Poch furious with sloppy Spurs

I'm with you Felon. Your comments on Carroll, Eriksen and Lamela mirror my views of last night's game. I do try to see the positives for these three, but in truth I came away convinced they are not delivering. Personally I would have changed Carroll for Dembele at HT ( which Poch didn't have the balls to do).
I walked down the stairs on the way out and had a similar conversation to many that have gone before..

"You know, what we're not good enough". What I guess that really means is that whilst we've been playing well, some things stand out for me that show why the not good enough view applies.

- At home we lack pace to break down massed defences
- Eriksen falling away this season has deprived us of his game winning goals. In the first half he scored winning goals in 5 games, securing 15 points.
- We lack game changers, players or coach. Poch needs a rocket at times.
- January is half gone, a very busy schedule, do we have fresh players coming in. Do we f**k.
- All the drawn games are a mixture of no pace, no game changers, Poch not acting early enough, Eriksen, few other goal contributors Alli apart, all mixed up into a pudding of issues that make me feel, last night or now, that we are in danger of missing out again.

Positive action in the transfer market, to provide much needed freshness is vital. We've been there before as well.

Painful last night for sure. As Matt said a mist win. A 6 pointer ffs......heh Ho.


On the HK knackered matter....I read earlier this week that he has covered more ground than ANY other striker in the PL and is 7th overall .......no wonder he is knackered.
We've such a heavy schedule ahead, that unless Levy acts now we are going to fall away in the second half.

On Tom Carroll....so he's like a Curate's Egg...some good, some bad.......but......for me he lacks the strength to take on a holding midfielder role. The PL is unforgiving on players that are lightweight on the pitch and when I watch Tom I keep coming to the same conclusion...too lightweight for a holding role....

Dembele and Dier holding. So then Eriksen or Carroll. Despite Eriksen's poor form, I'd go with him ahead of Tom. Tom for the cups and the bench for me, at best.

COYS

 

I have said before Eriksen must be on the bench, we need the extra goal threat so Son to start..Poch got it wrong last night,his sub's were put on to late to change the match..Levy really has to spend and give Poch the tool's he need's and then he has to use them,a plan B would help..
Ok we lost a match only the 3rd ALL season,at least the chasing pack also dropped points so it's not all doom and gloom we are still in 4th,7 off the top,and a match at home against the Black-Cat's to put things back on track,so why not ease off on the Doom and Gloom,COYS

 

I keep watching the replay of the goal last night,it is painful to see how un-marked and clear Huth was,nobody picked him up all were watching the near post, Jan should have had control over the placement of his defenders,a stupid error.We still have one of the best pair of defender's in the PL,they both will learn from it...COYS.

 

I am seriously pissed off wiv this result. I mean it woz a hard game sun in the cup n u think we wud hav gone for the jugular last nite but no...i think a certain manager called Harry wud hav exploited Leicesters weakness alot more than we r doin at the min. Plz plz plz buy a ****in striker mr Levy othawise its ta ta for the champions league!!!!!

 

I am truly baffled by he Carrol bashing. He was controlled with ball, won tackles and passéd the ball well. I truly do not understand why he is getting a rough ride. Yes, Dembele will start when fully fit but Carrol has played very well. Better in fact than some of the more experienced players.

 

When ever we lose the basher's come out,the last few week's Carroll has been the hit,next week it will be another player,some people can not see past the loss and start the blame game,the team had a slip up last night and no doubt there will be more before the end of the season,and if Levy buy's no one this window then he will be the next target.COYS

 

And rightly so !

 

The exchanges on Tom Carroll......

I'd love Tom not to be the subject of so much criticism on this forum, but my sense is there is a reason.

It's not because he's one of our own, nor that he is English, or a lefty. So why is it?

For me, on the current team on-the-field 11, playing in such a key position, he doesn't for me have the strength and athleticism to play at the highest level, not yet anyway.

But rather than labour the point here, I will not be negative on him any more, until I've totally convinced myself. I will tape all the games, watch his total contribution, then say what I think, based on at least seeing it twice.

That said if Tom Carroll is the right man to play left sided holding midfield for is in the most critical 6 pointer in this, the season of all seasons, then I've no idea about what's right for Spurs, at all.

COYS

 

Whilst Tom is not what I would call a first team definite for the first 11, I believe he is an excellent player to have in the squad.
Dembele has been in such superb form that it is understandable we would perhaps struggle without him. In the circumstances and being an entirely different player to Dembele , Carrol has performed well.

Had Mason not been injured, perhaps he would have played in that role or Bentaleb although I rate Bentaleb as highly as some rate Carrol. I.e. Not at all.

With less than 2 weeks left of the transfer window, I am amazed if not surprised that we have made no move to sign a striker at the very least.
I have said that Spurs not finishing in the top 4 would be a failure. At the start of the season, I did not expect Spurs to be in the top 4 but as the season has progressed, it has become clear that the top 4 and higher is achievable. More achievable than ever.
If we fail, then we fail and regroup for next season. If we fail and have not signed that striker, there can be no excuses and questions must be answered.

Let us not forget that going into the new stadium not in the champions league could be disastrous. The stadium would not be full. Revenue would not increase and players would leave.

I predict that the following players will stay next season regardless of champions league football because they believe in what Poch is doing.
Lloris, Vertonghen, Eriksen, Dembele, Alli ( contracts mean nothing ), Kane, Son ( he is used to champions league ) , Lamela.

However, failure next season would see our entire squad completely dismantled and could see our future start right back at the start. I am confident this won't happen but I am also realistic enough to know that we must heed warning signs and heed them now.

We MUST not allow another window to pass with no striker signed.

 

Quiet simply we,re just not that great a side at the moment to be fair .. The main reason we are where we are is more to do with the others failings then anything great we,re doing ourselves .. We,re not even close to averaging 2 points a game and yet some think we can challenge for a league title ... Don't be fooled by our position in the table or by the media hype we have a long way to go to be considered title contenders ... I'm not slating the team by any means , I think they've done really well this season all things considered but they've a lot to learn yet .. Some people have a lot of trouble keeping things in perspective and that's weather we win or loose .. This team still has plenty of flaws and plenty to learn and it ain't going to happen over night or in the next few transfer windows and if the fans can't see or accept that then its going to be a bumpy ride for them over the next few seasons .... C.O.Y.S .....

 

I've given up hope on signing a permanent striker due to levis antics. But can't we at least get a half decent loan striker?

 

Shane Long.

 

I wonder why Alli isn't playing alongside Dier?? yes okay he is good in the 3 as he can get up with Kane....but Son can do that. Alli and Dier did well early on in the season.

Carroll is weak defensively...only plays safe passes....and doesn't drive forwards with the ball.
as much as it all looks very pretty when he has the ball......how much penetration does he really bring the the play??? .........how many times does he win the ball in a tackle??? .......how much more nervous are the CB's when he is in front of them??

 

Levy's antics?It take's two chairman plus a manager to sign off on a player, if they do not play ball then how can Levy be held accountable? It is far to easy to blame Levy,he has the best interest's of the club to think of,yes we all want him to sign a striker,if he stall's because of a few pounds then ok it is "Antic's" but until then let's wait to blame him,if he brings in a striker then do you praise him or blame him if the striker is not the player you wanted..COYS

 

I would like to see Son used a lot more the kid has talent,Ali fit's in any where he is a very adaptable player.COYS.

 

Could do worse Matt....not young, but quick and sharp...

 

You see Guesty that's how I feel when we are under pressure...nervy

 

Come on Bazza,things are not that bad,being Spurs fans being "Nervy"come's with the job.COYS

 

I totally agree with you about Eriksen and Lamela. What precisely is Lamela? Winger? Mid-something? Support striker? What? I really like his work ethic but 'rabona' aside......! What has happened to Eriks deadball, and yet he keeps taking them? Why? Just wasted golden opportunities every time, and those type of opportunities are hard come by. Don't agree about little Tommy Carroll though. I don't think he is a starter for our big games but he makes a positive contribution, and until we can buy someone better, a valuable squad player (every team has them). I am a fan of Poch, but I too get frustrated by his late subs. And when he does sub it rarely changes the course of the game. I was screaming at the TV in our Leicester cup game for us to do something different to break their defensive wall. But no, 80 odd minutes of the same tactics just wasn't working.....CHANGE SOMETHING...ANYTHING. Go long or draw them out for Ali to get behind.....anything. Never the less, good times at WHL. COYS!!!

 

It's strange that at the start of the season the only thing we talked of was top four,suddenly the rat pack press started to speak about Spurs as title contenders,many fans jumped on this, and now our team was expected to win every match just as title winning teams do,now the penny has dropped we are at present a top 4 team,and as every body has pointed out we lack a number of player's in key positions,a striker has been on every body's wish list,none of these player's we need are available,and until we get them we will stay as we are a top four team.We have lost 3 Games to date,how many game's had we lost this time last year????when was the last time we had a goal difference of +18,in fact how long ago did we have such a settled team with a good manager,we are progressing in the right direction,COYS.