Spurs Banter Archive January 14 2015

 

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14 Jan 2015 21:10:39
Rose the next Bale? watch this space

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Good one poshspur, best joke this year so far! Will be back making mistakes at LB this weekend!

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Yea that was a joke just to be clear!

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14 Jan 2015 20:54:49
A tinkered team 2-0 down after seven mins , pauliniho scores, verts kaboul have fisty cuffs. soldado misses, capoue scores equalizer 2-2 you feel everything been a spurs fan . And there is another 45mins left.

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Booooooom.

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14 Jan 2015 20:11:19
I know we have lots of games but rose and Davies, then Paulinho, Stambouli and Capoue all in the same midfield???

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Is that our B team playing tonight. Besides Davis and Vetty.

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Getting knocked out would be a blessing for our schedule, an with our lineup think Poch probably aggrees

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Bloody amazing, 4 players we don't need, all score! Still should help get rid!

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Op's. .

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Don't agree posh, the more games the better. Keep our A squad for the league, B team can fill in the rest. Unless there is a cup final up for grabs.

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Davo,

3 of your 4 scored tonight. Ha ha

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Did notice northeast, but at least it might add an extra 10 pence to what they are worth!

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That's too much Davo. Ha ha

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14 Jan 2015 20:10:32
2-0 down in first 7 minutes beginning to look like our fixture congestion might be about to get some relief.

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Keep the faith.

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Haha guess the second stringers would rather play in rotation in cup games for us than be sold, quite the response 4-2 up after 50 mins. makes me worry about what the final score will be . being a Tottenham fan.

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14 Jan 2015 16:47:47
I have read the article by Tris Burke and I am not really convinced by any of it. It seems to me that it starts with a dubious premise and continues with some dubious argumants to arrive at a dubious conclusion.

First, the premise:

"This season looked like Tottenham Hotspur's best bet to finally get above Arsenal and to get themselves back into the Champions League."

At what stage did it look like this? It was certainly not at the start of the season.

The top 4 clubs all spent heavily in the summer to maintain their positions: Man City (£52m), Arsenal (£82m), Chelsea (£91m) and Liverpool (£117m). Man United signalled their intent by spending £145m and taking Falcao on loan. The bulk of this spending was on players who would not have come to us at any price.

By contrast we spent £22m on some minor, but useful, restructuring of the squad. This was sensible, because we still needed to see if our expensive purchases of last year would come good and Pochettino hadn't had a chance to settle in yet.

"With only Chelsea and Manchester City standing out, Liverpool falling back and Manchester United still trying to recover from the loss of Alex Ferguson, this year it looked like Spurs had to be a good bet for a top 4 place."

This would be true only if we were more consistent than those other clubs. We weren't and for an understandable reason. We had a new manager trying to find his best team and instil it with his own ideas. I would have loved Pochettino to have had the immediate impact of Koeman, but that very rarely happens. This was always likely to be a season of transition.

" It is interesting to note that two of the players who were previously whipping boys for the media and fans, Harry Kane and Nabil Bentaleb, are the ones who best seem to have adjusted to this new regime and stand out as performers this season."

Both were introduced into the squad by Sherwood (who's judgement now looks pretty good). Pochettino saw them (and Mason) doing well in training and gave them some chances to prove themselves. They have, especially Kane, who should probably have been trusted a bit sooner.

"But the team are suffering badly from having so many players totally unsuited to the way they are trying to play, such as Eric Lamela, Moussa Dembele and Roberto Soldado."

I don't really buy this. The problem with Soldado and Lamela is not the way they have been asked to play, but their own form. Both struggled last season under AVB and Soldado continued to struggle under Sherwood. On their current form, there is no style of play that would suit either of them.

Dembele is a different case. He is very much a Pochettino type of player. He is hard working, very strong, is difficult to dispossess and quick to get the ball back when he does lose it. The only problem is where to play him.

"I have to question why more effort was not made to bring in players to suit the style of play that Poch favours"

Until Pochettino has had a chance to assess his squad and determine his priorities there is no point rushing into the transfer market. His success at Southampton was achieved mostly with the players he inherited. He did bring in Lovren (a big success), Wanyama (good, but missed too many games) and Osvaldo (total flop).

"Did the club believe that the players would adjust as Southampton's players did? Surely they could not have thought that the players Spurs have would have the same qualities to adjust like the Saints' team had?"

Why not? When the style of play changes some players will adjust better than others, but why should Southampton players should be more adaptable than ours?

"The Spurs players lack the hunger and desire to prove themselves in the main, that is why it is the younger ones, who do have a lot to prove, who are best able to adapt to the new style of play."

This is the typical fan complaint when things aren't going as well as they want. It may be true in a few cases, but it seems clear to me that most players hate playing badly. I don't believe for a second that Soldado lacks hunger. All the signs are that he is embarrassed by his poor form. Generally speaking, underperforming players lack confidence, not desire.

"Poch might not be the right man for Tottenham, but right now he is a man trying to cook a soufflé on a barbeque."

Pochettino inherited a squad that finished 6th last year and cost nearly £200m to assemble. His first job is to get his teams better organized and playing with more consistency and resilience. That is why he was hired.

When he has shown he can do that, he can start to reshape the squad itself.

"Will he succeed? Probably not, Spurs seem to have settled into a culture of failing in recent years."

To finish 4th, 5th, 4th, 5th and 6th in a League that contains 5 clubs that are substantially richer than us is not a 'culture of failure'.

"This is Levy's last chance to get it right, the rumblings of discontent have already been aimed in his direction, if this appointment is a mistake too, it is hard to see how he can hold onto his position, despite having a shareholding in the club."

Who is going to sack him? He has kept the club under good financial control and at the top end of the table. I am sure Lewis is more concerned about the Northumberland Park Development than Tottenham's performance in the League.

Unless Tris Burke knows better, I have to assume the rumblings of discontent come entirely from fans.

But we don't hire and fire.

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14 Jan 2015 05:29:53
DR-THFC I'd like to go back to our previous conversation about dzeko as I'm seeing him linked with lesser clubs I'm thinking, what if. What if we got ade's wages off our bill, sold pauliniho (get atleast 10mill and his wages gone aswell) and then loan him till end of season with option to buy! This would make it good for both parties. We could pay a lower rate towards his wages making him more affordable in the short term and he could see where we end up then make his decision at the end of the season. Providing he can stay fit its possible we could make the CL and that in turn might convince him to stay. a lot of what if's I know but is definitely the type of player needed to give the team and fans the boost they/we need.

C'mon Levy, give us hope and show some ambition, make this happen.

P.s ed, loved the article about Levy and Tottenhams last chance. Some hard truths in there but a good read. Many thanks.

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{Ed001's Note - do you think Dzeko is good enough then? I always watch him and find his movement, touch and finishing to be erratic. On a good day he is brilliant, but he only has good days a couple of times a season and seems to spend most of his time giving away possession needlessly. He reminds me of Adebayor in that respect, though he does try harder.}

14 Jan 2015 13:09:35
I do ed, possibly I've not watched him enough and have mainly caught his good days. When I've felt he's not performed I've always put it down to lack of time on the pitch as in a 10 min appearance. I doubt many spurs fans would be upset if this one was to go through, although now your comparing him to Ade I would be a little nervous if he was to sign.

That said though who else is there? Imo the player we get should have epl experience because if they don't we'd expect a settling in period. I don't think Villa will sell Benteke.

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{Ed001's Note - good point on who else is there. I really can't think of anyone else, not for a January move anyway.}

Ed001, I see your point, but I think Dzeko is better than Ade he’s banged in 48 goals in 119 appearances against Ade’s 18 in 54 for us… Although Ade did bang in 15 in 34 games for Man City. His attitude is definitely better.
You are right they are very similar but in Dzeko’s defence he hasn’t always had a run of games in the City team which I guess you could argue why. Is he not good enough? But if we’re all honest you would play Aguero before him all day long.
Agreed Spurs1985
Maybe see if we can get him on loan until the end of the season & try him out, I would also like us to put a bid in from Adam Johnson I think he would be a good addition to our squad.

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