Depends how you define dominating the first half. Was Fabianski tested? I can’t remember anything of note he had to deal with that made me think “****, what a save!”. Possession is all well and good but you must make it count, otherwise we’ll start sounding like how Brendan Rodgers did at Pool when he gave that lame speech. Eriksen had a quiet game because he had no runners. There was no drive to get into attacking positions, everyone was too close to one another to the point where too many quick passes resulted in a loss of possession and the few times we did create space we were often flagged offside. It was a lame, timid performance and one that should not be happening in a London Derby, especially the first one at the new girl.
As for the likes of Dele, isn't there speculation that he is one of those players that is addicted to the online game of Fortnite and that it's affecting his routine, eg late nights playing Fortnite etc? I understand that there are rumours that some footballers are actually receiving therapy on this because it's affecting their training, performances and so on. I read something about this on Apple News a while back, and some snippets amongst my children who play Fortnite.
Most have accepted thst Sissoko has been very good for the team but many have been slow to see what Winks brings ... imo he is a very good player. Reminds me of Bale in 2007 in that once he returned from injury it took him a long time (around a year) to mentally recover. Bale was injured in December 2007. He was out for almost a year and on his return in September 2008 he was a shadow of the pre injury Bale. It took another year for him to mentally get over the injury and from September/October the rest is history. Winks has had 4 ankle injuries between April 2017 and March 2018. 1st was for 2 months, the 2nd was for a week. The 3rd was for a month between January and February 2018 and the 4th was just 4 weeks later in March for 5 months. That's approx 8 months out injured with 4 separate ankle injuries in just 11 months. A year on with no further ankle injuries has seen his confidence return leading to a brilliant performance against city in the CL. Imho some have been way too dismissive of Winks.
A) Palace was the first London Derby B) We controlled the first half but our final ball was poor and we wasted several good oportunities...Dele went for a shot instead of passing to Moura, Son wasted an excellent break by miscontolling the ball and we wasted a one on one when Son went too wide and left himself nothing of the goal to hit. Obviously that is just my opinion. 3) My post was explaining that I disageed that the players treated the match as a "pre season friendly" as some had said.
You know what I mean by London Derby. No one counts the likes of Palace or Fulham, they’re cannon fodder sides with no rivalry. West Ham means a lot to Spurs, only Arsenal and Chelsea mean more. Again, controlling a half is pointless if you’re not making it count. Fabianski was untested. We lost 1-0 to City the other week and 1-0 today. The loss to City I saw a committed and determined performance and one that was deserving of a better result. The loss today... the lads were pathetic with the exception of Foyth and Rose and we get what we deserved.
Sorry mate but west ham means as much to me as palace do...they aint over rivals locally (like the goons) or league wise (like Chelsea). I dispise losing to Arsenal, only losing a cup final or semi final is as bad as losing to them but losing to west ham is the same as losing to palace to me...it is a false rivalry dreamed up by their fans in the last 20 -30 years or so. I'm nervous all week in the run up to a NLD and feel sick from minute one to the final whistle ... no such feels with west ham. I agree about the need to make it count but my point was that it was not about players treating like a friendly. Toby, Sanchez, Lloris and Davies were not pathetic...they played ok...Dier was ok too. We lost because the players I listed previously did not deliver... Eriksen, Son, Moura and Dele all had poor games but all tried. Our injury list meant we hadno one to bring on and change things for the better. Like I said, my post was a response to someone saying they played like it was a pre season friendly.
I’m surprised you’ve said that to be honest, the first six games of a season I look for are the two vs Arsenal, two vs Chelsea and two vs West Ham, in that order. Toby and Dave were pathetic when defending - or not defending - Antonio's goal. Goes over Toby's head whilst Sanchez allowed Antonio to be first to the ball. Davies put in a decent shift, nothing spectacular, he's had far better games for us. Dier was terrible, only two worse than him were Son and Dele. I felt sorry for Eriksen in that he had nothing or no one to pass too, no one was making good enough runs into space, was as if the lads were expecting another wonder goal from him and so were just chilling to the side of him. Moura was lively but offered little. I was the one who said it was like a pre-season friendly, and it was, the desire and effort to penetrate West Ham was nowhere to be seen. That West Ham side was dog ****, even with our injuries we still had a better team man-for-man out there, to have lost in the manner we did is unacceptable.
It’s good to disagree mate, be boring on here if everyone agreed lol. Sometimes I even enjoy playing devils advocate just for the sake of it... We were **** today though
Today's game is the reason why it would help if the PL helped us in regard to the CL game in a few days time. Will the Bournemouth game be a repeat of today? Extra fatigue and the players thinking about Ajax.
This is now a massive week for us, and just as the results all went our way last week, I can't see us being so lucky today. Leicester v Arsenal will be an open game, and that will suit the goons, can see a high scoring game that they come out on the right side of maybe 2-3. United are in the last chance saloon so maybe they will find a performance today, Chelsea should have too much for them but I am pinning my hopes on a draw. Next weekend all 3 will win meaning that we must too, then the final week both Arsenal and Chelsea have tricky away matches which they are both capable of winning, but on current form you wouldn't guarantee it, I expect Utd will win, and we might depends in both our games which Spurs turns up and also how the Ajax games go (badly given our record in semi finals, but thats another story). All in all its to close to call, we still have it in our hands, but I for one am much more concerned after yesterday as I think we are very short of both form and fitness. I for one would be more confident if Kane, Sissoko and Winks were available.
With the technology that the club have at their disposal and the training regime at Tottenham I would have thought any hint of a downturn in effort by Dele and Poch would come down on him like a ton of bricks, l think that it's the way we are playing and the loss of Kane who Dele has had so much success with and vice versa , look back over past goals and it's easy to see that the know each others game so well.
One win or 2 draws gets us CL football. Goons will beat Brighton...Chelsea will beat Watford as they are simply focusing on the FA Cup final and United are going to beat Huddersfield (the 2nd worst top league team in my life time after Derby). Bournemouth will play will the freedom that comes from not having to worry about the result. A good start to the game is essential to settle us down or it'll be a long 90 plus minutes like the west ham match
Ideally I want us to ensure we finish third. Isn’t there a small possibility that if say Chelsea finish third, us fourth and then Arsenal win Europa, we lose the CL spot? I think 4 points secures us 3rd place unless I’ve done the maths wrong (maths was never my strong point). A win today would be huge and means ‘only’ a draw at home on the final day would guarantee us CL football next season. If I’m wrong, please correct me.
No mate. Top four plus none top 4 club winning EL can all play in next years CL. The only time 4th can lose out is if non top 4 team wins EL and another non top 4 wins CL...no country can have 6 team in CL
Phew! Cheers mate. I wasn’t sure on how many English sides could be in the CL all at once, I thought it was only four and that’s why I thought securing third is somewhat essential to avoid any disappointment.
Go the "UEFA watch" article for musings on why getting in the habit of finishing in the PL top 3 may soon be very important ...
