My intention is not to Wum Just giving an alternate view. You are not City FFS!! City definitely under performed. You should consider yourself as if - you have out performed all expectations. Don't put too much pressure on Poch & co. Even that might make a Martinez out of him, if not others.
You called 3rd a failure and were comparing points totals with a more normal season. Wum, or not, it's dumb. It's been a strange season and as much as Liverpool and Chelsea fans might use it to justify their poor seasons it's been the same for every top end club. It's not some special circumstances that only applied to the teams that did worst compared to last season, it applied to everyone. The difference is we still improved overall and were there to take advantage of those that fell well away. It's not failure for us, it's a good season of improvement, albeit with a painful end.
Looking back over the seasons results, we got 6 points from our 1st 5 games and 5 points from our last 5. 11 out of 30. While we had a great season IMO, it rankles that we started and finished poorly. But we have a lot to look forward to. Next season should be very interesting. COYS
65 of our 70 points came from the middle 30 games. We got 3 points from the first 4 and 2 points from the last 4. From the middle 30 matches we averaged just under 2.2 points per match...we have started and ended a lot of seasons like this and enjoyed a very good 25 or 30 game sequence. 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015 so maybe Levy needs to do what the manager wants early...ie BEFORE the season starts. We need a striker, cover/competition for Dembele, Dier and Alli at the very least by July 31st imo. That way we have a chance of hitting the ground running and having a strong enough squad to rotate so players are not flagging at the end of the season
The fact that more people think we've underperformed or are unable to make up their mind does accurately represent the sentiment on here, and was also true of 606. It's frankly depressing. I suspect that it's not actually possible to satisfy some people short of winning the league and every game during the season. I'm not saying there shouldn't be criticism, but to come to those conclusions is another matter.
It cuts both ways though Vim. I don't look at this season as an 'under-achievement' as much as I view it as somewhat built on the illusion of our rivals' relative failings. If the team we were chasing half the season had been called Manchester City, I would currently be far more optimistic about next season. As it is, 4 of the 5 teams with greater financial clout all have new managers in place and essentially bottomless pots of gold. The 5th team, the one that possess neither of those things, still managed to finish above us despite an utterly ****e season by even their own mediocre measuring system. It is because I am slightly reserved about our achievements this term that my targets for next season are probably lower than posters such as yourself who have been effusively complimentary of the team this year. You are 100% right to do so, but realise this: if a title challenge ending in 3rd place in the current PL environment is considered 'smashing it', as per option 3 above, by extension next season needs to build on that to be considered a further success. Maybe 3rd place plus a cup? 2nd place and a cup? The title itself? As far as I'm concerned, 4th place plus respectable cup runs might be all we can hope for next season if the big guns come back as strong as they usually are. If they once again falter, you are 100% correct - nothing short of the PL trophy will satisfy me, and I don't see any problem with saying that, given the season we've just witnessed. I see this season as very similar to 2009-10. It has been a breakthrough year, with a refreshing new manager who has the team playing by and large an exciting brand of football. But we comprehensively failed to build on 09-10; our transfer policy let us down miserably and the achievement of CL qualification turned into a blip rather than an achievement. The same goes for next season. We have a taken a massive stride in the right direction. But a number of posters have rightly pointed out that gaping holes remain in the squad that, if not properly filled, could well see us struggle next season with CL football and the prospect of at least 2 of the 4 who finished below us to reverse that trend via lots of £££'s. So, I view this season with caution. It is a transition into next season, of that there is no question. By the final whistle in May 2017, we will know beyond a shadow of a doubt how successful this season was. Right now, it is far too early to tell as there are far too many unclear variables up in the air.
I disagree with your overall sentiments but agree with a lot of what you said. Certainly your points are well argued and I am very grateful for the level of debate we have on here.
The success (so far) of Pochettino's signings has been mostly inversely related to the money spent. We can't afford to outbid our rivals so we might be better off picking up a few bargains and or bringing some more U-21s through?
I was reading that we gave up more points - 20! from a winning position than any other Prem club. So, there's a good starting point for improvement. Given Leicester's ability to see a game out, hold on to a lead, win ugly - whatever you want to call it, we would almost certainly be champions.
Starting with what Spurs finished with, there is improvement to be had in several other areas (if desired) : Pressing game. Dortmund showed that can be done even more ferociously than now. Strike rate. Could be more clinical for chances created. Passing game. Less of the AVB 2013-14 and more forward/fast.
But we also gained the most (19) from losing positions. It's a strangely double-edged statistic, that. I'd say that there are two pretty easy explanations behind it: 1) General inexperience of the team. We lack the old heads with the experience to calm things down and simply shut down a game. Leicester were brilliant at it all season - Morgan and Huth being vastly experienced players with Fuchs, Okazaki and Vardy not far behind. The draw against West Brom was symptomatic of this problem. They couldn't get near us in the first half, and even though we 'should've' been 3-0 by the break, facts are we 'could've' seen a comfortable 1-0 win by FT. But the flipside of the team's youth is that we'll run harder and longer than any other team - hence points gained from losing positions. 2) A superb Plan A with zero Plan B. This, I think, is the bigger problem and one that transcends experience and know-how. We undoubtedly have what is probably the best Plan A in the league - points gained from losing positions indicates that when the opposition disturbs the hornet's nest by scoring first, they usually cannot live with the onslaught that follows. However, when the chips are down we've too often looked completely out of ideas. I'd say that 90% of Poch's substitutions this season had little or no impact - often things actually got worse when he made a change (cf. Chadli against Stoke, Mason against Chelsea). I don't blame him for this as much as I blame the lack of options available from the wider squad. Most of the personnel sitting on the bench are inferior replicas of what is already out on the pitch. You either need a player who is a like-for-like but almost equal in quality (i.e. Wimmer), or a player who brings something completely different to the table, thus obviating a comparative discussion about 'who is better?' We sorely lack players in the latter category. The closest thing we have to it currently is Njie, who in theory brings something completely different to the table in that he is much quicker and much more direct than any of the other players we tend to play in the '3'. But he hasn't really had a chance to settle yet and besides, beyond him - who else is there? Son clearly looks more comfortable as a starter rather than a sub. He, like Mason, is the type of player who needs to 'feel' his way into a game. There is nothing wrong with that at all; it just defeats the point of utilising a player as a sub who by nature needs 15-20 minutes to find their tempo. That is why I'm 100% in favour of signing someone like Schurrle. A player who has been an impact sub basically his entire career, and brings something different to the table in terms of his pace and directness.
I agree that some of Pochettino's substitutions bordered on bizarre. And that wasn't always down to lack of options on the bench. Hopefully, he will learn from some of the mistakes made this season. I really felt, until the last few games, that we had finally fixed the mental issue after all these years. But, it appears that it's not completely fixed at all. We most definitely need some older, calmer, more experienced heads who can come on and make sure we see games out. You can't be on top in every game, but when you do come under the cosh you need to be able to hold out. Agree about Schurrle. I've always rated him and couldn't understand why the Chavs got rid....
I think that having absolutely no back-up or competition for Kane hurt us in a lot of ways. We couldn't rest him, replace him during games or supplement him, nor could we switch tactically and go with two up top. That was often a problem for us when teams were chasing a lead that we had and it was something unavailable to Pochettino. I don't know if it was noticeable in the match-threads, but I often got nervous whenever our opposition started making changes up front. Newcastle at WHL was an obvious one, as they removed two ineffective forwards and brought on better and different players. De Jong's been plagued by injury and Cisse's form's been erratic, while Mitrovic and Perez often look useful, especially together. They're far from perfect, but having those sort of options could make a big difference. We don't have a target man, nor do we have someone who can get in behind teams with pace when they're stretched. Both would be useful from the bench in a lot of scenarios. It's quite strange to me that we still haven't sorted this out, to be honest.
Got three in the League Cup, too. I think he'd pair up quite well with Kane, as well. Not sure if he'd have accepted being an option, though. He's not got long left in his career and he'll want to be playing as much as possible. Had a massive impact on Sunderland's season. Dread to think where they'd have been without him.
Voted their POTY, unsurprisingly. I'm delighted for him as he was a true servant of the club and a legend in his own right who never complained or sulked, just repeatedly hit the onion bag no matter who was sitting in the dug out. I strongly suspect that he didn't want to leave when he did, and that once he did - finances became his priority, hence the otherwise inexplicable move to Toronto. Without him, Sunderland would've been relegated last season let alone this time round. He scored some crucial goals after joining them last January that secured the Mackems 4 points - deduct them and they would've finished below Hull. He would've been a superb foil for a striker with the craft and work-rate of Kane, all the while helping to nurture the youngster's growth. Such a horrendously poor decision to get rid but then again I suppose that from the years 2012-2015 our transfer strategy made the Mad Hatter's tea party look logical. Probably would've won the league with him this year.
Defoe was going through a traumatic time in his family life. If you recall, he had lost several close members of his family within a very short time. He wasn't desperate to leave us, but he had reached a stage in his private life where he did feel a complete change of scenery and lifestyle would help clear his head and put his traumas behind him. The club was reluctant to sell him but fully supported his reasons for a break from an area where he was experiencing sad times. He was able to clear his head, but at the same time he was desperately homesick- he is very close to his mother. It is unfortunate, but fully understandable, that Povhettino was unable to guarantee him first team football, so he was offered a guaranteed opportunity at Sunderland which he took.
