So what? Poch promised all sorts the list is very long and what about Levy’s promises yet only a few weeks ago he was dropping hints suggesting that spending money is a mugs game. Mourinho has shown improvement where it was needed and that’s in the league table. I also highly suspect we would recover from 2 down to the Greeks if Poch was still in charge and be gearing up for a trip to Azerbaijan in February. Plus why are you blaming Mourinho yet overlooking the man that made the appointment over everyone that posters have suggested? What was he thinking?
I disagree with you about Lo Celso totally. I don't see how anyone can think he is pants. I saw him a few times for Betis and have seen his play dissected on TV. He is a very good player and able to take control of games. The staccato start he has had to his Spurs career, either from injury or just being ignored, has prevented him from getting up to his proper level. When we get a more settled team you will see his real worth. He may not yet be as good as Eriksen was when he could be bothered but he is certainly better than him now.
Son deserved to be sent off...it was petulant and stupid...he played right into their hands...just as he did v Bournemouth. We got lucky with the VAR decision that mattered at Norwich and imho got a soft penalty (we got sod all for much better claims in other games). The VAR v Brighton did not rob us of any points. I accept the injuries issue tbf.
@PleaseNotPoll Can you move this debate to the "how long does Mourinho have" thread please? Just so it don't gey lost and to stop every match day thread being taken away from discussing the match. I asked @Spurf but he is in the middle of one of his doddery old man episodes
I think it's a simple combination of two factors: A) A lot of fans didn't want him to get the job in the first place, and remain quite angry that he did. B) The mistakes he is making are blindingly obvious to all and sundry. If he was setting us up with a logical formation, sensible selection and tactics but we were still getting beat, I'd have few complaints. It's going into a game with that sinking feeling in your stomach from the moment the team news is announced knowing it'll be an uphill struggle for 90 minutes that is so frustrating. A supposedly experienced manager who knows the league inside out should not be making such rudimentary errors. For my part, I'm actually not that angry at Maureen. Didn't want him in the first place but I'll support whoever is in the dug out and as I keep saying, it doesn't matter who is in the dug out, the squad needs upwards of £150m further investment. Poch saw it, we can see it. The question is: does Levy? And that remains the great unknown. We'll only know by the end of next July.
My issue with JM is he is (imho but it I accept it is just my opinion) a manager who: 1. Has previously seriously disrespected our club...comments etc but particularly the whole Willian episode. I have no idea why Levy chose him and never will. This may not be a rational thing but I felt exactly the same way about AVB ... he became our manager less than a year after tapping up Modric and bad mouthing us as Chelsea manager. 2. While winning trophies at United he left a poor unbalanced squad that still has not recovered. He has looked broken as a manager incapable of uniting a team since he turned on his chelsea medical staff back in 2015. 3. Had regular meltdowns in the media as United boss which were pretty sad tbh and indicated that he had lost his ability to think and act clearly. 4. His team selections have been no more impressive than Pochettino's and the same is true of the the tactics and in game management. We have kept 1 clean sheet in 11 games. We have conceded first in each of our last 4 games which suggests that we are starting poorly, with no intensity. That is a player problem but also an issue about how the manager is motivating the players he is choosing. I would love to be wrong cos it would mean that Levy has not monumentally screwed up and set the club back 2 or 3 years. I know you think I support everything Levy says or does but I think there have been some big mistakes recently...and this could be the thing that wrecks years of good work.
For me, it's not his past or the results (although recent ones have been dreadful). I didn't want him but we've passed that point now. It's like moaning about ****ing the transfer window 2018/19 - it's gone, done, finished and over. The problem is that right now, I don't see any logic in the teams that he's picking. It looks like he's drawing names out of a hat... You want to leave and are playing poorly.......He'll pick him; Unfit, can't run and gives the ball away time after time....after time.....He'll pick him; Incapable of defending and only so-so going forward.....He's first name on the team sheet; Now we're seeing Lucas played on the right - he's bloody terrible there, without fail. Every away game we're swamped in midfield. He just swaps the personnel over...it's wash, rinse, then repeat....whilst playing 4 forwards we can't get the ball to. If that's all he's got then he can do one, because we need someone who can get something out of this group, He isn't getting 23 new players for next season, so Jose, roll up your sleeves and start creating something that actually works....'cos what you're currently doing, isn't working.
We've already gone back 2-3 years mate. It's now a case of trying to get back to where we were and beyond. Poch is more to blame than Levy although Levy definitely needs to hold his hands up. The pressure now is firmly on Jose, rightly or wrongly, he's the man tasked with getting us back to into top four places and beyond and he's being a paid a fortune to do it, if we don't get top four he's failed, simple as. He knows Spurs aren't a team that spends like his other clubs and he himself has (bizarrely) spoken of a lack of desire for signings but instead working with what he's got, he's either chatting **** to not sound desperate to other clubs as Billy mentioned or he really does believe he can coach these players into improving - personally I find that doubtful, Aurier can't be improved, he's dross and should be binned whilst Toby is a has-been who's "Ozil'd" us and is the biggest snake at this club in my opinion. Both shouldn't be in this XI. I probably said it last January and the one before (though at each time it was true) but this really is a monumental window for us. Fail and we best get used to fighting for Europa spots - at best. Succeed, and we may just be able to claw back those 6 points and get top four.
Europa league will be a very big issue. Players will want to leave while others won't want to come. The old WHL would get 26-28,000 fsns for EL group games with tickets priced at £15 for adults and £5 for kids so they'd have a real issue even half filling the new WHL! The clubs ticket pricing is pushing games way beyond the budgets of some fans...especially if you want to come with your kids. I have mentioned it before but being asked to pay over £90 for tickets for me and the teen beast to see us play Norwich on a Wednesday night in January is beyond a joke. The club has made the prices and sales policies (selling tickets for 3 games st a time) based on us doing well so there would be a huge demand but as we have struggled that has not happened for the "lesser" matches. It will only get worse next season if we do not have CL football. That is one reason for Enic and Levy to sanction a big round of spending this month. Huge swathes of empty seats can damage a club...Arsenal proved that over the past few years.
I'm at a stage now where I don't think I'd really care who left this club with the exception of Kane and Son (excluding the new boys), I also hold a lot of respect for Jan but his days at the top are decreasing, would've rather kept him than Toby any day though. Chances are they might possibly go if we do miss out on CL spots, though I do hold a small bit of hope that Jose's name holds enough weight to keep them for a further season should that indeed happen. The ticketing has been a joke and that's where my one huge gripe with Levy lies. Our loyalty is exploited and it ain't right. Already said if STs go up in price much further I'll be giving it up. Though if it wasn't for the fact that Europa does **** all for a club (unless you win it) I wouldn't mind going back into it, had some of the best nights down the The Lane playing some team from Whoknowsistan with the 1882 crowd, even if the stadium weren't full everyone would have a laugh and the atmosphere in general was great. Cheap tickets and an arranged area for people to chant all game in again - Where do I sign up!?
Pass map time please log in to view this image This confirms so many things wrong with the way our team is set up at the moment i.) Sissoko is playing as an ersatz right back due to Aurier going doolally whenever he received the ball, as while his playing that deep could be excused for a DM he absolutely should not be that far to the right, and the only reason he has to be is due to the huge gap being created by somebody paying tribute to the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service down the flank for ninety minutes 1a.) Lo Celso's positioning also implies that he was drifting out wide to cover the gaping chasm left by Aurier aiming for the nearest American aircraft carrier whenever he was on the ball, meaning that Aurier effectively managed to take two players out of the game - the problem is they were our players, not Southampton's ii.) Lucas' positional sense continues to be horrible, as he's occupying the exact same space as Kane and Alli which would require one of them to drift out wide as Lo Celso and Aurier are clearly more isolated compared to Sessegnon on the left flank iia.) The fact that Kane, Alli and Lucas all occupied the space where Alli would be expected to operate, while nobody was in the space Kane is expected to operate, goes a hell of a long way to explaining our lack of any real threat to Southampton's goal iii.) On the one hand Eriksen being open to receiving passes is a huge improvement on his non-performances under Poch, where he'd hide behind opposition defenders - but the fact his most common pass was all the way back to Toby is utterly ****ing ludicrous To put it bluntly, this is worryingly reminiscent of the Ramos era, where players all seemed unable to understand who they were actually supposed to pass to to transition our play into the final third
Please sir..........why is there a ****ing great big whole in the middle of the pitch where our midfield should be?
