What concerns me today is that last week United didn't score in the second half after going in 3-0 ahead. They should have scored more. Not confident of an Arsenal defeat today.
Supporting Spurs never has been for those of a nervous disposition. If you were, you'd be a wreck after 1yr max - or on handfuls of tranquillisers!..
I'm a Spurs fan with a nervous disposition, and I'm holding up alright. Except that the tranquilizers run out too fast, and I've had to take up mainlining. Having watched a lot of season-ending races, the amount of sheer random crap, not to mention losses, that all teams go through tends to be underestimated. The problem is all the negative stuff keeps being all from us. Arsenal are within shooting distance of making us win all our remaining games. Chelsea don't seem to tire. And we keep looking shaky and erratic. So that's not good. On the other hand, things can change, at least in theory. We badly need one or both of our rivals to have some kind of moral-sapping points loss the way we did against Fulham and Wigan. If not, well, it doesn't look too bright, I'd say.
We're doing OK but Arsenal have put in a staggering good run since we beat them and Chelsea have also done very well since losing to Southampton. I reckon Arsenal will drop a couple of points so if we can beat Stoke and Sunderland we should be OK. Beating Chelsea would be the real deal though
since losing to Everton in early December we have only lost 2 prem matches in the past 18 ... puts into perspective how tough this CL race has been
Spurs showing plenty of bottle if not too much form at present, but it doesn't matter how you get the points. I predict all three contenders for 3rd/4th place will have all to play for on the last day of the season and Sky will be getting value for money right up to the 90th minute- just like the Championship today.
District line said a few weeks back that he didn't think 70 points would be enough to secure qualification. - great prediction, DL. The way this is going, 71 might not be enough either, which is just unbelievable. I think arsenal could drop 2 points out of their remaining 6, but it's unlikely. - even against Wigan. I think arsenal will have a bit too much for them. It's chelsea who should be slightly concerned. United, spurs, Everton. - getting 9 out of 9 is a lot to ask in those 3 fixtures, even for a top side like Chelsea. It's impossible to predict, and as always, Chelsea seem to stand strong and don't buckle. The great thing from our point of view, is that we're getting results despite not playing well. We have never done this in the 20-25 years I've followed spurs. To think we are where we are, with out depth or goalscorers is amazing, IMO. We are punching above our weight to be honest, and actually deserve a bit of the credit Moyes and Everton regularly get. What ever happens, 5th with 70ish points is still very good with everything considered (which we've discussed to death). It would be extremely unlucky, but it'd be probably be our highest points total in the premier league (can someone confirm that? If its not, it must be one of the highest). I think this shows the potential of the manager in being able to get the best out of what's he's got and shows the team spirit. Levy needs to realise that and back the guy properly. Even if its a disappointing end to the season in terms of CL football, there's a lot of positives to take and some great potential amongst this group .
"We are punching above our weight to be honest" IMHO this is a massive fallacy. All the stats suggest we are punching AT our weight. And have been for the past 4 seasons. Tis the Goons and Chelsky who are punching below their weight. They have been very lucky since Spurs have consolidated, to have retained CL slots. Their luck will run out eventually.
Just done that BBC premier league predictor. I personally think we'll get beaten by Chelsea on Wednesday, but I've played around with it, imagining we can get a draw. In a nutshell, it comes down to Arsenal dropping points against Wigan or Newcastle, or us somehow beating Chelsea at the bridge, in order for us to make it. Although technically it's in our hands, if one is to be realistic, it really isn't at all. Many of the other combinations will see us finish on the same points, but ultimately lose out on goal difference. I personally think that's how it will end up. If so, that's disgraceful IMO, as the need for a top striker was clear in the summer, and more so in January. Perhaps it might finally make Levy do some thinking about the way in which he conducts transfers so late on. We'd played 2 games in august before the end of the window where we had the ongoing modric saga (who didn't play for us), as well as the likely departure of VDV just days away. We picked up 1 point, and obviously dropped 5. - how important are those points now? Dembele was drafted in close to the end of the window having no preseason with his team mates, despite the fact that the Modric situation was inevitable. Then it took us till deadline day to bring in a bargain basement player who was not what we needed. - Not surprisingly, that hasn't worked out too well. But even after 4 months where the gaps were obvious, injuries to Ade and the chance he could well have been going to the ACONS, we spent 3 mill on a left back who wasn't a necessity. - who since, we've not seen anything of and has been with the development squad (despite playing for united??!!). How was this a priority?! Then we brought in an attacking midfielder who we needed, but has had to play out of position for most of his time with us because of our lack of striker options, which meant Bale had to go up front! Then the biggest kick in the nuts... trying again on deadline day in a mad rush, which once again, resulted in failure! How during 2 transfer windows was this not glaringly obvious and taken care of?! Levy'll have a lot to answer for. Rant over.
Before this season RDBD, I wouldn't have made that comment. But without Bale this season, we'd be below Everton and Liverpool at least. He's single handedly carried us, as he's our only match winner. When he's not played, we've had barely any threat.
So for the previous 3 seasons, we have trundled along. And with the squad changes, Bale has fronted up to do what Henry and RVP did for the Goons on 3 different seasons to save their CL slot. Oh my heart bleeds.
People may be pointing to Bale as our one man, but we've been missing important players due to injury and seem to be carrying a few walking wounded, too. Parker and Assou-Ekotto missed the first half of the season, Kaboul's still not back, Sandro was outstanding in their absence and then picked up a season ender and Dembele's not looked right for months. That's not even including Defoe, who scored plenty and then got injured, Bale, who's been in and out or Lennon, who was on such good form that we loaned out his cover, so he instantly got crocked. We've made some very poor decisions this season with regards to transfers, team selections and loans, but we're still hanging in there, somehow. If it were another side then people would be pointing to that as a positive.
Injuries to key players are <standard> . So much so that I assume it will always happen, and that the squad will move along in their absence regardless. Which means that getting the best XI on the pitch for a significant sequence of games is a bonus, and not the absolute minimum.
We're not losing though are we? Wigan were never going to be easy and neither were Saints who beat Chelsea,City and Liverpool. Arsenal and City were put to the sword and we came back twice albeit an offside goal tonight. What a deft touch by Ade though,shame the offside ruined it as it should not have been given. I don't think we'll lose to Stoke or Sunderland.
