Small reality check as Spurs are knocked out by Palace

The talk since beating Man City last week has focused on Spurs being real title contenders with some even suggesting we are favourites for a first title in 55 years. Fighting on 3 fronts though has been raised as a potential problem for this young Spurs with fixtures mounting up and Leicester only having 12 games remaining and Arsenal's run in looking slightly more favourable than our own.

Well, that challenge is now down to 2 fronts as Palace came to the Lane and did a job on Spurs. Watching Palace this afternoon reminded me of the Wimbledon Crazy gang. They hoofed long balls and were hard into the tackles. In fact they were lucky to finish with 11 men on the field of play. As with City last week, Palace somehow avoided Cabaye among others going into the book. A firmer ref would have shown 4 yellow to players today.
That however is not the reason we lost the game. We lost the game because we just didn't have a good day at the office. We had a lot of possession on the first half and Alli nearly gave Spurs a deserved lad but his shot hit one post before agonisingly hitting he other post but the ball did not cross the line and it remains at 0-0.

Kane harried and hustled and Son ran around and travelled long distances with the ball without really creating too many clear cut chances.

Then came the sucker punch. Martin Kelly got up from the back and fired home past Vorm and it was a lead Spurs never really looked like challenging.
There were corners won but they were largely wasted. Eriksen had come on but his inability to get the ball past the first defender was infuriating.

There was a strange atmosphere at the lane today. It felt like the fans were torn between FA Cup glory and that title chance. The Palace fans were buoyant, the Spurs fans a bit like ther team, lacklustre.

Spurs now take on Fiorentina on Thursday in the return game of the Europe league. Today is a small reminder of how fine margins can be in football.
Lose on Thursday and only the title remains. I don't see defeat on Thursday and I expect Poch will have had some harsh words for his players today.

One player who I don't see having a future at Spurs beyond this season is Bentaleb. I've never been a big fan but his passing and all round play today was very poor.

We now need to pick ourselves up and get on with making sure this potentially glory filled season isn't allowed to fizzle out to a damp squib.

To dare is to do, and the daring continues on Thursday.

As ever, Come on you Spurs!!!

 

Personally, I'd rather win the EL than the FA Cup. Plus, we could have ended up with Chelsea, Arsenal, West Ham away in the cup - and I don't think my heart could cope with another Derby! Frustrated, but not overly bothered, by the result.


Edit:
Oh for fux sake we'd have had reading away

 

Well that was disappointing but it happens ... Might turn out for the best , who knows , this day two weeks we'll have a better idea for sure , we might be thinking , I'm glad we don't have any extra games at this stage or we could be looking back thinking well little did we know at the time but that was actually the beginning of the end of our trophy hunt for this year ... Every game is so crucial at the moment , it's brilliant in a way but not good for the old tickker ... Enjoy it while it lasts , hopefully for another few months at least .... C.O.Y.S ......

 

Well thats 2 down 2 to play for, tbf we were desperately unlucky not to have had 2 goals at least.
Vorm is a worry for me not in the slightest commanding looks scared in between the sticks.
It was a good cup tie and a spirited display lacking that final touch.
I want silverware badly as do all of us really so i always feel a little deflated when we go out, so we must now throw ourselves into the Europa and League.
Having less things to think about should tunnel their focus more.

 

I don't like losing a game no matter what.
The only positive one is that Add didn't score

 

Never like to see spurs lose and would loved to have won but was watching thinking do I want a replay or not to be honest. Time will tell. Played well just wasn't to be squad looked a little thin today...

 

Gutted to lose; would love to win the FA Cup - '91 feels too long ago now!

It was a reasonable effort, plenty of possession but a lack of cutting edge today. Agree re. Nabil. For me, a great ball winner but a poor distributor and its often costly. I thought Son was better today - positive going forward.

Reflecting on the few defeats thus far, it is worth noting that we have only lost by a one goal margin and have predominantly been the better team - so not all doom and gloom. We need to ensure we are consistently clinical when we are on top and take our chances.

Anyhow, in light of our PL position and the EL "adventure", we at least have a chance of winning 2 trophies. Clearly the PL title is the one we all want and would certainly be the most rewarding; for the club, the players and most importantly us, the die hard fans.

Now, keep the focus boyz, feet on the ground and deal with one game at a time! Hard work and BELIEVE...

COYS

 

Bentaleb, woeful, one foot pony that's not very good. Simple fact is if you don't play strongest team, no point complaining when get beat. Simples. Strongest team for every game form now on or Europa beckons again next season. Hope this play Thursday and lose Sunday scenario is not back as next week will not bode well. COYS

 

I think this scenario is unlikely, well, one hopes! Poch will have them focused. It would be absolutely tragic to implode. We shall leave that to the Foxes and goons

Re. the EL, I think UEFA got the format completely wrong and it's clear that this was a decision driven by money.

I think the old UEFA Cup was better and the EL should be "branded" as the Europa Cup with a straight knockout competition (with the winners gaining entry to the following season's CL).

Furthermore, I feel the FA Cup winners should be given a CL place, opposed to the 4th spot in the PL - we would then see clubs taking this historic competition a little more seriously!

 

For me Onomah was the difference today. He is still young but he is not at the level to play a full game just yet. There were 2 or 3 situations where he should have scored, most of the players in the squad would have. If we had gotten the first goal things would have been different and this could have ended 2 or 3-0 easily.

 

Shame that we lost, can't hide being disappointed. However, let's look at the upside. Every time we have lost this year ( from memory and I am getting on ) we have gone on a run of positive results.

This team has a lot of heart and me thinks they will want to, and will, turn it around. Still so far ahead of schedule and so much to play for.

COYS

 

Palace defended well. and were clearly only ever going to look to play on the break.
Wickham and Ade up top are just about PL class.....if that.....so we should have been better defensively.
having said that we had the majority of the game....but just couldn't put it away

Cabaye and Alli spent more time trying to dislodge each others handbags...than actually try and out better each other football wise.
Bolasie probably should have gone. poor tackle.....saved only by us not making a meal out of it

for me I didn't think Vorm was too bad. Bentaleb was poor. Onomah probably needs more games.....but when does he get those! ....and he should have scored at least 2
I agree.....strongest 11 possible for the remaining games. we can't affords slip ups.

 

Off the topic, but my local MLS team, Sporting Kansas City lost in the cup playoffs last year to Portland Timbers, who eventually won the MLS Cup. Anyway, our game went to penalties and Portland advanced after a penalty kick bounced off both posts. The folks in Portland are now opening a pub in the stadium for season ticket holders called "The Double Post"

If Palace somehow win the FA Cup, would they troll Spurs the same way? That game really would've been done and dusted if Alli's luck had been different.

Here is a link for those that are interested:
http://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/index.ssf/2016/02/portland_timbers_to_open_doubl.html

 

Thoughts......

Yesterday had an all around flat feel about it - all was not right from the start.

Dier at centre back, Bentaleb, Onomah starting set a level of capability for the team and that's what we achieved. We seemed to lack shape and the pressing style was largely not on show, as Palace simply made sure we were ruffled up to and beyond the law.

Thought the referee let a lot go and the over rule of the Palace offside, clearly spotted and flagged right in front of us, only to give a throw to Palace just summed up what a tosser he was/is.

I came away not feeling ever so disappointed, probably because we didn't play well and in no small way because with so much else at stake, we were always going to slip up and for me the FA Cup was probably just about third on the list.

Second on the list for me has to be the Europa, as it brings the dreaded Thursday/Sunday fixtures and the prospect of having to play 8 more games against ever tougher opposition to win it.

Personally as I don't think the squad has the depth to deliver both the EL and the PL, I for one wouldn't lose any sleep if we went out to one of the top CL drop outs (assuming we beat Fiorentina), then we can get down to the real job in hand. I don't like to see us lose, but it just feels better for me, a view I've never changed since we dropped down to this competition and started travelling 5,000 mile round, to distant Ruski outposts...just adds no value at all.

As ever......COYS

 

Spurs came in flat and could not get a good result out of just an okay performance. Last time they have such a low life was against Colchester, but then the result came somehow. Not so much luck this time. We had much more chances, but Eagles converted just the only one they had. There is nothing good in this exit. We will not win anything once start lose everything. If Spurs lose to Fiorentina, it will not help them to win PL.

 

I have to say that I thought Onomah had a good game. I read the negative comments about him on here and watched the game again - he isn't far off from competing for a regular starting place - he certainly retains possession of the ball better than some others. The obvious chance that fans think he missed should have already been put in the back of the net by Harry.
Vorm is fine - we will never have TWO of the best keepers in the world at the same time.
Agree about Bentaleb - a good player but nothing more - the new Livermore.
A team doesn't win the league because they have less games than their rivals - we have to progress on Thursday because losing again will start a negative trend that will be hard to shake off.