Perfect on shot conversion, inferior on everything else of note. Spurs seem to have an on-target conversion rate of 1 in 3.
This was United on top of their game and Spurs with most of their attacking players missing. United were lucky to share the points.
I do still think/ hope he’ll come good as there’s definitely a real demon of a player in there but doubts are beginning to creep in - and that’s partly as I know how brutal football is at clubs chasing European football. Football moves so fast nowadays that we’ve seen first hand, let alone with other clubs, how quickly a club can act once it panics a player won’t come good due to an extended period of poor form. Sessegnon, Reguilon, Perisic and Udogie were all signed within about 3-4 years of one another before Udogie immediately nailed down the spot. Same for the other flank with Aurier, Doherty, Emerson and Porro. It can be said for multiple other positions too, we’ve had an especially huge turnover at CM, it’s only really LW where we’ve not had a worry for an extended period of time.
Is there any way for us to be awarded the three points for not trying to make Nasty ****ing Things a thing in 2024?
When you have a two week break so the team can heal and work together but then you realise it also means two weeks without getting to watch Rodrigo Bentancur play football...
That’s crazy considering Spurs lost Harry Kane I still worry that to play the Ange way isn’t sustainable though. Especially next season when European football is back and the club will be playing every 3 days for long periods.
Yeah I think you're right. It's gonna make having a strong 20 man (at least) squad imperative if we get back into Europe. Not a chance we can handle two games a week playing and training like we are, far too intensive. We'll be racking up muscle injuries like nothing - we already are! Guess it's the price you pay for good football though.
Your squad depth isn’t bad if everyone is fit, although there are certain players where the cover is a significant drop in quality or the replacement doesn’t have the same skill set. Injuries and now absences through international call-ups hasn’t helped. And Ange is still trying to shape his squad after shipping a number of players out. It will take a few more windows to get the players he wants. But the recruitment so far has been impressive. And there is the perennial problem of other clubs with possibly bigger budgets and pulling power looking to improve their squads too. Even when you move forward, you face the prospect of others doing the same and being stronger. At present, City clearly have the strongest team/squad, but there’s not much between Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs if everyone is fit. Salah gives Liverpool the X factor
Ange Postecoglou on Timo Werner: “Timo, he's had two sessions with us, he hasn't started a game for ages but I saw today I think he can be really exciting for us once he get to understand our game and gets up to speed with our training. You could see there were little moments today, he was always a threat and I think he will enjoy his football here. More importantly today I had no option but to start him. He was a really willing participant in it. He wanted to help. He put his hand up and said whatever I can do, I'll do and it's a credit to him.”
The recruitment has been excellent for a while now, I said on the transfer thread not so long ago that Paratici has been the most important signing we've made in years. His eye for talent and his contacts in the game have allowed us to bring in some top players and prospects. I think we've got a great first XI with everyone fit, beyond that Dragusin will hopefully provide quality at CB and we know Ben Davies is a very reliable player. One of Sarr and Bissouma (latter on current form) will provide good CM depth and Solomon looks as though he's a handy option. That's pretty much it though I'd say in terms of squad players who can come in and not lower the quality too significantly, so we've got roughly a strong 16 man squad if we include Forster as a decent enough backup GK. Sessegnon is abysmal and always injured, Emerson can defend but nothing else, Skipp and Hojbjerg are workhorses but not great fits for the system, Perisic isn't likely to play for us again, Lo Celso is made of biscuit, Gil is likely to be sold or loaned, Johnson needs to buck his ideas up and Werner I don't see lasting beyond the season.
