Tbf that is slightly midleading ! Obvs Lloris, Walker, Verts, Kane, Lamella, Eriksen and Dembele missed that session !!!
That was our toughest week on paper to date this season. CL campaign back on track. PL like for like with last season, currently no better on points but -5 on GF, +2 on GA and -3 on GD.
BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIG week this week. Part 1 done and dusted. We know a win is required against Monaco, but if we do win then the manner of it will play a huge part in the mindset the team takes to the class-less mercs at the weekend.
CL group stages all done. Very poor performance (far too much complacency IMHO that you can get away with in the PL but not in the CL) . PL : nearly at 2 pts per game. Like for like with last season, GF is -4, GA is 0, pts = -2. So just PL to focus on until the FA Cup 3rd round comes in Jan. Are we happy with things to date ??
Happy? No. We started the season slowly and the injuries and a lack of goal threat has meant we haven't put teams away when we've been the better team. If we'd won against Leicester, WBA, Everton and Bournemouth our season would look very different. We need to put teams away and then we'll be ready to win things. Hopeful? Yes. We've drawn too may PL games again and need wins starting on Sunday. If we can win that, then we've got a run of games that can move us up the league. If we can get Lamela fit and get Sissoko, Janssen and N'Koudou integrated into the team and producing good performances without further injuries, we can go on a bit of a run. Manchester UnitedvTottenham Hotspur Sun 11 Dec 14: Tottenham HotspurvHull City Wed 14 Dec Tottenham HotspurvBurnley Sun 18 Dec SouthamptonvTottenham Hotspur Wed 28 Dec WatfordvTottenham Hotspur Sun 1 Jan Tottenham HotspurvChelsea Wed 4 Jan Tottenham HotspurvAston Villa Sat 7 Jan Tottenham HotspurvWest Bromwich Albion Sat 14 Jan Manchester CityvTottenham Hotspur Sat 21 Jan SunderlandvTottenham Hotspur Tue 31 Jan
Even with all that, the team are not far off where they need to be PL-wise, in spite of the injury disruption. IMHO a very large bucket of ice-cold water needs to be thrown over the squad, with the message to get the on-pitch focus back.
I still say we have the best 11 in the league. Everyone else is average or worse somewhere. But that's one thing and winning trophies is another. The biggest problem has been that Spurs have looked like one team playing once a week, and a far worse team playing twice a week--and there's plenty of twice a week to come. On the other hand, that wasn't true this week, and Spurs are getting healthy. The other major problem is, how shall I put this? An inability to win the biggest matches? There's no reason to think that will change--but there never is, until it does. And there is, for me, a reason to hope. If the Cubs can win the championship, surely Spurs can. Coming into this year, I thought Spurs had a real shot at the league, but the Cubs wouldn't be champions till the End of Days. And I was right about the Cubs.
Surprisingly l am rather upbeat . Maybe I am in a fools paradise but we shall see. We are 5th and have played pretty mediocre so far with odd exception. With a best 11 available and Kane back in form we should kick on . Less distractions , the Ropey cup doesn't start for a while , we should move up a gear . A win at the boring one should add to the momentum. Sid is enjoying some rather wonderful award winning Suffolk black pudding ( a super food).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38279335 Some interesting stats that perhaps says more about our "confirmation bias" etc than the cold light of day ... Spurs have won 12 home games in the Premier League this calendar year; the most of any team in the competition. Dele Alli has scored as many Premier League goals at White Hart Lane this season as he did in the whole of 2015-16 (2). For the third time in 2016, Spurs fired in 30 or more shots (including blocks) in a Premier League game. Liverpool are the only other team to have done so on more than one occasion this year. Kyle Walker has supplied more assists than any other defender in the Premier League this term (4). Moussa Sissoko has provided two assists as a substitute in the Premier League this season; a joint-high alongside Santi Cazorla and Demarai Gray.
You forgot the stat on the number of corners we had-11 I bring that up because our conversion rate is so ****. Probably the worst in the league and what makes it worse (yes it can be ) is we have so may corners.
I've long since believed someone put a curse on the club to make sure none of our set pieces could pass the first defender. We were crap at them under Jol, we were crap at them under Ramos, we were crap at them under Harry, we were crap at them under AVB, we were...you get the idea - it's like how, no matter who the manager was, for years we always pulled back every single outfield player when defending corners - meaning we never had an out ball and instead had to either defend a throw in, defend another corner, or trudge back to the centre circle.
Thank you very much. - Alli's got 2 goals - Walker's got 4 assists - Sissoko's got 2 assists Hardly world flipping records are they.
- Alli's got 2 goals Meaningless. - Walker's got 4 assists Most attackingest RB in the PL (vindication for Pochettinos' "philosophy" ) . - Sissoko's got 2 assists Any complaints about his contribution as a sub in terms of creating goals are fallacies (nobody in the PL is doing better) . "Hardly world flipping records are they." They don't have to be.
Almost all stats are meaningless - especially the ones making comparisons to the same stage last season. None of the factors which would make any comparison meaningful are constant; they are all variables - and there are been many significant changes.
