It's back people!

The thing is Spurporter this was a must win game and this is why Poch got it so wrong.

Why do I think that?

To progress you need 9 points, which is basically three wins. Bayern will be tough, and based on this mess, nil points there. Also to win your first game is SO important, particularly when it's away to one of the less fancied sides. Then look for three at home, 6 in your bin, 3 more needed. Red Star beat the Scousers last year out at their place, so very risky, which leaves beating Red Star at The Lane. Easy and certainly easy enough to work out once the draw is known, how important a victory last night was.

So why, oh why, do we take a weakened team to Greece, why ffs. Son and Sissoko on the bench. Nooo!! Play Sissoko at RB, not Sanchez.

So Poch says the team didn't stick to the plan. Me thinks he's missing the point. The plan was flawed. Work to do from here Boys.

 

Why do we still have a weak team to take regardless who plays ?
How long has Poch had to build a proper squad that's capable???

At the minute we have 4 of our most experienced players seeing out contracts , no matter how professional one may act your not going to be at the same level you were when you were fully part of the club/team , each of them recieving the ostracism treatment at some point , 1 shown round Watford , 1 up for pittance on a 1 week only sale , 1 who waited for his dream move that didn't quite materialise because a genuine winner was bought instead and then the oldest of them all hoping for a final contract it does not bode well at all when they all walk on frees end of season.
All of which on their days r the best we have in their positions by a mile.
All running on underpaid undervalued failed project fumes.

Meanwhile we have bit part players that get rewarded for playing well by being removed entirely from the squad until they're sporadically thrown in again at some point and expected to perform after months in the wilderness.

There's the world class (convalescents home) training centre where it would seem nothing but regular injury occurs at.

All while every window passes and nothing is genuinely looked at or scrutinized as to make us better/improve , it's either plug a hole or pretend it's not there.

It's no wonder it's hit a dead end.

 

Oh, no. Based on one tie, you came up with picture that spells falure to advance. If Spurs lose to Bayern twice, they do not deserve to go any further.

MP's plan was not to lose. They played by it. It was unwatchable, but that was what he planned. You can curse him all you want, but that is how he set them up and how he selected the squad. Morinho said hello. They did not stick to the plan entirely, they went out to attack, when they were told to sit back and play defense with counter. They scored two, but they were poor. Poch built a counterattacking group that went astray and almost conceded in first period before they were lucky to score two. After that they finally let one in.
Second period was much better . That group became compact and the lousy passing stopped. Jan gifted Greeks the equalizer right when the team was almost stable. After that it turned into another Newcastle. That shall not happen again. And again. If it does, then Poch is not as good as think he is.

 

If MP's plan was not to lose, everything worked according to plan then. Why was MP complaining that his players did not stick to the plan?

Hmmm. Am I missing something?​

If you are planning on a draw away to Bayern, I would believe. But Olympiacos? Then MP deserve the sack.

 

You're wasting your time with reason or facts, mate - for true believers it's about sheer blind faith, nothing else, and the worse things become, the more desperate that faith gets - if they didn't have Tottenham, they'd probably move to Waco, Texas!

 

Again, I can't see any logic in Spurporter's stance - none whatsoever. Played not to lose ???? Whatever happened to playing to win ? The teams who play not to lose mostly are the ones, it seems, that have little chance of winning anyway i.e. the makeweights in the farcically bloated CL format, or some of the newly promoted sides to the PL. Mind you some of the so called weaker sides in the PL have given us a lesson in attitude over the last couple of years, bullying us knowing we can be bullied - why don't we just bloody well bully back ? If we are serious about being an elite side then the selections and in-game tactics should reflect that and they patently don't. Some players - the usual suspects once more - are no more than passengers at the moment and NO team can afford that. We're carrying a totally disinterested Eriksen - who to my eyes isn't doing a lot to enhance his dream of Madrid or Juventus, his Olympiacos display was nothing short of a disgrace - sloppy passing, couldn't-care-less tracking and if one more expert mentions his dead-ball "accuracy" I swear I'll boot my TV. Ali, once again anonymous, Lamela -oh, I couldn't even be bothered complaining on this one. At this time we should have an excellent chance to rise far above levels of the extremely average, at best, Manchester United, in-transition Chelsea and poor Arsenal. Don't hold your breath though guys 'cos we've been here before, not least when the 5000-1'ers trumped us. Dear me, what a mess once more.

 

Bro, you're wasting your time convincing me blind faith works. If you ain't got facts, there's nothing to talk.

 

Thomas - I think Cheshunt was making the point that your reasoning is wasted on those who seem to follow blindly and he doesn't seem to be one of those. It looks to me that, at this stage, you're both in the boat with Felon, Bazza, me and quite a few others. Could be wrong but that's my reading.

 

Not sure whether I read it wrongly and I haven't really followed this blog for quite some time. Not sure about what kind of view Chesthunt takes. Thanks for pointing out. Glad to be in good company.

 

We know what happen with those who playing to win in CL, whilst away. Pool played to win in Naples. Did they get the result? On the other hand, same LFC played not to lose against us in June and were able to spank Spurs 2-0.
Poch planned to play defense first because he could not forget Madrid. He built his squad accordingly. He kept forwards that are not known for defensive knacks on the bench. Players did not believe the plan and went astray from it. When defensively configured team does "run-n-gun" and involves in exchanges of attacks, it inevitably exposes itself.
You can argue MP was wrong attempting to park the buss against obscured club, and I can agree with that, but Greeks were not that weak at home, so he could be right. I also agree that, if Jan didn't stick his leg out and Spurs have won, the impression from first period would still be very bad.

 

So Spurporter......say we'd won, the inescapable fact is that Sanchez, Davies, Ndombele, Dele, Eriksen and Lamela were still total shite. If half the outfield team are shite, winning is like sustaining yourself by eating your own feet, momentum slows and eventually you die.

 

Just to be a miserable pedant Baz - if 6 of the outfield are Sh*te (and you're absolutely on the money there man) then that's 60%. It's even worse than half a team of total brock. Sorry for being an annoying pr*ck but just couldn't help myself. Oh yes, forgot to mention our newbies Sessegnon, Lo Celso and N'dombele. One hasn't been seen at all, one flitted into a game and has been injured since and the third hasn't impressed me much up to being taken off Wednesday. Scored a cracker against Aston Villa but what since ?? I'm not a bit carried away with our busiest window since..... When was it ? When (if) these lads get a run of games and have me smiling for once I'll apologise for being a Dick. Also I must add that, in my post replying to Thomas, we, to borrow a line from Jaws, are gonna need a bigger boat.

 

Im sure should we won, this place would be much more cheerful.
Same team, that was unwatchable Wed, killed CP, a team very much similar to Olympiacos, on Sunday. I just explained why there was the change within 3 days. You insist they are shite to begin with and that explains everything, momentum will slow and Spurs will die. Is that your point?

 

Couldn't counter with the players on the pitch at that point not enough pace to do so with eriksen and alli both fighting the same space.

 

If you haven't noticed, rigor mortis has set in since second half last season.

 

Well another great result from Pochs Pretenders.

Pochettino unfortunately has nothing left to offer and this squad is way beyond its use by date.

The body language of the players on the pitch says it all the games up.

 

Another defeat from a winning position .6 more changes and unbelievable subs from the master tactician.Kane scores an unbelievable goal then loses the ball for Leicester’s equaliser and at the moment lacks the movement he used to have and stifles Son.I know Sissoko was booked but his subbing played into Leicester’s hands and who was closing down for Leicester’s winner.I said last year that Tielaman was a good buy and wouldn’t Maddison have been great but our scouting system does not seem to have its finger on the pulse.But to sum up everything is done too late by Pochettino who reacts when we have 5 minutes left.How many other managers in the premiership will make 6 Changes every game???I predict Tottenham will not be in top four this year and that could spell the end of Pochettino and at least 6 players.I hope he proves me wrong and maybe our injured players will make a difference but I won’t hold my breath

 

The sooner this charade we've turned into ends the better , it's going nowhere.

 

Only saw the first half due to prior commitments but had a nagging feeling it was going to be another giveaway after leading. So it proved, sickeningly, once again. I'm thinking Poch will be out before Christmas - either pushed or jumped, it's immaterial - as he looks totally lost to me, fiddling while the house burns. Who replaces him IF he does go ?? Big question.

 

Compared to some earlier matches this latest one is to me an improvement.

I've no idea why Eriksen came in. He's good when teams are defending deep, but when it comes to closing out matches or against a average/good/great team then he's not ideal. With him on the field then the pressing does not work, he's often too far away from the man he's to be covering. If one central midfielder isn't pressing properly then there really isn't any point for the rest of the team to try to press.

Many matches coming up, calling what is done rotation or tinkering might depend on ones viewpoint or possibly on the result of the match...
Rotating Son with Moura makes sense to me.
Rotating Lamela with Alli would make sense if/when Alli recovered form.
Rotating the full backs makes sense to me. I have to admit I see Davies as more of an offensive threat than Rose, Rose might be fast but the crossing from Davies appear better.
Central defense should in my view not rotate.
Wanyama and Sissoko might rotate.