It's not so much finishing behind the Goons yet again that pisses me off. It's the attitude of many of our players. These guys are extravagantly paid professionals earning more money in a week than a good many see in a year. The least the ****ers can do is try, Ffs! That's the very least the fans deserve. Especially the ones who went all that way to watch that crock of ****e being served up to them!! We have taken just 2 points from our last 4 matches. All culminating in yesterday's fiasco. And that's not because we overnight became a bad side, it's down to lack of effort and application by a large number of players! Sorry, but not good enough! Not good enough by a long, long way. People with the attitude that our players have recently shown don't win things. They're too busy finding excuses and explaining 'reasons' why they just couldn't quite make it!
Sissoko is probably the most frustrating player in our squad, with Wijnaldum and Janmaat running him a close second. We call him the recliner (lazyboy). There is no doubt that he possesses a lot of ability and frightening pace. The problem is that you only see it once in a blue moon - usually when we are on TV. The rest of the time his head goes down and he disappears. He has certainly improved since Rafa arrived. He's the sort of player that when he is on it he can tear the opposition apart with his quick breaks. he does have a tendency to run into dead ends though, and you need someone who knows how to shoot to be able to keep up with him, as nine times out of ten he will miss if he is through one on one (like on Sunday). If he could play to his best every game then he would be a great player for a top half team (maybe not top four), but as it is he will probably leave in the summer and not that many tears will be shed.
Like I said I ain't making excuses for them...it was a poor performance as was the previous one v Southampton. But I do think the 2 draws (where more experienced players mentally out did us) damaged us and it is that lack of mental strength that needs to be tackled and overcome. Like I said, I do not excuse it...I work in a school unit with kids who are so damaged that in the last 3 weeks I have been kicked, in the shins, ankle, knees, head, been hit with a chair in the ribs, bitten on both hands and scratched...and had a sock soaked in piss thrown at me. I get sworn at hourly, have to stop children self harming and am spat at on a weekly basis and if I have the ability to cope with that level of violence while being paid a take home wage of £1100 per month then the players should be able to cope better. My only point is that once they learn or develop this mental strength they will use it to turn difficult situations around. I see real cause for optimism!
Agreed. We've played against 10 men 3 times, from what I can remember this season and we've not handled it well. We beat Watford with an offside goal after Watford were unfortunate to have not scored on a couple of ocassions even with 10 men. Against Arsenal we initially reacted well taking back the lead but then let it slip by continuing pushing for a third and against you guys we just totally froze. It's not strictly the same problem but against 10 men we struggle to keep pace, let alone take control of the game like we should. I think yesterday though, we just looked under pressure as we have done more and more as the seasons gone on. Last season nothing much was expected so when we were goal down there was nothing to lose, we just went for it and managed to snatch a lot of points from losing positions. These last few games the players have looked like the weight of the World's on their shoulders. Slow play, nervous passing, errors everywhere and no one was creating anything. Definitely something we need to look at. Think it's been the same for you guys at times. At 1-0 down at the Lane after a dreadful first half you played like there was nothing to lose and it worked. Yesterday there was litterally nothing to lose, or gain, and you played freely. It was the same against Liverpool for you too. Against Villa that same spirit just wasn't there, the players played like the pressure was crushing them in a game they had to win. It's the difference between taking a shot thinking "I'll just put this in the corner" or "don't **** this up!". Hopefully the disappointment will fade over the summer and we'll start again with the belief we had that got us challenging for the title rather than dwelling on the final few games we threw everything away.
Agreed about the pressure thing. If we had needed to win on Sunday it could have been a completely different game.
TBH I am more concerned at why your daughters are soaking socks in urine and throwing the socks at you.
I think we can agree the general consensus is that the performance on sunday was unacceptable. And the Pochettino interview does too. Whether the manager will make the necessary 'corrections' to himself and the players, and the players do similar, time will tell. To put this in context, twice in the past 5 seasons Spurs have lost a CL slot to the Goons by a mere point, due to sloppiness by manager + players in a critical part of the PL season. The same sloppiness was there again, but fortunately it has not cost the bigger prize.
Perhaps Pochettino needs to use the "pee sock" method as an alternative to a kick up the backside for the players.
How does a pee sock even work? Is it rolled up and then dipped, is it a few socks. Not sure I'd want to throw one, let alone get hit with one.
I dont like to say I told you so, but did say a few weeks ago that on the last day of the season we needed Newcastle to need points because it was my belief that if they were already down (or safe) they would be able to play with no pressure on them whatsoever and that's how it panned out. We didn't help ourselves by not being up for it but Newcastle played with a freedom that came from knowing there destiny and we couldn't match that on the day.
The 8 yr old mobile for who threw the pee sock at me will be delighted to know that he has also derailed a thread
It wouldn't have made one iota of difference. We could've played an amateur pub side and we still would've lost. Newcastle weren't even that good - they could barely string 3 passes together and looked seriously rattled after Lamela scored. We were just extraordinarily ****e.
It's natural though Dona. Not that much to do with the overpaid prima donna argument as it has to do with the fact that the vast majority of players in the squad haven't the foggiest clue how much it means to us fans to finish above the nomads, simply because they didn't grow up surrounded by the rivalry as we did. I'm absolutely not defending what was a despicable display of unprofessionalism that made Chelsea look like Samaritans by contrast, but the reality is that once the title was gone and CL group stages secured, all that remains in terms of motivation is something that means almost nothing to possibly every single player with the exception of Kane and possibly Mason. Kane was never going to prioritise local pride over going to the Euros fully fit, whilst Mason was just, well...Mason. Ultimately the same holds true for Pochettino - as upset as he sounded, going into the game I doubt he cared that much about its outcome, hence his nonchalant body language throughout the first half. It was only when it became clear that we had committed footballing suicide that his ego was sufficiently wounded to react as he did after the match.
