Utd & Spurs have the same problems. Questionable effort and spirit in the team generally, especially if things are going against them in a game. Average players bailed out by their best players stepping up now and again with decisive contributions. But those best players don’t seem happy or 100% committed and not at the level needed often enough. Both clubs are a long way from competing at the top. If either get top 4, it will be by default. It’s very hard to overhaul a team quickly, so don’t expect much improvement any time soon.
If anything, today was the opposite for us as we seemed to hesitate whenever we got into the final third Not a surprise in Son's case as his performances have been lacking for a few weeks and the goals he scored against Leeds and Everton weren't reflective on his performances, but the difference today (as it was against Burnley or Middlesbrough) is that Kane and Deki weren't at the races either so didn;t drag Son into the game
A very Spursy result, but to be expected after last weeks results. We dominated the game and deserved to at least draw, but some ridiculous defending combined with bad decision making saw us gift a poor United team 3 undeserved points, good old Spurs the gift that keeps on giving. Our wafer thin squad is littered with inconsistent players, so there is no wonder we have inconsistent results. On to Brighton, who have lost their last 5 games, I think we all know how that pans out.
The wins against Everton and Leeds masked the underlying problems we have, and the more I see us the more I am convinced they are psychological more than physical. The win at City confirms this rather than undermining it. Away against the best team in the country who were on a 15 game unbeaten run while we'd just lost 3 on the spin. Not a soul expected us to win, which is precisely why we won. Had we lost, sure it would have been disappointing but that specific fixture is pencilled in as a write-off by most teams before the season starts. Hence we went there with little to no pressure and got a deserved win. But as soon as there is even a sniff of pressure, as soon as the fixture cannot be written off and the points actually matter deeply? Same story every single time. And as I said above and you can all call me DGC with pleasure, Kane and Son aren't the solution to the problem. They are very much part of it. The most talented part of it, true. But part of it.
I do know that, though, because here's his signature on the NDA saying here's $325k so keep your mouth shut or you're paying back every last cent, which was published in Der Spiegel in 2015, while there is also an ongoing civil case against him please log in to view this image More than anything else, the following are all comments from Ronaldo's questionnaire, which are also out there "She said no and stop several times." "I entered her from behind. It was rude. We didn't change position. 5/7 minutes. She said that she didn't want to, but she made herself available." "But she kept saying 'No.' 'Don't do it.' 'I'm not like the others.' I apologized afterwards." "She didn't complain about it being brutal. She complained that I forced her. She didn't say anything about wanting to go to the police." In short, it is perfectly acceptable to say that Cristiano Ronaldo is a rapist - because he himself admitted to it, and then got his lawyers to try and bury it
That doesn’t mean he raped her. Even the article you linked says “only two people know what happened”
I think this is an extremely reactive response. I’ve seen you post many times, both on this board and others (Arsenal one IIRC) that Kane and Son are world class - and they are, or certainly Kane is anyway, I’ve often felt Son is just below. So I’m surprised at your recent change of tone, especially at a time where the quality of players around them have severely diminished in recent years yet they continue to post up impressive numbers. You reference Bale took us to the brink of fourth, Kane and Son have helped us to top four a number of times as well as even second. We achieved nothing with Bale just like we’ve achieved nothing with them two. Yet when Bale joined a far better team (just like Carrick, Berbatov and Modric before him) he won trophies and cemented his status as a world class player, not that he wasn’t one already. If Kane left Spurs last summer he’d almost certainly be picking up a league winner’s medal this season and likely competing far more closely with Salah for the golden boot, not forgetting any other potential medals, would that then make him world class? No, because he already is. He’s the top scorer in NLD history. He’s won two Prem golden boots and finished second in other seasons. Last season he picked up both the top scorer and assist awards, becoming only the 6th person to do so in the Prem. He’s won us or been pivotal in many NLD wins, big six/ top four and European games. He’s the second top scorer in our history and highest in Europe. He just matched Wayne Rooney’s away goal record in the Prem today. He has the most goals in a calendar year in Prem football. Injuries permitting, he’ll likely break Shearer’s record if he stays with Spurs/ in the Prem. His goal record for England is fantastic, needing just 6 more to become the country’s highest ever scorer. To say Kane’s not world class or a superstar or is part of a problem here is - with the greatest respect - absolute nonsense. If Kane (and Son) leave any time soon, this club will be viewing Southampton, Palace and Villa as competitive rivals. You’ll then see what real problems are.
He’s a world class player. Just not got a world class CV in terms of medals. And therefore he’s not yet been in that situation where he’s had to deliver when a trophy is on the line, apart from one CL final. Ronaldo has been a game changer for 15+ years for club and country when trophies have been on the line. He’s won games singlehandedly, as he did tonight. Of course few, if any, bear comparison, so it wouldn’t be fair to compare Kane. And Ronaldo (and Messi) have been at a level above what we might usually consider to be world class.
Agreed he doesn’t have a world class CV but then neither did any of the other key players we had who are in similar situations to him (and Son), until they got their moves. If Kane wasn’t from our academy and had such a close connection to the club then chances are he’d have left us a couple of years back. Carrick, Berbatov, Modric and even Bale didn’t have the same connection to Spurs as Kane has and maybe that’s come as a detriment to him on a personal scale because a player of his ability should have league titles and many medals to his name. No one compares to Messi or Ronaldo but if Kane played for City/ Barca/ Madrid/ Bayern etc he’d be spoken of in the same breath as Lewandowski/ Suarez/ Benzema etc, I’m certain of it.
I’m a huge fan of Kane and don’t want to see him leave but in every big game whether it’s a final or semi final, he doesn’t produce. That’s not just down to him but it’s something I’m sure even he would say he can and should improve on in future.
That's mostly because in big games like those we are usually playing teams with better players than us. So every one of our players struggles. The only solution is to have better players which means having more money to spend in order to get them. That extra money can only come from two sources...the fans or sports washing.
While I'm being a bestial and necrophilic sadist (beating a certain dead horse), not to mention indulging in dime store psychiatry, please log in to view this image the problem with Spurs is a losers' mentality. Winners find a way to win. Losers find a way to lose, and that's Spurs. I don't even bother blaming the players anymore. If someone does happen to step up, someone else will find a way to bottle it. I blame Levy/ENIC for not rebuilding the squad five years ago...not to mention not resigning a serial winner who came very near helping Spurs to a big trophy. I don't know what it will take to turn this squad around, but signing a Llorente type would be a good start.
I'll happily take that criticism as I may well be writing reactively, although it isn't so much in my nature to do so. I've given more thought to what's pissing me off about Kane and (more so) Son and I think it's a perhaps unrealistic expectation I had that with a genuine cold-blooded winner in the dug-out (not a has-been like Jose), we'd finally start seeing consistency at least from those two. I wasn't expecting Conte to swan in and win every game until the end of the season, I'm not that naive. But I guess I was hoping to see our most talented players step up a give a bit more. And they haven't. I agree - if approached from the perspective of ability, Kane is world-class, no question. Son is close but tbh has probably fallen a bit further behind this season rather than closing that gap; he's been poor the majority of games this season even when scoring/assisting. But if approached from the perspective of mentality, which is what my recent posts have focused on, then I strongly disagree with you. Kane is not world class and has never been. The overwhelming majority of the achievements you've listed are relatively inconsequential and great for the statisticians but not much beyond that. And I'm not knocking them! I'm just pointing out that this team has needed a little bit more for years now, and we're just not getting it from those two. And yes, if Kane had gone to City in the summer they'd have the league wrapped up by April and would be hot favourites for the quadruple. But that would have as much to do with the mentality of De Bruyne and Bernardo behind him as it would the ability of Kane in front. Every successful team needs killers. Players who leave nothing on the pitch. Players who refuse to be beaten. Conte is a killer. I'd hoped he'd introduce more of that mentality to the team by now, but it hasn't (yet) happened. And he has spoken about it in 80% of his press conferences. It is clearly bothering the manager, and it is bothering me now too. So I'm not saying I want them gone. But I'm also becoming more and more sensitive to the fact that one of the main reasons I don't want them gone is that I have little trust in our recruitment process and wouldn't be surprised if we spent the money on Alvaro Morata. If I had that confidence, I think my resistance (or is it fear?) to them leaving would be far weaker. Son especially. There's a good reason not a single big club ever tried to prise him away from us. Love him to bits but he is the dictionary definition of 'inconsistent'. As for Kane, I truly believe if we sat and crunched the evidence it would emerge that he's gone missing in more huge games than not. Again, that isn't a slight at all on his ability. It is a slight on his mentality. You referenced his England record. Fair enough. Same question - where was he in the Italy game? Zero shots and one key pass all game. And we sat back and blamed Southgate's tactics and tbh that's fair. But it is also fair to wonder why the same player consistently vanishes from view every time the heat is on, no matter what shirt he is wearing and no matter which manager gives him that shirt. Which is why I referenced Bale. In terms of overall ability, Kane is the more complete player. By a mile. Especially given he wasn't blessed with the natural pace Bale was born with. But unless my eyes deceived me and my memory is playing tricks on me, I lost count of the number of dire team performances under AVB where Bale simply said 'to hell with this, I'll do it myself'. Real Madrid spotted that mentality, and that's what they signed. So by all means, let's keep Kane and Son. But let's also not be blind to the fact that we're 4 managers into their senior Spurs careers and not one of them has managed to solve this problem. Poch and Maureen upped their ability to ridiculous heights, as you've referenced. I was hopeful Conte would put the icing on the cake by making them ice cold. Hasn't happened. Unlikely to ever happen. So let's brace ourselves for the fact that this team is crying out for a killer or two, and they are not cheap and usually aren't young either. CK rant over
imo it will take the reality of losing our current best players because their best doesn’t result in us crossing the victory lines. We will have to find a new hero or two and hopefully they can lead us to glories and also elevate the levels of everyone around them I’ll give you Mo Salah as an example great numbers like Kane but turns up in the crunch games and has helped the club to glory…I’m afraid that’s the difference between our best, our Gods n heroes and those of the winning clubs I get what CK is saying…this is about mentality not talent
