Don’t let brilliance of Messi paint over Tottenham’s shortcomings

Yes, losing to a clearly better team like Barcelona (or Liverpool, I'm sorry to say) isn't the end of the world, but weren't we supposed to be competing against the very best on close to level terms by now, especially after last season's victories against Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund? I wouldn't be at all surprised if we thrashed Cardiff tomorrow, but isn't that just about the least we should expect, and aren't we now back to the low expectations the 'project' was meant to lift us up from? Other posters have attacked the supposed negativity and pessimism of some on here, but aren't we entitled to expect just a little taste of success today, rather than the endless unfulfilled promise of jam tomorrow, especially since we're clearly regressing from where we were a couple of years back, and who knows where we'll be in a couple of years time if the backsliding continues.

 

Until we get our own house in order then it's going to be a struggle in everything , that's the reality at this moment I'm afraid . Between injuries and lack of form , we're in an awful place right now .

Would the Tottenham team of last few years be capable of beating this PSV side home & away and this Inter M. side at home , absolutely they would and that might be enough to squeeze through but this isn't the same Spurs team , at this moment they're a pale shadow ..

 

Think one or two have gone off the topic of the article. Fact is barca were superb and we were sloppy first half in particular. Anyone who thinks barca are not a great team or played magnificent IMO know very little about football. It's the most balanced barca I've seen since guardiola was there. Domestically they haven't hit top form but still sit top of the league and was only a matter of time before they clicked with a new manager and so many big signings in Arthur, vidal, Lenglet and malcom who incidentally wasn't good enough to make the bench despite injuries to first team starters umtiti and Roberto. 100m euro winger Dembele also on the bench shows the gulf in class and wealth.
Why people think we should be on a level playing field I'm not so sure given zero investment in the summer, so many players out of form and of course injuries.

People keep harping back to the same argument on every article it's getting boring '' we should have signed this that the other in the summer our squad lacks depth etc etc''.. We all know this but it didn't happen. Even if we made a couple of signings you still cannot legislate for 5 big injuries all at once. Any side bar City would struggle. If champions elect Liverpool have the same injuries they struggle too. They are pretty much were we were 2 or 3 years ago gambling none of their first 11/12 players get injured long term.
If we have a fully fit squad then we have a bench something like vorm aurier Davies wanyama winks lamela moura.

Beyond that you have Sissoko foyth Peters llorente Skipp Gazzaninga Amos. Gkn.

It's not a poor squad is it really...
It lacks a second striker we all know that. We need a couple of centre mids we all know that too. It isn't strong enough to win a league or a CL that's for sure but it's certainly good enough for third place and a cup. Yeah it's not where we want to be and we've not pushed on from our 2nd placed finish and again it's down to lack of investment but that's where we are right now.

 

Fran have you actually looked at their squad, it's a lot better/deeper than ours they're not where we were 2/3 seasons ago they're ahead of us now because we've been completely negligent and incompetent in the transfer market.

The only player of the 5 that were out that would've helped properly was Super Jan because players like Alli & Eriksen although having quality are way too inconsistent at actually turning up and if anyone is still in hostage state denial that Dembele isn't caput then there's no hope.

For far too long we spend talking/dressing players up at Spurs into something they're not.
Liverpool's squad doesn't have a stock pile of dead wood and 'potential' that's never used or seen their whole squad is used and contributes.
The use of our squad is very poor in comparison.

 

Was at the game on Wednesday. I can't wait till we're out of Wembley, think it's impossible to build/maintain any sort of atmosphere there, it's the definition of a modern football stadium: a neutered, soulless, money-making corporate bowl.

- I was directly behind one of the goals, watching umpteen of Messi's trademark 'parallel-to-the-18-yard-line, running-in-from-the-sideline' moves. To see it in the flesh was something else. The camera angle of modern television broadcasts doesn't do it justice, seeing how quickly he moved across the ground with the ball glued to his feet, it was both dread-inducing and breathtaking.
- Anyone else notice how few fans Barcelona brought? I was at the Madrid game last year and they seemed to have sold their full allocation. I'd have guesstimated that the Barcelona section was half full at best.
-It was quite disarming to see our Lilywhite heroes so patently afraid of Barca's ball players. Even normally savvy operators like Alderweireld didn't seem to know whether to stick close to the man or drop off. Barcelona seemed expert at allowing the ball to run across them and turn their markers for fun, no matter how much powerful units like Alderweireld and Wanyama tried to jostle them away from danger.
- I think it's Hugo that would I would have to find fault with the most, for his second minute brain fade. He must have had a flashback and felt the same panic as when he saw flashing blue lights in his rearview mirror a few weeks back. The early goal threw any sort of game plan out the window, and meant we were chasing the game from then on, something very hard to do against a team like Barcelona.
- Whatever about the rights and wrongs of last summers transfer window, to me the squad does look a little 'flat'. Every team comes to the end of a cycle eventually, and it's how a football club manages that that separates the perennial winners from the also rans. Surely, at the very least, the club won't be inactive as that for quite a while?
Granted Man Utd's current woes means the modern transfer market isn't necessarily the solution to any and all problems, but I would love to see some raw pace brought into this team. We have talented ball players, but I think we lack genuine pace on the flanks, something to give the opposition another headache to handle, something we've probably not had since Bale left .

 

I cannot see how Liverpool are ahead of where we were tbf. As far as I can see like us they have won nothing finished behind us, took only one point off us last year, bottled a final due to one injury. They haven't finished above us or as high as us in years. At the end of season that may or may not change and that's when I'll judge. I'd put my money on them finishing above in all honesty but again time will tell.

 

We had a couple of very exciting seasons believing we were genuine title contenders, and then harsh reality struck with the return of City, and now Liverpool's revival has added insult to injury. It's no wonder that the team and manager seem flat and uninspired, and if there's no money to refresh the squad (courtesy of the apparently unchecked stadium costs, for which Levy must take credit), it's hard to see where the remedy will come from - sometimes gloom, doom and depression are the only rational response! Maybe the magic bullet will appear from an unexpected source, like Kane's 2014 transformation from carthorse to thoroughbred, or Alli's emergence from nowhere in 2015, but it's clearly a huge test for all concerned (especially Pochettino), and top four would be a huge achievement based on the season to date.

 

Just seen the team for today against Cardiff lamela on bench ans sissoko playing this just sums up the team selections by poch recently totally clueless and still the media darling if he doesn't sub sissoko I will be amazed

 

3 points of coma inducing football, so slow and uninventive.

 

Agree with Felon about coma inducing football.Since moura has looked half decent there seems to be no pattern with Kane and son.surely we must have somebody who can pass the ball at the club somewhere when Erickson is injured it certainly is not sissoko.Istill don't believe that poch was happy with no transfer business because if he was then he is not fit to manage in the premiership although having said this his last effort which produced the much sought after sissoko and Lorentz did not cover him in glory.asi have said before he is either overrated or not strong enough to stand up against levy.unitrd losing to Newcastle at the moment so maybe united will snatch him away

 

Just a word about the Barcelona team that were world beaters against us last week they have just finished their fourth game in Spain tonight without a win.maybe the Spanish league is so strong or maybe teams don't commit hati kari like Spurs.playing the high line was a mistake and proves poch cannot change his tactics to suit the opposition.I suppose all the blindfolded worshippers will take offence at this

 

Watching MOTD2 with Arsenal and Chelsea both winning in style, and bumping us out of the top four in the process, I'm even less confident about us making next season's CL places (and I wasn't exactly buzzing with belief before!). Other teams buy players or appoint managers who hit the ground running, but not Spurs, who instead give players like Lamela and managers like Pochettino FIVE YEARS to settle in, and watch while other clubs actually WIN things while we endlessly plan for future success that never materialises. At the moment we're conspicuously the least impressive of the expected top four contenders (and I include United, who can never be written-off), and the poor attendance for the Cardiff game suggests that disillusion is growing among the fans, even as the need for revenue to fund the new stadium becomes ever more pressing. Whether it's a perfect storm, or just a passing shower, it's a real test for both Levy and Pochettino to prove that the apparent progress from 2015 to 2017 was a genuine foundation for success (i.e. trophies), and not just a fluke based on the temporary decline of the usual suspects that some of us suspected at the time.

 

City are being touted as favourites for the champions league, Liverpool have spent money and are ,according to many pundits , one of a pair of teams favourites for the league. Chelsea have a new manager and Hazard on fire . Arsenal have a new manager who seems to have sorted them out

We have had no transfers, no permanent home ground , piss poor pre-season, injuries to spine of the team BUT notwithstanding all the above we are 2 points off the top and we have had our joint best start to a season.

Glass half full boys, glass half full !

COYS

 

Only if this is actually going anywhere?

Our best ever start has already been bettered by Scum & Chavs who are above us despite them seemingly in a transition.
We're joint bottom of our CL group having flopped badly at that.

It's ok keep finding these little silver linings and being positive but what's it actually achieving other than the same old same old.
Great if we go on to win something but despite having beat a few relegation fodder while not playing well we've lost to every decent side that's turned up and unless there's a dramatic upturn in our play & form finding a positive spin means nothing over the course of the season.

 

Damn right Felon - and don't forget, whilst watching The Chavs & Goons swat lesser sides like irritating flies, we'd previously surrendered tamely to a dreadful Watford side that, in turn, got taught manners at home by a really poor Manchester United followed by Bournemouth.

 

Poochy Poos latest -

"Titles aren't important"

New slogan for the Theatre of Cheese??

 

Just for a laugh Felon - had to do a bit of improvising obviously as there is no Latin for "Titles" in that sense - what about a badge with the little chicken and a speech bubble :

Deque Tropaeorum Sunt Momenti

Bit of a mouthful but you get the drift - sort of sums up the farce of the quote I reckon.

 

We're not playing well at all , also we're riddled with injuries which isn't helping but we weren't exactly firing when everyone was fit either . Also we had a great harmony amongst the squad for a few years which shouldn't be underestimated , that's not what it was either i.m.o for a lot of different reasons and that's not helping . We're in a good position at the moment all things considered but that's probably down to who we've played as much as anything in reality .. We've played the bottom 3 don't forget and we've made bloddy hard work of that .. Our next period of fixtures are not looking so kind so let's see how that goes .. We know we can compete if we get everyone up to speed fit and firing but at the moment it's a case of , you can put as much lipstick as you like on a pig , underneath it's still a feckin pig ....... C.O.Y.S ....

 

What? You suggest that team should focus on winning a trophy? And play less matches in couple completions only for that one?Ha? This is for those who think that the Game is about Glory. For someone like yourself, Felon82.
Spurs need to play as many matches as possible and sell tickets to supporters. If the trophies got collected while doing that, that's great, but that would be a fringe benefit. The Game is about Revenue. That has always been for Levy and so is seemingly for Pochetino. You have to accept that no matter how hard it is...

 

Cash cow and that's where the divide is, those that think winning has to be the ultimate goal and those that think taking part and making the owners rich is more important.
Bizarre world it really is as personally I can't see why itd make anyone happy making someone else rich that gives back crumbs and a product that charges winners rates with no intention or want of becoming winners.