As much as HIAG would like to brush it under the carpet and whilst he bangs on about how Spurs are going to finish above Arsenal, Wenger is senile and other such bollocks. Arsenal and Wenger have seen off 12 Spurs managers and won a Juggernaut load of trophies in the same time. Levy has tried to bring in manager after manager, spend bucket loads of cash, then bring in more managers and still Spurs don't progress. I think he'll give Pooch a bit longer than AVB, because the attention will fall on him if he sacks yet another manager.
I think fifth is laudable if he can deliver a trophy. It's been too long since an FA Cup win for a club of Spurs' size.
I think HIAG is right to the extent that we have hopefully improved our defence, which was a major problem last year. Toby is a big addition and I think it was Watford who gave me hope that Trippier will be a big player. With Walker finally fit, that could be a big improvement on last year especially with Rose continuing to improve. If Eriksen and Kane can deliver again and Lamela can deliver his potential, then I think we will be challenging for top 4. Last year we stumbled to 5th, the position flattered us. This year I see us as a strong 5th. What we need is one of the top 4 to falter and I don't see that with the money being spent. How easy is it being a manager when you can spend 100's of millions. I don't see Poch under any pressure. The hierachy at Spurs will see what Utd, City and Arsenal are spending and know he can't guarantee top 4.
Yeah I'm a big Trippier fan and the Southampton bloke is definitely better than what you have. Can't honestly see Kane having the same impact though and presume Lloris will miss the first month or so (or longer?). I think the rest of the midfield and attack is so-so.
I think it could be a difficult season for Kane for a few reasons (1) He has to recreate the same form as last season (2) The pressure will be on him to carry the team (3) Opposition players now know what he's about and will man mark him. He slipped under the radar a bit last season, but now he will be singled out as a danger man and defenders will do what they can to make sure he's not given any room. As for the others, I think Alderwiereld is a decent signing, the other two Trippier and Wimmer ... meh. Can't really see Lamela making any improvement under Spurs, he looks like a decent player at the wrong club. The rest of the squad bar Erikson are distinctly average and as SD said, Spurs stumbled to 5th last season partly due to the howlers that Liverpool had and Southampton falling away at the end. It's teams like Stoke and Swansea who Spurs might need to look out for next season as I don't see them displacing Arsenal, Utd, City or Chelsea in the top 4
It's not so much about how good your players are at their best, but consistency of performance over a long season. This is where Chelsea were head and shoulders above the rest last season - and how Utd were consistently under SAF. It's difficult when bringing in new players, whatever their quality, for a team to "gel" (yes, that word) immediately. Spurs were very inconsistent last season, being bailed out on a number of occasions by late Kane or Eriksen goals after poor performances. Utd were indebted to De Gea on many occasions too. Arsenal are only being touted as potential Champions because they finished strongly - earlier on we saw the usual failings in defence and defensive midfield areas because Wenger continues to ignore the threat posed by half decent teams when Arsenal don't have the ball. It's hard to see teams improving by more than a place unless one of the managers makes reals strides forward in getting his team to perform consistently.
To be fair, Wenger addressed that issue by playing Coquelin at DM and setting up more defensively against the other top 3 teams. That saw us win at both City and Utd.
Bentaleb and Pritchard (if he isn't loaned out) will have big season in midfield. The club are very excited about Bentaleb. We've sold Paulinho, Capoue and are close to selling Stambouli. If that is to bring in a big player alongside Dembele and Mason, then it could be very interesting next year. Pool and Utd are changing their first 11. It's not always the best idea (as we well know).
Utd was in the F.A.Cup, but the City win was excellent and very tactically astute. Coquelin played out of his skin. It really begs the question why it was a one-of in the PL.
Expecting a lot out of 1 player. Coquelin I assume is quite young, surely he needs better backup than Flamini. Never seen Arteta as a defensive player - deep playmaker more like.
Wasn't a one-off. Tried it against us at WHL and it didn't work out for them. At least Wenger showed he's got a plan B though.
Non-Spurs wums like to play off the myth that Levy expects his managers to deliver miracles, when that isn't the case. I'm sure that Levy understands that we'd be punching above our weight to expect to be able to finish above any of Chelsea, £ity or United, in any given season. I'm sure he expects that we are in competition with Arsenal and 'Pool for that last 4th spot, and that we are the poorer cousins among the three. Levy only seems to sack managers who either (a) go against board policy/recommendations, or (b) fail to deliver at least a top 6 spot. Given that we are, at the very least, the 6th best side in the Prem, I don't believe that Levy is being unreasonable to expect his managers to finish, at least, 6th in the league.
Completely agree. Which is why nearly every Gooner is crying out for him to sign a DM. Don't know why we didn't go for Schneirderlin to be honest, seeing as he was available and reportedly favoured a move to Arsenal. Although I think he went for nearer £30m in the end ? and I don't think he's worth that. Wenger got lucky with Coquelin last season and I think it would be negligent to rely on him again for the whole of this season. Flamini hasn't got the legs anymore and Arteta isn't a DM.
Why did you leave out (a) and (b) from the text of mine that you quoted? Oh, wait! Yes, that's right... in order to wum.
