Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v AS Monaco

Eriksen

Spot on analysis Dona. I loved watching Poch on his knees pounding the grass with a fist last season. That passion was infectious. Saw a bit of it against West Ham when he threw a few water bottles around after our first 2 goals, but other than that I prefer seeing a look of perennial frustration and agony etched on his face than the current 'scruffy choirboy' look he seems to be going for.

I said it last night: part of me thinks that since the Chelsea game, he hasn't quite trusted himself to 'motivate' the team as he once did. His own touchline demeanor has mellowed drastically since that game. I'm still not sure what he said to them in the dressing room before that game, nor precisely how much vodka red bull he injected directly into their spinal chords, but the carnage that followed was absolutely unacceptable and as well as handing the league to Leicester on the turf of the most odious scum to ever kick a football, it also resulted in exceptionally bad press for the club that I doubt Levy would've been too happy with.

Like the team, Poch himself is slowly building his confidence back after the car crash end to last season. It certainly doesn't help that half our starting line up were involved in a second crash in a car driven by Roy Hodgson. It also doesn't help that key players keep picking up injuries and so cannot secure the consistency that confidence feeds off.

It's in these situations that a manager really needs to look to a couple of wise old heads in the dressing room to help him raise the spirits and 'gee up' the youngsters. Don't have to play them, just have them around on the training ground - maybe let them give a pep talk or two about their own experiences of dealing with disappointment and bad headlines. A Davids, a Naybet, a Gallas, a Dawson. The value of such a player is almost impossible to quantify.

 

Yes, some of them seem to have gotten their new contracts or proved a point (like Son's Player of the Month form in September) and think job done. Whether that is actually the case I have no idea, but they just don't seem as motivated now as they were last year.

 

The start of the YB game was the biggest anti climax I can remember. So horrifying after all the expectation. To have gone out then would have been so disappointing.

 

I can recall Spurs beating the pre Munich team 4-3 at Old Trafford in a humdinger. Smithy going goal crazy!

 

You must be even older than me Smithy

 

Our goal drought is undermining everyone's confidence I think. Son was appalling, that must be confidence he's not that bad a player. Janssen is now struggling and Eriksen as well. Deli has not had anything go for him either. This cannot last we will turn this around soon I'm sure.

 

The good news is that this photo was taken before kickoff, not after the final whistle...

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He mentioned recently that he has programs from the 1911-12 season, so taking into account the likelihood that he was already 5/6 years old at that point, by my calculations Smithy will turn 110 next March

 

It appears likely that, presuming we end up in the Europa League, we will continue using Wembley for fixtures.

While on the one hand that flies in the face of what most of us want, because for all the spectacle of seeing 85,000+ fans turn out for the matches with Monaco and Leverkusen were handicapped by playing at Wembley like Arsenal were a decade ago, on the other hand as we'll be playing all our "home" games there next season surely it's better to have the Europa League serve not just to rotate the squad and give players a run-out, but also to condition our players to playing on the larger dimensions of Wembley's pitch as well as get attuned to the different atmosphere of the stadium?

 

It's a catch-22 though as the wrong players will get the conditioning. If we want to take advantage of the practice at the stadium, we'll need to play full-strength teams for our home games in the EL given that we probably won't have more than 2 of them. But playing a full-strength team leaves us vulnerable in the league.

Bottom line is, we'd be vastly better off just playing the same side that beat Cheltenham against CSKA and screw the consquences. The Russians really went for it against Leverkusen as EL football is much more valuable to them than it is to us - financially and globally. I'm hoping we lose at just be done with this whole sorry misadventure.

 

We have thrown away one chance at a trophy imo by choosing a weakened team against Liverpool. We compounded that on Tuesday night and I really hope we do not thrown away a chance to possibly win a European trophy.
We have won 2 cups in 25 yrs...we shouldn't be throwing any opportunities away imo

 

You are awful........but I like you!

 

There's a stronger chance of winning the FA cup to be honest and I'd much prefer we really went for it this year. The bigger fish don't take it as seriously as they used to, and we don't face as many unknown variables as we would in committing to the EL. Less travelling, games at WHL, less fixtures.

The intriguing situation we now face is that I am convinced we have a manager who is himself convinced that we can win the title this year and all else is consequently being sacrificed to that end.

 

Chelsea and Liverpool will probably be focusing heavily on the FA Cup, depending on draws and timing.

 

Looks like it was taken during the match to me.

 

"Maybe its not too late..... 'Mr Koeman, its Moussa'......."

 

There are two possible strategies to avoid burn-out: One is the normal one - choose one or two competitions and field a weak side. The second is to rotate more frequently but keep the backbone of the side intact whatever the competition (Mourinho did that with Chelsea). I think that is easier if you have a strong squad. Playing the 'best XI' every match really isn't an option. Wining the Europa league ought to be about the same difficulty as winning the FA Cup and has a bigger reward so I'd rather we went for that.

Incidentally, it doesn't seem like it but we've done better on average this year than last time we were in the CL. By this point in that season we'd lost 7 matches (including 4 in the league - losing at home to Wigan!).

 

Option 2 is probably better but as you say, impossible unless your squad is strong enough. I personally believe that ours almost is, but only if everyone is fully fit when needed. I don't think we've had a single full week this season with less than 2-3 key players out injured or suspended, so option 2 became unrealistic. The problem was the Poch went with option 1 for the League Cup and option 2 for the CL and we've kind of ended up with a bit of a mess in both.

I don't think the EL is easier to win than the FA cup. More fixtures, considerably more travelling, Thursday night games, plus the opposition you face towards the business end of that competition are vastly superior to the teams you face in the FA cup, with the added twist that you've probably never played them before so don't know their weaknesses. True enough, the carrot at the end of the stick is juicier, but I'd much prefer us to qualify for the CL the traditional way - by a high enough league position. Winning the EL and finishing 5th or 6th will not represent an improvement on last season as far as I'm concerned. Winning the FA cup and finishing 4th is a massive step upwards, given the improved health of our rivals this term.

 

Winning anything but keeping in the CL next season would do me fine. Winning the FA Cup and finishing 5th would give me very mixed emotions.
I can see what you mean about the Europa league versus the FA Cup, but I think we will be in the best 6 teams in either competition and with one round less and two legged matches the random events are less likely to disrupt us in the Europa.

 

Correct.
Progress would be finishing 3rd again while getting at least one CL KO round.