Positives

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Spudulike

Spudulike

Well-Known Member
Aug 22, 2011
4,642
2,332
113
Planet Earth... usually
I know it's been a very bumpy ride this season (as widely predicted ever since we took the huge risk on AVB). It started off with so much hope and expectation. No club goes out to spend in excess of £100 on new players (regardless of net spends from sales) and has the kind of season we did. Over the past six months there's been a lot of pessimism from members on the board including myself, so to try to break that feeling of disappointment that another season of opportunity and hope has been once again shattered, let's look at some positives...

Cristian Eriksen - for me, the one buy who was worth his price tag and more. For the £11m we paid, he was a snip and I can only see him getting better and becoming more influential. Yes, his defensive work is suspect but with the right coaching staff in place next season (let's hope), he could become the complete player. With his committal attitude as well, we have to see him as the one shining example of a good buy who hopefully will stick around for a few years if we finally progress further and will become the clubs poster boy.

Hugo Lloris - most of us on this board rate him highly and he's saved our sorry arses several times in games when our back four simply looked woeful. Some feel he may be off this summer but I'm not so sure. It really depends on the next managerial appointment but I wonder if he should be given the captain's armband as a show of belief and to give him some food for thought? Perhaps with extra responsibly, he might decide to stay put. Not sure if goalkeepers tend to make good captains but as a way to get him to commit longer to us, it might be worth a shot to see how he responds.

Europa League - never thought I'd ever say this but if we miss out on European football, could it be a blessing in disguise? If, IF the club already has a successor verbally agreed then it's not an issue but Thursday night football in some far flung cities in Eastern Europe has killed our league performances. Under Harry we had one of our best seasons with no European football so next season could be the proper rebuilding project where we show our true capabilities and upset the big guns. So if we miss out, I won't be upset. If we do get UEFA Cup football, then blood the kids and reserves please! Chances of winning it and getting Champions League football are very remote so why risk an entire league campaign for an outside shot on that? Seems high risk to me.

Management - let's face it, can it get any worse? So let's be positive about this. If Levy and co can finally get their act together and realise that you can't go cheap when it comes to management and expect to strike gold, we may actually get someone of credibility who will be allowed the time to develop these young players e.g Erik Lamela, and turn us into a well oiled team that has the vital ingredients we've lacked when it's come to crunch games - belief, purpose and direction.

So come on lads, it's been a dodgy season but sometimes you have to break something to build it up again. COYS!
 
What we don't know, yet, is the damages caused to the squad, in terms of who wants out. If we can keep the core of our team - Lloris, Vertonghen, Sandro, Eriksen - then, I'll take 7th, and a fresh start to next season with a new manager.
 
Good post fla, a duff season for sure and so few games to get excited about, in fact I would struggle to pick out one decent game.

The Europa I think could be a benefit if we treat it in the right way. We should have a fair idea of our 'first eleven' and we should not be using them in the Europa. We have a big enough squad to easily make up two teams and that surely is what we should be doing until or if we reach the latter stages and start coming up against tougher opposition. As many have said there is little point in reaching the CL spots if we are not capable of handling the extra pressure.

Question: How do we have so many injuries:

M Dembele Hip/Thigh Injury no return date
S Ranieri Calf/Shin Injury 19th Apr 14
M Dawson Hamstring Injury no return date
R Soldado Hamstring Injury 19th Apr 14
J Vertonghen Ankle/Foot Injury 26th Apr 14
K Walker Groin/Pelvis Injury no return date
E Capoue Ankle/Foot Injury no return date
E Lamela Back Injury no return date
 
Spurf said:
How do we have so many injuries
Click to expand...

Fair point. Were the majority of these sustained on the playing field or in our new state-of-the-art training facility?

Hoddle Is A God said:
What we don't know, yet, is the damages caused to the squad, in terms of who wants out. If we can keep the core of our team - Lloris, Vertonghen, Sandro, Eriksen - then, I'll take 7th, and a fresh start to next season with a new manager.
Click to expand...

Verts seems to be the worrying factor for me. If he wants out, he'll make other heads turn so we need to nip that in the bud and sharpish! Get him to commit or cash in.
 
Eriksen has been the only real shining light for me. I was chuffed at signing him as he was a player I've hugely admired for some time, so seeing him stick on the lilywhite shirt and perform very well for the most part is great to see.

Most of Lloris' heroics has gone to waste as the defence have left him right in the ****ter, I wouldn't blame him if he wanted out, I really hope we can keep him as I think he's the best in the League, or at least on a par with Cech and so we won't find a better replacement.

Management, like Flaspur said - it can't get any worse. LVG will be a dream appointment but there are number of managers out there who I'd happily take.

Another positive for me is the emergence of a few youngsters. Bentaleb - despite the fact he's been overused - has still shown a lot of maturity for his age and given time, can possibly become a very good player indeed. Harry Kane has been on the fringes for a couple of years now and has still had to bide his time this season but he's got some very important goals for us, the extra time equaliser against Hull in the COC, the second against Sunderland to put us in the lead and then the second yesterday which contributed towards our dramatic comeback, still only 20 years old (which I think some people forget at times) I think he's a got a good future in front of him, even more so after his two recent starts which has shown he definitely has what it takes to play PL football. Zeki Fryers has also come on leaps and bounds, at first I was a bit sceptical of him both at LB and CB but as the season's progressed, he's shown a lot more to me to suggest he could have a definite future here, already looks better defensively at LB than Rose and his makeshift CB performances haven't been too shabby either.
 
I'm positive that Sherwood doesn't know what he's doing. Does that count?

Eriksen's been excellent, Lloris has often been outstanding, Adebayor's had a great second half to the season, Kane's showed glimpses of what he can do and Bentaleb's come through.
The players have shown individual quality and rescued results from awful tactics and clueless team selections, as our style of play has veered all over the place.
The fans haven't lost their sense of humour, especially away from home, though the atmosphere at the Lane is pretty poor.
That's about it, really.

I think that we have the basis of a very good squad, though it needs a little bit of work and we need a manager with the right vision.
We don't need too many adjustments to be back in with a shout at the top four next season, in my opinion.
 
pretty much agree with all of that, FLA, especially regarding Europa, and have made my opinion clear on other threads <ok>

Regarding Eriksen, I keep seeing comments about his defending being suspect....
If, however, he was played as a central attacking midfielder, we wouldn't be saying this. He's not got any defensive qualities, so why is he being used as a left midfielder and being asked to cover an inept LB? Why play to anyone's weaknesses? - which defending clearly is for Eriksen. Our most creative player should not be given the short straw and asked to do something that's not within his comfort zone. it just doesn't make any sense.
 
Exactly, Roo. Van der Vaart couldn't defend either, so we minimised the amount that he needed to do.
 
Positives...
1) the seasons nearly over
2) bale has already left so that transfer wont dominate the summer
3) only 4 more games to go
4) no avb
5)only 360 minutes of painful defending to endure
6) soon to be no more sherwood
7) soon everyone will be laughing at englands ineptitude instead of ours
 
Roo said:
Regarding Eriksen, I keep seeing comments about his defending being suspect.... Our most creative player should not be given the short straw and asked to do something that's not within his comfort zone. it just doesn't make any sense.
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Fair comment. I much prefer him centrally than out on the left. The law of averages show there will be games when he is shifted out there however, and becoming more aware of danger and defending from the front will make us a better team all round. Still, I don't think we should concentrate on that solely and instead, work on making him even more prolific up front and a danger to oppositions. He clearly is our most gifted player and his confidence is showing.
 
Exciting football, and goals, have returned.

The buys, overall, look good (ATM! If you sell your star for a lot of money, you want, first, to replace your star. It's early days, but I was just thinking Man City would be doing better if they had Eiriksen instead of Silva, which is a good sign. Second, you want something like a very good player or two, and a solid starter or two. That's more of a maybe at this point, but I think three or four of the six others will come good.)

We look like we'll be very good next year if (!) we get the right manager. The job has gone from a poison chalice to a poison chalice with the talent to create a brilliant team in the next 1-2 years.

The manager we now have may be the only one who would have turned a couple of obscure youth team players into people who look like mid-table starters with great potential to be more (ATM!)

Through two managers and all sorts of difficulties and disappointments, the team has shown good to excellent spirit, as demonstrated by leading the league in points from losing positions, and losing points from winning positions least often.

Ade has returned to being one of the PL's elite strikers (ATM!)
 
Sorry RWAEB, but Silva's on another level to Eriksen at the moment. I'm very impressed with our Dane, but you're comparing him to one of the best players in the world.
Can he get to that level in the future? I think so, but it won't be easy.
 
I wasn't trying to argue that Eiriksen's better, just that what Eiriksen's been doing really suits a team that needs a couple of goals pretty fast. He doesn't have the short passes into the box that Silva (and any number of other players have). I don't think he functions as well getting the team moving from a deeper position either. But what he can do, which is fire crosses and shots in with either foot from around corner of the box in open play and from free kicks, has looked tremendously effective at creating goals.
 
Ah, ok, I get you now, RWAEB.
His deliveries are exceptionally dangerous and hard to defend against.
Panic inducing stuff.
 
littleDinosaurLuke said:
Earlier this season the defence was helping out the misfiring strikers. Now the strikers are helping out the AWOL defence. That's a positive, isn't it?
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Not really, because it rather suggests that Sherwoodie doesn't know his arsehole from his elbow, Little Luke.
 
positives?
The full backs have been confirmed as sub standard .
Erik has been OK to good, compared to the others outstanding. We should not get carried away with
our only faint shining light.
This years club player of the year, personally should be withdrawn as nobody has been great.
Lioris has been overall consistently good with a rare cock up but the best from a bad bunch.

Positives after a calming herbal bath,
Naughton and Rose have potential for top 4 push.
Blood and guts Dawson should have a bronze statue erected at the new Spurs (2034) ground
opening, for his sterling service .
Ensembling a midfield of muscle Mary' s ( up to mid season ) will reinforce our standing in the pink community.
Stub hub are good value when you look at the bigger picture.
Levy is the best chairman on the planet if you look from one direction.
Decision making can only improve at top level.
No Europa football next season.
No player we sell will be such a catastrophe as over the last few, as they are all not that good.
Realistic expectations , that top 4 is unattainable in present climate.
Sainsbury's has some great 2 for 1 offers at the moment.
WHL has a micro climate.
Uncle Joe may pay us a visit.
Buy to sell really does work , just look at the accountants , the top 6 will die of envy .
As our silent petite Teflon Dan says to himself " I did it my way " , that has to be respected.

A thoughtful
Sid
 
Does anyone think the injuries might be exasperated because the players have no desire to be on the pitch with the way the team is playing and being managed?
 
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