Kane again covers for Spurs' deficiencies

The Hurri-Kane does it again with his first Premier league hat- trick that yet again covered up for some worrying deficiencies in this Spurs side. Kane's 27th, 28th and 29th goals of the season, which incidentally is more than a certain Gareth Bale scored in his final season at the Lane, gave Tottenham a much needed 3 points after last weeks horror show at Old Trafford.

Tottenham have shown defensive frailties throughout this season and today was no different. What must be noted though is that Danny Rose was excellent this afternoon. He got stuck and made tackles when they were most needed and on this showing it is he, not Walker who should be joining up with the 3 Lions. For all the stick he gets, he must consider himself very unlucky to not be selected.

Walker was woeful against Manchester United last week and he was constantly out of position this afternoon and he must consider himself very lucky to be in the England team. Maybe Hodgson has too few options at right back, but I do not understand why Yedlin is not getting a chance. Some say he is not ready but I don't buy that. If he wasn't ready why would we have bought him? He can't do any worse than Walker at present.

Vertonghen has already left the club in his head. He is slow, sluggish and making far too many mistakes. I don't think we will see him at the Lane next season and we must do business in the summer and shore up what has become a very leaky defence shipping 6 goals in our last 2 games and that could have been many more but for some poor finishing from Leicester who are surely now relegated.

Bentaleb has been one of our brightest stars this season but he looks tired now and as last week, his passing today was wayward and calamitous at times.

Apart from Walker, the worst player on the pitch today was Chadli. I like him but today he dived around and rather than staying on his feet to score goals, he cheated and I cannot abide that evil that haunts our beautiful game. I certainly don't expect it from our own players and I hope Pochettino takes him to one side and tells him that won't be tolerated at Spurs.

Overall, we have to be happy with the three points, but the defence must be sorted out in the summer along with support for Kane.
He was again magnificent this afternoon but he can't always do it on his own.

It looks like Spurs will finish 7th this season which is simply not what I expect from Spurs. I did predict 6th before the season began and even though we remain only 3 points away from the Champions league next season, I cannot see us making it. I hope I am wrong but in the summer, Poch and Mitchell need to be busy. Very busy indeed.

As ever, Come on You Spurs!

 

whew! the defending was as horrific as the United game! dier oh dier, the kid needs to work out his game quick, last two have been horror shows. walker needs to be dropped for.. well.. anyone! the whole team looks tired, but even though it's the close season, we're playing one game a week now, surely they should be well rested for match day?

 

Is the yank even training with the lads at the moment Matt .. has he ever made the bench .. Its a strange situation .. Its going to be a difficult summer ahead trying to make room for improvements .. We have such a bloated squad , we cant really bring anyone in until we get rid of some and make some space .. As a lot of the modern day players have shown they wont just up and leave to whoever unless the money is right .. They have no problem just pottering along not even making the squad , as long as they,re collecting their fat pay checks and after what a lot of them have shown over the last couple of seasons i cant see too many queing up to sign them .. Its going to be a difficult one for all involved .. Jeez where would we be without the HurriKane .. Its unbelievable what he's achieved this season .. Who could have predicted that back in August ..

 

I still have some hope - hear me out.

Of the remaining 8 games, we will be the favorite for 6 or 7 of these, given that no injuries occur. The only 2 games that looks tough, are the Southampton away, and City at home. The Everton away game in the last round could also be a tough one.

So how many points will that get us? A realistic (slightly optimistic) estimate would be 5 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss = 17 points. This estimate is based on at least a draw vs. Southampton, and no team off-days for the remainder of the season. 16-17 points should be doable.

So how does the Man U program look for the last 8 rounds? City at home, chelski away, arsenal at home = 0 points in my book, as Man U, apart from the game last week, isnt playing very well. My estimates for Man U, the last 9 rounds is 3 wins, 2 draw, 4 loss = 11 points. So, if these number hold up, we will end higher in the table than Man U.

So, how about Southampton? Southampton will face City away, and Spurs at home. The remaining games look more manageable for Southampton, but as the team has been throwing away points lately, I am thinking/hoping that they will continue to do this. Estimates for last 8 rounds: 3 wins, 4 draws, 1 loss = 13 points, which will not be enough for top 4.

Liverpool is another story though. The club has been playing well lately, and will likely win alot of their remaining games. They have an away game vs chelski, and ofc the Man U game tomorrow, but apart from that they could win every single game. That would mean 6 wins, 2 draws 1 loss = 20 Points. This would put Liverpool 4 points ahead of us when all rounds have been played.

This means that Liverpool would have to mess up to get us to 4th position. Also, Spurs would have to play consistently, without huge defensive blunders costing points. Anything can happen in football though - I am still hoping for the best. hoping for a Liverpool Man U draw tomorrow.


The remaining games (for teams going for top 4):

22.03.2015 14:30 Liverpool – Manchester United

04.04.2015 16:00 Manchester United – Aston Villa
04.04.2015 16:00 Everton – Southampton
05.04.2015 14:30 Burnley – Tottenham

11.04.2015 16:00 Tottenham – Aston Villa
11.04.2015 16:00 Southampton – Hull
12.04.2015 17:00 Manchester United – Manchester City
13.04.2015 21:00 Liverpool – Newcastle

18.04.2015 16:00 Stoke – Southampton
18.04.2015 16:00 Hull – Liverpool
18.04.2015 18:30 Chelsea – Manchester United
19.04.2015 17:00 Newcastle – Tottenham

25.04.2015 13:45 Southampton – Tottenham
25.04.2015 16:00 West Bromwich – Liverpool
26.04.2015 14:30 Everton – Manchester United

02.05.2015 16:00 Sunderland – Southampton
02.05.2015 16:00 Tottenham – Manchester City
02.05.2015 16:00 Manchester United – West Bromwich
02.05.2015 16:00 Liverpool – Queens Park Rangers

09.05.2015 16:00 Leicester – Southampton
09.05.2015 16:00 Stoke – Tottenham
09.05.2015 16:00 Crystal Palace – Manchester United
09.05.2015 16:00 Chelsea – Liverpool

16.05.2015 16:00 Tottenham – Hull
16.05.2015 16:00 Southampton – Aston Villa
16.05.2015 16:00 Manchester United – Arsenal
16.05.2015 16:00 Liverpool – Crystal Palace

24.05.2015 16:00 Manchester City – Southampton
24.05.2015 16:00 Hull – Manchester United
24.05.2015 16:00 Everton – Tottenham
24.05.2015 16:00 Stoke – Liverpool

 

He is certainly training so why he is not in the squad is odd. Walker looks a different player to the one who played before his injury. I wouldn't be surprised to see him moved on in the summer.
As you rightly say Burnt, we need to sell before we can buy and that in itself could be a real challenge.
I think walker, verts, Lloris, Eriksen, could all go but we will still struggle to sell Adebayor. With no champions league football and possibly playing at MK Dons we are going to struggle to attract major names in my opinion so I think the youth team will be where we see our new team emerging from.
I was glad we won today but we are so poor defensively that if we don't sort it out in the summer, I really fear we could go backwards.

We are still only three points off fourth so we could still get Champions league football but I can't see it.

 

I agree that fourth is possible, of course it is, I just feel the team, look very , very tired and some are no longer pulling their weight.
With Kane though, it is still possible!!

 

All looks fair in theory Chris but if it was that simple we,d all be retired multi-millionaires from our football speculations and every second door on the high-street wouldn't be a bookmakers .. But hey we live in hope , what else have we got ..

 

Its a strange one all right Matt that he cant even make the squad , hope im reading it wrong but from the outside looking in it doesn't say much for him .. What ever came of that young fella Cabellos or what ever his name is .. looked a crafty player in the making ..

As far as trying to free up the squad goes its a major problem that the main players others are going to try and sign off us are the few we really need to keep ...

 

The defence is a serious concern and I'm scratching my head as to why Poch can't see it! We are appalling at the back and must eliminate the elementary errors soon; highly frustrating. Another 3 from Kane then, unbelieveable; where would be without him and Hugo this season - 2 class acts. Agree re. the squad. The policy will be "sell" before we "insult and buy!" I just hope that we have robust transfer strategy this summer and get our business concluded early ready for pre-season.

 

Shocking defensive display today (what's new?). Not sure I can make it to the end of the season without having a stroke. Danny Rose aside, there are few words to describe the incompetence we were forced to witness today. I don't want to jump on the 'bash Kyle Walker' bandwagon (or is that an express train) but he leaves me no choice. As is often said, you don't become a bad player overnight but this guy is going out of his way to disprove that theory. At the moment, he can't defend or attack. It seems all he's good for is violent attacks on his own goalkeeper. He made one decent tackle today and that was his sole contribution to the Tottenham cause. His contribution to Leicester's cause, however, was vast.
Vertonghen drives me nuts. Really good footballer but a useless defender. He is the man that should be talking and organising the back four throughout the game. Instead, he gets caught out of position, has no clue how to read a game, he's always caught on the turn and turns slower than a tram.
Dier deserves a bit of a break. He's a baby playing in an older player's position. He would benefit from a Ledley King alongside him to guide him through games but instead he gets someone who thinks he's auditioning for a Brylcreem advert.
I honestly believe that Walker will be back to his best but not until next season, Dier will improve but needs to play alongside experience and Vertonghen won't be an issue because he'll leave as he thinks he's better than he is and believes he should be at a 'better' club.
Pochettino has his work cut out in the summer. While the belief in youth is a really good policy, especially as funds will be limited while building the new stadium, it does need to be accompanied by experience. Players that can talk the younger players through tough periods in a game or get hold of players like Walker and keep them towing the line and doing the right things are non existent at Tottenham. Until we have a few of those we, the fans, are going to have to keep taking the blood pressure medication.

 

Its a hard one to understand alright how we,re so bad at defending considering the manager was an international defender himself .. If anything we,re getting worse .. Not just the defenders tho , as a team we are clueless without the ball ..

 

The fact our hands are tied with ins and outs because of an overpriced bloated limited squad again confirms that Daniel Levy is a charlatan that should be removed immediately for overseeing/dictating such poor transfer business!
As a club we are being held to ransom over paying sub standard players wages that do nothing to contribute let alone improve us.
The squad needs a major overhaul to many boys playing a mans game, to many wage thieves, not enough experience or quality.
Poch who seems to have got so many plaudits this season after some horrific decisions, some terrible displays, severe 1 dimensional ism, 2 very poor windows, and absolutely no idea how to organise a defence has flunked his way through this season rescued by Harry, Eriksen & Lloris.
Today was a glimpse into the future without Hugo as we let the bottom team with the least goals attack at will and score 3.
Someone said we are closer to being a Swansea or Stoke than a top 4 team and they aren't wrong, God help us if Eriksen & Lloris go.
3 points today but that was not a performance to be proud of it was a circus!

 

Of course poch can see our problems defense wise but he simply hasn't got the personnel to really change them for.. If utd n pool draw tomorrow we are bk in the hunt. If the mancs win its game over!!

 

It's game over if Liverpool win too but I'll be,shouting for them to win. Our season is over anyway.

 

Draw needed for sure tomorrow. If one team had to win, I would rather Utd. They have the harder run in, and I can't stand the Pool either. Their recent run of form has been lucky to say the least. We should have had a point out of them at shamfield too!

 

A draw keeps us in the mix for sure. Our run is favourable with some very winnable games but this is Tottenham, the club who have made an art from snatching defeat from the jaws of victory!!

 

He's had 2 windows to address some of the personnel issues, clearly chi-riches and Kaboul weren't up to the job so Poch gave 1 the captaincy and sold neither, he then bought Fazio that isn't quick enough to play the high line he demands so doesn't play, then we give a prospect a deep end apprentiship at the heart of our defence alongside 3 completely position ally inept defenders and wonder why were shipping goals.
Every window that passes where we buy back up players that aren't ready or up to scratch and don't get rid of the dross is a waste of time and is not a transitional its a festering problem.

 

Great shout. Poch and dare I mention "Baldini" should have addressed this area. Chiriches and Fazio have been a joke; lack positional awareness, self discipline and the key ingredient for the PL - pace. Additionally, we brought in Stambouli to protect the back four... Really? Palace away etc. IMO, not good enough. Essentially a poor mans Schneiderlin. Lose the dross and reinvest wisely, paying the value for quality proven players!

 

No disrespect Jonesy but it amazes me that people keep talking about Schneiderlin while the defensively superior Wanyama gets overlooked. If we're going to nick a player from Southampton he's the one we should be going for. He has the discipline to sit in front of the defence and without him Schneiderlin wouldn't be nearly as effective. We have an abundance of CM who like to play on the front foot and, although better than the existing, he's just more of the same. Wanyama is strong, positionally aware, quick, disciplined and above all defensively minded. He'd also be cheaper which would make Mr Levy happy.

 

hmm, Wanyama would probably be more up Levy's street from a commercial viewpoint! He would be an upgrade on what we have. Personally, I would rather have Schneiderlin for his ball retention and accuracy etc, whilst adding the necessary reinforcements in defence. One thing is for sure, Poch needs to do some serious defensive work with the squad over the summer - keep drilling them until it sticks. All over the place today...