Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham

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Better players are more consistent. Better players cost more money though. So the only way to get more consistent players is to have more money to spend. It will be a few seasons more until our squad is in the top three. There are no palatable shortcuts

It’s too simplistic to say that.
 
both wolves and Fulham are so similar. Some weeks they turn up, others they are abysmal. Unfortunately we caught both on weeks where it was the former.[/QUOT

I agree.Fulham played like league leaders today.......like Luton tomorrow!
 
I am not looking at our squad I am looking at a terrific performance from Fulham. They could have beaten anybody here today playing like that. Hats off to them.
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.
 
Squads always need improving but inconsistency is the by product of young players. World beaters one week and league 2 the next. You don't judge players on the back of a game like that, or the Villa one at the other end of the scale. Ange will build consistency over time and that will include tweaks to the squad. What we lack is a midfield enforcer (most teams do). MacKay, Viera, Keane this is the one type of player that can get you through games like that. Rice is making the difference at Arsenal. I thought Bisouma would be that man for us, but Malaria may have finished him (I hope not) We may need to try and find another.

Again I agree... think some spurs fans are way too critical of Ange and our season
 
Look at Man Utd…….

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.
 
Squads always need improving but inconsistency is the by product of young players. World beaters one week and league 2 the next. You don't judge players on the back of a game like that, or the Villa one at the other end of the scale. Ange will build consistency over time and that will include tweaks to the squad. What we lack is a midfield enforcer (most teams do). MacKay, Viera, Keane this is the one type of player that can get you through games like that. Rice is making the difference at Arsenal. I thought Bisouma would be that man for us, but Malaria may have finished him (I hope not) We may need to try and find another.
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
 
Again I agree... think some spurs fans are way too critical of Ange and our season

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
 
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...
 
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Squads always need improving but inconsistency is the by product of young players. World beaters one week and league 2 the next. You don't judge players on the back of a game like that, or the Villa one at the other end of the scale. Ange will build consistency over time and that will include tweaks to the squad. What we lack is a midfield enforcer (most teams do). MacKay, Viera, Keane this is the one type of player that can get you through games like that. Rice is making the difference at Arsenal. I thought Bisouma would be that man for us, but Malaria may have finished him (I hope not) We may need to try and find another.

Again I agree... think some spurs fans are way too critical of Ange and our season
 
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I'm of the opinion we need Hoejberg starting. His experience and intelligence is badly needed in midfield.

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.
 
Ange's high risk system needs total midfield control or it leaves the defense too exposed and often miles out of position.

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.
 
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
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
 
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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.

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.
 
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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. <doh>

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. :emoticon-0148-yes:
 
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. <doh>

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. :emoticon-0148-yes:

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.