Somehow we're still alive... and creating history

That was another SHOCKER of a show but when you have a squad that doesn't really encourage competition for places and totally inadequate cover for injuries or loss of form it's pretty much what you'll get. I see a couple (at least) of seemingly disinterested players - Eriksen & Dele - and a few more who just don't cut it. I see nothing in Juan Foyth that gives me any confidence in him, Trippier, Dier, Lamela & Aurier likewise, I look at the bench and see Llorente, Janssen and Skipp - then the unpredictables like Lloris and Moura and just sigh. Felon has been fielding stick for ages regarding non-investment, it certainly looks like he's not wrong. It's more than possible that we'll miss the top-four cut and the shiny new Superbowl is going to look a bit sad only half-full for visits of the lesser PL lights and the Thursday Night Also-Ran's Cup. Levy won't look much happier either. This has been coming though - for a while.

 

To be fair we weren't brutal in the first half I.m.o , really should have scored a couple of goals . Had 2 or three really good chances . Their goalkeeper did get man of the match . The 2 sending offs were crucial . I didn't think Sons was a red but that's irrelevant . Foyth getting sent off at start of second half was brain dead but he's shown he has that in him before .. What do we expect 11 v 9 after that . Backs to the wall and hope for the best . They did that manfully in fairness and nearly nicked their point but it wasn't to be .. Sickener yea , self inflicted yea but i.m.o we have definitely had worse performances ...

It's this , he should have started this fella and that fella after every defeat that does my head in . He got this wrong and he got that wrong . I don't remember anyone coming on before a game saying , well if he starts such and such here he's wrong or if he sets us up this way or that way he's wrong . It always hindsight , depending on the outcome . He's far from perfect that's for sure but there seems to be very little empathy for a man and a team that's doing their best with one and sometimes two hands tied behind their backs ....

 

The thing with points & league position is when we have (as we do) a number of fans that want to write off all Pochs predecessors as sub standard and make out that we are leaps and bounds better.

Now I'm not for a second saying Poch hasn't been a good manager but I don't buy into this he's transformed us.

For example 15/16 a supposed title race for us we finished 3rd with 70points during a season where nobody turned up , in contrast AvB finished 5th with 72 points in a season where there was an actual solid Top 4 yet who gets lauded?

Granted points wise in the following season which for me was Pochs Pinnacle we did have a season that was an actual solid give the leaders a race. But 2 seasons past we are now back to where we started knocking about the 70 point mark which is barely a win better than all of Redknapp/AvB/Tim/Jol.

And as I have mentioned numerous times as much as others want to gloss over or simply ignore the previous were playing against a much more established top 4 , their personal decline has made Pochettino look so much better than he actually is and unfortunately he seems to be so pedestalled by our fan base he is void of all critique.

To put an analogy on it if an average man in his prime beats an overweight middle aged man in a race it doesn't make him Usain Bolt does it?

A certain Mr Redknapp who gets some disgusting comments from Spurs fans let a 12 point lead slip to finish 4th, a year where he had a tax case, health scare and a relentless media campaign to get him the England job yet here we are with Pochettino letting a 10 point lead slip with 19 losses across all comps still getting a free pass.

And let's face it , I'd pay to watch Redknapps Spurs style over Pochettinos turgid manufactured football any day of the week.

The crux of the matter is that unless managers are backed they will all fall short.
What annoys me about Poch is his complicity in it all and his contemptuous pedantic line spinning over it all like he and Levy are untouchable.

How much longer will this perpetual charade play out for ?
A club that wins nothing , pontificates about things no one else does , operates on a mid championship side transfer budget , won't pay going rate wages or fees , yet charges super club fees for the enjoyment of being nearly there but not really.

 

Points taken but MY point is not lack of effort or management - it's lack of playing resources translating into results. Yes, you can run your legs off for 90+ minutes but if you're in a run of indifferent form, knackered or just plain not good enough then I reckon you're shafted before you even start. Today their 'keeper had a blinder but he was helped by efforts that were, how shall I put it, saveable- Son blazed over when he should have scored, Moura and Delle had efforts that were more or less straight at him. Anyway he was MOTM on a 45 minute show - he had nothing to do second half. Another day he'll concede half a dozen against a worse side than us. On the subject of Son - he's obviously been eating something that doesn't agree with him: a mild mannered, likeable lad who couldn't miss the net if he tried has gone crazy and along with a dip in form has been suspended for a CL game after a silly booking and is now going to miss the hugely crucial Everton game plus the first two Season 19/20 games. When it rains it just pours down sh*t don't it.

 

I think Spurs just continue being disrespected by the referees as though they are a midtable team of the past. Mike Dean and now Paulson felt free to hurt us without any fear of retributions. I don't care if those red cards were earned or not. Any ref would think twice before getting into his red card pocket when MU or Liverpool commit a foul that warrant such consideration. Twice? Really? Just imagine red card shown to Salah? Mike Dean should never referee THFC matches and Paulson must join him in it.
I also think it is preposterous to use such a brutal treatment to blame Levy for having short bench. No signings could have turned 9 back into 11. No signings could have averted losses when Poch was banned from running the game at touch line. None.
COYS!!!

 

This is indisputable but we've all known this since the start of the season . Most of us ( not all of us ) also felt we were short in certain areas ( full back , centre mid without mentioning cover ) even if everyone stayed 100% fit and in form which was almost impossible , hence there was so much apprehension before a ball was kicked . Now to compound all of this we've been decimated with injuries and players not hitting anything like top form all season long . Lol , considering all of this and I'm going to leave the stadium debacle out of this , what do people expect . If we could go back to the start of the season now and we could somehow predict the injury and lack of form situation on top of the non investment , how would people have predicted the season panning out ? .....

 

Of course if you've lost 2 men to reds in one game or your manager is barred from the dugout for a while a houseful of new signings won't help. But if they're there to begin with so the squad is strong enough during the season, then the odd defeat can be coped with. Your argument doesn't hold water at all - unless I'm missing something.

 

Jeez the reason we've lost 7 of our last 11 PL games has nothing to do with refs nothing at all.

That's absolutely priceless

It has been totally down to negligence.
Not recruiting better players where we were weak, not replacing players lost with adequate replacements, holding on to players that are sub standard or surplus, having no proper competition for places, over training or rushing players back causing fatigue & injury, constant juggling of formation and players playing in wrong positions or being relied upon to do particular jobs they just don't excell at.......

It's been an utter shambles , how we're in 3rd and the CL semi final defies all logic.

And to top it off the football has been mostly turgid and disjointed.

 

Indeed Felon. Dodgy Refs, red cards, touchline bans; file under Bermuda Triangle and Abominable Snowman.

 

I was hopeful before today especially as Bournemoutwashs form had been poor. When I saw the team sheet and saw Dier as holding midfield I was immediately nervous (not hindsight). He just doesn't look up to it at all, well off the pace. Considering how bad we have played for the most part this season and how many games we've lost its amazing that we still have top four opportunity in our own hands..
But doesn't it say everything that we have no confidence in getting a result against Everton even though they have nothing to play for and we're at home in our fantastic new stadium.

 

I would agree, but there were too many odd defeats due to refs. If referees and their influence don't matter, like Felon and you convinced, then why Mourinho, Wenger and Klopp were so energetic "working" them?
Want to have a deep, dominant team that wins regardless of all that goes against them? Spurs will never be that. Not in your lifetime, if they will. Sugar Daddies are not stupid.
Spending is not a magic wand. Spurs spent 87 millions of Bale money and got 1 player out of that spending - Eriksen. Working refs is less expensive and has larger effect.

 

There is a guy on another blog that is always complaining that refs are why spurs lose matches, i don't agree and think spurs get their fair share of calls good and bad. Yesterday spurs got away with a blatant penalty and Dier would have got a 2nd yellow and been off, Foyth was a clear red card, however, son was a little unlucky as Leamer got him sent off with his play acting.

 

Mp has been in charge for 5 seasons and i don't even know his preferred formation. For me a balanced squad is 2 players for every position, when i look at this squad it doesn't have that basic balance.
Dier has never been a top Dm and never will be so why play him there? Foyth will never be a top Cb, so why play him there? Sold Walker kept Trippier, sold Chadli kept Lamela. Why have spurs got 3/4 rbs and only two fit wide attakers?
Imo Spurs need a DOF, MP is a good fitness coach, however, his squad management is poor and his assessment of what a player is capable of is also poor.

 

Criticising Pochettino is on a par with kicking a puppy, so far as his numerous fans in the media and elsewhere are concerned, but is the hype REALLY justified? His team selections and formations are frequently bizarre, and even his supposedly brilliant coaching skills have produced mixed results, at best. Why, for instance, have Trippier and Davies gone backwards this year? Why hasn't Aurier improved? For those odd-bods who credit him with Kane's transformation (which actually began the previous season under Sherwood), why wasn't he able to do the same thing with Soldado or Janssen?
Then there's his fantastic youth policy, from which the club has benefitted so much. Sometimes there are as many as TWO ex-academy players in the first team (though only Winks actually got his first-team debut from Pochettino), while the likes of Edwards and Onomah are on the slippery slope to lower league oblivion, and Walker-Peters wonders what he's done wrong.
Transfers under Pochettino haven't been a triumphant cavalcade either, with total duds like Stambouli, Fazio, N'Jie, N'Koudu and Aurier, and 'jury's out' merchants like Sanchez and Foyth (no, after yesterday the jury's declared him guilty). Then there are the players like Dier and Wanyama, who look as if they've been left out in the rain, and Sissoko, whose brilliant form this year has to prompt the question of what was going-on in his first two truly horrendous seasons at Spurs - he's 29, not 19, and isn't the manager supposed to bring out the best in his players? Everyone says that Spurs will be sunk if/when Pochettino leaves, but I'm not so sure - we're doing a pretty good U-boat impression even with him at the helm.

 

Great post by cheshunt boy although I have been saying this all season and getting stick from poch lovers for it .I believe that there are more doubters than you think who keep quiet as they are brainwashed by the media hype.I know levy has not helped and never will unless the supporters start talking with their feet but no other club would lose 7 out of 8 and not be questioned in fact even praised for the effort under trying circumstances.Even today on sky sports the panel were oozing over pochetino.Two wins this week will restore him to god like status but beware the summer window

 

I've watched Spurs for well over 60 years and I can honestly say that I've never been more stressed watching my childhood club than at this time. Three consecutive Saturday early doors defeats kills your weekend, stone dead. Only the poor form of every other contender has helped me avoid committing Hari Kari.

Some things are true. We've gone backwards, just look at how we did at The Lane in 2016-17 and how well we played.

What has happened to Dele Ali, what? Fecking hopeless. Eriksen, okay so he thinks he's away, but ffs work your bollocks off.

Sonny - he had andrenalin pumping through his veins from the off yesterday, so keen to do well and help us close it off yesterday. A sad moment of madness.

Few will fancy our chances next Sunday. Who do we play. Trippier - might have to, Dier, no thank you. Wanyama - he watched Nathan Ake run past him. Only needed to block him off and it's a point gained, which is what our 2nd half performance deserved.

Next week....Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, possibly Verts at LB. Sissoko Wanyama or Rose, Dele, Eriksen, Moura. Bench Dele, play Llorente CF....it's draining just thinking about it.

Can The Foxes do us a favour with the Gooners. Could Chrissy H get a draw today, after having guaranteed survival yesterday. Mmmmm...only in my dreams, everything else is just a really bad nightmare.

COYS

 

Well thanks to our Messiah, Ming the Penniless and their utter shambles of a window/ Squad Management we now have to beat Everton on the last day with no consistent scorer or goal threat with the added bonus of being in relegation form.

 

Who do we all want to replace poch then?? Not a lot out there. Maybe give sherwood another crack?

 

Big fran why not try Mourino who was murdered by the press for being correct about the United losers as Solskar is now finding out..Can you a see levy coping with a manager with an opinion .Im only joking