No they do not have 'consistantly' good touch Spurf, thats WHY we're a mid table/best of the rest contender and no more, so we'll leave that their. I think you need to have a think about how many players do slot straight into teams. From RVP to Danny Rose, all playing well in their teams...not needing a season of 'bedding in' bullshit. Honestly mate, some of the excuses on this board are a joke!
Straight into a settled team is a little bit different. So not a joke. Who said a season? 6 games would be good. Talking of bullshit arguments! Fitting 'facts' to suit a mindset springs to mind.
Did Michu need bedding in? are Swansea settled? Spurf, I am not going to sit here and list to you all the transfers that have worked in various teams. Who is your last sentence aimed at? Because my mindset is based on the fact I initially mentioned, that Spurs have made more defensive clearances than any other team...maybe you missed that. My comment wasn't at you personally, but in general.
I can't believe that you don't think a player like Dembele need time with the team or rather the team needs time with him. Anyway I had missed your defensive comments. Of course my comments were aimed at you, you negative bastard.
Dembele?...apart from the understandable disruption caused by injury, in general he's been fine imo. What makes me laugh mate, look round at who needs to bed in....no-one imo, not now anyway. We have injuries yes, we've all seen that used as an excuse. Funnily enough its the same people saying that, that wanted to see the players we're seeing now used in rotation when the squad is fully fit! Yet all of a sudden we badly miss the players out! Well, they can't have it both ways!
So we take away injuries and bedding in time what are you saying? We are just bad! AVB does not know what he's doing! We don't have the players!
Can you really not see the difference between intentional rotation based on who we are playing and having to play the weaker players all the time because the better ones are injured?
So you're saying it's acceptable for a manager (who came with a reputation as a top coach) on £3million per year to take 3 months to recognise a 'possible weakness' which has been obvious to everyone else ??
Yes I can thanks, I can also see we've played a variety of opposition, strong and weak, plus you answer my question perfectly saying we have 'weak' players.
I don't see your analogy here. Iniesta is not a direct replacement or substitute for Messi - nor vice versa
No - I am saying that we've got a massively changed squad further decimated by injuries to key players so I don't expect perfection. Its ridiculous to say that we could easily solve this particular weakness without introducing other problems. If some other manager had been brought in and made decions that somehow got us into the same winning positions and also held on to them then we would be clear at the top of the league which would be miraculous with the players we've been using. It can't be as easy as that.
I am not saying anything is easy because our lack of mental strength is damn nigh imposible to coach into a player. But what is possible and should be fairly straightforward for a supposed top coach, is to know how to keep an advantage and to know how to prevent inviting the opposition to come at us as ha happened so often this season. Instead we see the same old baffling and often unneccessary substitution and the sitting back on a slender lead. As for injuries,all clubs have them and when one is for a player who has played no more than half a dozen games for us and another for a player who most people were indifferent about and another is for a player who for the last few months of last season was average anyway, there has to be a limit on how plausible this excuse is.
Add in unfit and unmotivated, no never say die, or siege mentality and you're not far out. The huddle before ko is the closest you see the team from thereon. As for why, i suspect something behind the scenes is amiss, but because I only suspect I'm not saying anymore. Football extends further than matchday and who goes where in whatever formation, and it doesn't take much to upset things.
It's point I made earlier. If you continually invite pressure on yourself, pressure is what you'll get. Eventually, something will give. When eventually comes depends on how good you are at parking your bus. Unfortunately, for us, we always seem to forget to put the handbrake on! It's always a gamble trying to sit on a one goal lead. Doubly so when you're not very good at it.
I agree that bringing on negative substitutes invites pressure, but our squad hasn't left Villas-Boas with a lot of options, at times. He's not had a fully match-fit striker on the bench all season, for example.
I think, PNP, as has been alluded to, he has to gamble more. Trying to park the bus on a one goal lead is not something we're any good at.
As I said, I agree. I'm not sure how he can though, given our current situation. If he wants to bring on extra attacking options, he's severely limited, to the point of virtually not having any or using extremely inexperienced players.
True, but then he'd be criticised for not making changes. Any subs he makes will almost automatically be negative.
