Rival watch

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Hoddle Is A God said:
This is the difference between us and those that actually belong in the top 4, namely that they appear to be able to get the big results when they need them and we simply cannot. If Arsenal beat United they will finish top 4, and we will need to win (no draws) all of our remain fixtures, including our game against Chelsea, in order to stand a chance, and I have little faith that we'll manage that with our lack of fire-power. It's all so predictable and so very frustrating.
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It is very frustrating but it's inevitable when you see just how much we rely on the same core group of players season after season, to win us matches or get us out of trouble. It's always Defoe, Lennon and Bale - players that have been at the club for ages. When is anyone else going to step up and show some backbone, some drive and some fire in their belly?

The players we got in this season on the whole have been a huge disappointment to me. Dembele is the most disappointing. Languid, gives the ball away, very few goals and hasn't shown any leadership or ability to dictate matches. No replacement for Modric. Dempsey just isn't a Spurs player but at least he tries hard and puts in a shift. Sig is okay but again, looks to be a utility player, not an enhancement. Holtby is useful but still young and developing. Adebayor... let's not even go there.

Only Verts and Lloris have improved us.

All of our rivals bring in players that improve the squad, create competition and depth. They look like natural winners in their mentality and style of play. We look like we are always chasing and playing catch up. It's so annoying but it's the way it has always been at Spurs since I've supported them. And so as usual, we bottle it when it comes to the business end of the season.....
 
Actually, that isn't a bad result for us! We can still finish above both Chelsea and Arsenal if we win all of our remaining games.

Our fate remains very much in our own hands.
 
Hoddle Is A God said:
Actually, that isn't a bad result for us! We can still finish above both Chelsea and Arsenal if we win all of our remaining games.

Our fate remains very much in our own hands.
Click to expand...



Ah, actually, no. We'll lose to Chelsea on goal-difference, assuming they can beat United, of course.
 
Hoddle Is A God said:
Actually, that isn't a bad result for us! We can still finish above both Chelsea and Arsenal if we win all of our remaining games.

Our fate remains very much in our own hands.
Click to expand...

True of Arsenal, not Chelsea, even if we win at SB. Unless we win by several goals of course.
 
So, another week and another dubious decision gifts one of our opponents a result, albeit only a draw this time.
How many dodgy decisions have Arsenal got at their place in recent weeks?

Chelsea pick up their 11th penalty in the league this season, averaging out at roughly one every three games, whereas we haven't got one in 34. Have we upset someone?
Definite penalty, though. Very stupid decision by Britton.
 
Is this site working properly again?

Arsenal were lucky today. Not only the ref's decisions in their favour, but when Utd got going their defence was all over the place. Every richochet, deflection, 50/50 ball seemed to go their way. They might have enough to see off the lesser teams eventually with their late goals (where would they be without those?), but you can see why they are usually second best against the top sides.

Were the boos really for Utd and RvP or were they a comment on their own team?
 
flaspur said:
It is very frustrating but it's inevitable when you see just how much we rely on the same core group of players season after season, to win us matches or get us out of trouble. It's always Defoe, Lennon and Bale - players that have been at the club for ages. When is anyone else going to step up and show some backbone, some drive and some fire in their belly?

The players we got in this season on the whole have been a huge disappointment to me. Dembele is the most disappointing. Languid, gives the ball away, very few goals and hasn't shown any leadership or ability to dictate matches. No replacement for Modric. Dempsey just isn't a Spurs player but at least he tries hard and puts in a shift. Sig is okay but again, looks to be a utility player, not an enhancement. Holtby is useful but still young and developing. Adebayor... let's not even go there.

Only Verts and Lloris have improved us.

All of our rivals bring in players that improve the squad, create competition and depth. They look like natural winners in their mentality and style of play. We look like we are always chasing and playing catch up. It's so annoying but it's the way it has always been at Spurs since I've supported them. And so as usual, we bottle it when it comes to the business end of the season.....
Click to expand...

Always playing catch up, everything you say is spot on.
 
They were booing van Persie for getting their hopes up before the game:

[video=youtube;vGMRncDKrdY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGMRncDKrdY[/video]

Nearly walked into the wrong dressing room! <laugh>
 
I don't think anyone expected Arsenal to get a point against United so I'd say that's a pretty poor weekend for us overall.

We haven't caught anyone up and to top it off, QPR went and got relegated prior to their match against Arsenal - that'll mean their heads will drop even further and they'll be easy pickings next week.
 
flaspur said:
It is very frustrating but it's inevitable when you see just how much we rely on the same core group of players season after season, to win us matches or get us out of trouble. It's always Defoe, Lennon and Bale - players that have been at the club for ages. When is anyone else going to step up and show some backbone, some drive and some fire in their belly?

The players we got in this season on the whole have been a huge disappointment to me. Dembele is the most disappointing. Languid, gives the ball away, very few goals and hasn't shown any leadership or ability to dictate matches. No replacement for Modric. Dempsey just isn't a Spurs player but at least he tries hard and puts in a shift. Sig is okay but again, looks to be a utility player, not an enhancement. Holtby is useful but still young and developing. Adebayor... let's not even go there.

Only Verts and Lloris have improved us.

All of our rivals bring in players that improve the squad, create competition and depth. They look like natural winners in their mentality and style of play. We look like we are always chasing and playing catch up. It's so annoying but it's the way it has always been at Spurs since I've supported them. And so as usual, we bottle it when it comes to the business end of the season.....
Click to expand...

I've said for years Levy has been weakening your squad. Given your wage bill and transfer spend combined I think you are overachieving but the fact that the quality of the league has declined so much has meant Levy has been able to get away with it whilst keeping you competitive. Your squad of 5 or even 3 years ago IMO would have comfortably made top 4. Your point about the core players is a valid one. Lennon and even Bale have been unlucky with injury at crucial points and the lack of options out wide have meant your more central players have had to take of those roles. If Bale, Lennon, Dawson or Defoe get injured there isn't anywhere near the quality to replace them. (I think all Spurs fans would agree G*llas, Adebayor & Dempsey aren't up to it). In previous years I'd Defoe was out of form, any one from Pavlyuchenko, Keane or even Bent could replace him. If Bale got injured in comes Kranjcar or even Pienaar (last season).
 
I believe we've always had a top midfield. In recent seasons, our Defence has been developed and we're not as suspect as we used to be, although injuries to key players (Dawson and Kaboul) has rocked us this season.

Where we have been failing is up front. All of us Spurs fans have, to a man almost, been crying out for the club to sign s marque striker, someone who is going to guarantee us goals. Neither Ade nor Defoe guarantee us goals. Sure, Defore has had pockets of good form, but he's been far too inconsistent for the past three seasons, and it has been a long time now since I have lost confidence in him to take us forward. If we had a decent striker last season and this season, I truly believe that we would have been able to content for the title, and we certainly wouldn't be in this scrap for a top 4 place. I believe that both AFC and CFC have been poor these past two seasons and were there to be taken (although we did take CFC last season), but our lack of goals from our strikers has cost us dear, in that regard.
 
I believe we've always had a top midfield. In recent seasons, our Defence has been developed and we're not as suspect as we used to be, although injuries to key players (Dawson and Kaboul) has rocked us this season.

Where we have been failing is up front. All of us Spurs fans have, to a man almost, been crying out for the club to sign s marque striker, someone who is going to guarantee us goals. Neither Ade nor Defoe guarantee us goals. Sure, Defore has had pockets of good form, but he's been far too inconsistent for the past three seasons, and it has been a long time now since I have lost confidence in him to take us forward. If we had a decent striker last season and this season, I truly believe that we would have been able to content for the title, and we certainly wouldn't be in this scrap for a top 4 place. I believe that both AFC and CFC have been poor these past two seasons and were there to be taken (although we did take CFC last season), but our lack of goals from our strikers has cost us dear, in that regard.
 
Our problem is we don't know when to capitalise... instead we capitulate. When our rivals slip up, we should be ruthless but we don't seem to have that streak in us. That can only come from the manager and his mentality; how he translate tactics and our overall style of play to the squad. AVB is less than a season in so he needs time. Hopefully he will start to build a squad and a team that reflects what he really wants and how he wants us to play. We'll see though.

Over to you Mr. Levy and your chequebook. Not holding my breath though (as usual)...
 
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