God that 3rd goal is so, so bad when you see it again. Romero and Porro not expecting that cross at all and totally static but how the guy is allowed to get the cross in at all is quite frankly criminal.
The fundamental problem is that once we've lost control of a game, we don't have the players and specifically the CMs to wrestle it back again. Once it's gone, it's gone, which has and will lead to collapses like we've just seen. It doesn't look like Ange trusts Bissouma or Sarr to be the answer, and I personally don't think it is Bentancur either. He is totally invisible whenever we play decent teams. And if the long term answer is Archie Gray, why is it that whenever he plays, it's anywhere but CM? This area needed urgent attention last season and the need has only gotten more urgent imo.
I know everyone is gonna be really negative about this result but think it's worth bearing a few things in mind. 1. Despite his age Ange is only in his 13th month of actual Premier league management. I know Celtic are a big club but the SPL is a poor league, as is the Japanese and Australian league which were his only other experiences. He's gonna screw up like this sometimes as he learns. 2. The team is in a very similar situation as our 2014-15 spurs team. Some lovely football but some appalling matches too. But the squad grew and learned from the experience. Beat West Ham with 10 men, beat QPR 4-0, lost at home to Liverpool 0-3, west brom 1-2, drew away to Arsenal, lost at city 1-4 and at home to stoke 0-1, Newcastle 1-2 and lost 3 nil away to Chelsea. We also beat Chelsea 5-3, Arsenal 2-1 but lost to Palace. This season is looking similar. 3. We have changed our style of football and our transfer policy in that past 15 months. It's going to take time. There ain't a quick fix...Jose and conte proved that. My fear is that we are only a few games away from panicking. Arteta did win the FA Cup in his first season but 20-21 (failed to qualify for Europe and finished below us ) and 21-22 (blew top 4 from a certain position by losing 3 nil to us and 2 nil to toon in the last week of the season) saw their fans demanding change. Unfortunately the gooner board stuck with him. I wish I was so sure that our board will do the same.
Last season IMHO is his 2014-15. Now I scrutinise him by my 'law of 2' . Either he significantly pushes on (as BMJ/Arry/Pochettino did) , or he suffers the fate of his Portu-ball predecessors (gamblers may want to check the odds on him being gone by Dec or Feb or 2/3 of the season) .
This is where I differ. I still think this squad and manager are miles off a European trophy. You need a consistency that Spurs lack. There is just as many downs as ups. 7 league games and 3 wins and 3 losses. Beating Coventry, Qarabag and Ferencvaros can’t really be regarded as ups.
I don’t think Ange should be under any pressure right now. The thing that is the most frustrating is I genuinely think we are close to being a really good team. Aside from the top 3 I don’t think there is much in it between teams like Chelsea, Villa, Newcastle and us. It’s just the inconsistency and mentality which is the killer. That why, as others have said, a cup run is our best chance of any success. I would happily put up with an inconsistent season in the league if we were to win any trophy. Thats where we are now. A trophy could change the whole mindset of the club and help us push on. The fact we are perennial bottlers is embedded in the club and we need to get over that line first and then hopefully the rest will fall into place.
We didn't lose for any of the reasons cited. The three goals were all due to individual errors...five between them and three from Udogie. There is nothing that the manager can do about that during a match so it was quite reasonable to not make changes
This is the kind of thing that happens with young teams. We have to be patient I think it will be worth it.
This season is going to be a bumpy ride. We're not good enough, in some areas, to play the high risk/reward game that Ange wants. Strap yourselves in. There's no point in sacking yet another coach in their second season and I hope Levy doesn't...even though the most suitable coach (Potter) is available. I'm expecting us to get gubbed in/chuck away games from time to time. It's part of the process of building a young team...
Been saying this for a while and I'm still a bit dumbfounded that it was not addressed in the summer..
Van de Ven, Udogie and Bentancur made the mistakes that lost us the match. They need support not vilification.
14/15 was Poch’s first season though, this is Ange’s second, if we’re comparing the two then immediately it puts Ange on a downer because we should be better than another manager’s first year, especially as Ange has spent (even taking into account inflation differences) far more than Poch had spent. If we then compare it with Poch’s second season, we’ve lost 3 league games already in our first 7, it took us until the 21st game of 15/16 to lose our 3rd league game. I’d also say that with Poch, we saw steady progression from his first season through to about season three and it’s what always kept fans happy as even in tough times there were signs of “something good was around the corner” with him. The first notable improvement was fitness. Then defensive cohesion and then general improvement in our play. For as much as Ange’s idea of football is great to get behind, this team at present is no better than last season, not even marginally. Defensively we’re still an absolute mess, today in fairness was probably the first time I’d blame the players more than the system for the defensive catastrophe but nonetheless it feels like a recurring theme of bemoaning about our defensive issues. I don’t want Ange gone, far from it even if I don’t think he’s doing as good as he should be, but at the same time I know how this football club operates under this ownership, if European qualification is looking beyond reach around Feb/ March, the manager’s almost certainly gone.
Bentancur probably needs upgrading. He's supposedly in his peak years and is now in his fourth season with the club. Whether it's due to injuries, suspensions or plain ability, he has never shown the consistency we need to reach the next level.
Extremely bumpy, but it is the manner of that defeat that kicks you in the gut. Having said that I would be astonished to see any sackings unless it seriously spiralled out of control....
