Spurs fans have short memories. They think the issue is the manager when it’s the owners and players. It’s like Groundhog Day. People saying the manager is letting the players down where the reality is most of that squad isn’t good enough.
The biggest issue is that, with Bentancur out, his system is missing a vital component - and also exposes that it's the one component there isn't a replacement for If we lose Hojbjerg for a spell we can call in Skipp to replace him, if we lose Bissouma for a spell we can call in Sarr to replace him, but Bentancur? Nobody in our first team or academy squads can replicate how he plays
Obviously all make their contribution. My point is that the manager is the only thing you can change at the moment if you want to get top 4. Also the squad isn't as bad as it seems, but this manager can't consistently get the best out of them. Occasionally they produce good results and I think a different manager might achieve that more often. Plus I had no idea when we appointed him (and it wasn't mentioned in the media that I recall) about how appalling his European record is. A great manager is better in Europe, but I don't think his style suits a two leg knock out contest. The players didn't seem to have any way of getting out of the 'Conte style' last night, which is pointless when you need to get a goal back. The owners have provided an amazing stadium and more money than most of us like to admit, it just hasn't been spent very wisely. They are not perfect, but better than being owned by a state IMHO.
And yet we held a relentless Liverpool side to a draw in a game we deserved to win, with a midfield of Alli, Winks and Ndombele. And a few weeks later we beat Leicester 3-2 away, totally outplaying them for 90mins ending with those dramatic Bergwijn goals, with a defence of Sanchez, Tanganga and Davies, and a midfield of Skipp, Winks and Hojbjerg. The problem is the manager and the way he has sucked all life out of us this season.
Spurs fans have short memories indeed if they've already forgotten that we reached the CL final without Kane and Son in the first leg, then playing the second leg with a broken Rose and Wanyama, no Kane, a half fit Son, Eriksen wanting to leave and Trippier carrying a long term injury. The problem is the manager, and I'm astounded he's still in the office this morning. Levy needs to go because he keeps appointing the wrong managers.
Fair comment and Conte has to take some of the blame. But all I’m seeing is that this squad is better than it is (it’s not) and that any other manager could come in and get these great players (they’re not) playing good football again.
Conte is hardly the only manager we've had where, if one component of the team is missing, things collapse in slow motion. For the most obvious example, Poch's system was noticeably less effective when Dembele was injured or suspended, which is why we bought Sissoko The issue is how we approach play with that missing component, and this is why things are collapsing under Conte because the approach seems to be trying to make inroads down one flank, and if (or when...) that doesn't create an opening we work it back through the centre before trying to create an opening on the opposite flank - and not by, say, the RWB passing back to Skipp who hits a crossfield pass to the LWB which would at least be direct, instead it's passed back to the pivot who work it between themselves before releasing the LWB two or three passes later than they should and are somehow surprised we haven't created an opening as we've given the opponents plenty of time to get back This is why the lack of a player with the "**** it, I'll do it myself" attitude in midfield is costing us - which is even more damning when you see the players who do have that attitude, be it Romero deciding he's a box to box midfielder and not a CB, and more recently Emerson has been doing likewise
And if you had a DoF as king, you are merely ^manager ^DoF. We hope that in the main, Levy : 1. takes wise/varied counsel on candidates 2. when he says who that candidate will be, his decision is the consensus/majority opinion of said counsel If the answer to 1 and 2 is more often "no" , then he has to be removed from having the final say.
A manager's job is to get players to play at the very peak of their abilities or even surpass them, for example Poch making Kevin Wimmer look like a potential standout CB for a season, or Martin Jol making Jamie O'Hara look like a footballer The issue with Conte is last season he could do that, to the point where Davinson Sanchez could come into the team and contribute, but this season he's having the opposite effect - and some of it is certainly down to his tactical choices
It's not the same players and manager though, generally speaking. Some of the players have been around for a long time, but most of our first XI hasn't. Davies, Kane and Son are the only long-term regulars from last night's lineup, for example. A lot of people were happy with our signings this summer, yet we're worse. Conte's made changes to how we play and they haven't worked.
Which doesn't mean that on this occasion it can't be. One doesn't follow from the other. If the manager is the more important issue right now (and as I've said several times today, the only issue we can address now), then it's the manager. Things may appear to be a constant, but that doesn't make it so. Put the same players in a different system under a different manager and they'll be better.
Better how? Performances have largely been poor to watch for years under various different managers. Also people seem to be forgetting that without Conte, Spurs wouldn’t have got anywhere near the CL. He’s not perfect but he’s not the issues.
'Good enough' to do what? Beat Nottingham Forest in the Carabao? Beat Sheff Utd in the FA Cup? Beat Milan at home in the CL? If that's what you mean, I'm afraid I'd have to strongly disagree. If you meant not 'good enough' to compete for the PL and CL outright, we are in full agreement. Nor do I think a single Spurs fan beyond the clinically deluded would disagree. But the process of being 'good enough' for that is a long-term one that requires incremental improvements year on year, each season building on the experiences and lessons of the previous one. Arsenal are the archetype of this truth right now. Most Spurs fans I know are in agreement that we started this process in earnest 2 years too late, but better late than never, with the appointment of Paratici. By and large, our market strategy has been a vast improvement on the 2-3 years that preceded his arrival. And yes, mistakes have been made, but the most costly of those (Richarlison) was ironically not one of his recruitments. Conte has been backed more than any manager I've seen in my lifetime, that's for sure. Merely the fact Levy's ok with sending out 11 players on loan without any guarantee we'll make any money off them is something unprecedented and totally out of character for a man who used to refuse to buy before we've sold. We just spent £40m on a fourth rwb for crying out loud and had to buy out a contract to accommodate him in the squad! There have been no signs of improvement this season, it is as simple as that. Which means the manager isn't the right person to take us step by step to being the 'good enough' we both desire. All evidence, not just in results and performances but also in the worrying decline of individual players such as Son, Kulu and Romero, points to this fact. Levy, as far as I can see it, has done everything he could do without rewiring the core of his innate character to deliver a better squad. His one chronic failing is that over and over again he shows himself to only understand the process of becoming 'good enough' in theory, and therefore keeps appointing the wrong people to deliver it in practice. Mourinho, Nuno and Conte were and are appalling fits for a club like Spurs, and should never have been considered in the first place.
People seem to be forgetting that without Arsenal's magnificent bottle job, we wouldn't have got anywhere near the CL either.
A lot of these players also helped you get Top 4 last season (when it was looking unlikely). They can't have all suddenly turned to crap in one season at the same time. Following your Summer transfer window, I'm sure many of you expected to have kicked on this season. The opposite has happened. It's absolutely on Conte and his mismanagement of the squad.
I remember all of us, even those that think the blame solely lies on Conte for how things currently are, knew we needed a quality centre back to partner that careless clown Romero why forget this or underestimate the affect of not addressing this regardless of who else we signed in the summer? How can that missing component be underestimated? We’ve conceded 6th highest amount of goals in PL…so it’s evident this has come back to bite us. not saying that was our issue last night but how come whenever Levy doesn’t do his part…we forget about it and pretend it was just a one off and move on to the next stage of our failed cycle
