Quick positives and negatives following Palace win

​

Tottenham get seventh Premier League away win to move to within 2 points of leaders Man City as Juan Foyth’s first senior goal secured a 1-0 victory at Crystal Palace.

Positives

We managed to extend our record of having the best away record in the league.

We were able to keep ourselves in top 4 and put pressure on the others there.

We managed to continue our best ever start to the season.

We have an up and coming centerback in Foyth who managed to forget the last game and played with confidence- still a bit raw but looking like a good prospect for the future- I like that he looks to pass forward often.
After the match he said:
“The most important thing is that we played well. The first half was difficult for us but we won. I had to learn from the two penalties [at Wolves] and I think that experience has been good for me.”

Final positives - see negatives and then be amazed that we are where we are!

Negatives

Trippier injury - he has been having a bad season but he is a good attacking output.

Lamela injury- he has been having a great season ( although I thought he was not so good today)

Home form- oops we don’t actually have a home , take a second to think about that and the upheaval it causes. With all the uncertainty and playing at MK or on a shitty NFL pitch yet still we are having best start to season.

Injury list - so far we have had Trips, Verts, Dembele, Eriksen, Deli, Rose, Winks, Dier, Vanyama, Sanchez plus others I may have forgotten, out and injured- Notwithstanding all these we are still having our best start to the season.

Sorry I seem to seeing some positives in the negatives Yes we are not playing well this season but hell there are extenuating circumstances, yes it would have been good to do some transfer deals but personally I prefer having Alderweireld over pretty much any other defender so would you have been happy doing some transfers and changing him- just to say we did some transfers.

One thing we probably all agree on is Sissoko but I have to grudgingly say that he is growing on me- he puts a shift in and doesn’t hide - he still looks like he has no place being on a football pitch but sometimes it helps having a 100% committed player.

Just to add to the negatives - Lloris- he is such a schizo keeper, great at shot stopping but what is he doing with crosses or his distribution- I would actually take the plunge and get Gazza in now as first choice.

 

Sissy - his best game in a Spurs shirt has to be a Positive.

Kane - hasn’t scored in 1 game. He MUST be exhausted. Negative.

 

I can remember many seasons when we've scraped the odd 'ugly' win, but none before this one when we've done nothing but win 'ugly' or lose tamely, with nothing in between (and I include United away, when we were outplayed in the first half, and very lucky to be level at half-time).
For most of the Redknapp era, and much of Pochettino's, we've been treated to good football and generally good results, and to find ourselves emulating George Graham's Arsenal comes as a far-from-welcome surprise, best-ever start in the PL era notwithstanding.
Yes, we've had a terrible run of injuries (in which Pochettino's notoriously tough training regime and over-use of the same group of players must be a factor), but we've also had chronic loss of form from some of our most important players - how do we explain the fact that Kane, Alli, Eriksen, Davies, Dier, Wanyama and above all Lloris are shadows of their form of a year or two back, and there's still no sign of serious first team contenders from the Academy?
Spurs continue to be much the least impressive of the top four candidates, and the idea that we can only get better is ridiculous; we were well-beaten by City and Liverpool, have somehow squeezed past the likes of Palace, Wolves, Cardiff et al, and I continue to believe that a top four finish this season would be by far Pochettino's greatest managerial achievement. So far as I'm concerned that's realism, not pessimism or negativity, but I daresay they're all the same thing to the true believers.

 

There weren't so bad was it?

Foyth done well to step up from his horror show Vs Wolves, was MOTM for me.
For the record it was Levy n Poch trying to force Alderwerild out as opposed to fans (certainly me) wanting him gone.
You've criticized Lloris ? Wow! Agree though if he flapped much more yesterday he was in danger of taking off.

Churning out results against the odds (mainly nicking 1 goal wins v cannon fodder) is very noble but just think if Pochettino had been helped this summer instead of shafted?
It's all gone very AvBesque imo , collecting points but dull as ever to watch.

Best ever start, most away wins can now join only team to not buy a player, highest attendance and lowest net spend in the made up success accolade cabinet.

 

I'll give us 1 thing though, the mighty Palace haven't scored from open play at home all season something that in years past we'd of been the 1st to help them break their duck with this.
Really is a sign of how far we've come.

 

Another big result ticked off. Always difficult going to selhurst Park especially night matches.

Agree with pretty much everything you say VOR. It's not pretty but it's effective at present that's what we need.

Remember it not being pretty under avb also but then the tide turned and we started to get some real hangings. Think a 4 nil home defeat to Liverpool ended his reign. That's was his style but I don't believe poch sets up his side to play this way I think it's more a mixture of injuries and lack of form of Son eriksen and alli and also lack of investment. Poch is making the best of a bad job and doing well at it...
Im glad to see that eriksen and alli are no longer starting games together as although they are not similar in style they do like to play in the space and both very one paced. I'm enjoying having the pace and directness out wide in moura and the resurgent lamela and hopeful that once one or two more join the party things may click.
If we can stay In the top four while January I'd like to think money will be there to spend and Id look to shape up a new midfield with two new additions. I'd like Ndombele and kondogbia. But other options I like Rice, Cook,Ramsey and Haidaira from red bull salzburg. We seem to be lack legs in there. Dembele probably kicked his last ball for us, winks still unpredictable, wanyama seems less mobile than two years ago when he was brilliant for us. I wouldn't be against selling alli or eriksen if not both if the money was invested in the front line.
Foyth looks potentially a top player who offers something different in his ability to play out the back and step into the midfield where he could possibly play. At 8m a snip when you consider a similar in style stones cost 50m.
Wan Bissaka would interest me at right full back as would Ryan Bertrand at LBk.

 

This is the part I don’t understand with you Felon - what would you have preferred “ worst ever start, least away wins...”

Surely those are good things and shouldn’t be shoehorned into a statement to make them feel like a failure ?

 

Why would I prefer 'worst start ever'?
VoR u seem to get precious over someone not fawning over scraping wins Vs cannon fodder?
My point is that all these snippets 'best start ever' , 'most away wins' ........ etc mean nothing unless the end of the season has anything different from the past 10+ years. (30years in many respects)
It's painful for me hearing our fans lowering themselves to this sort of thing to be bragging about as if to prove some sort of point?
No one else would, a couple of weeks ago Bournemouth had matched our 'best ever start' that's how special and meaningless it is.

 

Have Bournemouth continued to match our start.

 

Should they?

 

Should they not

 

Well considering they're relatively a minnow compared to us, then of course not.
But they were only a couple of weeks ago when our giddy fan base were crowing about best starts etc, I'd expect Bournemouth fans to be making a noise about it but not us.
Unless you think Bournemouth are the same level club as us of course Fran?

 

Will u be fondly recounting this to younger fans in years to come Fran, the year we made our best ever start ?
It's the stuff fairytales are made of......

 

I'd like to think we are a good few levels above Bournemouth but woukd like to know your opinion since you made the comparison and you have already stated we have spent little or less than them and a manager who has achieved nothing.

 

Player for player our club is levels above Bournemouth the fact they were equalling our best ever start says a lot more about them than it does us, regardless of whats been spent.
When were Bournemouth a top 6 if not a top 4 side?
As for Pochettinos achievements what are they exactly again?

It's like an Fiesta keeping up with a M5 at some point the BMW will leave it behind is it something to shout about?

 

Struggling to understand your point about being level on points with a side that we are now clearly above. What is your argument here I'm lost.

 

My point, Felon, is that ultimately we want to win the league and champions league and be consistently challenging. However this is never going to happen overnight - unless you are Leicester and that was an sustainable fluke
However taking it season on season , so far we have performed, results wise better than others. Bizarrely the area we have underperformed is in Europe and I think those were the games we played best.

So all I am looking for is a reasoned analysis of where we are at without putting a negative spin each time Yes put pros and cons but not always looking for the cons to rise up. TBH based on how critical you were of the transfer dealings, you should be most positive as to where we are because we have done it whilst starting the season shackled and against expectations

 

Because it's crowing (at the time) about something a minnow had equalled if u can't understand that then best we leave it there

 

VoR what you seem to miss a lot is that I give praise where praise is due yet you never seem to see it so blind in your rage that people aren't besides themselves with joy at a 0-1 v Palace.
You immediately jump on anything negative i say for reasons only known to yourself.
If I say Lloris has been playing woeful, your on it straight away "the negativity Lloris is sh...t" blah blah , but when you question his place it's ''reasoned analysis"?

Pochettino is making do with a duff hand he's been dealt, the club thought it good enough to not improve itself although having won nothing.
It may be a decent start on paper but just imagine for a second Poch had actually been backed? (Don't get dramatic about Leeds & Pompey or comparisons to City.... Just a couple of decent signings to keep us fresh and improve)
It's not something to cheer about thanks for the never ending nearly there project, it's taking the piss out the fans, along with the shafting of season ticket sales for a venue that was never gonna be ready in time.

How anyone can be over joyed by the current crumbs we're being fed is beyond me.

 

Following this line of reasoning We better not crow if we win the league then because Leicester , a minnow did that?