Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Southampton

Very lucky bastard I’d say. I definitely didn’t consider it a pop at me.

 

This should clarify things a bit...

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New rule that if a second is off then it is nullified?

 

Seems to be the rule at Anfield...

 

The HG factor can be gotten around if we remove some of the foreign deadwood. The likes of Dembele, Wanyama, Vorm and GK can all be sold without the feeling of being weakened, Janssen too although he’s not registered in any squad. The hardest part is obviously finding buyers.

As to who we can get, a lot will depend on just how much we have to spend. Is the money there for a SMS/ De Jong/ Ndombele type signing? If so, spend it, I think it was Brian that even said if the club needed to take another loan out then so be it, just do it and back the manager, he’s earned it. If there’s no chance of spending the big bucks on those guys, then the club should look at alternatives who can still add some form of quality. With Rabiot’s deal expiring in 6 months and our seemingly good relationship with PSG, could he be got for a reasonable fee (£25m-£30m)? That could well be the best deal available as he’s a top class CM. We can also look at options such as Doucoure, Cook or maybe revisit Grealish. Those three don’t have the same quality as the others but they still bring enough quality to improve the squad.

As for Alli at CM, I’ve also mentioned that in the past, especially as our strength at AM is superb (as shown yesterday with Sonny and Lucas netting), though Poch doesn’t seem to really utilise Alli there much, he’s done so once or twice in recent seasons but that’s been mainly down to having no choice.

 

The dream scenario is something like this:
i.) Move out GKN, taking the non-HG quota to +1
ii.) Bring in whichever of Rabiot/Barrios/Berge/Lobotka we intend to sign, as they can/could be signed immediately, putting out non-HG quota back to 0
iii.) Try and finagle a cash + Wanyama deal for Declan Rice, putting the non-HG quota to +1 while adding an U21 player
iv.) If an offer for Dembele comes in, accept it and go back to the Rabiot/Barrios/Berge/Lobotka list as the non-HG quota would remain at +1
v.) Consider a January landgrab for other positions, as Vorm and Llorente out of contract in the summer that would mean our non-HG quota will be +3

The third and fourth steps can be swapped around if the Scammers try and play silly buggers

 

No arguments there.......

 

I agree with all of this. Additionally,we should have brought Oliver Skipp on earlier last night. Our midfield disappeared after we went 3-0 up. It wasn't Winksy or Eric Dier's best night.

Skippy would have put in as much as either of those two in the final half an hour and got a lot more out of it. If wecome up empty in the coming transfer window, we're going to need young Skipp to contrbute, so let's get his experience levels up.

 

Not anymore. Bournemouth have announced he's done his ACL, out for 9 months.

A great shame for the lad as he was close to getting into the national team as a regular. I hope he makes a full recovery.

 

Whole team disappeared at 3-0 with the exception of Hugo. I can understand dropping down a gear to conserve energy and see out the win but don’t stop completely.

I thought Dier had a good first half but then became anonymous in the second. Winks was just anonymous throughout, such a useless footballer in my opinion.

Really liked Skipp’s no look pass into Rose, nice bit of class from a young player. I have a feeling we might rest Dier on Saturday as he’s played a hell of a lot, wouldn’t be against the idea of seeing Skipp partner Sissoko in the middle.

 

Well ****.

 

The young lad got a big cheer when he came on, bigger than I would have expected. It probably came from the crowd numbers - a night for Die(r)-Hards...and a few select others....

 

The thing that's becoming apparent with Winks at the moment is he seems far more at home in Champions League matches than Premier League ones, as he's far more likely to have that extra half second between receiving the ball and releasing it than he is in the Premier League - and that's something that's been apparent all season because, in spite of all the "Winksiesta" comments from fans and even some of his teammates he doesn't have the instinct to receive and pass it like Iniesta, Xavi or Modric always had, and that means there's an extra half second for an opponent to close him down which in turn leads to a higher chance that he'll just pass the ball sideways instead of try and create an opening.

The question that needs to be asked is whether or not it's possible that he'll become that instinctive so the transition between receiving and passing becomes that much smoother, because at present he's at his best either against opponents who'll give him that bit more space (which includes European and international games) or against teams we're picking off on the break, but against teams that won't give him that half second either because they're pressing or using Pulisball tactics he's significantly less effective

 

Last night's attendance was truly very poor and should put to bed any further suggestions that the answer to the new stadium delay is to play a whole season in a mostly empty, crap stadium. Tucking it in could be this from a bloke who has a history of being right on stadium matters...@Stacey1882

Let's try again...
1st test game 30th Dec
2nd test game 6th Jan
1st PL game 13th Jan V Utd.
Take 2, that's my belief & it should be announced within the next 4 days...
Fingers crossed

 

The belief is that we have to give three weeks notice for test events, although given there was a gap of little over two weeks before the announcement of the disturbance fee familiarisation event and the event taking place this might not be the case afterall

 

I'll hold my hands up and say I've really slacked this season. Up until this year I think I'd only missed seven or eight home games in about thirteen years and that includes every competition, this season I've already missed four. To go from a 15 minute walk to The Lane to an hour (if lucky) on the trains to Wembley and then a two hour (if lucky) journey back has taken it's toll, especially evening games, just feels like I'm constantly doing an away day. Add in that I ****ing hate Wembley as a whole and it's just caused me to slack big time. I'll be at Burnley though next week though.

 

Spurs fans/ media have a knack of comparing or labelling too many of our youngsters as the next so and so. Tom Carroll was once the next Modric, Caulker was the new King, Townsend the new Bale and now Winks has had both Modric and Iniesta comparisons. Funnily enough, Kane was never really hyped as the next <insert name>, he just decided to become the Harry Kane. I don't think Bentaleb did either and if it wasn't for his attitude problems, he'd still likely be here, always thought he was a fantastic talent and despite Schalke faltering in the Bundesliga this season, he's been enjoying a decent season on a personal level, 19 games in all comps, 6 goals and an assist.

Back to Winks, I don't like digging out a player who's come from the academy ranks but I don't see him becoming the player we want him to be anytime soon, if at all. He's into his third year as a first teamer and still hasn't been able to cement a regular place, having previously been Dembele's backup and now Sissoko's while his performances haven't improved from his debut season either. Nice lad, helps with the HG quota too but I'd rather the club invests minutes into Skipp now and see how he progresses.

 

I understand the issues. For me, Wembley or Tottenham Hotspur ST/\DIUM are an hour and a half there and two hours back. However, the joy has gone from attending most games. I wasn't entirely sure why I went last night but it was probably because I feared how low the crowd would be and because we need to support MP and the players.

There was a 5-10 minutes in the second half where we managed to get something going...."Blue and White army" and "Yids". Apart from that, the goals, Hugo's saves and Skippy coming on, it was a very flat experience. As much as the cost and annoyance with things, it's the lack of atmosphere that people are saying is stopping their attendance.

 

Yeah I could tell the atmosphere was flat, I found a great stream so watched the game in HD, you could hear at 2-0 and 3-0 the Southampton fans singing "2-0, and you still don't sing". We're never usually that silent, especially when up by a couple goals, even if it's just to take the piss out of the opposition with the "you're ****" songs.

Wembley atmosphere definitely plays a part, it's a soulless bowl and terrible for football matches. Sooner we get back to NWHL the better, that first game will be absolutely rocking like nothing we've ever seen. I can't wait to be a part of that single tier stand, really hope it lives up to the expectation of following in the Yellow Wall's footsteps.

 

IIRC Harry Kane was drawing comparisons with Teddy Sheringham when he was in the academy - although nowhere near as loudly or frequently as Soulemayne Coulibaly was being trumpeted as that week's Next Didier Drogba

One thing that needs to be pointed out is that there's a good reason why Winks hasn't cemented a first team place yet: he missed half of 2016/17 and most of 2017/18 with ankle injuries, so he shouldn't be judged on that criteria - although, as was pointed out last season by a few posters on here, when he did play he did seem to be ducking out of potential one-on-ones when he had the ball which was presumed to be because he was worried about re-injuring his ankle, but it does indicate that Winks is in his own head too much.