Sloppy defending personifies Spurs' attitude

The game the Thursday before the biggest Sunday of our season. We have played 6 games at home leading up to this and our league form has faltered after them. We had to make something out of this game and, well, we haven't.

Sloppy defending from Vertonghen and Fazio - such an established partnership earlier in the season - has seen an end to our European season. Yet it might have been oh-so different.

Giving up with Soldado

I have defended the Spaniard now for over a year. However given his recent performances I would happily never see him in a Spurs shirt again. He is unnoticeable, weak, slight, sloppy, and inefficient. He only plays because the alternative is Adebayor. And Adebayor is looking like an appealing option right now.

What is the point in the Europa League?

Well, more accurately, our involvement in it. We have lost several PL games after EL games and now it is all for absolutely nothing. We fielded 6 or so potential starters for Sunday tonight - Eriksen played 90 mins, with Vertonghen, Lloris, Kane got half an hour and so on. It can only hinder our chances for Sunday.

I would personally like to see either the EL be the stage for a full reserve team, every single game - or to be treated seriously, with full strength teams being played regularly. Tonight's defeat - which, don't get me wrong, was handed to Fiorentina on a plate.

Not all doom and gloom

Look at who's left in the EL - Monchengladbach, Everton, Inter Milan - on our day with our strongest XI out there, we can win. But realistically we won't be able to field these players every game for the rest of the season.

Say, for example, we get a semifinal game against Inter, whilst needing three points to remain in contention for Champions League - unlikely but possible - what team would be picked? It eradicates some selection problems, if anything.

Heads turn to Wembley

The difficulty is - a victory on Sunday and this is forgotten. A loss on Sunday means this is a devastating loss.

Hopefully, confidence is still high and the players, who are mostly in good condition despite this game, will be well up for it.

As always, COYS

 

Really poor performance and i have now given up with Bobby and Lamela they are pathetic and need to go in the summer FFS! we can't defend or keep a clean sheet, there is no creativity in midfield because we have only brought stopper type midfielder's that cannot create anything so the forwards get no service! the Italians just sat back while we went to the wing then back to the middle then over to the other wing and back again with no idea how to create anything, no ideas as we are clueless when teams sit back and pressure the ball! there seemed to be no urgency to want to win and as usual we make so many mistakes giving the ball away and totally rolling over and surrendering by gifting them opportunities! we have too many very average players and only 2 of them together cost nearly £60 million! i'm sure Baldini is secretly being paid by AFC! why has Levy kept him there? we better be 1000% better on Sunday otherwise it's going to be really painful. FFS Coys!

 

Sorry about to say that but pocchetino has no tactical brain! We played with Just one poor stricker for 60 minutes against a very good defensive team. No pace on the wings and 90 minutes with the actual worst player in a Spurs short after Chiriches, I say lamela !!!! What a disgrace... I'm totally disgusted with our lack of passion with our lack of pace and with our lack of comitment! Please have a look on the fiorentina players at the 90's minutes and you Will understand how important "passion" or "comitment" words are for them. They played like a final. Spurs not...

 

The manner of that defeat was truely shocking! half them players don't deserve to wear the shirt after that, they didn't even looked bothered and Poch hugging managers when we lose really winds me up! i want to see him p1ssed off big time shake hands then get down the tunnel and rip the team a new one but all i see is him being nice and not bothered! how is our team going to win anything with this shower making so many stupid errors ad not even bothering! this was a second rate Italian team! we are miles away from even being close to winning anything! pathetic!

 

I for one am incandescent with this inept shoddy performance, but it should only act as rocket for sundays game. You somewhat contradict yourself by summising that the europa league is a waste of time and affects our following performance in the premier league, but then go on to say if we lose to chelski, this performance would be a 'devastating loss'. We should go out to win all trophies, especially when we have essentially 2 squads. Tonights performance is a result of too much tik a tak, no end product football. Losing possession like we did is committing football suicide. A few players tonight have signed their own p45 - chiriches, lamela, fazio and even soldado who i like a lot, but just cannot cut it under our style of play. Hopefully, as it seems to be lately, we can lift our game against the better teams and go and do chelski over, and then push on for the rest of the season and get top 4. Heaven forbid we finish 5th, 6th or 7th and get in this useless europa league again!!!!!
Of course we will win everything in the Champions league? These players should need no motivation for sundays game. Come on you spurs!! Forever a pessamistic optimist.

 

Fair point there. I think the result will look better or worse depending on Sunday. If we win, it's great, tonight doesn't matter, if we lose, it's an opportunity wasted. I'd honestly take 7th so we don't play in this #+%! competition again

 

So we played sh;te in the first leg with 1 eye on Wet Sham, we then played sh;te against Wet Sham with an eye on the second leg, only to play sh;te again in the second leg with an eye on the capital 1 cup final.
Theres a pattern emerging here lets hope we dont have an eye on the league.