Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United

No one, I was delighted with our summer business. Though as PNP, Hudd, Myself and others have mentioned on the transfer thread, the signings we've made need to be the start of something not a one off and we need to address the concerns at CB and CM moving forward.

No Winks needs to be binned. Sentimental bullshit doesn't get the club anywhere. Though no doubt you'll try telling me he's the fifth best CM in the league based on some bizarre metric thing again like you did a year or so ago.

 

I disagree. Jumping in on a player in the act of shooting is one of the few things deserving of a penalty. Much more so than a slightly mistimed challenge on a player nowhere near the goal.

 

Our midfield not sitting on a 3-0 lead was the issue, and this is where the singling out of Winks is bloody ridiculous, as he wasn't on the pitch to snuff out anything trying to get through - Hojbjerg and Sissoko were, and it has to be said Sissoko was having as much of a mare as Sanchez was

And this is the issue: having to keep on Sanchez due to a lack of a CB on the bench is one thing (a bloody annoying thing, but still...) but on the other hand Winks could've replaced Sissoko and, while Ndombele would've probably been in an iron lung at full time, it's better to have a knackered player who's performing on the pitch than a fit one who is playing badly

 

I don't mind you disagreeing on how good he is, but I think Pochettino, Mourinho and Southgate are more likely to be right than either of us. I object to any player being subject to abuse from fans

 

People are tired of Winks because he's ****. He's singled out and scapegoated because he's often a catalyst to something bad. Jose's as much to blame for bringing him and I've already said this result is on Jose but Winks was certainly not blameless, his stupid touch into Lanzini was the first assist he's made in about 18 months, unfortunately it was for the wrong side. At that minute of the game, punt the ball up the field instead of trying to play it out.

 

No, he's singled out and scapegoated because he's singled out and scapegoated

Dier and Winks are our lightning rods for this season, which has been abundantly clear on Reddit and Twitter all season, so when anything goes wrong it's a matter of seconds before somebody is blaming them - even when other players are deserving of the flak, be it Sanchez or Sissoko today, or Toby for what feels like this entire calendar year, but they get the benefit of the doubt and/or let off the hook because it's easier to moan at the designated whipping boy

 

I'm sorry but that's such a cop out and not the first time you've gone to that. "I'm sure the manager(s) knows best", what's the point of debating if that's always going to be your fall back?

 

Do you honestly believe that? Because I think maybe you've skipped a lot of posts if so, not just today.

 

Yes, I honestly believe that. Let me show you why with one simple question

Were we in control of the match between the 46th-72nd minute?

If we were, then blaming the entire result on Winks makes sense
If we weren't...that is why I honestly believe the reason Winks is blamed and scapegoated is because he's blamed and scapegoated. Because he is.

 

I’ve disagreed strongly with DH about Winks in the past, and while I’m leaning towards his view of Winks more generally now, I don’t think you can massively lay the blame for this loss on him. Yes we lost control of the midfield when Tanguy went off but the defending for the first two goals was abysmal. Winks is no more at fault than Bale for missing his chance or Kane for not bending his shot quite so much when it hit the woodwork.

On players getting singled out on here, I don’t have too much of a problem with it. Mainly because I highly doubt DH or others are going on Twitter and tweeting **** to Winks or any other player, and I know the majority of posters on here don’t boo Spurs players at games when they attend. If it gets so bad that the level of discussion on here drops then that’s an issue but I don’t think we’re at that stage.

 

Sanchez has gotten **** for the own goal and his calamitous defending.
Toby has gotten **** for about two years for his calamitous defending.
Winks got **** because he came on, gave West Ham more licence to go forward because the one player causing them problems through the middle (along with Kane) was taken off and he proceeded to hit a pathetic touch into Lanzini in the 94th minute of the game instead of going for a punt up the pitch.
It's also why Jose has gotten **** for making such a stupid substitution which essentially proved more costly than he could've imagined.

So that's why Winks is being scapegoated, not because he's just being scapegoated, because he laid on the assist for Lanzini's belter and offered **** all when coming onto the pitch, as he often does whenever he's on it.

 

Read my post again. Debate all you like but don't insult our players. And at least try to understand why the managers pick him. I probably have a lower opinion of Aurier than you have of Winks but I restrain myself from calling him names

 

So you don't think we had control of the game between the 46th and 72nd minute then?

Dodging the question makes it all the more obvious

 

I don't lay all the blame on Winks for the draw, I'm just sick to death of him in general as more or less every game he just offers next to nothing and I'm honestly tired of it, there's zero enjoyment watching him play for this football club. Though I hate our CBs almost as much as Winks, it just doesn't really get reflected as much as I fully appreciate I'm the anti-Winks man .

I'm happy to allow Bale off the hook because essentially that was his first appearance for us and he's clearly not fully match fit. I definitely won't lay any blame on Kane for hitting the post though, that would've been an incredible goal had it gone in and after the way he played again he was simply let down by others on the pitch, as was Son and Tanguy.

 

We didn't have proper control of the flanks at any point. West Ham had had more chances than us at every point in time.

 

Like how you've dodged all the Sanchez and Toby critics?

Cool

 

I can read it 100 times, it's not the first time you've referred back to the whole manager knows best, or the manager picks him for a reason remark.

I'll insult him as much as I like. He won't read my comments on here.

 

I hope he bloody doesn't!

 

Be funny if he does, it'd be written in the stars that he then proceeds to bang a 90th minute winner against Arsenal and lift up his shirt with "how you like me now, DH?!" written on his chest underneath.

 

He'll hunt you down. You've said where you sit and now he's just waiting for fans to be allowed back in.