Postecoglou & Lange (& Paratici) Watch

Squad balance, squad quality, squad commitment - all are severely lacking. Hugo and Skippy apart, nobody's on great form. Our two best players look shadows of the players they were a year ago.

Plus, no matter how good he is, we're breaking in yet another new coach, who will make the mistakes that Mourinho and Nuno learned from, after similar performances.

It's a total cluster **** and I'm all out of belief and running short of hope.

 

They're also all quite defensive managers, prioritising solidity and keeping things tight.
I don't think that suits us as a club and I don't think it suits the players that they've got available, either.
We don't have an identity on the pitch.

 

The only identity that the club has right now is failure and the stadium. That's it.

I've re-watched Conte's post match interview and he's basically begging the fans to stick with him. I hope that those who are attending games can do just that, despite significant provocation. Let's see what January brings. If it's more failure and poor recruitment, then it's time to get after the owners. For now, we need to try to get some wins and not drop too far down the table.

COYS!

 

Imo Conte is telling a chunk of players to sort out a new club for themselves as they ain't wanted.
I don't like managers singling out individuals but think Conte is making it clear to stop players refusing a move if one comes up.

 

I hope someone in the Spurs camp can reassure Conte that the fans are 100% behind him, it’s the players and hierarchy that are getting the boos and abuse. His reception at both the Vitesse and Leeds games hopefully makes him realise it too.

I’ve never booed at games and don’t intend to start but I feel like I’ll be gritting my teeth if I see players like Dele, Doherty and co named in our squad in any capacity. I want them out and don’t want them in our shirt, I have zero support for them.

 

The fact that Lo Celso has played in three (actually four, he was used as a DM in the Europa League at least once last season) proves the point, he has never had a sustained run in one position or role, and this can't be blamed on injuries because when he is fit he's getting stuck out on the right or used as a DM to give Hojbjerg a rest. On the other hand the only time where he did have a sustained run both in the team and in a defined role, when he was used as an ersatz Dembele in the 2019-20 season - which is also pretty much the role he's used in the Argentine midfield three - was also the only period in the ubermensch's reign where we played coherent football, and considering he was partnering either Winks or Sissoko in this period underlines this

if you think playing as a central midfielder means that somebody is just as capable as playing as a CM or DM, then you're underlining the issue with blaming the player and not how they're deployed. Do you not remember the one match against The Sheikh Mansour Team where Harry Redknapp played Nico Kranjcar as a DM due to being short on personnel for the match, and the battering that came off it because Kranjcar is about as much of a DM as a training cone is. Winks simply isn't a DM, no matter how often he's apparently mistaken for Oliver Skipp or Jake Livermore when picking a team for a game, as the only way he could be a DM is in matches where we have 90% of the ball and need somebody to pass it back to the defence on the rare occasions the opponents get the ball

If our past-it egotist hadn't made Dele a hot potato the chances are he might have gone to PSG in January. But because instead he was getting singled out for criticism no matter what he did, the move wasn't sanctioned because, quite frankly, it looked like the ubermensch was trying to force him out of the club for looking at him funny (or, as the theory was at the time, being completely accurate in saying his tactics were ****e in All Or Nothing) - although saying he was living off Dembele is totally off base, considering the number of players whose creative and/or goalscoring abilities clearly dropped when Dembele's decline began, not least Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen, so singling out Dele in this regard is either missing the point or pretending the point doesn't exist

Bergwijn is a weird one, as he hit the ground running when he arrived playing as a LW with Son up top during one of Kane's various injuries, but ever since then when he has played/been fit he's mainly been played on the right. On the one hand that makes sense, given Son is undroppable, but by that same token Sonny has entered The Harry Kane Zone of being on the teamsheet regardless of form or fitness and there are games where Son has been anonymous and it does become a viable question to ask if Bergwijn or Gil would have been a better option - especially in games when both Bergwijn and Gil are nailed to the bench. The one thing in Bergwijn's favour right now is the Dutch NT are playing him as a RW, which at the least means we could have a viable option to play as a RW (rather than sticking Gil or Lo Celso out there because of reasons) instead of relying on Lucas, but the fact it took almost two seasons before he started looking like a viable RW underlines the point that we shouldn't have stuck him out there because he's decent in that position on FIFA

 

Probably best to tell him to avoid a certain corner of Twitter, which already turned on him after the Mura match

While he does deserve some criticism for his selection - Ndombele as a DM, responding to Bergwijn's illness by sticking Dele on the LW and Gil on the RW, the decidedly one-footed Sanchez as the LCB - when it gets to the point where a section of our fanbase are actively looking for reasons to call any player or manager a failure at the earliest opportunity, that's the moment to tell those fans to **** off to Old Trafford where they'd fit right in

 

Why do you think he’s been moved about so much? It’s because he’s been pretty much useless everywhere he’s played and the managers have tried utilising him elsewhere to no avail. Good players don’t have their positions constantly altered.

It doesn’t matter if Winks is played as a CM or DM: that’s my point. He can’t play either role sufficiently because he can’t do anything worth boasting about. He can’t create, tackle, dribble, score or control a midfield. He’s a deadweight and we’re a poorer team whenever he’s in it 95% of the time.

Jose got tons wrong, exiling Dele wasn’t one of them. He would’ve gone in January if it wasn’t for Levy. Dele wanted the move, PSG wanted the move, Jose wanted the move but Levy didn’t. And since then his value has further plummeted because the more he plays the worse he gets, at least when exiled there was still a possibility he may be good but not favoured, now everyone just knows he’s toilet and getting rid of him is now going to be twice as hard.

Bergwijn’s just someone in need of a move for the best of his career. He’ll never displace Son, he can’t even displace Lucas and if any other wide forward arrives he’ll just be pushed further down the pecking order.

 

He's being moved around because coaches think he can play in every position so he can fill in a gap, but the problem is that he's never actually playing in his main role. He's hardly the only player we've had popping up in multiple positions, after all Lamela and Lucas have played across the entire attacking midfield three, Eriksen got moved out to the wing and played as a CM, Harry Redknapp drove us all spare by tearing up a winning system to inexplicably play Gareth Bale on the right in the back end of 2011-12, Doherty has played as something other than something to aim free kicks around in training - long story short, a player being deployed in numerous positions isn't a sign of a player being bad, it's a sign of a coach looking to plug a gap with a piece they think fits, although YMMV on the shapes of the peg or the hole

It does matter if Winks plays as a CM or a DM, though, because one of those roles actively plays to his weaknesses and the other doesn't. The only way Winks is a DM is if you're really, really good at FIFA and basically play keepaway with the ball for everything but the kickoffs, but the thing about FIFA is that it isn't real - and also people who timewaste for entire matches after going 1-0 up are dicks

Exiling Dele wasn't the wrong decision, but the way he went about it absolutely was. Look at how the likes of Poch or Redknapp exiled players: they were either dropped and never spoken of again, or if they did play due to injuries/suspensions meaning we needed them on the pitch for one or two games they praised them if they did something right (which has nothing to do with slapping a new sticker on them while in the shop window, honest...) and if they did something wrong they criticised them for it. Instead what the ubermensch did was **** on Dele for things he did right, **** on Dele for things teammates did wrong yet Dele got blamed for it, and basically made Dele into another Luke Shaw or Eva Carneiro and, frankly, history has told us that players or staff he does that with either last longer than he does, or take him to the cleaners

The issue with Bergwijn is the fear that, 12-18 months down the line, how likely is it we'll be having the same conversation about Gil? All the hallmarks are there: never going to play in his natural position as Son's there so gets moved to the right (even in games Son is rested for), hasn't had a sustained run of games, Nuno was experimenting with him playing centrally, and there's already the usual moaners writing him off because they've found their excuse to do so already, and how do we avoid that? Well, by playing him occasionally, which might stop our social media bods posting Dele or Ndombele compilations every other week

 

Just a reminder...

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The big difference for him in comparison to Eriksen/ Lamela/ Lucas is that we all know/ knew what their best positions were even if they had to be used in secondary ones, we don't know that with Lo Celso because he's never excelled for Tottenham in any role. We're into his third season, third permanent manager and he's still just a backup player. He's actually only had one stellar season in European football so far and that was with Betis, he was often a back up at PSG and has been in a similar role with Tottenham and so far it doesn't look like this one is going to pan out any differently.

Winks isn't good as a CM or DM so his weaknesses will always be exposed because he's just a very, very basic footballer and I'm trying to be as kind as possible here with that wording. He wouldn't look out of place at Norwich or Newcastle, in fact hopefully the latter use their new found riches to take him off us.

He criticised Dele when he did play because barring Jose's first 5 or 6 games he was generally awful, as he had been since before Jose's arrival and after Jose's departure. If Levy wasn't such an idiot on this situation though we'd have been Dele-stress-free nowadays knowing he's gone. Instead we're left wondering if MK Dons fancy re-signing him for what we paid them... Possibly even less.

It's hard to tell what's going to happen with Gil at the moment and we can only hope Conte either gives him chances on the left or sends him out on a sensible loan for half a season to then re-assess in the summer, potentially I think he'll be a star as he's got a lot of the technical aspects that a lot of the top Spanish players have/ had. Bergwijn however just doesn't seem comfortable in the Premier League, lacks the technique and decision making to ever really be a standout performer, seemingly ****s himself when through on goal and for a wide forward we kind of don't need that. I don't hold any animosity towards him as I do some others but I think for his sake more than anything (actually, just as much our sake too) he needs to go to a league of a lesser standard than the Prem.

 

I think Conte is showing he’s a bit of a headworker. Three weeks into the job and he’s saying that he will stay (was it an issue after three weeks?) but then sets out his demands. I think Levy needs to realise this tail will wag the dog- or clear off pretty quickly if he doesn’t get his way.

 

Levy's created this situation. He can back Conte or reap the whirlwind.

His allies are becoming fewer with every **** up and I doubt that he will withstand Conte walking. Pointing at the stadium won't save him now.

 

That's a back me or forget me quote if ever i heard one.
Goes well with the "I am not a magician" one

 

I'm not against booing when the team haven't even been bothered to put in the effort. However, I don't see the point in doing it during games or too regularly. The first is demotivating and the second just means that it loses any impact.

Also, there's little point in getting after players or coaches who are giving their best but don't have the quality to perform at the required level. I felt sorry for Nuno...but not for Levy. One had an impossible job, the other was making that job impossible.

 

I just find the form of booing too theatric. For me booing is what you do at the theatre, to the villain, where your audience is likely to be families with children. When I see adults standing up at football going “boooo” I kind of find it amusing. Though having said that, there aren’t many other ways people can collectively let their feelings known so I’m also not against booing, even it’s just not my cup of tea.

The club shot themselves in the foot with the pricing structure. They built a stadium designed to generate a raucous atmosphere but clearly didn’t take into account that if they’re going to absolutely exploit the loyalty of fans by fleecing them then that atmosphere can also be an extremely toxic one if fans are paying for a product/ service that isn’t value for many. If you pay for an expensive meal that’s undercooked you send it back, if you buy the latest computer console that’s faulty you send it back, if you pay the highest prices in football and watch the equivalent of big Dave after 9 pints the night before trying to kick a football you boo and voice your displeasure. For as long as this club continues to charge the highest prices in Europe whilst its football team isn’t amongst the best, you’re generally going to be fighting a losing battle to get fans on side.

 

We don't know what Lo Celso's best role is for us entirely because he hasn't had a sustained run in one role other than that period in the 2019-20 season, and when he had that run he did contribute. This does beg the obvious question about whether or not coaches are experiencing somebody pushing down from above to get Lo Celso & Ndombele in the same team at the same time, a suspicion increased by both the ubermensch and Nuno tearing up their tactical plans to try and do so in different ways (the ubermensch having Lo Celso in the pivot and Ndombele as an AM, Nuno with Ndombele in the midfield three and Lo Celso on the wing), and if that is the case the obvious way to stop that is if the Chinese Super League is suddenly flush with cash again and Ndombele goes the way of Paulinho

Winks can work with the right midfield partner, the issue is the one thing we seem to lack is the wrong partner: Hojbjerg (and Sissoko before him) aren't creative enough, Skipp would work best with a creative partner given his game is basically Scott Parker's Mini Me, Dele isn't a CM, Ndombele is too lazy to be an effective CM, while Lo Celso works best as a CM in a midfield three. Obviously the point here isn't to get a midfielder who gets Winks going, the point is to get a midfield where both players actively improve one another's games in the way that the Parker/Modric, Sandro/Dembele, Wanyama/Dembele pivots all improved the game of both players in it and gave us a base to build off, and the obvious point is our midfield lost the ability to control games once we didn't have one

Our entire team was generally awful under the ubermensch, but when did he ever slag off other players who were routinely ****e like Aurier, Dier, Doherty, Sissoko, etc etc? When he routinely singles one player out for criticism, often completely invalid or completely over the top, that's not a moment for a club to sanction a transfer - it's a time for the club to start sending out feelers for a new manager, because the one currently in charge is clearly a fruitcake

When it comes to Bergwijn lacking confidence in front of goal, I can't help but think about that Liverpool match where he missed at least one golden chance and afterwards set his Instagram to private because a bunch of our fans thought they supported Man Utd and that meant the only option available was to flood his account with racist abuse, because his confidence when through on goal has certainly looked a fraction of what it was compared to his early games and I have to wonder if there's a connection

At this point it's also worth asking why we have so many confidence players in our squad, most obviously Bergwijn, Reguilon and Ndombele, because once their confidence takes a hit their performances also do - and it's not been helped by some pretty shoddy coaching in the last two years, or to be more accurate some pretty shoddy AssMan hires. To try and explain what I mean, remember under Redknapp where he'd put an arm around players who were going through a bad patch of form, but a player who was slacking off would have Joe Jordan lay into them for slacking off? Similar with Poch, who had Jesus Perez give them a dog's abuse if standards dropped? Yet with the ubermensch in charge, who was our AssMan? Joao Sacramento, who a few sources have said comes from the Villas-Boas school of "I've got authority and you don't, so do as I say", so it's no wonder our players were sapped of confidence because they had a rampaging egotist who was clearly past his best in charge, and an assistant who was more focused on Being In Charge than actually justifying his position

 

Not saying that is true but surely the quickest way would be for levy not to interfere

 

Depends what you mean by interfere.