Postecoglou & Lange (& Paratici) Watch

While the commitment and fitness looks higher and I have little doubt that Conte is a better manager than Nuno but on a like for like basis it simply isn't true that chances and goals scored are higher.

Nuno...6 equivalent matches are probably
Watford 15 result 1-0 w
Wolves 8 result 1-0 w
Mura (h) 13 result 5-1 w
Villa 17 result 2-1 w
Newcastle 14 result 3-2 w
Vietesse (a) 6 result 1-0 L
73 attempts, average 12.2
12 goals
2 clean sheets

As for the limitations of the squad any competent manager should get it into the top 5 at least. We already have 8 more points from like for like matches versus last season despite Kane and Son being well out of form. If we just get exactly the same results as last year for the rest of the season we will have 70 points!

 

The squad has finished 6th and 7th the last two seasons and whilst we have improved the RWB and CB positions from last season we’ve also lost 26 goals worth of players after the loan returns of Bale and Vinicius, 12 of those goals by way of the Premier League. So we’re weaker from an attacking aspect from a team that hasn’t finished in the top five for two seasons and it’s showed too, both in the Premier League and Europe.

A top five finish isn’t as solidified as you may think even with a competent manager. West Ham have a better team than us at present, we may have the individual quality factor over them in some areas but as a team they’ve been very good for well over a season now. Leicester have been out of form at present though they do also have a number of injuries to first choice players but they’ll still have aspirations of a top five/ six finish, having finished above us the last two. Then there’s also Arsenal, they’re grinding out some wins again and whilst they’re no match for any of the top four, they, like us, will be hoping for a top five/ six finish too.

We’re competing with three (possibly four with Utd) sides to finish inside the top six with an outside chance of getting that fourth spot above Utd who don’t look overly convincing despite their squad. To do so though, or to certainly give us a better chance, Conte needs backing in January, both with ins and outs.

 

On Jan 1, go to the "season compass" article.
You will have the true measure of the Spurs attacking threat
(not looking good at all on paper even this early in the month) .

 

The biggest hope is that the increased fitness also has a direct link to an increase in clean sheets, because if we have the fitness to hassle teams in midfield until the final whistle then we'll be restricting their ability to move the ball into dangerous areas - which is the polar opposite compared to our midfield getting overrun for 60+ minutes in the belief that our defence would soak up all the pressure which only served to have our defence utterly knackered by the 70th minute due to all the chasing down they were doing that we routinely saw under the ubermensch

That in turn will also likely see us be more selective in our playing rope-a-dope, which so far we've done for the first 20-30 minutes of all of Conte's games and, while it worked against Brentford and Norwich, we barely got away with it against Leeds and it's surely not a viable strategy to set up that way against Saltypool or The Sheikh Mansour Team, so realistically going forward we're going to be seeing the team better attuned to when they should sucker teams forward and when to press them back on their heels

 

We surrender possession far too much at the moment.
I can only hope that this isn't the long-term plan from Conte and it's down to adjusting to his game.

 

I think until we get a playmaker who can dictate the play, we’ll likely often be the side with less possession. Hopefully that can be sorted in a few weeks when January comes though.

 

Poch had us doing similar in the first half of 2017-18, and then it looked like he was telling players to press for the first 15, ease off for the next 15, rinse & repeat

 

Arsenal and Leicester have both got fewer points than us over this season and last and I think we should finish above them with a competent manager. Man Utd have clearly got better players but we've got a reasonable chance of holding on ahead of them. As for West Ham, they have done very well but I think they won't get 70 points and we don't have to be any better than last season to reach that this season.
Of course we should strengthen in January if we can but I think very few players will be available who are a real upgrade on what we have.

 

Consecutive points over seasons means very little. We once had the most points over two (maybe three actually) seasons than anyone in the league but never won the Prem in that period. Each season starts afresh and so far Leicester have done enough to finish above us in the last two seasons and West Ham done so last season too, so we can’t easily dismiss them.

As for strengthening in January, I think you’re either overrating some of our poor players or underrating the talent elsewhere. There can be significant upgrades in a good few positions here, both first XI and squad players, many of the latter have shown they’re not good enough, struggling and losing to sides such as Pacos, Vitesse and Mura.

 

The issue isn’t just quality, it’s attitude. Someone like Winks has commitment but not quality, Tanguy is the opposite.

The sweet spot (aside from obvious upgrades like a midfield playmaker and a CB) will be finding squad players with the right attitude who want to come in and improve, where we feel their ceiling is higher than the likes of Winks, their commitment is better than the likes of NDombele, and their injury record is less ****ed than GLC.

 

Winks’ commitment was partially questioned last season though as he was one of the players speculated as to who Lloris’ post match comments were aimed at after the Zagreb defeat. I think he loves Tottenham but I also think he’s a bit of a sulker, some of his post match interviews in recent seasons have had a “can’t believe I’m not playing” undertone to them as if he feels he deserves to start more (LOL!). Compare him to Lucas, Davies or when Lamela was here, none of these ever seemed to publicly complain or even hint of their unhappiness when not in the side and their commitment was never once questioned - and still isn’t in the case of Lucas and Davies. From a squad player perspective I want more Lucas, Davies and Lamela’s, preferably without the latter’s injuries of course. If we had a second string primarily of those types, we’d have seen off the likes of Zagreb last season and beaten Pacos, Vitesse and Mura this one as they would’ve been taken seriously by those on the pitch.

 

Maybe there’s something in that but I don’t think Conte is worried about his application. He’s just not happy about the options beyond Skipp and Højbjerg for a variety of reasons.

 

I don’t think anyone is happy about the options beyond Skipp and Hojbjerg

Ideally as well as 2 CB, the club will sign at least 1 CM in January too

 

Who is? Lol.

A fat mess.
A guy that makes Lamela look healthy.
A hairstylist that once played football.
Someone who soils himself when looking for a forward pass.

 

We just need to give Ndombele, Lo Celso, Dele and Winks a bit of time to come good

 

I doubt they will get much better but it's quite possible to spend £100m replacing three of them and get something worse. Indeed Winks is literally irreplaceable for European competitions being club trained.

 

Maybe we should never buy anyone ever again, just in case we get something worse

 

It’s actually far more likely that if we spent £100m to replace them we’d sign improvements.

Winks and irreplaceable in the same sentence gives me nightmarish thoughts.

 

Just play Nile John in CM instead of Winks.

 

I certainly hope so, since FMG just bought the Pittsburgh Penguins, the ice hockey team I support. Selling Salah to buy McDavid strikes me as a very canny move.