Yes I didn't cover myself in much glory there. What I meant to say was covered earlier in my post: I don't want Jan and Davies starting as adding 2 rusty players to an already shambolic back line is akin to suicide. So if Jan starts, I'd like to see Rose at LB. And if Jan doesn't start, I'd like to see Davies at LB. Headache cured SD?
This is who we've beaten in the League in 2019: Cardiff (relegated) Fulham (relegated) - 93rd minute winner Watford - 87th minute winner Newcastle - 83rd minute winner Leicester Palace Huddersfield (relegated) Brighton (2 points from relegation zone) - 88 minute winner Aston Villa (promoted) - 86 minute winner Embarrassing stuff and no one really taking the blame everything is because of something else ffs.
Something seems badly wrong at Spurs right now. It seems an odd thing to say as a fan with zero personal contact with the team or staff but something just doesn’t feel right on or off the pitch. Maybe there’s a few players who expected to be off in the Summer (and who Poch probably washed his hands of post-CL final because of this) who are still around and perhaps that’s causing more trouble than we know, even though they’re playing? Thinking particularly of Eriksen, Toby and Jan - the latter we didn’t have down as a leaver but maybe we were all mistaken. Everything just seems out of kilter
I think this is the case. I keep droning on about it but I think Poch wanted a widespread clear out this summer and to basically start from scratch, much as we did going into the 15/16 season where we built a new core and broke into the top 4. It is now abundantly clear that this group of players will never be able to crack the next level. Trouble is, we don't have the financial power to simply add to this group (the ideal scenario), so we have to still rely on player sales to buy. This makes Poch's job so much more complicated as he is basically betting the house on being able to shift the players he wants to shift. That list is easily 8-9 players long: Janssen, GKN, Wanyama, Trippier, Aurier, Toby, Eriksen, Rose, Llorente. Plus the unforeseen possibility that Jan may well have been added to it. That's a heck of a lot of senior players to clear out before major recruitment can begin. We've moved on 4 of them, but they were all low-cost deals which haven't brought in anywhere near the money Poch needs to open the new chapter he keeps talking about. The key to this summer was obviously moving Toby and Eriksen on as soon as the window opened. It wasn't just Poch who expected this to happen. Most neutral fans also assumed it would be the case too. So we ended up with a kitty £80-90m smaller than everyone presumed it would be. This is why the deals for Sess and Lo Celso dragged on for so long, and is also why the latter turned into a loan. We genuinely couldn't afford to spend so much up front, least of all given the 20% VAT thanks to PSG. So here we are, a very frustrated manager whose summer plans are still half-baked, powerless to solve the fact that as many as 5 of his senior players are deeply unhappy with him - and he with them. I see the wisdom in allowing certain players to stay for a year and leave on a free next summer but it flies in the face of Poch's philosophy which calls for everyone to be rowing really hard in the same direction. This is why he likes Lamela and Winks so much. Despite their obvious limitations, they epitomise the on-field attitude he wants to see from everyone. It is also probably one of the reasons why Kane is rushed back as soon as he us fit to stand. So I've resigned myself to the fact that in the long run it is better to sell anyone and everyone Poch doesn't want to work with anymore, and look to reinvest the funds in Jan or early next summer to complete this next phase as soon as possible. Dragging it out another year only delays the inevitable, and our varying levels of interest in the likes of Saliba, Dybala and Bruno indicates that we are very much not done and dusted in the market just yet. We face a season of uncertainty, with a huge amount of hope pinned on the 3 new signings plus a handful of unproven youngsters (Foyth, Parrott, KWP, Skipp etc.) striking gold and sharpish.
The thing that's the biggest problem is that we're bereft of ideas, pace and invention in the middle of the park and secondly, we aren't playing our best defender. The first problem should be relatively easy to solve - get Ndombele, Lo Celso and Sessegnon fit and on the pitch. They will transform the way we move the ball forward and will contribute assists, goals and stop this predictable backwards and sideways ****. No more Winks and Sissoko together in the starting 11. The second problem is not having Jan in the team. I'm guessing that we've offered him a year's extension and he wants a new 3 year deal. We need to fix this and fast. He's our best defender and as near to a captain as we're able to muster. PLAY HIM!
Having a number of unsettled players is a big problem at Spurs. It's nice to think players will remain fiercely loyal, but the reality is that most top class players are ambitious. If Eriksen moves to real Madrid, for example, he will substantially increase his wages, feel he has a better chance of winning trophies and enjoy a better lifestyle in a warmer climate. He's at his peak and will be for the next 3 or 4 years. He wants to capitalise on that. The mistake I think Spurs have made is keeping unsettled players at the club and allowing them to run down their contracts. This must be causing Pochettino a lot of aggravation. Spurs should have decided to bite the bullet and sold these players when they could have got the best transfer fees for them. For the same reasons, I wish Utd would sell Pogba. It's naive to think that once a player has agitated for a move, they can have anything other than a negative effect on the team.
I'm not sure that it always works that way for us. We had Modric stay after throwing his toys out of the pram in 2011/12. He played really well after the sulking stopped. Since Rose has been fit, he's been fine. He was one of our best players in the second half of last season. Toby was probably ahead of him and only behind Moussa Sissoko. Both are well known to be keen on leaving for greener pastures. If the team's playing well, lots of ills are forgotten. If it isn't.....you've got trouble.
This is good https://www.themag.co.uk/2019/08/wa...eated-an-unexpected-problem-newcastle-united/ The ref should be able to ask VaR for a decision when he genuinely doesn't know.
This is true, but if what Kane said is also true, then Dean should've had a look at it himself. He didn't make a decision because he didn't see what happened. Pause the game, look at a monitor and make a choice. He bottled it and his ego prevented him from correcting himself.
There seems to be a bunch of problems at the moment, most self inflicted and I don't think one stands out more than the other but they all contribute to one huge problem - and that's that we're in a bit of a pickle. Admittedly, I do personally feel the manager is causing a number of problems so a lot of the blame will lie with him. Problem 1 - Contracts: Not ideal having key players with one season left on their deals remaining. Others in the squad must be concerned about the long term success for the team if top players might not be around for much longer. Problem 2 - Manager hypocrisy and demeanour: No point bemoaning about said contracts and disruption when you yourself has spoken of your future elsewhere on more than one occasion, which probably causes more disruption to a team than anything. Attitude/ demeanour has also been well off - very Jose/ Conte-esque when nearing their ends at clubs. Problem 3 - Selection: Don't drop key players whilst still here, especially whilst they're remaining professional and training and/ or their replacements aren't fit to actually replace them yet! Picking a player you left out for half of pre-season to allow to leave the club also looks stupid. Persisting with mediocre players such as Winks, Lamela and KWP also doesn't help (albeit the latter I did have high hopes for but looks so lost at the moment). Lamela as a squad player is handy to have but there are better options in the squad than him to start, Winks and KWP would currently struggle to make the XIs of teams expected to finish 13th and below - and that's being kind. Problem 4 - Tactics: No high press. No actual penetration with our play. No defensive solidity. Everything that we were once praised for seems to have disappeared. Part of this coincides with selection because if you don't play your best players you can't expect the best results and performances but everything is just so stale. Our players are playing how the manager comes across in his press conferences - half arsed and pissed off. So yeah... Fun times.
The only allowable instance of monitor use is if the referee misses an incident. Dean missed the foul, if what Kane says is true.
Not sure if these points have been raised but; 1. We usually kick towards the Wall (old park Lane) end in the second half...I think this is the first time we hsve not done so since coming back to WHL that we did not do this...anyone know why? 2. If I correctly remember we have only scored 2 goals at the end where the away fans are based ... and that includes the CL games ... that's 9 games in total. A weird anomaly.
1. Second time, IIRC. I assume Newcastle won the toss and chose to kick that way. 2. I think this is to do with our poor first half performances in recent months, as we're normally attacking that end before the break.
KWP confirmed to be out injured for the NLD. Rumours are that Aurier won't even be in the match day squad as Poch has had enough of him, meaning one of Dier or Sissoko is likely to play RB. I'd personally like to see Sissoko play there and Dier alongside N'Dombele in CM.
P8 W5 D1 L3 at the new stadium...not great I also heard that the crowd was quiet against Newcastle. Bad vibes
