That will only happen if we are in the bottom 3 and levy has no option but to agree...like with redknapp
Fazio's only just signed and has been thrown into a constantly changing backline in a new country, in a new league, in a new language and people are already writing him off. Chiriches was out injured for about six months and underperformed when he returned to the same situation, when the defence is utterly unsettled. I wouldn't offer the same defences for Kaboul's form, as he's been playing badly for quite some time, but the switches aren't helping anyone. Sides that defend well are generally well drilled, well organised, have consistent selection and use the same basic system week in, week out. We've not got any of that, so we'll perform badly whoever we pick.
two clerances from Fazio yesterday were shocking straight to the opposition,and still in the area,even when Hugo was calling for the ball
He didn't have a good game. Nobody did. Is I pointed out somewhere, it was his second game of the week and the two had virtually nothing in common, besides poor performances. Against Asteras he was paired with Vertoghen and played on the right of the two. Dier and Davies were at fullback, Vorm was in goal and Stambouli and Dembele were in front of him. Against Stoke he was paired with Kaboul and played on the left of the two, before switching at half-time. Naughton and Rose were at fullback, Lloris was in goal and Capoue and Mason were in front of him. Hardly surprising that he's struggling to settle in under those conditions, really. Failing to communicate is probably fairly predictable too, as I don't think that he speaks English and none of those around him appear to speak Spanish. Consistency of selection would mitigate this factor, in my opinion, but that doesn't happen.
Its too early to write Fazio off IMO. On De Boer TMT, yes he has won 4 Dutch League titles and a Dutch Super Cup (basically a Community Shield) too with Ajax. The caveat to this achievement is that he is Ajax born and bred, he knows the club inside out. He'd be coming into a completely unfamiliar environment here, new club, new league, outside his Ajax comfort zone. Plus, while winning the Erevisidie with Ajax is without doubt a worthy aim for any Dutchman who has an affiliation with the club, its a completely different kettle of fish when compared to succeeding in the PL and other competitions with Spurs. I'm not rubbishing FDB here, he appears to be a talented young coach, as indeed did Pochettino based on his record. But I don't think its right to say that he would necessarily have succeeded at Spurs where Pochettino is experiencing very limited success, if not failure.
I can't either. Nobody is perfect. I've namechecked LVG on here a few times today but even when there were signs last season that he might be incoming we were all aware of his problems with falling out with people at his previous clubs. I usually loathe to have a pop at other people's ideas on here when I don't have my own alternative to put forward, but I don't have one right now. Actually, there's a young English manager with Spurs connections out of work right now. He won the PL as a player and was capped by England, and isn't afraid of falling out with big names if he has to. Tim Sherwood? (I'm only half joking)
De Boer would've had one big advantage over Pochettino and that's his familiarity with managing a side that's in Europe. He'd also be well received by two of our bigger name players, as he coached them at Ajax. His English appears to be far better than our current manager. [video=youtube;AWQRviTo43U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWQRviTo43U[/video] No idea why he's impersonating Steve McClaren, though.
Probably the most galling thing for me is that had we won yesterday we'd be well placed, regardless of performances. As it is we're in a totally unacceptable position playing football that's getting worse and worse. One small point that sums it up for me is when Kane tried to smash the freekick under the wall right near the end. Stoke aren't idiot enough to jump in that situation and I hope none of ours would be, but it's hard to know the limit of our stupidity. It doesn't mean you can't do it though but Kane needs to be communicating, he should've sent 2 players into the wall if it was on his mind. Infact, do it anyway, all it can do is unsettle them and maybe wind them up to do something dumb. There was a lack of ideas on the pitch and a lack of communication, if the players aren't going to show any brains then it's up to Pochettino to hold their hands and walk them through the basics until they learn to think for themselves.
If the players are so bad, how was Sherwood winning at a greater rate with them than any other Spurs manager has with any other group of players? A bad set-up, and players who unsurprisingly don't believe in it, seems a likelier explanation. I'm not saying the players don't deserve criticism for not doing their best to carry out what Pochettino wants to do. I am saying that even when they did this, earlier in the season, it didn't work. The problems have been that we haven't scored enough, our width has been nonexistent, our buildup has generally been too slow, and we've left ourselves wide open to getting hit on the break by having players try to pressure the other team past our own halfway line. Sherwood (as well as Harry) played a 4-4-2. Sherwood's teams sat back to a considerable degree. (They looked slightly comatose while doing it, but they sat back nevertheless). The other team tended to be the ones to get forward. Sherwood's teams hit them on the break, with Ade, Eriksen and Kane scoring freely. Pochettino played two strikers against Aston Villa. I hoped he was moving towards something like what Sherwood did last year, which in turn was like what Harry did. Instead he reverted to the one striker, inverted wingers, get forward no matter what strategy that's had no success in the PL this year. PNP, I'll grant you're right about us not playing a high line yesterday. My point is that Pochettino's system is working less and less. The only thing that distinguishes it from AVB's 4-2-3-1 is that it now looks worse than AVB's system ever did. I don't think it ever was a good idea in the PL, at least, though undoubtedly some groups of players have made it work. The team that sits back has the strategic advantage. Pressing should only be done briefly near the opponents' goal, and, again, when the other team has crossed the halfway line--in other words, when a sudden change of possession is more of a benefit for you, and a risk for the opposition. Lamela did have some embarrassing moments yesterday. Lamela assisting Chadli may be about the only thing going well for us now, though (unless Kane can continue scoring), so I'm inclined to give both a free pass on their other failings.
Pressing only works if the whole team commits to the idea of doing it, are fit enough to sustain the effort, and are intelligent/well coached enough to know when they should be doing it. Otherwise teams just play around you, exploiting the holes the pressing players leave. Regardless of whether anyone actually thinks that using a high press is an effective way to play football (I happen to think it can be but I know others disagree) surely it is clear that the players at Spurs generally fulfil none of the 3 criteria above right now. Either that or Pochettino isn't going to use a pressing system here, but given that he has spoken in pretty much every interview he has given while at Spurs about "our philosophy, our way of playing" etc. then I find it unlikely that he isn't trying to coach the players to press more and higher up the pitch. Which means that either a) the players need to be fitter to do it, b) the players need more time on the training field to understand when to press as a team and when to sit off or c) the players are not following Pochettino's instructions on the pitch because they can't be arsed. Sadly a, b and c are all equally probable right now IMO, which means that if Pochettino is to succeed at Spurs he needs more time and to either change some of the players' attitudes, or change some of the players. Of course he also needs the backing of Levy et. al., and this could be the major sticking point.
Or in other words, let's play to the strengths of the manager, rather than the strengths of the players. Crazy in my view and smacks of computer games. If you are going to do this the manager has to have carte blanche to buy the players he wants for his 'system' this is just not practical unless you are Man C., Chelsea, Man U, Real Madrid, Barcelona and maybe Bayern Munich and PSG. Most football teams have to work within a budget and that, don't forget, includes wages. The alternative is to consider the skills and expertise of the players at your disposal and play to their strengths.
I don't disagree with you. The only way Pochettino was/is going to be a success at Spurs is if he came in and found a squad of players who could do what he wanted them to do - as he seemed to do at Southampton - or if Levy did as you say and gave him carte blanche to buy the players he wanted. The latter didn't materialise over the summer (Schneiderlin -> Stambouli, Musacchio -> Fazio etc.) and as much as Pochettino appeals to me in many ways, there are clear doubts about his ability to adapt his own style to players who can't/won't do all of what he wants. He either needs major backing in January or to quickly show adaptation from his point of view, and I'm dubious about either of those happening right now.
Didn't Pochettino actually struggle when he first joined Southampton? Something like 4 wins in his first half a season at the club, IIRC.
Playing two strikers got a win (albeit a fluky one) against Aston Villa. Sitting back at Arsenal got a good result. Pochettino's normal system has got one fluky win at West Ham, a demolition of QPR when everyone was demolishing them, and losses to Stoke, Newcastle, Man City and Liverpool, as well as a draw at Sunderland. Worse, the performances have gone from decent to abysmal. So when Pochettino has modified his system, we've done (relatively) well, and when he's stuck with it, we've done poorly. Yes. I didn't see at the time, then misread the following article. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/fo...erable-afternoon-for-Mauricio-Pochettino.html
Poch is not stupid . He must have realized there was little chance of any of his 1st choices but cheaper second rate options . That is the ENIC way. He only had to look back , so he was brought in to promote academy players and get the best out of Levy's flops , so hopefully they could be sold on for eventual profit . His hands were tied but he Knew that . He decided to dance with the devil but in the case of Spurs evil always wins .
Let's look at Chelsea at present as the best performing team in the PL and what things give them the edge - aside from huge sums to spend on players, of course! They were 20+ points off the pace two years ago whilst still spending fortunes, so there's more to consider than just money. 1. A manager who knows his mind and has autonomy over all aspects of the playing squad, although he can delegate tasks to others and has assistance and advice re transfers, wages etc. 2. A relatively settled group of players, most of whom have been at the club for two years or more. What additions there have been have the choices of the manager to target areas of the team which needed improving. The deadwood (17 players including former stalwarts of the club) was shipped out in the summer bringing in revenue of £75M as well as taking some big earners off the wage bill. 3. The team has a settled 4-2-3-1 formation. Players come in and out of the team, but the players on the pitch play a set formation and employ set tactics. The defence is rarely changed. The back four are very organised; they play as a unit; they are led by a very experienced player in Terry who ensures the others hold their positions and can be the voice of the manager on the pitch. They are drilled in defending set pieces and in eliminating the gaps that can appear between defenders in less competent defences. Most of this comes down to work on the training ground. The defence is also shielded by two midfielders - one defensively minded, one who can distribute or retain the ball from deep. They always play three more advanced midfielders whose roles are more fluid, but who are principally expected to find space created by the lone striker going forward or to form a midfield five across the middle when defending. The lone forward is a goalscoring target man, who occupies opposition defenders. 4. The players generally show a high workrate. They are committed to working hard off the ball. They are making less errors than any other team as a result. 5. Players workloads are managed. There are rarely wholesale changes in the team, but the manager is able to change 3 or 4 players quite regularly because the team structure is strong. It obviously helps that Chelsea have some very good players, but the key to success is the way they are managed. The autonomy of the manager ensures the players deliver the best they can. 1-5 above is not rocket science; in fact it involves some basic principles. It just involves the manager having control, the players trusting in the manager, having structure, discipline and organisation on the pitch and knowing how to manage your resources off it. Success in the PL is less to do with superior skills than hard graft and organisation. Skills are the icing on the cake.
Just saw your post LDL. I don't disagree with any of it, but the big question is why Chelsea are so much better organized than anyone else this year when everyone is trying to follow more or less the same principles, and one, at least, (Man City) has many if not all the same advantages. I would argue that every team (but Chelsea so far this year) has had big swings which affect their confidence. QPR were beyond awful against us, but in their last game had the better of it for much of the time against Man City. Chelsea look far better than anyone else partly because they haven't had a bad patch yet. On the other hand, if Kane had put away his first header, we might very well have had a comfortable win (even if another wretched loss was slightly more likely...) There are a couple of crucial differences, I think. Avoiding relegation at Southampton would have been seen as a great achievement. Southampton's players hadn't (mostly) had a negative experience with the 4-2-3-1 inverted wingers high press, as the ones here have. Because of the bad experience, it may be hard for our players to have the belief needed to make the system work. Another point is that after selling many of their highest profile players and switching coaches and systems, Southampton now are doing better than they were under Pochettino. Of course, Pelle is a big addition. But there's a plausible argument that Pochettino's system was holding the team back at least as much as it was helping them.
