With only one Premier League victory in our last five, Tottenham Hotspur received a much needed boost on Thursday evening as we more than took advantage over OPellets Wolfsberger in our Europa League Round of 32 tie and this Sunday we renew acquaintances with bubble blowers West Ham United.
With Harry Kane rested in midweek, Son Heung-Min also got 45 minutes off and a number of players would’ve received a nice shot of confidence from getting on the scoresheet – but of course, Sunday’s midday kick off will be a different story and the Spammers are in reasonable form of their own, sitting six points ahead of us in the table. Admittedly we have a game in hand on them, but how they have scored more than we have does defy some belief.
We can start putting that situation right though, as there are no doubts whatsoever that if we perform as we know we can, we are more than capable of knocking them off the park.
But as ever, with Spurs this season, it’s down to whether or not we turn up.
BS…..I wouldn’t normally include a quote from another contributors post but I’m going to make an exception here because it is very relevant to your views on the matchday threads, you wrote:
“a majority of posters are just here to criticise JM regardless of what happens. Whether he is deserving of that blame or not is a discussion in itself”
That’s exactly what we are doing, discussing the performance of both the players and the manager. I’m sorry you see it as moaning and/or infighting, thats’s not generally how I see it, I think of it as being healthy debate with some very goods points made on both sides of the argument. Isn’t that what the site is all about?
Well that was pretty crap wasn’t it, yet we basically dominated the game 70/30 overall, if I am right, for about 30mins it was non-stop attacking football as you/we all demanded, but no end result.
How many really dangerous attacks did Wham carry out, mmm! not many, ok scoring 2 goals, 1 shit defensive work again! the other, any other game VAR no goal.
Wham are getting the luck, esp today, it happens, they are not as good as is being perceived, we are generally poor, a miss-match, switching on and off, and yet in general we dominated them, but our poor attack in the final third, slow thinking, or around the pen area made their defense look good, this as a lot of our defeats is our own fault.
Now then! my general synopsis of the game is that I really do think the players are just going through the motions and are playing in fear, of what or who I am not sure, for example my missus said “I am going to watch this game with you cos I hate Wham”, racist reasons so make your own mind up, any way I digress, as the teams came out at the Council Park, her words were ” they don’t look very happy how are they going to have a good game” Spurs she was talking about.
Now I have often said body language, look at ours, it isn’t good, something is wrong at my beloved club of 60 years.
An oppo of mine, conspiracy theorist haha, believes JM is a Chavs double agent out to fuck up Spurs, it is certainly going that way lol! COYS
BS …. Can’t you see the connection? VS is less enjoyable because the football VS posters are watching is less enjoyable. It’s not rocket science. We’re all being supporters, good or bad.
I’m really surprised how much you are prepared to put up with in supporting the current regime. I remember some time back when I was always posting about how good our football was …. you used to say it counts for nothing without winning silverware. I wonder if you have realised yet that superbly played football counts for everything, whatever the outcome. Anyway, now it’s me who is walking down the negative track because we have no enjoyment or excitement, and no silverware either. Happy days!
I found the Everton game and the last 30 mins of this game pretty exciting Geoff and so did others on other threads. Lots of good football too.
I rinse and I repeat…
When a Mourinho team is not winning its football matches, what is left?
Answer: Zilch. Nothing. Nada! And, an overwhelming feeling of emptiness……
But apart from that, in general, everything else (for me) is just fine and dandy…
But, that is as long as I’m not watching Spurs………….. So, I’ve stopped watching!
And therefore, I have nothing left to say on the matter………
Stay safe, stay well. Stay up!
AND, nothing ever lasts for ever. Honest! Good or bad…
HT, good to hear from, hope all has been well with you.
Pretty basic post, but so true. COYS
PY, I’m okay thanks… And I hope that you and your wife are doing as well as can be expected…
Can you do me a favour please?
I can’t get onto the Forum pages and post, because I’m not able to log in to do it. (But I do always read many of the threads and posts on the forum).
Can you please (on my behalf), wish “Spursex” all the best. My positive thoughts for his health and wellbeing are with him.
Cheers!
HT…no probs mate, will do it in a mo, and on behalf of Ex thanks for your thoughts. COYS
HT…wishes carried out mate. COYS
HT…forgot thanks for asking, me n the missus are as well as can be expected, we both had our Vaccines a couple of weeks ago, no backlash for me, though the missus had a small reaction, but generally overall she feels chipper.
You say your ok, great, hope all your kin are the same. COYS
Thank you PY… Very much appreciated…
DH – I don’t read any of the other sites, so I wouldn’t know what the others are like. I do know that VS has gone downhill, as far as I’m concerned, making it less enjoyable. And saying that it could yet be worse only validates my initial conclusions!
TQ2Spurs – you and a few others try to have an open debate (regardless of opinions), but let’s be honest, some posters (we all know who they are) disliked JM even before he was appointed, never gave him a shot, never will, and will blame him for everything regardless of whether he is remotely responsible or not. That no longer qualifies as debating, for me.
Geof – As far as I’m concerned, there is no connection at all. That may be a very personal opinion, but I can guarantee that I am not watching any less football now, or talking about it any less. I am just on VS less, for the reasons I mentioned.
I can live with the football if the results are ultimately there, and really it’s too early to tell. If we win nothing this year, JM will have failed to deliver results and I will be very happy to conclude that he has to go.
I agree with HT, if the results aren’t there, there really isn’t very much left, but as long as we are still in the running for 2 trophies, I will reserve my judgment.
If we win trophies this year, I will probably say that the JM appointment paid off, and that JM will have done what he was appointed to do.
I could even live with a prolonged period of poor football (several seasons for sure) if it meant we were going to win trophies every year.
What I don’t think I can live with is the negativity from fans.
BS …. Too soon to tell? We’re well over half way through the season, we’re mid-table and sinking fast, we’re a long way behind the top six, let alone the top four, and we are so far from playing as a team that word’s defy me. Given where we’ve finished over the last few seasons, if you can’t tell yet I’m astonished.
Geof – We’re still in a cup final, and we’ve got a decent chance in the EL. If we finish 11th but win the EL we’ll be in the Champions League regardless of league position.
If we were to win those 2 trophies, there is no way the season could be classified as a failure.
We’re currently 4 points adrift of the top 6 with a game in hand. Is that really a long way behind?
You paint a much darker picture than reality.
I am not defending our position by saying that, I am merely pointing out that calling the season a complete failure, when we may yet win 2 trophies, is hugely premature, regardless of what you think about the football.
Hi folks,
It’s good to hear HT back again, good to see ya chum.
As usual PY has an insightful post (nice one)
Since around 6 December we have managed 15 out of a possible 42 points.
With form like that and against teams we should be beating it is very hard to stay positive..
I have been an apologist and indeed supporter of JM’s tactics for quite a while and was among those prepared to give him a break and a fair chance.
I accept and understand some of the posts from others, and agree that it’s not all about hating JM.
The players need to stand up and be counted here, I agree that yesterday’s performance was actually decent, we were the better team, but yet again, somehow we contrived our own down fall.
I mentioned about luck many times on this thread, and someone came back to me saying how we need to make it, following yesterday’s result I’m beginning to think he’s right, I feel in those two goals we made our own bad luck.
We certainly don’t look like the second best defence in the country at present, I’m almost behind the sofa every time the opposition has the ball near our 18 yard box. As I feel somebody will f::k up and give em a goal.
Now I don’t know whether it’s management, players, tactics, fitness, teamwork, all of the things listed.
I just know that I Havnt seen improvement in how we are playing OR results.
I notice other teams now surpassing us and they are also rebuilding.
Why can’t we see the, Maddisons of this world.
Just annoyed and venting a bit. Sorry folks.
BS Although I dislike Mourinho and have criticised his negative style of play I have attempted to be objective about the abject performances we are seeing from the team at present .
Much of our playing style must be down to his way of working as a manager / coach but he is also hampered by the poor quality of several of the players he has either inherited or bought / loaned .
I have also laid most of the blame at Levy’s door . I don’t think that any manager has really got on with him as they have often been hampered by his tight fisted transfer policy and / or interfering attitude .
While I can see your point of your post we as supporters have a right to be both critical ( disappointed ) but also appreciative when the team plays well . At present most of us are bored silly and upset with the performances seen recently and would appreciate our team not to be out passed / played by many of the teams in the Prem . Even against a poor Austrian side how good did we look ?
We all proffer our opinions on the customer facing side of the club i.e. the players and coaches but we don’t often discuss backgound operations such as scouting and recruitment, I wonder if this is because we generally know very little about how this side operates?
I believe we have fundamental issues in this area which have had a knock on effect to the current state of the first team squad and it’s performance. I was disappointed when we lost Trevor Birch after such a short tenure as director of football operations, when he was appointed I actually felt that Daniel Levy was at last going to delegate the running of the footballing side of the business to someone who (on paper) was a safe pair of hands with a solid reputation so he himself could concentrate of the rest of the Northumberland development.
I personally think the whole of the background operations need reforming as our scouting and recruitment is letting us down badly, just look at the many recent loans and purchases, only one has contributed to improving the squad, the person in question being Hojbjerg of course. Over the course of the past 2 or 3 seasons we have seen many quality players moving within home country clubs or coming in from abroad for what has turned out to be very conservative transfer fees yet we fail to find them or in some cases pass on them as a result of failing to see their potential.
It may be a cynical take, but I don’t think the recruitment will ever fundamentally change as long as Levy is in charge. So rather than expecting those things to change, most fans pragmatically (if reluctantly) accept that this is just a constraint which the club will have to deal with.
Still moaning about boring, defensive football I see. Yet in the last few games Jose has heeded the criticism, added Lamela, Bale and Dele to the attacking set up and has given more playing time to a rejuvenated Lucas. The result has been some good, clear wins and two narrow but very exciting defeats. With just a bit of luck we could have won the lot. The exception of course was losing to Citeh but we have been in good company there.
We now have a run of (theoretically) much easier games where we could be strengthened by Reg coming up to speed again and by the return of Lo Celso. Winning these could still keep us in the mix for a top four place and a favourable Euro draw could see us well on the way to Euro silverware to add to the possibly of domestic silverware. Not winning these on the other hand would confirm what the moaners here are saying. So let us see how it all pans out over this period before coming to any final conclusions. I know it’s the hope that kills us but as supporters we should at least give the lads our support in these crucial games rather than continue slagging them off.
Regarding our defensive problems, we knew that the excellent Vertonghen/ Alderwiereld partnership was drawing to a close and therefore failed to invest. Dier is more of a defensive midfielder and Sanchez has not worked out despite his signing on fee. We have also made some dodgy buys with the hapless Doherty, the lightweight Lo Celso and struggling Bergwijn. Regulon looks a strong addition but may be gone in the summer. Apparently, Poch is in constant contact with Kane and possibly Son and knows what Dele can do with the right coaching and support.
My biggest worry is that we are not going to attract top signings with Jose in charge and the fact that we may end up mid table. We could lose some of our best because Levy is always driven by money and end up buying the bargains that Frank has consistently referred to.
A great regret was missing out on Grealish when he was a good price and Villa were struggling. We should have snapped him up to play with Dele, Son and Kane.
At the moment, we are saddled with a tight fisted chairman, a mediocre coach and a large wodge of ordinary players. We have 4 top players in Hojberjg, N’Dombele, Son and Kane; a few good players and many who could be sold and not missed.
I think it is easily forgotten that we still have many of the squad that took us to the champions league final, none of them require a walking stick just yet. Most on here agreed that our summer transfer window added some decent players to make a strong squad, so where did it all go wrong?
Doncaster says we’re loyal committed fans on here. Gosh, I thought I was the sole loyal committed fan on here and the rest of you were knobheaded trolls who really support something evil, like Arse n hole, or chelskum.
To think that I’m on this site with other Spurs supporters his making me quite dizzy. But if you others on here really are Spurs supporters, then why are you so often disagreeing with me? I think I need a wee sit down, as Granny used to say.
On a more serious path, I have a plan for JM to look smart. Start playing Dele at a true #10 and move N’Dombele backwards. In front, have Son, Kane, and Bale. If the move works, and Dele and Bale provide some successful spark of creativity and skill that is lacking without them, JM looks “special” and can claim his harsh treatment showed them who’s boss and they knuckled under and did what JM demanded. If the moves fail, JM can say that we was right after all to keep them on their fannies.
What’s really needed? Some creative and skillful football on the pitch, something that had died under JM.
Good news. We have 4 easy games. One in the Europa and three Prem games which will save Moanino’s job with nine points and a massive plus in goal difference. Hey ho, back to 4th with no trouble. Watch this space.
Stan….I fear you are in for a big disappointment, there are no easy games in the PL.
Take our PL record this calendar year so far – W3 D1 L5. Two of the wins and the draw were against the current bottom three and the other win was against a lower half side.
Easy games? lol Okay, but the matches will be difficult. The way things have been recently we could play a match vs. the team from Santo Antonio’s School for Blind Girls and it wouldn’t be an easy match. Dier and Sissoko would give away a couple of penalties that even a blind official would see…. oh, never mind. No match is anything but difficult these days.
TQ2Spurs – no disrespect intended, but pointing out that our squad made it to the CL final typifies everything that’s wrong about how our squad is seen, for me.
We scraped by on several occasions, and rode our luck on many more, on the way to a final in which we were thoroughly beaten. We over performed massively through luck and to a lesser extent, desire, but there is no way that squad was a top 2 squad in Europe in 2019. To somehow expect that group of players to do it again is like expecting lightning to strike twice in the same place.
It’s like asking why Porto or Monaco didn’t go on to win more titles after their appearance in the 2004 CL final, or why Greece didn’t go on to perform better at the 2006 World Cup after winning the 2004 Euros (they didn’t even qualify for the 2006 WC).
It’s also fair to point out that several of the players who were on that team in 2019 are now 2 years older. While that may not be a big consideration for the younger players, 2 years is a very long time for any player on the wrong side of 30 – as we are seeing with the rapidly deteriorating skill set of players like Toby and Hugo.
The sooner we stop entertaining the myth that this squad was/is good enough to challenge for Europe’s biggest prize on a consistent basis, the better.
Many cracks are papered over when you have arguably the world’s best striker who can carry the team for stretches. I personally believe that this is a much more accurate evaluation of the squad.
We’ve got a world class player in Kane, very good players in Son, N’Dombele, Lo Celso when he is fit, and possibly Reguilon, and the rest of the squad is made up of players who, at best, can shine on their day but are generally hugely inconsistent, or worse, average to poor on a regular basis.
This team needs at succession plan in goal, a massive infusion of talent at the centre back and right back positions, depth in midfield, and possibly another reliable playmaker. And it’ll take players of a different calibre to what we usually buy to overhaul the squad.