Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Stade Rennais FC

When I say Nuno is an average manager, I don’t mean that as an insult btw.

 

Crazy and depressing.

Felt like we were so close to doing something special but then things just started going up **** creek and we couldn't - still haven't - paddled ourselves out of it.

A mix of injuries, key sales, player declines, persistence with dross and unbelievably shocking recruitment has culminated in us completely falling off a cliff.

I don't think I'm being too OTT when saying we were somewhat like a B-tech Barcelona for a few years just without a trophy, as we played some phenomenal football at times... nowadays we're basically just a glorified Burnley.

 

I stand by what I said 3 years ago: If we'd stayed at WHL for the 17/18 season, we'd have won the league.

Ironically, the timing of our stadium build couldn't have been worse. Levy completely took his eye off the ball from the end of 2017 and what followed was a series of absurd decisions, each of which has probably set us back 2 years in turn.

 

For what it's worth, everything you've said here could equally be said about my own club . I still struggle to accept how far we've fallen, too. But the things you've listed in that 3rd sentence is all it takes for everything to fall apart when you're on the cusp of greatness or achieving something special with a group of top players.

It's painful...

 

Really? That's quite a bold statement to make considering Man City won the league with 100 points, only lost 2 games all season and finished 19 points ahead of the team that finished 2nd.

I'm sure you would have been much more competitive, and perhaps ran them close, but City were so ridiculous that year that I don't believe anyone was going to usurp them.

 

Absolutely. I was that person...but there was always the caveat that building that stadium was 'crossing The Rubicon'. As Enic wanted to be a BIG player, they needed to understand that the club needed to match that aspiration with actions and they've done no such thing.

Spurs fans now pay the highest ticket prices in football. Levy spent money on the stadium like it was going out of fashion... he's just bought a ****ing golf course...and now we can't afford a striker or creative midfield player or a decent progressive coach...and he claims to have taken his eye off the ball?

Bollocks! I'm not taking that ****. I'm not going back to the stadium or spending a penny of my hard earned on them until Levy's gone. I love the badge but the club's not anywhere near being run in the best interests of the fans. Until that's the case, I'm out ..and we're a growing force. You should try it.

 

I wasn’t that man

I hear my own words ringing in my head up to this day, quite tormenting actually.

‘we are not guaranteed trophies in 5 years or when we move, the time is now’

‘Oh no, blah, blah, we learn from Arsenal, blah, blah…Poch building a dynasty based on a 5 year plan…once it’s over then…Boom…silverware’

meh…such intelligent footballing people amongst us on here bought that ****.

im just glad more and more are seeing our vision for what it actually is now

 

It was interesting watching Ndombele last night. He doesn't move fast but he moves the ball fast which is a concept many footballers don't seem to get. No matter how fast you run with the ball the ball can move quicker. If his team mates got used to him he could actually transform the way Spurs play. Having been critical of him I am prepared to withhold further judgement until we see him more (if we see him more) The only other player we have on this wavelength is Dele who also can provide quick ball. It all depends whether Nuno wants this kind of play, his reluctance to pick Ndombele until practically forced to suggests not. Despite all the doom and gloom from the usual suspects we do have a squad with some potential, let's see what Nuno does with it, if he follows his Portuguese roots I am not hopeful.

 

Spurs are crap, there has been zero improvement under Nuno yet. We are a club bereft of direction and ambition, we stumble from one farce to the next, under owners who are more interested in NFL, Guns & Roses and property development than winning silverware. These days, Tottenham Hotspur is an entertainment project, with the football being the least entertaining part of it. We have done absolutely nothing of note under Levy and never will, they had their chances and blew it, the balance sheet was king every time. The Conference League is our level now, and with not enough quality signings in the summer, and Mourinho MK2 in charge, we will struggle to qualify for that again. Levy`s only interest is ripping off the fans at every opportunity, with no real desire to deliver the goods on the pitch, we desperately need new owners and a new direction.

 

Still too early for the doom and gloom. Nuno has had a series of bad luck with injuries, quarantine, and a red card against Palace.

I admit the signs aren't promising so far but let's judge on progress, not scenarios.

Any news on Son's or Dier's injuries?

 

I think slightly differently, if the the new stadium wasn’t a thing, I think we could’ve won the league in that 16/17 season had we had stronger recruitment that summer. Wanyama aside we signed dross and I think if our finances weren’t restricted due to the new stadium, we could’ve possibly added one or two quality players instead of what we did, that would’ve either gone into what was already a very strong XI or provided great depth and that extra bit of quality could possibly made up the points on Chelsea - who needs to be said, were also very impressive/ consistent.

As Brunel said, in that 17/18 season afterwards, City went on to a new level and they also took Walker off of us too so I’m not sure we would’ve had the requirements to have won it that season but in 16/17 we were unplayable at times and if we just had that extra bit of quality it could’ve made all the difference.

 

Some on here still think it’s just bad luck with injuries or that certain players will come good and that the rest of us are too impatient

This current squad right here isn’t any better than a mid table side. It might get a couple of decent results here and there but over a long period of time, it’s going to be pretty average.

 

I'll go one further and say that, if we weren't challenging Leicester in 2015-16, we'd have won the league in 2016-17

The combination of missing Dembele for the first three games due to his suspension after Stamford Bridge, plus the increased pressure from all manner of think pieces about being "Spursy" from pundits up and down the land, both wouldn't have existed if instead we qualified for the CL and (if we're being greedy) pipped Arsenal in the table at the end of the season to give us momentum, instead of what actually happened which sapped momentum while giving pundits at least three different sticks to beat us with

 

Topping the league yet losing to a team near the bottom of the table? That's our identity, last time I checked...

 

Sorry but when did this forum become Twitter? Such negativity and hatred toward the management and players.

We could never have competed against the likes of Chelsea, City, United and 'Pool. We got too close and they slammed the door in our face by spending ridiculous amounts of money. Leicester took advantage of the time those clubs took their eye off the ball, but the moment that happened , they collectively said not again!

We have very talented players . Some of the signings got fans excited. Tanguy was very good at Lyon and we were happy to sign him. Management did the right thing and we had a good player. Who is at fault that he has turned out like he has? Same can be said of many of our signings. Wait a couple of weeks and it will be said of Romero.

Be realistic, we are not challenging for top four- that is a closed shop. we are fighting with the likes of Everton, WH, Woolwich and Leicester in our own mini-league.

 

The negativity is justified imo, we’ve watched the club slowly but surely get worse and worse over the last few seasons.

You say Spurs have very talented players? Such as who? Kane and Son are top drawer the rest aren’t anything special.

Then you end your post with negativity yourself by saying Spurs have no chance of top 4 and are competing with the likes of Everton and West Ham?

 

Fans are paying good money to watch spurs yet are served really poor football.

I can live with interesting football and no trophies. There is hope and excitement that comes with that and you look forward to games.

For the past 2 years we have been boring.

And it was avoidable.

That's not negativity...it's honest.

I am bewildered how the club thought employing JM was going to work.

I am equally bewildered that we kept him through that awful run , only to sack him 6 days before a cup final with no one lined up to take over.

Nothing will ever get me to understand the TEN WEEK hunt for a new manager which led us to appoint our 5th or 6th choice.

This ignores the furlough, ESL and transfer farces of the past 2 years.

To accuse people who pay £45 annual membership fees, a minimum of £50 per ticket for cat B games (Brighton and co) plus booking fees or around £900 plus for a season ticket as being negative seems unfair.

We are spurs fans...we ain't plastics so we support our club through thick and thin...but we have every right to slag off tedious football.

"The point is to entertain, not to bore people to death" is as true today as it ever was

 

Bit ironic considering you went all anti-Lloris and tried telling everyone we should sign Aaron Ramsdale to replace him

 

Everyone is entitled to their opinion.
I will answer those three replies.

Lloris IMO is past it. ( I don't hate him ). Especially the fact he doesn't come out to collect/punch away crosses. that is not being negative, IMO. And I definitely didn't say that we should be keeping all our players. We have some that have not succeeded at our club. Every club has them. But that doesn't mean I need to moan about the management.
I do support my team through thick and thin- and that is my point. I support them and get behind the manager and management and players.
As for accusing said people to be unfair. I pay more than £1000 for my ST in South. I am definitely not a plastic- my sore throat at the end of games tells me that.
I paid £20 for the Pacos game and I have paid my £50 for the 3 conference league games. I don't always enjoy what I see , but I return in the hope.
Saying we don't have much chance of top 4 is not negative. It's realistic of where we are at. Orient fans recognize their place in the hierarchy of football and can be positive. I recognize our place as to realistically be fighting for that 5th place and I am positive about it.
Kane and Son are maybe our only 2 word class players- that doesn't mean other players aren't talented. Look at all the players that play for their national teams- they are talented.

 

I don't think that the manager had any issue with picking Ndombele. The player supposedly didn't want to play for us.
I've no idea why, but he seems to have been under the impression that one of the massive teams from abroad were in for him.
Maybe an agent got in his ear with an eye on a payout? Seems borderline delusional to me, though.

The main problem now is that Espirito Santo seems wedded to this 4-3-3 formation and a bunch of our players can't play in it.
Ndombele seems like he'd be at his best in behind a striker and his weaknesses are all exposed by having him as a box-to-box midfielder.
I've no idea how about half of our squad is supposed to fit together, though.
We've signed players with no thought as to what system will work if they're all on the pitch.