Genuinely was underwhelmed by Gil in the first half...lots of effort and tracking back but looked so lightweight. Second half, when the passing was faster he looked decent. Whatever Conte did at half time was excellent.
That second half was IMO the blueprint of how Conte wants us to play when we’re in 343 and having a good amount of the ball. The front 3 stay close together and can play off each other alongside the WB with a CM providing an option to support or recycle the ball. The opposite side WB pushes up and either provides an open switch option who can then cross, or pulls defenders wide giving more space for the front 3. It’s the most clear example I can remember this season of what is actually supposed to happen when we have sustained possession. Obviously what’s really important for this is having WBs who can actually get up and down and also play, like Doherty and Perisic did tonight. We also need to actually progress and retain the ball through midfield and I thought we did a much better job of that this game during the first 20 mins and almost the entire second half than I’ve seen us do for a long while. Granted Palace aren’t the best pressing team, though they have a lot of good athletes and do try and press. But there will be sterner tests where the likes of Bentancur will be so important in breaking the lines. It’s nice to see us actually get it right because I’ve been watching us this season and really trying to work out what the attacking system is supposed to look like. We got by a lot at the start of this season and the end of last through defensive solidity and individual skill, alongside our ever present threat in quick transitions, I feel, rather than an offensive system actually working. Hopefully this is a sign that it’s actually starting to click.
Thought I’d have a break last night, as watching us recently has done me no good whatsoever. ….and we win 4-0. cheers lads, Roo’s crying.
Blokes a clown, claims ro be the 'voice of the fans' he is as good a pundit as he was player for Gillingham (he was ****). Though I always give him credit for knowing it and tearing up his contract for free. But he sums up all that is bad about talkshite & SSN.
I assume they said something along the lines of : During your time, you were exactly one of the type of players you are currently describing, and similarly we collectively went onwards and upwards in spite of you - not because of you.
Whilst in retrospect I do think Palace’s poor showing played a part in us looking very good, I think the injection of youth played an even bigger part last night. That was just Gil’s second start in the Prem despite being a Spurs player for 18 months but it was in consecutive games, it’s no secret to anyone that watches football that consistent games will help a player settle and find form. He was lively if ineffective against Villa but last night he was lively and effective, especially second half. I know I made jokes about being a proud father but I really have had that lad’s back since day 1, I believe he’s a mega talent but a player will never fulfil their potential if they don’t play. There was also a tweet last night that I saw which was brilliantly put and it basically said “instead of Conte worrying about what Gil can’t do or hasn’t got, focus on getting the best out of what he can do” and I found that spot on, Conte keeps talking about his lack of size and strength but when you’ve got that dribbling and playmaking ability he has, let him loose and do just that. Sarr’s also had two successive appearances off the bench with last night being a longer one and he looked good, really good actually. Young players can often play with an air of unpredictability because opposing teams will generally know little about them and Sarr’s performance trumped Hojbjerg’s who played the full game and the Dane has been one of our players of the season so far, whilst he looked better than Bissouma’s done in a lot of games, albeit I do attribute that to Conte playing him as a DM. Skipp was nowhere near his best but the graft was there, as it always is, he shies away from nothing and that will rub off on surrounding players, he’s a bit like Cuti in that respect in which he goes full on in 50-50s. We’ve seen under Nuno and Conte that when he gets a run in the side he’s a top player in the making, both Jose and Conte have spoken about his potential too but this season Conte’s stubbornness with youth has resulted in him having extremely limited chances. White also getting a small cameo brings positive vibes and HBIC’s photo shows he’s well thought of by fellow players. I just hope that when others return these lads still get proper chances to play, because otherwise it’ll be a smack in the face if the likes of Richarlison or Lucas starts (or comes on) over Gil if Kulu or Son isn’t fit or subbed, or Sarr gets dropped out of the squad when Bentancur and Bissouma are back, with Skipp getting 5 minute cameos if he’s lucky. One of the things that kicked us into life under Poch was the introduction of Kane, Bentaleb, Townsend, Mason etc as first team regulars and I’d like to see most of these get similar breakthroughs and chances. On Conte now to not revert to how we’ve been for most of the season. There may be some weaknesses but there’s also a lot of talent in this squad and he needs to use it more efficiently.
I agree with this. I'm very pleased for Gil and Sarr. With these performances, I think Conte is potentially coming around to seeing this way of working, trusting the youth. He eluded to this in his recent conferences. All we need now is to see Spence join the party. Ultimately he must decide if he is ready to adapt his approach mid to long term. (Levy is also learning to see Conte's way of working, hence signing Perisic at such an age, and finding ways to increase profits to enable more spending.) I think we forget that when Conte came in, he wasn't looking for his next long term position. He was 'resting' hence why he said no during the summer window. He may well have been looking for his next 'big' club (Man U) so he could do the same thing he was used to doing, with the same kinds of 'big' signings. Paratici called him when Spurs were in real crisis. It was to be short term commitment to help stabilise the club (and save Paratici's bacon), hence a short contract. His family are still in Italy, and he is still living out of a hotel. I find it slightly cringeworthy the way the press and media constantly ask him if he's going to stay/sign a new contract, all the while implying that he's leaving, since day one. Also implying that it's 'bad' if he leaves. (Like a one night standing asking, "Do you love me?" and "Are you going to marry me?" repeatedly, all before the one night is even nearly over. I mean, can we just take care of present business before we think about discussing things that aren't relevant to now? Can't we just enjoy the moment? You know why we're here, right? ) If he extends the contract, he won't be manipulated into it by press or club. (Ironically, I think the energy is way less toxic in the club than amongst fans and media, hence why Levy and Paratici are still investing in youth and players that won't be misfits if Conte doesn't extend.) If he is backed sufficiently, and the squad balance is just right enough to show him he can win another way relatively quickly, and enjoyably, I imagine he'd be much more open to staying. One decent window more might actually do it. Either way, Spurs will be in a much better position for whomever the next manager is if all of these young acquisitions get bedded in. This 'Levy out' talk is just weird when you actually look at how things are progressing with enough perspective.
There’s nothing wrong with investing in youth as long as that doesn’t come at the expense of addressing the here and now. Especially with a manager like Conte. The club should be recruiting promising young players and have a plan of where and how they are going to develop. It’s never been a secret that young players unproven in the PL are going to struggle for game time under Conte so as frustrating as that can sometimes be (especially in Spence’s case) the club should plan for that. I think Conte’s comments the last few days have dispelled the idea that he was mis-sold the club. He’s said all along that an elite mentality can’t be bought or imported, it has to be built, and that this is his task at Spurs as he described it the other day. Along with Paratici reworking the club internally to act like a modern, wealthy outfit, that’s Conte’s job to do on the pitch. To show Levy and co what is actually required to do what Conte does, which is win. There’s an element of ruthlessness and decisiveness that we have lacked over the years, perhaps sometimes guilty of over-sentimentality. I think that’s rare at the top of the game. He’s also showing us that managers at the elite level are much more demanding of their clubs and are not afraid to say it. He’s perhaps more public than others about this but let’s not delude ourselves that these conversations don’t happen behind the scenes at every big club. Winning managers want to get what they want. Conte is here initially to lay the foundations and to lead the way in terms of helping Paratici show the club what is needed if you want to consistently win trophies in the long term. It’s worth noting that it’s widely reported that the club have an option to extend his contract for another year past this summer so he has another season and a half here if the club want him to continue. It’s rare for him to stay longer in a job but if we progress in the right direction and the club actually back him then I believe he will continue, which is probably a good thing. But after a taste of Conte over 1.5/2.5 seasons then the club has to truly decide if that is what they want to be. It could be that we get to this summer and the club decide they want to follow a different model and choose not to renew, which is their prerogative. But it’s quite clear IMO from his comments that Conte has been sold the initial period of his Spurs contract as an opportunity to lay the foundations of a winning mentality. If he renews the contract and stays for phase 2, then that’s when the serious business, in his eyes, will probably begin.
The main thing I’m concerned with is that Conte was essentially forced to play these youngsters. Does Gil start on the right if Kulu, Richarlison or Lucas were fit? I don’t think so, despite Richarlison being awful on the right and Lucas just being a bang average (to be kind) player in general, he’s understandably behind Kulu in the pecking order but to be behind Richarlison and Lucas in that spot is borderline criminal. Likewise Skipp starting and Sarr coming on probably doesn’t happen if Bentancur and Bissouma were available, at best one of them would’ve had a 5 minute cameo if lucky yet there’s been multiple games for them to have been given significantly longer minutes and/ or starts, especially with the five sub ruling nowadays. We see with Spence that regardless of how bad Doherty or Emerson play, he still won’t or barely get on if either are fit, Doherty had one of his rare good games yesterday so validated his selection but in general Conte just seems to show no faith whatsoever in picking a young player unless he absolutely has too yet last night showed that his lack of faith in them isn’t justified, because when given a run of minutes they can deliver and provide stuff others can’t. I’d like to think the performances of Sarr and Gil especially will make him reconsider but I won’t hold my breath just yet. In terms of his future, I’m ambivalent to it all. I’ve been tired of the nonsense churned out this season, both tactically, selection-wise and the guff he’s moaned about in interviews. For some reason we got a different Conte to the one of last season despite the fact he got some decent backing in the summer and a squad that should be sitting comfortably in third in my opinion, with an eye on the top two. But at the same time he is Antonio Conte, a world class manager with a proven track record, so even when completely down on and unimpressed by him I still harbour hope of him doing something big. As for Levy, I’m similarly on the fence with him too. I think a new and fresh direction *could* be good, it’s not say I’m Levy/ ENIC but it is to say I’m open to possibilities. There’s a risk a new owner or even a new chairman replacing Levy could turn out for the worse but others have covered quite well that’s there’s a lot of pros and cons to Levy and it’s whether you sit more on the pros or the cons as to how you view what the future should be for him. The last four or five years especially he’s been terrible and there’s little defending him but hiring Paratici to take more of the footballing control has been one of his better decisions and I’m hoping he can steer us in a positive direction and eradicate a lot of the wrong done in previous years. Even now though, we’re seeing reports of Spurs (Levy) being reluctant to sanction funds to meet Porro’s release clause and concerns of spending on Malinovskyi because he’s almost 30, despite the manager and DoF seemingly wanting them. This prudence needs to stop, we’re not the little club punching above our weight like we used to be, we’re definitely up there nowadays and with Toon now set to break into the top six on a regular basis we need to do our best to ensure it’s not us that loses our spot to them.
Trust seems to be the word Conte uses when it comes to young players. I’m hopeful (but not certain) that the performances of Sarr and Gil recently will lead to more game time for the two of them, particularly Gil is perhaps more likely as we have more depth at CM than we do behind Kulu. Same with the transfers in a sense. I hope that we’re stalling over Porro because we feel we have other options to explore that Conte would be happy with rather than simply walking away, but we’ve been burned enough times with transfers that I’m cautious with that. I also feel there is a disconnect with Paratici and Conte players still - the language used when describing targets is often that Paratici likes this player (Malinovskyi, McKennnie for example) or Conte likes that player (Kessie being an example I think). Whether that’s just journo speak or a reflection of an actual disconnect I don’t know. But I just hope there is actual agreement behind the scenes because we can have more disagreements when we need an impactful transfer window yet again.
Too late now IMHO. September to WC 2022 was the time to try and blood the young players (rotating PL and CL starting XIs as much as possible) . No League cup games since R3 to at least give them competitive game time. The FA cup is likely to be similar in total games played. KO stages of the CL require strongest starting XIs, and we are 5 PL games from, the business end of the season. All we can hope is the likes of Gil. Sarr can front up whenever Conte favourites get longer duration injuries.
67 trophies on offer since Levy took over 61 won by the top 6 1 won by us It’s really a top 5 plus shiny stadium winners ENIC out
