Leicester did beat Chelsea it’s possible Liverpool could push them down to 5th, if they then won the CL would it provide an additional EL spot for 7th place?
Looks like Harry is off in the summer if the very strong rumours surfacing this evening are to be believed. He apparently wants to stay in the PL and to have the transfer sorted before the Euros start.
Please please don’t go to manure. Many thanks to Moaninho for dragging us down and possibly losing Kane. Mid table here we come.
If Mourinho has some responsibility for where we finished the season, it has nothing to do with Kane wanting to leave.
In fact, Sky claim Kane already wanted to leave last year, and was convinced to stay on another season precisely because Mourinho had joined, not in spite of him.
If Kane wants to leave, it is down to the club’s failure to surround him with sufficient talent. Mpurinho or no Mourinho, no team is going to win things with Eric Dier startting at CB for them.
We can have a winning club that plays beautiful football and be proud with or without Harry Kane. Of course, we want to keep him, but we don’t rely on him for our identity. Indeed, we can have a winning club that plays beautiful football with or without any superstars. We need 11 players who have basic skills, and know how to play together. And we need a decent leader who knows how to promote loyalty and caring about how we play. If HK leave, thanks and praises for what he provides, and the best of luck. Hope he loses when he faces us.
wentworth: you wrote, mid table here we come. Wrong. That’s where we are at the moment. Mid table is where we are leaving. We arrived at mid table with Kane and Son playing, so they’re not enough to be higher in the table. We got here with them, but not because of them, and we will rise above where we are with, or without, them.