The issue is getting past a team of the calibre of Chelsea. You lost on penalties - which is a lottery. So it was very close. Despite the injuries/absences, the team was competitive , although Chelsea were the better team overall I think. Even with the current absentees, this team would have beaten any team outside the top six. But even with most of your better players available, you've had poor results v the top six teams this season apart from the win in the league against Chelsea and a comfortable second half at Old Trafford. W2 L4 in the PL v top six. The failure to strengthen the squad can't be ignored. No Dembele or Wanyama has weakened central midfield. Dembele is the one player who the club should have had a plan to replace. Swap Kante for any Spurs midfielder tonight and it would have been a different outcome.
When it’s the same results and methods year in, year out it gets boring and predictable. Even Poch said things need to change if we want real success. We are so close but unless we take that final step then I fear we will lose our stars and manager.
We lost 4 matches (to Liverpool, Watford, Inter and Barca) in our first 12 matches. Since then we lost 5 games (to Arsenal, City, Wolves, United and Chelsea) in our last 25 matches.
Well Sarri has done something in his first year that Poch has failed to do since he's been with us, get to a final. Conte also won with Chelsea and Mourinho at Man Utd. I will repeat that we need a higher profile coach to take us up that further level.
I think Levy is working for the success of Spurs and he will do what is possible to win. All you have to do is look at what he has done so far and see the direction of travel. The same results and methods year in and year out? That's actually what we need and what with Pochettino we are closer to getting there than for many years. Our manager uses the same methods as Clough, Shankly, Fergusson, and Busby and these are the most successful managers in English football. Enjoy the football and try to be a little patient and hope that Pochettino stays. All pay attention to every detail and all concentrate on man management and keeping thing as simple as possible. This is how successful managers in all walks of life work as it happens and the key point is attention to detail. A key word in all this is sustainability, it doesn't matter how good you are or how good your players are if you go broke it's all for nothing and you have to start again.That's Levy's role and he is brilliant at it and IMO we are very lucky to have him.
Rose was excellent, especially 2nd half so I hope it continues. Losing Ben is a blow as he had been playing better last couple of months at LB and covering CB. Hopefully, he's not out too long.
Seriously? It's like Pool going into a semi-final without Salah, Mane and Firmino. Can you imagine anyone then claiming it's the fault of the coach?
Would the performance have been any better if Son was there along with Harry and Dele? Even though they weren't there it was still a toothless performance. In the first leg it was a Kane penalty in a not very good showing, so yes, seriously.
That's because we are over achieving. We have done well to get to so many semi finals. We've lost them to squads which cost twice ours. The club has a plan to cut the gap in economic strength to the rest of the top 6 which is nearly coming to fruition.
But somehow we should have predicted which players were going to be injured and sold them in the summer. And spent £100m on better players to cover the other injuries.
We can't afford to upgrade it until the new stadium starts to produce income. It is designed to solve the problem you identify.
A few points I want to make. I don't know how many of you will agree with me or not, but it's my perspective on things. 1) You did very well to even take it to penalties considering the injuries you had to core players. You were without Son, Alli and Kane, which is basically taking away 60+ goals from your side. Any team in the world would struggle without their 3 main goal contributors. It was always going to be an uphill battle given the circumstances. Not just that, but Chelsea were at home, fans were riled up, it was a chance to progress to a Cup final, they were coming off the back of a London derby defeat and you'd beaten them in the last 3 meetings. They didn't need any other motivation other than those facts. On the balance of play over both legs, Chelsea were the better side, in my view, and you can tell why Sarri has been so desperate for a striker as Giroud/Morata simply aren't lethal enough when chances come their way. But obviously I understand how gutting it is to lose on penalties when you get so far with a depleted squad. As @PleaseNotPoll said, Pochettino was smart in switching to 3 at the back and pushing the fullbacks into more advanced positions, as Llorente benefited from it. He scored and maybe could have had a few more chances. You gradually grew into the game and were creating more. But taking him off made your attack very blunt. You had no focal point and Chelsea found it easy to defend against. 2) I don't buy this idea that penalties are "a lottery". Maybe I'm just narrow-minded, but I believe every professional footballer playing at the top level should be capable of scoring from 12-yards with just a goalkeeper to beat. It comes down to bottle. Unfortunately for you guys, Dier and Lucas didn't show any when the pressure was on. 3) Whatever you think about Chelsea, you have to give them credit. No matter how many transitional seasons they go through and no matter what adversity they face, they are serial winners. This is their 15th cup final in the last 16 seasons, which is phenomenal when you think about it. I know they've had an oligarch fund their activities which has undeniably helped, but no other team has reached that level of consistency in cup competitions.
I really don't understand why this is, all of a sudden, now that we are building a stadium, commonly misunderstood. None of the pundits acknowledge this. Why do people think that Spurs that are building a stadium? I mean, why go through the trouble.
No, not a lottery. But two or even all of Kane, Alli and Son would probably have taken a penalty if it got to that stage!
For sure. Which is why I said that you did well to even get it to penalties with a depleted squad, whereas Chelsea were (more or less) at full strength.
I don't like to give credit to Chelsea because it is simply money that gets them where they are. They just buy success, it's not the skill of a manager who has crafted a team it is having the money to buy players like Hazard and Alonso or Luiz. Managers are disposable to Chelsea as are their players. If it doesn't work they simply buy another one. Nothing to be proud of at all and all the cups in the world mean nothing if you simply buy them.
Fans do not have to balance the books. The reason we are so close is the strategy that's been adopted by the management. It's obvious for Huddersfield too, buy the Chelsea squad and they would do better. You have to have the resources and you have to find the players and then get them to sign a contact. All so easy to talk about but only ONE team every season manages it. You really need to start appreciating how well Spurs have done rather than carp about next steps and obvious moves.
Man United and Liverpool both have more money but they still try to craft teams based on their traditions they look for managers and players who will respect those traditions and live up to them. That's very different from the City and Chelsea approach and you can add PSG to that list as well. No respect from me and no envy either. I would hate Spurs to win like them. We will win respecting our traditions just like United and Liverpool.
How is this different from any successful club in the world though? Real Madrid and Barcelona have received tax breaks from the Spanish government, whilst the former also had illegal help from the government in funding their operations. http://www.cityam.com/259096/business-secrets-behind-real-madrids-champions-league Would you not give them credit either for being two of the biggest powerhouses in football? The truth is, Spurf, if you go back far enough, you can find dirt on just about every single big club in history. No-one is exempt. It's no coincidence that the most successful clubs tend to be the wealthiest. I don't deny money helps massively but the manager still has to establish a brand of football, a style of play that fans are happy with and win trophies every season. For example, I don't rate Guardiola as highly as some others do, but his impact at Barcelona was incredible. To have that level of unparalleled dominance for so long was unreal. And he had to do this whilst phasing out the likes of Ronaldinho, Henry, Zambrotta, Deco amongst others. He inherited some top players sure, but he took their potential to another level. It was his footballing philosophy and principles that made Barcelona so good. At a time where physicality and pace was (and still is) seen as paramount to succeed, his ideas altered the status quo. Would any other manager have had that same level of impact on those players? I doubt it. So even though he may have had money and inherited the likes of Iniesta, Xavi et al, he also made them stronger. Come on Spurf. You're telling me right now that if you had the success Chelsea had, with the help of a rich benefactor, you wouldn't love it? I'd find it hard to believe if you say "No".
