At one point not that long ago he was being lauded as being at the peak of his form.... Bizarre to imagine that now, as not only are those stats at 0, but I cannot even recall a chance in either category. Dare I suggest that all the praise has gone to his head?
It's worth pointing out his stats from previous seasons before holding up his goals/assist tally as a talking point 2016/17 - 1 goal, 2 assists 2015/16 - 3 goals, 1 assist 2014/15 - 1 goal, 1 assist 2013/14 - 1 goal, 2 assists 2012/13 - 1 goal, 3 assists As Xavi would say, "A qui filla és Chris Brunt?"
Fair point with which I agree 100%. However, a) we have all wished that MD would shoot more often and b) those stats only become relevant when the general standard of his play drops off. For me, that has only been apparent in the last few weeks - up til then as I had stated he was getting justified praise for some immense performances.
We never win the big matches that matter though. Beating Madrid in the group stage is all wel and good but we’re out of the CL and they are in the Semi’s.
But we are winning big matches that matter. We are winning the matches needed to keep us in the hunt for a top 4 finish. We needed to beat Chelsea to do that and we did...we failed to beat city yet succeeded in beating the goons and United and drawing at Liverpool in the horrible run. We failed to be Brighton but now have 4 big games that will define our season and next season. We will know soon enough if we succeed or fail. I hate the top 4 trophy rubbish but the truth is that no CL for us is going to be a far bigger problem than not winning yesterday. I was really pissed off with our second half but the truth is we have little squad depth in terms of quality in comparison to Unite, City and Chelsea. We are also behind both Liverpool and Arsenal in terms of squad depth imo. only money and CL footie will solve that imo. If we are in next season's CL we will have a far better transfer window than if we are in the EL and that will effect our chances of winning a trophy hugely. Southampton, Portsmouth (twice), Wigan, Villa, West Ham, Sunderland, Millwall, Hull, Sheffield Wednesday, Millwall, Everton and Newcastle (twice) have all won FA Cup semi finals in the past 25 years. All were established premier league clubs and all have had massive problems in recent years. Portsmouth, Villa, Hull and Wigan have appeared in finals in the past decade. But look at the state of them. My point being that ... as much as I hate it ... being in the CL is the be all and end all of the progression of spurs continuing. From that perspective these coming 4 matches are way more important. I want us to win cups and get CL qualification but few clubs manage that.
When all is said and done though, the fact still remains that we don't win the 'do or die' games. Why play 2 games in the 3rd round, 2 in the 4th, 5th round, quarters to get to a semi final and be within touching distance to then suddenly start talking about how winning it is nice but not everything. I agree that the money generates from CL and league success. However we are dreaming since Levy isn't backing the team with CL wages and transfer funds. Anyway back to my actual point, We have lost in the last 11 knockout games everytime we have drawn one of the top 6, that is pathetic and reeks of 'shying away', since I am reluctant to call us 'bottlers'. We pulled a 2 goal deficit back at Juve and snuffed them out for the remainder of the game, looking quite comfortable. Is that because we were relaxed with the knowledge that their is a 2nd leg to come? We take the lead in the 2nd leg...they get one back and we fold...and we didnt look like we are going to fight back...stunned and out of it. Just like yesterday...once they were in the lead it was game over. Something is not right with our heads.
For me your supporters calling the League Cup the "season killer cup" says it all, you are scared of winning something in case it sets a precedent that you may not be able to keep up. Most Doubles consist of the League and "season killer" cup so it's not such a drain as you may want to believe, it just takes a little belief and effort.
Every club sees it as a drain..not just us and no one takes it seriously unless they stumble their way to the semi final and then they all perk up. Teams with the strongest squads have won the doubles and it makes sense since their strong squad players stumble their way to the semis before the first team takes over. I don't think the reason we are not winning a trophy is because we are too scared to win a second...there's a few reasons but I don't think it's that.
Not serious mate (you are a poster that I can talk sense with), it just narks me when I see something called the "season killer" cup. When I was younger it was a cup that meant something and I still think it should be, there is only one team that can win it every season and all are welcome to try. To decry a trophy you fail to win as a "season killer" is just a get out in my opinion.
I’d like to know that too. I hope we won’t end up like Arsenal and the first ten years of the new stadium is just money paying it off with little net spend.
Yes with hindsight drawing at home with Real Madrid and Juventus would have been better than beating one and losing to the other. But what possible changes could anyone have made to get that outcome? Perhaps we should have arranged to lose to Chelsea at the Bridge and beat Utd in the Cup instead. That would leave us a point behind Chelsea and in the Cup Final. Would that leave you feeling pleased that we won the matches that matter?
No, it's because there's a track record of the team who win that trophy dozing off for the remainder of the season and paying for it. Spurs in 1999 and 2008 Liverpool in 2003 and 2012 Chelsea in 2007 Man Utd in 2010 Birmingham in 2011 Swansea in 2013 Add to that how the competition royally screws up a team's fixture list by the quarter final stage, adding a bloat of fixtures to a congested December-January and the requirement of one rearranged league fixture once they reach the final, unless a team has a squad that can handle two competitions at once it's a genuine season killer
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...lish-superclubs-devalued-fa-cup-league-double And now we are seeing that the traditional double may increasingly be beyond the previous "wealthy" clubs.
All the talk here in the past 24 hrs , and I feel the need to give all of this serious death by data analytics. I will attempt to do the following (as best I can) for the PL era : 1. For each season, list the PL + FA / League Cup winners. For the cup winners, I will provide their final league positions. 2. If I can find suitable source data, I will attempt to provide the following for each trophy winner in each season to enhance #1 : a) The total games the winner played in all competitions b) Their financial ranking in terms of their annual revenues We will know the truth of it soon enough ...
I'll start the ball rolling with... 2017: Arsenal (5th) & Man Utd (6th) 2016: Arsenal (2nd) & Man City (4th) 2015: Man Utd (4th) & Chelsea (1st) 2014: Arsenal (4th) & Man City (1st) 2013: Wigan (18th) & Swansea (9th) However, there is one issue: final league position doesn't tell the story for how the Season Killer Cup derails seasons, results before and after the final does. Here's some examples (which I believe I used once before) Spurs (1999) - 8 points from 9 games Liverpool (2003) - 21 points from 10 games, which may sound good by back-to-back losses at the end of the season saw them finish fifth Chelsea (2007) - 23 points from 11 games, which may sound good but finishing the season with five straight draws cost them the league Spurs (2008) - 14 points from 12 games Birmingham (2011) - 9 points from 12 games Liverpool (2012) - 13 points from 12 games Swansea (2013) - 9 points from 11 games There's one weird anomaly though: the 2002 final, where Blackburn picked up 21 points from their remaining 12 games - but picked up just six points from the 12 games before that season's final
What I proposed is a more general analysis of who wins what each season, and why. I agree that for the League Cup, the following analysis would be interesting season by season : - League position of the winner before the final - League position at end of season - Points taken from all remaining PL games Put this one on the "to do" list.
Who's actually said the League Cup is a season killer, though? Far as I'm aware, none of us on here have said such a thing because we're all desperate to see us win a trophy and that'd happily include the League Cup.
