Spurs Banter Archive October 30 2014

 

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30 Oct 2014 20:56:00
I have just read article, stating projected team for villa, if mopo plays adebyour and does not give Kane a start then I think its the beginning of the end for mopo, and proves to me adebyour is the powerhouse of trouble at the lane AVB had issues tried to get rid got sack sherwood brought him back he had a surge and done nothing since . He probably rules the roost been saying It for a while no one listens but, I don't think I'm far wrong . Spurs problem is adebyour and his destructive personality in and around white hart lane and the training ground sussed him at man city and real Madrid .

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Surely even Mopo must realise that Kane has been playing well and Scoring, also that Kane and Soldado seem to work well together, maybe a change of formation and personnel might change our fortunes. But don't think mopo has it in him to do this in the league.

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31 Oct 2014 19:01:30
it must be halloween welshgooner is back on his broomstick. where have you been hiding. big spending arsenal been poor mate also you got you facts wrong again. 2 lge cups in 20 years mate

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01 Nov 2014 11:08:59
Raver my old mate,my apologies I was wrong with my little jibe,
but it looks like i've come in time to stop you lot from turning on each other.
I know we are not going to well,and looks like Lord wenger is stepping down at the end of this season.
What a man ,What a credit to the english premiership.
So what you lot fancy for yourselves on sunday
Predictions plz
I see the northern numpty is quite
Know doubt a very educated man,but with the football knowledge of a parrot,(repeats what he hears)pmsl

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30 Oct 2014 19:51:11
we will finish 8th or 9th due to the europa lge as its being shown on the following sundays. we can't win games after mid week cup games. also what are you rememberd for finishing 4th or 5th or lifting major trophys if I was a player I would rather have medals in my pocket. that's the problem with some spurs fans happy finishing 5th every year and not winning nothing. well i'm not

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30 Oct 2014 20:11:54
Well raver
Lets be honest you don't need big pockets bud.only 1 carling cup in 20yrs.

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30 Oct 2014 21:29:07
Welshgooner when was the last time Arsenal won a European trophy?

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31 Oct 2014 07:01:41
There are two tactical and one mental issue (I'm sure there are more) I would like to highlight, which in my opinion are giving us problems. Firstly, the lack of width is giving us fewer options out of defence and going forward, making it too easy for the opposition to contain. Secondly, a high percentage of our midfield inter-passing is breaking down, leaving us very vulnerable to counter-attacking. Keeping players, not just designated players but anyone out there on the touch line, means the opposition have to cover, which creates more space down the channels and centrally for exploiting or not. This does not mean that we have to play with the equivalent of old fashioned wingers, just have players out there to play off. As for the inter-passing, this should improve as players in the team get to know each other's movement better, there have been signs of the 'triangles' working, however, this appears to breakdown more times than we would like and needs addressing.
The mental issue, where we seem to be unable to concentrate throughout a game will take a bit more effort to resolve. I agree with the previous posts regarding the lack of a natural leader in the team who can take charge when lapses in concentration happen. The quick second half goal scored by Newcastle is a prime example and whilst we all may lay the blame at the right back, even our 'trusted' International who is currently injured has been caught out of position before!
In closing I would just like to emphasis a prediction of mine from an earlier post. Harry Kane will be an England No.9.
Now back to the training ground. COYS.

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{Ed001's Note - the mental issue could be down to fatigue. Poch trains his players much harder than most managers and that often leads to players being tired in the early days of his reign. As they get used to the extra training session that might well resolve itself.}

Tiffy, while Mopo changes 10 players each game then we will never play proper football . Forget everything else, Baldini, Levy etc and keep a consistent team for more than 1 game

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Ed001,

How long do you allow players to adapt to a new managers regime though?

Poch has been there for 4 months give or take day, including the pre season, which I would of thought should have been enough time for the players to get used to it. I not sure its Poch regime that's the problem, there are to many bad apples in our cart, Starting with Baldini down to the players, Look at Ade for instance, he is a complete liability in games and yet still retains his starting place as no one wants to upset him, what message does this send out to other players? you don't have to try at all, but I will keep playing you because you cause trouble, then there is Ade mate BAE who is as big a trouble maker if not worse then Ade himself. Add to that Vertonghen who has made it abundantly clear he doesn't want to be here not just with his performances but his general attitude on and off the pitch. These people in any other job would have been sacked a long time ago for their antics and I believe that this is the cause of most of our problems. This type of attitude/mentality does have an affect on anybody near it and it is rubbing off on the team in general.

I firmly believe that we have the foundations of a very good team, when you look at Lloris/Vorm, Walker/Yedlin, Fazio/Dier/+ 2 CB, Rose/Davies, Lamela/Erikson/Chadli/Townsend/ Lennon/Capoue/Dembele/Mason/ Paulinho/Bentaleb/Benji, Kane/Soldado + 1 CF and with the right decisions being made not only on who comes in but also who leaves would be enough to see us heading in the right direction once again. We have midfielders to spare! ship out a couple of the lesser used ones maybe Paulinho, Dembele (who I personally like) and Possibly Lennon along with the rotten apples also I would move on Kaboul and Chiriches (if replacements can be found), the money recouped (around £40m I would imagine although Levy would want more) along with a little investment to bring in the right players that Mopo wants and I believe we can be a serious force again.

In January If we can shift the aforementioned players I would like to see us bring in - 2 CBs, 1 CMF (Schenderlin) and 1 STK, I know a lot of you will say you can't sell 8 players and only bring in 4, but with the amount of Midfielders we have IMO it is possible.

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The challenge in January will be convincing the quality we need to sign for us unless we get the team moving back up the table before then.

Other than Eriksen and Dier I don't see how Levy can expect to recoup his money on any of the signings in the last 2 summers and unless he changes, shifting them is going to be a task.

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31 Oct 2014 18:36:03
Forget Morgan. Your club valued him at less than 50% of Saints valuation in the summer. His price will be in excess of £30m in January if he was sold (very unlikely.) We have lost interest in Townsend now we have signed Mane.
With your current financial situation, do you really expect Levy to sanction such expenditure? And why would Morgan want to leave a team that is now past the rebuilding stage, second in the league, with two of their quality players about to return from injury and further strengthen the squad? Your "friend" in the Daily Fail may still think it possible but that in itself should show it will not happen!

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31 Oct 2014 21:05:08
Saint why are you soo bitter? 'Morgan' wanted the move.

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01 Nov 2014 18:28:50
Not bitter at all spurski, just trying to give you a bit of factual information rather than speculation. You make a good point, Morgan WANTED the move. Yes, he did, he made a mistake and is not wanting a move anymore(not the media but him).
Perhaps Lalana, Lovren, Lambert and Shaw are not such a good example to him now?

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02 Nov 2014 14:31:49
You sound it with your comments, Morgan would still move Iif given the chance don't be soo naive, but can't see anyone paying what you want.

I didn't know we had a friend in the daily fail, they hate spurs and constantly try to sell our players.

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Saint
Not sure what financial issue you are talking about as for the saints rebuild process being over etc you know as well as we do you will not finish in the top 6 let alone the top4 enjoy it while it lasts. But I do make you right about morgan not wanting to join, I am an avid spurs fan and I am struggling to go over they to watch the dross that is there at the moment.

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03 Nov 2014 09:30:51
THFC4EVER-no idea where we will finish, but we currently have a squad who are comfortable playing the system RoKo wants and will get better. Plus Jay Rod and Ward Prowse to return in the next few weeks and we will then enter the January window with funds still available to RoKo should he want them. I do share RoKo's opinion that there are few teams in the Premiership better than Saints currently but form and injuries can always upset things.

For Morgan now any move to Spurs would be very strange. He knows his football and will see what everyone can see. MoPo has Plan A, which is great when he has a team who can play it. He had that when he joined Saints, he does not have that at Spurs. It is quite obvious he is not going to get sufficient funds to change that in the short term so any player will need to consider whether they want to be a part of the long term (if that is allowed) rebuild that would be required.
No disrespect, but Morgan will have better options and he will see his ex mates struggling at Liverpool and Utd. during their rebuilding processes and risking their international careers.

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30 Oct 2014 15:45:43
poch has to start soldado and kane together for the villa game. got a feeling thease 2 could gel together also would get townsend back in aswell. I know we are having a poor season but I have a feeling we will win a cup this season.i would take a mid table finish for this to happen

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You would accept mid table!

FFS!

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I wouldn't take a mid table position for anything but we will be lucky to finish mid table the way we are playing! Also, as much as I like Mopo, please stop changing the bloody team so much! How on earth are a back 4 supposed to gel and play together when it's a different back 4 every game! Switch the midfield and strikers if necessary, but not the bloody defence!
Dier/ Walker Fazio. Verts. Davies
Let them have a good run together, in all competitions, then they can play Mopo's way and know each other's game!
I have never known a manager keep swapping so many bloody players!

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30 Oct 2014 21:34:58
I would take winning the Europa league for midtable but that's all, only because it would take us into the champions league.

Soldado has looked much sharper and more confident in his last few games. Adebayor it seems is the weak link.

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30 Oct 2014 05:34:05
There is no one solution to the situation that we find ourselves stuck in, wherein we've seemingly succumbed to the fact hat we will finish 5th, and if recent performances are anything to go by, even 5th seems rather unlikely. Now, I'm not going to rant about tactical issues, but something that I found striking, is the lack of real success achieved by our players before they joined us.

Sure, a lot of them have shown promise at their previous clubs, but it seems glaringly obvious, that the half-decent players in our roster only see us as a springboard to get them a move to a "Bigger Club" Hence, while a lot of our players have experience, very few have it at a high level(i.e UCL). Who has really won anything of note at our club?(Eredivise doesn't count, I'm talking EPL, UCL etc), who has 70+ caps for a top 10 international side?

We have absolutely no role models at the club, no one, who the rest of the squad can look at when we are down and on a bad run of form, and say, it's just a sticky patch, we're in the company of a UCL winner here, and gather the confidence to push themselves to perform at a respectable level.

Look at our recent sides, which flourished. We had Ledley King, a defender who everyone looks up to, William Gallas(EPL winner x2, WC runner up), & Rafael Van Der Vaart who had played for big clubs and won competitions of note, and not some small league. Every good team has at least one player of this sort, and perhaps even Manchester United are victims of a similar situation right now.

Continuity is absolutely key, but first we need a player or two who have a winning mentality and hope it rubs on to the rest of the squad, both, when we're smashing a team, and when we're on the brink of embarrassment, like yesterday, someone who can say, look I've been through this before, and trust me it always ends up good if you can find that extra yard when you're down.

Now, it may be difficult to find some UCL, or EPL winner so easily, but as far as I see it, there were quite a few of them who were free agents in the summer, VIdic, Cambiasso etc, who we missed out on, they may not have an impact on the field, but in the dressing room, they can be the difference between 4th & where we are stuck now.

The alternative, obviously, is to sign a world class player still in his prime, which given our financial capabilities is nigh impossible.So, the former seems more likely. The only player to have actually won something, and currently plays for our club, is Adebayor, I mean. Adebayor. Come on, when you're losing he'll cry about not getting the ball, not find that extra bit of energy to press, and chase lost causes, which brings me to the other point about passion.

How many Scott Parkers, Michael Dawsons and Lewis Holtbys who will run themselves to the ground, put their body on the line, cover every blade of grass for the club do we have in our squad now? Very few if any.We have the talent in our squad, but that is not where investment is needed, we need to look at players who are winners by nature, and their CV speaks large volumes about their capabilities.

Look at how many winners that CFC side has, Drogba, Terry, Cech, but not all of them start. Look at ManC- Kompany, Toure, Lampard. The thing I love about those two sides, is that they have the perfect combination of winners, talented players, and strong, powerful athletes/bulldozers(key to success in the premier league in my opinion, need to have strong powerful lads on the pitch).

Reckon we should look at the next few windows as an opportunity to bring in experienced players who have won major competitions to replace our current squad players, and try to have their experience, and winning mentality rub off onto our young, talented core, who will run our side in the future- Eriksen, Kane, Nabil, Mason, Lamela, Rose, Walker, Jan, Hugo.

Let that core stay constant, let them start games together, as time will wear, they will know each other better, know their strengths, weaknesses, movements, and be more comfortable around them in the dressing room, and hence be more free to express themselves.

Look at all the big teams, they all have a core set of players who have played with each other for a long time- Barca-Pique, Messi, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta etc. RM- Ramos, Casillas, Marcelo, CR7, Pepe; Bayern: Lahm, Basti, Muller, Holger, Boateng, Neuer, Van Buyten, Ribery, Robben; Juve: Buffon, Chiellini, Bonnuci etc.

It will be tough to keep them, but we too must try to keep majority of the core of our team constant, and just add in the missing pieces each summer(Aforementioned clubs make just the one marquee signing most of the time) Additionally, these core players should all be of Pochettino's choice, as after all, he has to develop, them, and field them in the side based on his system.

The alternate method to build a winning mentality apart from just bringing winners in, is to breed them, by achieving success ourselves, perhaps the Capital One Cup or the FA Cup would be a good start.The issues obviously run far further than just lack of winners at the club, there are several issues regarding tactical effectiveness on players, how settled the players are, how well they know each other(which is absolutely crucial for the running of anything that requires a team, it is telling that most sides have their core built long before success follows(Barca under Pep.

Bayern today etc. wherein majority of the key players have known each other for a while, accustomed themselves to the league, country, city and can communicate effectively to the entire squad. Then the issues are purely tactical, for starters, our defensive block is far too high at times given our defender's lack of positional sense, and the lack of pressure there is on the ball at times(more under AVB, improved a lot under Poch), and of course the speed, and incisiveness we move the ball, especially in the final 3rd.

That said, replacing the so called deadwood, squad players with proper winners, and players who give their heart and soul to the club would be a great start. It's not an easy task, but that's what Baldini is here for, anyone who has had a respectable amount of time at RMCF, Barca, Bayern, MUFC, Milan(not current squad), Inter(see Milan), Juve would do. It's a small step, but would be a great start.

Bring in experienced players or even staff members, to generate a winning mentality within the future of the squad(Lloris, Jan, Walker, Rose, Davies, Bentaleb, Eriksen, Lamela, Kane, Chadli, Mason, Capoue etc. so that when they are at their peak, this mentality will have settled in, and then the cycle can continue. Hence, I think it is vital that we can find an equilibrium between the squads played in all competitions, because a trophy, even the Capital One Cup, would go a long way, instilling confidence into the side that they are yet to experience.

Just to reiterate, stability is key, but we have got to give Pochettino a squad of players he wants to work with for a couple of years, and it's key that we keep the core of the team constant, let them get to know each other better, create a winning atmosphere among each other with the help of experienced players who have seen it all, won it all.

It's really telling, that Dier(forced through injury) is the only summer signing to have played a full 90 in the PL, the rest probably don't even have 90 between them, does Pochettino want them? If not, what's the point of buying them?

I'm pretty sure he wanted Schneiderlin & Jay Rodriguez, but Levy & Baldini told him to settle with the cheaper option of Stambouli, and utilizing last summer's purchases more. Tactically speaking, it is my conjecture, that a football game is won by the team who can find more space.

Having players who can find space out of nothing is of paramount importance, and while we have that, I'm not too sure, if they are of that quality yet, to merit playing in the way they have recently. If we want to play with inverted wingers, it's alright, but they have to stick to their flank, until the ball reaches the final 3rd, from where, they can go on a nice inward dribble or into a goalscoring position.

Look at any top club. Hazard sticks to the touchline till he gets the ball, same with Ribery & to an extent Robben, as I see it, we play with 3 AMs, Chadli is still alright, but Lamela seems to want to play in a free role off the right which is unacceptable, especially as he can't offer anything offensively while doing that, hence, all the space we get falls to the fullbacks, and Walker being out injured definitely doesn't help our cause.

Personally, I prefer maintaining a deep, compact defensive block, and given that Hugo is perhaps the best at dealing with crosses and long shots in the PL, stifling the opposition in the final 3rd seems viable. Cut off all the space in the final 3rd, then when you win it, break with terrifying pace, and don't play any pass backward or sideways.

If you lose it, give yourself 7 seconds to win it back, before settling into a very tight, compact, defensive shape, while having at least 4-5 at the back at all times. It's tough to execute, but I think it would work for us.

There is still hope, we look brighter on the counter these days, and some of the younger lads look very talented, but we need someone to take this club by the scruff of the neck, and make the changes required to push us into a top 4 position we so dearly desire.

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{Ed001's Note - really good post that mate.}

30 Oct 2014 08:20:43
Ed001: Thanks :)

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{Ed001's Note - you are welcome mate, it was a very good read.}

30 Oct 2014 10:59:16
A lot of good points all made by others at different times. The question of Baldini's role and the managers wants has been rumbling since AVB, the return on investment made by Baldini "acquisitions" is pathetic and needs to be addressed by Levy.

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30 Oct 2014 16:18:11
Excellent post there Belgianspurs.

The whole point of our new training facilities are, with ffpr in mind, to become self sufficient, nurturing our own talent to come through and play for the first team. Our development teams are doing very well with players like Winks, Sonupe and Velkjovic to name a few coming through.

I've been waiting to see if anyone mentions Deandre Yedlin who will hopefully join in January. This is the type of bargain we have to look for, imo he will be a 20, 30m player in a few years. Keeping him will be the problem.

I think that it lookslike a lot of the players aren't trying hard enough which is a no no. Adebayor is a vice captain so if he can't be bothered then what signal does that send. We made a big mistake with the captain appointment s I think.

Lloris is one of the only players who might command instant respect from other players, would of said Vertonghen but he is a baby.

Plenty to be optimistic about though for me, we have some very good players they need to be a team though.

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Another problem is we have Kaboul as captain, Ade as vice captain . Who would look up to them . Both play when they want to, both so inconsistent, both drop their heads when it's not going well . Then Wednesday, Lennon is bloody captain, what??
Perfectly right that we need a constant run for our defence . Why we keep chopping and changing them God knows . How many other top teams have a different defence every game? This is where you build from, the back!

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Why would you consider Verts for a captains role - he quit on the team last season, declined to sign a new contract this summer. Not exactly someone yiu want in your squad let alone as a captain . and yes I don't understand Kaboul or Ade either.

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31 Oct 2014 12:13:12
I thought Lloris was vice captain?

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Ed033 Note: The Spurs Player Ratings page has been updated to the latest Spurs match.

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