Spot on. They’ve been in very good form. They play with a lot of commitment and energy, which can be hard to contend with unless the opposition are able to match it. They did the same thing to Utd at OT a couple of weeks ago. They have some good players too, which helps.
More money helps but it’s no guarantee to success and not the reason why Spurs were dire today. Look at Man Utd and the money they’ve spent on expensive flops.
Please don’t. But it’s not about expensive signings, it’s more to do with energy, commitment and desire. You don’t win games on the basis you produce half a dozen great moves or moments of skill in a game - you do it through 90 minutes if hard graft. It helps if you have skilful players able to retain the ball for 75% of the game, but even if you only have 25% possession, you can still compete if you put in the effort.
Also the issue with having 2-3 years of Poch having a squad with plenty of No8s and No10s yet never addressed our lack of a No6 when Wanyama fell apart, followed by four years of managers signing one No6 after another yet not addressing the squad was running out of both No10s and No8s And this seems to be a recurring issue where we have a glut in one area but a dearth in others
The season hasn’t been bad but it’s not been massively great either. No Europe yet not really seen any benefit to all the rest time they’ve had. Out of both cups really early too. Yes a lot of new players, manager and a new regime with a new style but it doesn’t mean we just ignore the poor performances and visible issues. I don’t think it harsh to be critical after that performance
Realistically we're still in a similar phase to Poch's first season, where he was trying to figure out what worked, what could be worked on, and what needed to be jettisoned, hence trying to get a tune out of Paulinho or Chiriches that season Of course the main issue is it was a lot easier for Poch due to a chunk of the squad that could have been jettisoned effectively talked themselves out the door so made the job somewhat easier...
He is significantly better than Bissouma, who needs to leave in the summer in order to fund an upgrade. Ange's high risk system needs total midfield control or it leaves the defense too exposed and often miles out of position. Sarr is as of yet too inexperienced to provide that control, while whoever plays alongside him seems to lack the authority and ability. I have hopes Bentancur will eventually fill that role but his injury record has to be a worry and we can't rely on him for an entire season. Skipp, Bissouma, Hojbjerg all not the right player.
Do you not think the manager needs to tinker and maybe play a bit safer as the PL is so competitive that it’s unlikely Spurs will have total midfield control in many games.
Wasn't aimed at you tbh...but I do think that sometimes you are too critical but it's all just a matter of opinions
Would be boring if we all thought the same. I’m only critical when there’s something to be critical of. Losing 3-0 to Fulham is never acceptable yet some here just seem happy to shrug it off.
You make a good point and I'm torn on it. I wrote a few weeks ago that I was simply astonished that we seemed to have less control of games recently than we did when half the squad was injured. The Villa game seems to have been the exception rather than the new rule, so I am still somewhat baffled. I'm mindful that there are more than a few similarities with Poch's first season in that we were also defensively wide open that year (we conceded more than anyone higher than 14th) and somewhat inconsistent. Like this season, you could see the thought process of what Poch was trying to do but it was pretty clear he lacked the players he needed to do it properly. Our summer of 2015 was crucial. Dele linked up with the team and we added Toby and Son and never looked back. We need a similarly effective summer coming up. No sweeping changes, just adding a couple of players to the first team (CM and ST imo) and a couple to the squad, and the rest of our focus should be on clearing our the horde of players out on perennial loan. There are also clear differences with the early Poch era. The league he built his project in was far weaker - City and Pool didn't really get going until he was 3 years in and Arsenal were irrelevant for the duration! So Ange has his work cut out far, far more than Poch did. Expectations are much higher this time, and that is reflected in the atmosphere on here after a bad performance. The positives imo are the fact that we've already scored more this season (59) than we managed in a much easier league in Poch's first (58), and that if we concede fewer than 11 goals in our remaining 10 games (tough but not impossible once Micky is back), we will have done better than Poch defensively too. And in a much tougher league and with half our defenders injured for a third of the season, that would be remarkable.
Right thing to say. Yea Fulham played well but today wasn’t acceptable and we can’t lower our standards to say it was or else we might as well give up
Bissouma is the biggest disappointment for me. Today was not a one-off poor performance. I feel for the guy if his malaria has impacted him, but his game has been well below par all season. And it's not just his fitness that has been affected: his decision making, control and passing have all suffered. He may never have been 'the answer', but at his best you could see his worth. This version only breeds doubt in those around him. The fact that Maddison was not 100% and Sarr chose today to have his worst game in a Spurs shirt just compounded the problem. We have over-achieved this season, but losing as we did today - even giving credit to Fulham for a strong performance - is disappointing. Says a lot for what Ange has actually achieved so far.
Bissouma has been poor for a long time, well before the malaria thing so that doesn't wash as an excuse. Even against Villa he was pretty poor and only looked better once Sarr started moving through the gears next to him. I'm hopeful Ange's thought process is that he has seen enough to know that Skipp and Hojbjerg aren't the future, and is now giving Bissouma a chance to prove himself before making a hard but necessary decision in the summer.
