It’s been blindingly obvious since the beginning of the season that he needs a lengthy rest. Unfortunately, he’s unlikely to get one.
"Look at Tottenham Hotspur, who had so many players in the semi-finals of the World Cup. They had to put players straight into matches on the back of very little pre-season. It was an impossible situation for the coaches, really." - Gareth Southgate. Also Southgate: Pick all the Spurs players, all the time!
Disagree with people saying Kane's tired, he's just not striking the ball great at the moment and playing in a team which is changing a lot with injuries and formations. Worth saying that it's a really important 3 points to get today. 21 points from 9 games is a really good start and we've got a lot of tough games coming up so it's good to go into them whilst we're in the mix at the top.
Wow that was a tough 2nd half. A very very important win. 21 points from the first 9 is excellent, also considering we have played 6 of those away from home. We can all moan that Poch got the team wrong today and Eriksen and Dembele should have started but I think he has handled our squad rotation very well. To beat West Ham away in their cup final is no mean feat. I'm delighted.
It’s his job mate. He’s the England manager and picks what he considers to be the best players for his squad. Especially as these idiotic Nations league games are competitive.
Google translate (Southgate to English) ... done I would like to use other PL players, but : - they retire when the main man is in form and they cannot start - when they are at Sky 4 clubs, they often suffer bad cases of hbic "fingernail" injuries outside of summer tournaments - Spurs are the only club who regularly field significant numbers of England internationals in serious games like the PL/CL
to put this win into perspective...it is only our 7th win over them in the last 18 matches. it was a very good win against a team who beat United and drew with Chelsea COYS ps some of you are more miserable than the RCL bastard
Very interesting to see Moussa Sissoko play on the right of a midfield 3, with Dier inside him. That's the position that I remember him occupying when he had some form at Newcastle. It definitely suited him and he and Hugo were our best performers, to my mind. I'm glad he got a good reception when he came off, His move to Spurs may not be everything that he hoped for but he hasn't given up and he's not our worst midfield option anymore. Winksy was also quietly effective again. He's improving as he gains match fitness but needs to work on being more productive in the final third. It's a bit hard to judge him today on that as HK was pedestrian again, after sparkling in the week. All of the other England players from the game in Spain looked knackered, too. Let's hope that we don't lose anymore to injury before January and we get Rose and Dele back soon. Currently, we look like we're running fumes.
Sissoko really has upped his game over the past 18 months. The price tag will always loom over his head but if fans can look past that they'll realise he's not a bad option to have in the squad. Winks has improved in recent matches although I don't think he was as good today as he was against Barca and Cardiff. Though for as much as he's improved, he's still nowhere near the level we need to be pushing forward. A squad player at best. Really hope the club brings in a CM or two in January, I feel it'll cost us if we don't. I hope the club can communicate with England for the next set of fixtures, our lads need a rest, especially Kane and Dier who play week in, week out. At least with Rose, Tripps and Winks we can rotate the XI at times to cope with added fixtures but the other two are generally mainstays and both have suffered dips in form, I put that massively down to fatigue. Southgate has an abundance of players to choose from, give a few youngsters a go to push for spots and hopefully increase competition and let not just Spurs players, but others who featured heavily in the WC, a well deserved week off or two.
Can't he just fall in line with his predecessors and pick players based on reputation instead? I hear Wayne Rooney's doing okay in League One MLS
I think that Mousa Dembele and Big Vic will be moved on in January, if we can find a buyer and get in 2 replacements. That would leave us with Eric Dier, Winksy and Moussa Sissoko (plus Skippy as cover). I'd really like us to go all in for someone like Ndombele and splash the cash on someone who'd make the difference and really replace Mousa. Yes, we could buy a player like Malcom or De Ligt for other parts of the pitch, but getting in someone to lead our central midfield could transform us. The Big Vic replacement purchase looks as though it's going to be Barios. He's combative and has great energy, whether he's a good enough footballer, we shall have to wait and see. As ever, money seems to be tight, bearing in mind what DL said to the Supporters Trust, but we need an addition of something to lift us. Someone who can release our forwards early and find the gaps would be great.
Yeah I think so too, which makes two CM incomings absolutely essential, Barrios as you say seemingly being the one to replace Vic, looked like we were close during the summer, not sure what the hold up was in the end. Will be a shame to see Dembele go although I think a move is best for him. Supposedly admitted he can no longer keep pace in the Prem. Injuries really took their toll on him, tragic shame. A mate of mine is also firmly on the N'Dombele train. Not seen much of him myself but clips and write-ups suggests he's a beast of a talent and would definitely fit in with Poch's style and philosophy. I'd personally like Frenkie de Jong, kid reminds me so much of a young Modric and it'd be great to once again have some creativity from the centre of the park instead of relying solely on Eriksen in the ten role. I'd still also like Grealish, really feel Poch could work some magic with him but his signing would be to go along with one of N'Dombele/ de Jong, not instead of.
If we move Moussa Sissoko on in January or the summer, Jack Grealish would be a good replacement. Our current central midfield doesn't allow us to play like Citeh or Liverpool, when we have the pace of Sonny and Lucas. I have time for Winksy but he needs competition to push him to improve and reach Top 6 standard, week in and week out. I believe that he can do so, but he's going to have to apply himself like HK did.
I heard on the radio today that that's the first time since 1961 that we have won 5 consecutive London derbies and we all know what happened that year
The holdup for Barrios was quite simple: Boca qualified for the Copa Libertadores, and there was no way in hell they'd be letting him go - which is similar to the issue we had when we signed Sandro, as Internacional weren't going to let him leave until their involvement had finished. The good news is it's possible to put a date on when Boca's involvement will end, namely the 31st October or 28th November - or to put it another way, the dates where the semi finals or the final are concluded (although both are played over two legs, because of course there has to be a spanner in the works somewhere...) On the plus side, as the Argentine league has their summer break between 9th December and 27th January (yes, you did read that correctly) he'd have had more rest than our English or Belgian players did before the season started...
West Ham's most famous fan........ just like the club - a brilliant comic creation. please log in to view this image
Only in fiction a Hammers fan. In reality he was a dedicated Spurs fan complete with season ticket. Saw him many times, nice bloke.
