And I think its totally unrealistic to expect that vein of early season form to continue through a whole season, brushing allcomers aside as we did, it was bound to stall at some point, especially when half the decent back up is injured for most of the season, and the rest are not good enough. Its almost as if we were expected to do an 'Invincible'.
Yes, but it wasn't a small decline, it was a massive change in our form. We won only 2 in 11, starting with the calamitous performance against The Goons. it all just " happened" to coincide with all this Harry for England bollocks.
Yes, exactly. I wish people would stop repeating what has already been said. Yes, I accept that before the season started most would have settled for fourth place. Like Spurf, I think we have a great team, unfortunately with meagre back up - made worse by loaning out players like Pienaar. The point is, that we were thirteen points ahead of the Goons, and threw it away. Yes, all teams have ups and downs in a season, but this was a massive drop off in form, " coinciding" with "Harry for England" we MAYBE would have settled for fourth last August, but a couple of months ago there was all kinds of talk on here about grabbing the title. That's how far we have dropped off the pace!
In my eyes Redknapp is a victim of his own success (some victim) He has used his vast experience to build us a squad and adopted his pick 'em and let 'em play policy (which as I have said on a number of occasions I admire) and in doing so Spurs have reached a higher level. That higher level exposes Redknapps shortcomings (as IMHO the England job would have) at this level you simply can't ignore tactical nous. The differences become smaller but more crucial as you climb the ladder the top four rungs require a top, top manager (in all areas) to go on to win something. Spurs are not a small club living beyond their means. Spurs are in the top 11 richest clubs in the WORLD we are about to embark on building a brand new 60'000 seater stadium we SHOULD be up there fighting for championships and cups. Redknapp says we are in effect lucky to be up there (thanks to him) I think he thinks too small for a club like Spurs. Levy has a huge dream for Spurs he needs someone who shares it to manage the team for him.
Pienaar has always looked class at Everton, he fits in perfectly there but lets be honest he never really settled here and anyone saying Pienaar would have helped, are thinking of how he performs for everton. Yes you can say "he never got a chance" which is fair enough but not all players carry their form from club to club and I didn't see anything of the Pienaar we see playing for Everton.
Harry bigging himself up is par for the course, nowadays. If he issues one more "reminder" about where we were when he came in, I think I could strangle him. He refuses to acknowledge his limitations, and surrounds himself with people who tell him what he wants to hear. His attempts at impressing the FA should have told him something, but Harry has a skin like a rhinoceros, so I doubt he's taken any of his chastening experience on board.
You said. " he never got a chance" he probably would never be a regular in our current first eleven. However, a great sub to have on your bench, IMO.
The issue is that Redknapp prefers to keep things simple in regards to who he picks - he goes for the First XI, two or three players he can bring off the bench, and maybe a couple of youngsters that have potential to ease into the side. This system works perfectly well for a team with a smaller squad, as it keeps more or less everyone happy, but our squad isn't made up of 16 players, it's made up of 24 players. If we had 16 players we could operatewith the system of the First XI + Defoe, Sandro, Kranjcar, Dawson and Cudicini, but the larger the squad gets the more players get left out. There's also the issue that he seems reluctant to drop members of the First XI, judging by his solution to knowing Sandro needed playing time was to play Sandro and Parker in the team and adjust the system in doing so, when ahe could've just made a like-for-like swap. I can't help but think Hudds being ruled out for more or less the entire season helped Harry more than hindered him, as that was one less player he needed to worry about trying to fit into the team, making his job easier.
but thats the issue mate, he doesn't strike me as an impact player, he needs a run of games and needs to be settled in a team and then you will see his best form, which is why he would always perform for everton. For us, i get the impression he never felt like he fitted in the team and he struggled to produce.
I'm not so sure that's the case. Firstly, he was injured for most of the time he was with us. Also, I think he would have fitted in nicely on the left with Benny injured. In short, if he's willing to come back and play for us again, he should be given his chance. Whether Harry would allow him that chance, I don't know. It should also be remembered that he fits into Everton's system so well because that's what he's accustomed to. He never got a chance to fit in with our system.
No issue with him being given a chance but he has never produced for us like he did at Everton and unless he was given a run of games to settle then I don't see the point in having a player on the bench that we only rate for his performances for everton. Until I see him perform for us, then I won't be thinking "look what were missing". I'm sure you're aware that some players just don't carry their form to every club they go too, certain players can look world class at one club and decent at another. Anyhow Ill be surprised if he wants to return as I expect Moyes will want him to stay.
You'll never see him perform for us if he's not given a chance! He's never produced because he had such bad luck with injuries. We bought him on the basis of his performances for Everton, so why not have him on the bench on the same basis? I'm sure Moyes wants to keep him, he never wanted him to go. What Pienaar wants remains to be seen.
Aye, not doubting this but if arry felt he had a future then he wouldn't have let him go on loan, he has done this before, talked up the quality of players just before selling them and while Pienaar has always looked class for Everton, Arry clearly doesn't see a role for him.
If there's a better manager out there, hire him. I'd be in favor of a few--but no one I know of who's at all likely to come to Spurs. So long as there isn't, I'll look on the half full side of things and be glad Spurs managed to get fourth. As crushing as the loss of form was, Spurs deserve a lot of credit for getting 13 of the last 15 points. But I agree: you can't say this squad overachieved to get fourth. Spurs had the third best squad in the league. It will be harder to get third or fourth next year, especially if Adebayor doesn't stay. But so many things can happen. I feel confidence Levy will somehow get a squad together that can get the job done, and for that matter that they and Redknapp can get a top four spot again.
Depends what the guy was expecting. If he thought he was going to be a regular starter in our team, he hasn't thought about it too clearly. I've always liked him, and for what we paid, I thought he was a bargain. I still think he could do a job for us, given the chance. But, like you say, we might not see him again in Spurs colours.
I think that's just what Levy may do. I think he's been less than impressed with Harry boys' recent antics, and show of " loyalty" to the club that finally gave him a shot at the big time, after all those years at WHU, Southampton, and Portsmouth.
My view on the Pienaar thing is that he would have been worth holding onto rather than loaning back to Everton because he was a better option at covering either wing than the options we used. Pienaar is NOT better than Van der Vaart or Modric BUT he would be a better option than them on the wing because we automatically weaken two positions by playing VdV or Modric out of position. Not only do we have a player that is not accustomed to playing out wide but we also lost VdV and Modric from their original position. We lost VdV's creativity in the centre and lost Modrics controlling play when they were needed to cover. To me it's a no brainer. Play your players in their best positions no matter what. Only as a last resort do you ask them to do an unfamiliar job. Pienaar could have been the difference, that one more point. Now we'll never know......
