Lazy bastard...he was sulking today...he would annoy me more than not. I was all for him....but I think he would be a Son at best.
Not bothered either as far as today is concerned but just reemphasises the lack of consistency. As mentioned earlier, other than watching go some anticipated Stoke tactics from the likes of Adam, Moss and his colleagues were in for an easy afternoon. Yet still managed to **** it up.
Stoke are one of the laziest teams I've ever seen, and have been since hughes took over. Their reputation of being hard as nails died as soon as Pulis left and they started signing 'style over substance' players like Shaqiri, Arnautovic and Berahino. No one puts in a shift and Charlie Adam must be about 2 stone overweight yet gets picked for their toughest away game of the year. They remind me of Spurs in the 90's. Stuck in mid-table with enough flair to pick up the points but as soon as anyone with real quality turns up, the wheels come off.
Harry scored the goals which is important of course but, I was impressed by the team performance today. Walker with another eye catching display is fast becoming legendary. Dembele put in another stupendous shift... elegance personified. Loris, I swear, I haven't seen a better goal keeping since...well since the last time I watch him. Fantastic result. great team display. I'm going to enjoy my tot of Rum later., I might even have two.
You have to wonder if Son on the bench in the first half understood why we kept striking the ball between their posts
Easy win in a good practice match. Hopefully we'll be ready for the real tests ahead. Ref was ****, as usual. I'm starting to wonder what exactly players have to do to get sent off against us.
I don`t get the treatment of Janssen, today was a perfect opportunity to give him half an hour and a chance to grab a confidence boosting goal. Poch appears to have made his mind up that he is not good enough and is freezing him out, which makes me wonder why we didnt bring in another forward at least on loan. How is Janssen supposed to improve if he never gets on the pitch, maybe his attitude in training is poor, who knows, but it looks like his time at Spurs will end in the summer, and probably at a large loss.
I don't think the first team is the place to 'practice' and get your game back. Great managers of the past always made it very difficult for players to make the first 11 that makes the point that the ONLY way to be picked is to be on top form. He is on the bench because of lack of options but if he wants play he has to prove himself to the manager in training. That's what it should be IMO.
There is no other option for 'practice'....... no regular reserve games for players to gain/regain match fitness and sharpness. So if you don't use opportunities like today then as a coach you are either missing a trick or have already made up your mind. Just hope we don't have need for 2 replacement strikers in the next 3 months.....
Great performance, I was really surprised at the line-up, I thought we'd rotate in areas but thankfully there was no sign of fatigue from the recent fixtures. That was probably the best 45 minutes we've played this season, too, the whole team just looked brilliant, not a single weak link today. Kane's finishing was absolutely sublime, what a top class striker he is and how unselfish of him to lay the fourth into Alli's path when he could've easily opted to shoot for another goal. Davies looked a lot, lot better today as well, much like the usual Davies of being a solid defender, made a great last ditch tackle and cleared about three corners on a trot. Hopefully Toby and Jan didn't go off with anything serious, Poch says they were just precautionary measures but Poch's estimations on player injuries and timelines has been dreadful this season! Lovely result, COYS!
Son would step in not Janssen and have you seen our training facility? All the time between matches to practice, matchdays are for performing.
My point is if we lose a couple of first choices and NEED Janssen to step up. And training is not the same as game time - never has been and never will be in any sport. But if Janssen is not putting in the effort on the training pitch then he should be sidelined - no issue with that at all. Just a pity that decision wasn't taken in January......
