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2023-24 Season Review

SpurMeUp

SpurMeUp

Les Howe
Marks out of 10 for each player, the manager, DL and aims for next season.

+ nominate your goal of the season. Maybe we can add a poll later.
 
The manager: 7.25 (would have been higher if not for what has generally been a big late season collapse)

DL: 7 (5 for the summer window when we were scandalously left short at CB and lost our best ever forward without replacing, 8 for winter window where we finally got CB cover/rotation option and an attacking option in Werner)

Aims for next season: Title challenge AND a trophy

Highest player marks:
VDV, Vicario, Porro (9)
Next levels:
Johnson, Sarr, Romero, Udogie (8)
Son, Richarlison, Werner (7)
Maddison, Bentancur, Bissouma, Hojbjerg, Kulusevski (6)
Everyone else 5 or below

Goal of the season:
Richarlison vs Everton away (the second one)
Honorable mentions:
Romero vs Burnley away
Son's third vs Burnley away (great team move, lost and lots of passes)
Lo Celso's vs Emirates Marketing Project away (again, great passing and direct build-up)
Van Der Ven's vs Notts Forest home
Porro vs Notts Forest home
 
Want to see more from:

Udoggie - promised so much early doors, but like our season petered out at the end with average form and an injury. Yet he's so young, physically so imposing, and you feel a good coaching team could bolster him and get his confidence up. A solid 6.5.

Maddison - I wasn't that into his signing. Then was proved wrong for doubting him. He started the season on fire. But then a lack of consistency and getting in the zone again with Son meant he wasn't the same player. Maddison and Son first half of the season were different gravy. Fresh, in-tune with each other, quick, tricky and highly effective. On the first few months Maddison would get a 9 or 10. But all told a 7. The coaching team need to get him and Son closer and playing off of each other again.

Bissouma - he improved against 'Pool. Something was said, and Ange made a difference. Which begs the question why wasn't something done before? You suspect his career will always have an element of him failing to unlock his potential. But there is a player in there. We need a consistent side and he might settle still. On his day he's unplayable. Too often h's average at best. 6.5. One thing is for sure, he can play better than he has. I actually hope we retain him, and get him settled. A confidence player.
 
The standouts for me have been VDV and Vicario. VDV is a special player. If we can keep him, Romero and Dragusin fit next season, improve the front line and tighten up in general then I don’t think challenging the top 3 is out of the question. The forwards used to be the best area of the team, now it’s the weakest IMO. I’d love to see us buy at least one forward, spend big on someone proven if that’s what Ange wants.

Goal of the season IMO was Porro against Burnley in the FA cup.
 
Werner to keep or not? A tough one. Put 17m and high wages towards a new elite attacking signing. Or for a relatively low fee secure a seasoned pro who does bring something to the squad.


All in all we did well in Anges first season without Kane. Some were predicting a lower half finish on here. So an overall 7 for our season is fair.

Ange himself deserves more - an 8 - as he has turned around the tanker. We are now playing a style of football which the elite teams play. For literally two decades our passing has been lacking. Once known for push and run, latterly we’ve struggled to move the ball around the pitch with much fluidity. In a season Ange has changed that. Him and his teams greatest task is to get the detail right in each box now. A clinical defence and attack. Easier said than done. But that’s where we need the improvement focus and work.
 
SpurMeUp said:
Werner to keep or not? A tough one. Put 17m and high wages towards a new elite attacking signing. Or for a relatively low fee secure a seasoned pro who does bring something to the squad.


All in all we did well in Anges first season without Kane. Some were predicting a lower half finish on here. So an overall 7 for our season is fair.

Ange himself deserves more - an 8 - as he has turned around the tanker. We are now playing a style of football which the elite teams play. For literally two decades our passing has been lacking. Once known for push and run, latterly we’ve struggled to move the ball around the pitch with much fluidity. In a season Ange has changed that. Him and his teams greatest task is to get the detail right in each box now. A clinical defence and attack. Easier said than done. But that’s where we need the improvement focus and work.
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Sess gone, Gil and Solomon likely to go, think the 15-17m on Werner wouldn't be too bad to keep some depth in the wide areas plus adding some new blood. Wages are high but am sure there's going to be many leaving this summer to get it all under control.
 
Huge strides made in playing style and squad building. Particularly starting 11, but improvements in the rest of the squad too.

Going into a summer and new season from a position of relative strength and stability. Stark difference from many other summers in recent years.

Well done. More good work to follow hopefully.
 
Results - B
- 5th in league was probably as high as anyone/fans/media thought we could finish based on transition from last season and loss of Kane
- Cup results were probably the negative
- Little hard to shake the feeling that another 3 points and 4th was somewhere there for the taking along the length of season

Recruitment - B+
- Continuation of last couple of years good recruitment, VDV, Vicario, Maddison, Johnson, Udogie, Dragusin, Porro, Sarr, Bissouma, Romero, Bentancur & Kulu (that's 12 first team players)

General consensus
Actually think the post season game against Saudi Sportswashing Machine today was a good example of where we are
- Dominate possession against anyone, usually have the ball reasonably high
- Football is attractive to watch, player technical level is much higher, patterns, system is there
- Youth players don't look out of place (vast improvement from 3+ years ago)
- Create chances but not as much as the possession could allow (make it a threat)
- Not clinical enough with chances (combination of conversion rate and just making the right final ball)
- Moments where tempo drops, when tempo is high we often have opponents hanging on, in survival mode
- Still too open on the counter, especially if the break switches to far side of attack
Watching that game, we should have strolled that 3-1, 4-1, yet lost on penalties, that's our season, the platform for better is there.

Caveats
- New manager, new system, new players, loss of Kane and the worst set of injuries in season I've ever seen has to be a consideration
 
I think how this season is viewed will depend on how we fare next season - on the face of it 5th is fairly decent given the circumstances he walked in to, but ultimately you can't ignore the downward trajectory in the second half of the season (not just results but performances and whatnot) so if next season we push on and things bed in better and we show real progress over the season then what we saw in the second half of the season can be viewed as a learning curve - if we maintain our current level and things don't progress well that then gives a different slant on where we are atm.

So i would rate the season at around a C, C+
 
Its a work in progress ( and it was always going to be that), many fans were worried about us finishing mid table [at best] so to finish in 5th was a good start. We start next season with all the new players we bought [so far] having settled in and in most part done well and they will now understand what Ange wants from them. Add in a couple of good signings this summer [ striker and DM please ] and more work on the training grounds there is [imo] hope that we can push on and improve as a team.
 
billyiddo said:
I think how this season is viewed will depend on how we fare next season - on the face of it 5th is fairly decent given the circumstances he walked in to, but ultimately you can't ignore the downward trajectory in the second half of the season (not just results but performances and whatnot) so if next season we push on and things bed in better and we show real progress over the season then what we saw in the second half of the season can be viewed as a learning curve - if we maintain our current level and things don't progress well that then gives a different slant on where we are atm.

So i would rate the season at around a C, C+
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Definitely think you're right on how this season will be seen depending on what happens from here. I can understand concerns about the second half of the season though mine aren't strong at all.

I think we're moving in a very good direction overall. If we can continue our good record in the transfer market I think that will continue.
 
billyiddo said:
I think how this season is viewed will depend on how we fare next season - on the face of it 5th is fairly decent given the circumstances he walked in to, but ultimately you can't ignore the downward trajectory in the second half of the season (not just results but performances and whatnot) so if next season we push on and things bed in better and we show real progress over the season then what we saw in the second half of the season can be viewed as a learning curve - if we maintain our current level and things don't progress well that then gives a different slant on where we are atm.

So i would rate the season at around a C, C+
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Not having a dig at your personally but I really don't understand the rating

I understand the statement about potential direction and impact on next season but can't wrap my head around 5th = C

Context, Spurs since 1991 has finished better than 5th, 7 times, 4 of of those times just one spot higher. With what Ange walked into, I really don't see a result the club has only bettered a limited number of times (and barely) in 30+ years as a C
 
I think season has been great based on the factors e.g., Kane moving, new manager, injuries. I do have concerns on the ability of the squad to handle next season when we get Europe. Consistency and Mental fitness will be key.
 
Raziel said:
Not having a dig at your personally but I really don't understand the rating

I understand the statement about potential direction and impact on next season but can't wrap my head around 5th = C

Context, Spurs since 1991 has finished better than 5th, 7 times, 4 of of those times just one spot higher. With what Ange walked into, I really don't see a result the club has only bettered a limited number of times (and barely) in 30+ years as a C
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More or less, based on this season alone, then it's 1st half of the season B, 2nd half season D - averaging at C for a whole
 
Raziel said:
Not having a dig at your personally but I really don't understand the rating

I understand the statement about potential direction and impact on next season but can't wrap my head around 5th = C

Context, Spurs since 1991 has finished better than 5th, 7 times, 4 of of those times just one spot higher. With what Ange walked into, I really don't see a result the club has only bettered a limited number of times (and barely) in 30+ years as a C
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Bound to be variation in what thresholds people will use for various ratings like this.
billyiddo said:
More or less, based on this season alone, then it's 1st half of the season B, 2nd half season D - averaging at C for a whole
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If the season was flipped on it's head, first 10 games were the last 10 games would your rating be different?

(Like Raziel, not having a dig, just trying to understand. Is the impression of a lack of progress in the second half of the season something that drives the overall rating down for you?)
 
braineclipse said:
Bound to be variation in what thresholds people will use for various ratings like this.

If the season was flipped on it's head, first 10 games were the last 10 games would your rating be different?

(Like Raziel, not having a dig, just trying to understand. Is the impression of a lack of progress in the second half of the season something that drives the overall rating down for you?)
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I think the lack of good performances in the second half of the season is cause for (slight) concern - you would hope/expect improvement as the season goes on and the players without involvement in cup competitions had full weeks on the training ground to get to grips with Anges system.

However, it was always going to be difficult and unlikely (despite the excitement of some) to maintain our early season form. And looking at the Premier league table screenshot the other day for the first 19 games of the season vs the last 19 games of the season we was 5th for the first half of the season and 7th for the second half so results wise at least there was at least a fair amount of consistency overall.

Overall performances leave a lot more to be desired but with more and clever investment I think that will improve. I would say anyone scoring between a B and C is a fair reflection, like you say everyone has different thresholds for ratings. This season whilst ending perhaps slightly underwhelming, has at least been one that has given us a solid base to build from.....
 
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