Poch has always said the only competitions worth winning are the league or champions league so I’m not surprised he rested key players today. If we don’t go on to finish top 4 then he’ll will look a right muppet. Also he needs to be telling Levy to get his arse in gear and bring in Malcom and Rabiot ASAP.
To be overhauled by two of three teams who are four, seven and seven points back is highly unlikely. There was certainly enough leeway for Poch to have picked his strongest available team and treated this game with the importance it deserved, It just suggests muddled thinking.
I think we knew from the selection of the team that it was unlikely we would win this game. There is a limit to the number of injuries you can sustain without damage and we passed that point last week. I have moderated myself on what I would say about the negativity on here because it would serve no useful purpose, many of the comments are way beyond reason.
I think MP made it clear earlier in the week that his weakened resources would make it very difficult to compete in the cups as he would like Luke. He clearly thinks we have to rest our main players (that we have left) for the league game. Makes sense to me.
The confidence of the team is going to be shot and a lot of our better players look out on their feet. Pochettino's got a lot of work on his hands to avoid a collapse, in my opinion. The team is falling apart and the performances in the past few games have been terrible.
As long as those people are not IN THE CROWD at Spurs games, I worry not. But Pochettino is going to have to earn his pay now to prevent that from being the case with those who do attend.
It was good to see Wanjama running freely. He didn't look crocked as has been reported or is that going to show if he plays more?
Resources are certainly stretched - inevitable given the lack of real squad depth and fatigue/injuries to first team players after The World Cup. But it raises questions again about the lack of spending in the transfer market.
The spurs fans were excellent today ... and they have set an example for all imo...less whining and more singing COYS Yep...I went there you grumpy mo fos
He’s had dreadful luck with injuries, If he can stay fit for the rest of the season then he could be vital.
We're nine points behind Liverpool. How many points behind would we be if we hadn't reached the semifinals of the league cup? Six? Three? How many players wouldn't be hurt? Sissoko, surely, but who else would be ready to play now? Dele, maybe? It may not be a popular view, but I think with a squad that had played more minutes than any other at the World Cup, and a chance at at least one big prize, and possibly two, we should have played nothing but reserves in the domestic cups, and are now paying the price for not doing so--while Liverpool is benefiting from their quick exits. Another spin is for Pochettino to have a limit of 270 minutes per two weeks per player. There's a case to be made that limit should be enforced for all leagues. The beautiful game ought to take care of its own rather than exposing them to every variety of overuse and breakdown due to money grubbing.
I hope the players and manager apologise to the fans. Injuries or no injuries,we've been kicked out of two cups in a couple of days.What is it? Am I and some other fans the only ones to want to win anything? If we haven't got the players,let's start parking the bus and try to make our players notice that they are being very well paid.....while the fans are going broke and depressed at the same time. Tottenham Hotspur F.C. C.W.S. (Can't win ****!) Did I mention I'm depressed? Even after 60 + years as a Spurs fan!
I would go even more precise than that. I would do basic data analytics on PL injury stats (injury counts/types, recovery time etc) on all positions and do systems reliability engineering maths to calculate MTBF and MTTR for every position. And on that basis be managing the amount of game time that each player is getting. I would probably also add 'kilometres run' as a "dimension" for MF players (as "fatigue" injuries I reckon are more of an issue for them) .
Very true. It’s hard to accept, but that’s the reality of our current squad in terms of depth and quality, too. We can’t compete in 4 challenges, especially when many sub options only get used sparingly because they offer very little. The same top players cannot play such a high amount of games in quick succession with the demands there are on the body in modern football. Take away the carabao and FA cups, and our squad will have a decent season. Although taking away those cups means we’re only challenging for the “best” honours available, which makes it highly unlikely we’ll win anything. I guess this is why the conversation goes full circle and fans want to compete in the carabao or FA cup, because they are more achievable. Rock and a hard place for Spurs at the moment.
The League Cup or whatever it's called atm has always been a bloody nuisance in my opinion. It was set up by the Football League to compete with the FA Cup. Remember the Premier League is the breakaway league formed by the FA to increase their control on the English game. Well the FA won and the money increased in the game especially for the top clubs but still we play this bloody league cup. Surely it's time for teams playing in FA's PL not to be competing in the Football League's cup competition. This should be for clubs in The Championship and two lower leagues, it's their competition after all. You could replace it with a PL cup comp. for the teams below the top 6, if they wanted it. The top 6 have plenty to do with the PL and Europe.