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*** OMT Spurs v Fiorentina 1st leg ***

..... Deflated .....

Rberto Soldado ..... my favourite Spurs player.

Their keeper was too comfortable with in-swinging crosses - invoited wingers should have swapped for effect.
 
Spurmac1974 said:
The empathy towards this does my head in! Far more likely way to get into the Champions League than through the extremely unlikely route of the league, and to be fair if we cant win it why do we even deserve to be in the Champions League....pointless exercise! So sloppy in the 2nd half, passing was shocking especially Lamela who was turgid when he came on!
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As per usual I tend to think that the bookies have a decent idea of the likelihood of such things.

From what I can see the odds seem very much to be indicating that finishing in the top 4 is more likely than winning the EL. Might have changed a bit as a result of the draw today, but I don't think it's changed enough to swing it the other way.

AdamB said:
I disagree. West Ham at home is a bigger game than tonights was
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Might very well be. Comes down to priorities and personal preferences I think.

I would be surprised if at this point the LC isn't a clear first priority and then Poch thinks he has to balance it a bit between the league and EL.
 
milo said:
My point was more that the goal was very much against the run of play and that if they had not had that opportunity it was hard to see a way back into the game for them. Up until that point, the team selection appeared to be vindicated.
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Agreed.

All in all we were very unlucky not to get away with the win, but that happens sometimes. Two massive chances for Chadli, at least one very good chance for Eriksen and a handful of decent chances from Townsend, Bentaleb, Paulinho etc.

We weren't good enough in the second half when Fiorentina parked the bus and tried to attack on the break. Nothing new really.

Good effort from the lads on what must have been a pretty draining pitch. Positive performances from Davies, Townsend and Soldado that have all been a bit meh at best for at least a while. Decent from Paulinho. Very good again from Verts, Walker, Bentaleb. Fazio also did alright. Eriksen and the subs not having their best days.
 
If this competition means fudge all then why not play a youth side in the other 8 games we played. We'd might be able to have a proper shot at top 4 then.

We lost 12 points playing after the Europa against Liverpool, Stoke, Saudi Sportswashing Machine and West Brom.
 
braineclipse said:
As per usual I tend to think that the bookies have a decent idea of the likelihood of such things.

From what I can see the odds seem very much to be indicating that finishing in the top 4 is more likely than winning the EL. Might have changed a bit as a result of the draw today, but I don't think it's changed enough to swing it the other way.
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They are now!
What were they before the game?
 
They packed out the middle of the park, doubled up down the wings and invited us to try and play the ball long or try to break them down through the middle.
 
Modric THFC said:
If this competition means fudge all then why not play a youth side in the other 8 games we played. We'd might be able to have a proper shot at top 4 then.

We lost 12 points playing after the Europa against Liverpool, Stoke, Saudi Sportswashing Machine and West Brom.
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Who has said that this competition means fudge all? Such a strange statement to me... Did it look like we weren't trying today?

Modric THFC said:
They are now!
What were they before the game?
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Like I already said in the post they probably were changed by our result today.

I don't know what they were before our game and I don't know how to check that, but the difference is fairly large between the two with the odds of finishing in the top 4 much more likely so I doubt this one game changed it completely around.

From what I can tell on oddschecker.com even the current favourites to win the EL (Napoli, Wolfsburg, Liverpool) currently have odds about twice that of us getting top 4 in the PL this season. I just don't get how it could have swung enough on this one game that we were far enough ahead of them before this game for that to have switched.
 
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Modric THFC said:
If this competition means fudge all then why not play a youth side in the other 8 games we played. We'd might be able to have a proper shot at top 4 then.

We lost 12 points playing after the Europa against Liverpool, Stoke, Saudi Sportswashing Machine and West Brom.
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As Poch was saying in the build up to this game, the poor return in games after Europa games appears to be mental rather than physical because some of those European games were at home and we have hardly had a drop off in fixtures during the break in European games. This is just something that we need to get over if we need to push on as a club.

I do not think that the team selection was the issue tonight. We played brilliantly for the first 35 minutes and could easily have gone in two or three up. We clearly let Fiorentina back into the game after they scored and looked to lose confidence. We are going to need the six who came into the team today if we are going to get anything this season and I think that there were positives with all of them that we can build on.
 
imcallingbullsh*t said:
Chelsea on their day will beat us - Fact. Plus whatever happens they will be more rested / prepared for the game due to rest

We have to manage the squad until the final but if we go OTT we lose against West Ham, Get Knocked out via Fiorentina and Lose the Final.

If we beat West Ham and get through against Fiorentina we can have a go against Chelsea knowing we still have other things to play for. Blowing the season for a Carling Cup final we are favourites to lose is madness.
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Indeed. The odds are in Chelsea's favour.
The greater reward is the Europa Cup. Let's go for it.

Don't over-rotate, otherwise we could end up arse about face.
 
milo said:
As Poch was saying in the build up to this game, the poor return in games after Europa games appears to be mental rather than physical because some of those European games were at home and we have hardly had a drop off in fixtures during the break in European games. This is just something that we need to get over if we need to push on as a club.

I do not think that the team selection was the issue tonight. We played brilliantly for the first 35 minutes and could easily have gone in two or three up. We clearly let Fiorentina back into the game after they scored and looked to lose confidence. We are going to need the six who came into the team today if we are going to get anything this season and I think that there were positives with all of them that we can build on.
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Exactly. We'll still be competing on at least two fronts with the EL fixtures coming relatively quick and fast if we do go through.

Including today we'll have 10 games in the next 30 days if we do end up qualifying for the round of 16 in the EL. I don't get how people would expect us to get through that only starting our strongest 11 every game.
 
Hemant said:
Indeed. The odds are in Chelsea's favour.
The greater reward is the Europa Cup. Let's go for it.

Don't over-rotate, otherwise we could end up arse about face.
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The odds are in Chelsea's favour. But the odds are way more in the favour of us not winning the EL.

We're in the final of the league cup. To not go 100% for that competition now seems to me... a bit strange.
 
A familiar story, unfortunately. When we failed to take the chances we had in the first 45, you just knew we were going to be sorry, because we always have it in us to concede soft goals. We lacked intensity in the second half and eventually just disappeared up our own аrsеs. It's going to be an uphill climb in the return leg.
 
Whiffler said:
..... Deflated .....

Rberto Soldado ..... my favourite Spurs player.

Their keeper was too comfortable with in-swinging crosses - invoited wingers should have swapped for effect.
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Yes, especially with two strikers on, the wide men would have seen some white in the box to encourage them to cross. I think Townsend and Walker didn't cross as much due to the fact only Soldado was in the box. Secondly, Soldado showed with his goal and the header in the second half he could thrive on crosses from the bye line.

But I suspect it is unlikely Poch will play conventional wingers for any length of time. Which effectively takes a weapon away from our armoury.
 
braineclipse said:
The odds are in Chelsea's favour. But the odds are way more in the favour of us not winning the EL.

We're in the final of the league cup. To not go 100% for that competition now seems to me... a bit strange.
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We should go for it but first we must ensure progress in the EL, then we look toward Wembley, aim of the season was to finish in the CL, hence no one cried when Vorm got us knocked out of the FA Cup. So we shouldn't be prioritising CC now, that is just a bonus. Play whoever is fittest for it but the A team needs to play against Fiorentina.
 
Hemant said:
A manager who neuter's himself by tactical inflexibility is a fudgeing depart.
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No, a manager that uses a very low return method of play for any length of time, in spite of all the data that show what a bad idea it is, is either low on intelligence or high on ignorance.
 
Ideally, the FBs will go on the outside and cross/do a cutback after the winger has turned inside, dragging the opposition FB with him.
 
Hemant said:
Indeed. The odds are in Chelsea's favour.
The greater reward is the Europa Cup. Let's go for it.

Don't over-rotate, otherwise we could end up arse about face.
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Somewhat agree with this. I'd actually throw out a weaker side for the Spam game, just to give us a chance in the other two competitions. We all agreed that the league was fairly unimportant this season anyway, didn't we?
 
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