***OMT TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR vs KAA Gent***

[braineclipse]

yeah, there was no response after HT, i expected us to come out and play like our arses were on fire

There was a response after half time. We started the second half well, were clearly the better team on the pitch and started creating chances. Then the scored and we didn't respond at all.

 

[DubaiSpur]

Sorry I don't agree. Its 100% on Poch. Rightly or wrongly, it is his job to pick the team, the tactics and motivate the team. Make sure they are going out to a match with the right mentality. That was a hige part of Ferguson's genius imo.

What have we done here?

He did two out of three things right, imo. Picked the strongest side he could, and switched the tactics up early to counter our lethargy in the first half. The mentality...honestly, I think it may be more in the lads' heads than with Poch.

But that is essentially Poch's job. He doesn't seem to possess a hairdryer.

Our recent transfer policy has been dire. We haven't strengthened at all.

If he doesn't possess a hairdryer, get a Roy Keane in and let him do it, without Poch having to get involved.

As for the second bit, I'm holding off on our transfer policy until next season...if any of these new players survive until then, that is, because Poch may not be as patient as I'm attempting to be.

Who is that person?

Preferably someone experienced, preferably someone from a big club with knowledge of how to win titles and show up when it matters, preferably someone with that sort of dogged, ruthless personality to counter-act all the happy-clappy stuff our lads are constantly involved in. Try Mascherano from Barca. Thiago Motta from PSG, perhaps. Pepe from Real Madrid. Barzagli from Juventus.

I think this is the best post of the thread.

No, I don't think we have - we don't actually have any leaders Still and are mentally weak, we haven't improved on it from last season

We won't yet see if we have or we haven't until the season ends, but it hasn't been *all* bad so far - our dominations of Chelsea and City at home prove that we're not completely feckless. But I'm at a loss about how to explain this.

That's incredibly harsh. They're probably thinking about their next match and not wanting to be injured for the league run in.

Their next match is against Fulham, in the FA Cup. Will they sod that one off too, to preserve themselves for the Gent return leg and then Stoke at home?

You're being paid to do what the manager tells you and give your all in training and in games - leave game management to the coaching staff and concentrate on not being spineless in games you can't be arsed with.

 

[Legohamster]

Jan and Rose are back on Sunday I believe

This is massive

 

[glasgowspur]

Indeed. Not saying its a regular thing for us by any means but that was just a poor performance from beginning to end really. There wasn't ever really a reaction so to speak.



Oh yeah, not saying that it will be there from the beginning. But we're talking about changing the mentality of the players, the club. Still some way away.

I've always said it, evolution not revolution.

 

[ringo]

We haven't scored in open play on 4 games.

Went through a similar run earlier in the season

And if our signings were intended to help with our problems creating and finishing chances, they haven't. So far we have yet to see much from NKD, Sissoko and Janssen. although playing them more often might help. And Kane and Son are struggling. So we are really short on creativity and goal scoring.

 

[glasgowspur]

I think he is doing it on purpose. I ignored him because I assumed he was trying to play Devil's advocate.

To many totally underestimate the European teams.
This was not that easy a tie.

 

[Pirate55]

Not good enough. Though we started the second half well we doesn't respond well to going behind at all.

Too many players below their standard. Not sure how Gent usually play, but worrying that another team pressed us high and we failed to deal with it.

I fully trust Pochettino to turn this little slump around.

I am losing my faith in him having a winning mentality. His post match interview said we played ok and created several chances. What the hell was he watching?

 

[King of Norway]

First half was poor. Then we actually started the second half well in a different system, could have scored and looked it was a matter of time before we did. Then they had one decent attack and scored, got confidence and we never got going again for whatever reason.

I don't feel too confident of turning it around at Wembley. If we had played at home, I would have been quite optimistic. At home we get close to the opponents, pin them deep into their own half and put them under sustained pressure. At Wembley we can't seem to get close to the opponent or manage to play with a high tempo liek we do at home.

 

[scaramanga]

What have we done here?

Enough without having to put in much effort I'd guess.

 

[Robbo]

Meltdown yet? That was pretty poor. Again. Better than Liverpool, but with inferior opposition - I guess that equals the two performances.

We should beat these though, but we won't playing like tonight. Massive kick up the backside needed. And Rose back.

 

[Modric THFC]

This isn't on Poch. This is on the eleven excuses for professional footballers who trudged out on that field today, thinking about nothing more than their next paycheck.

It was truly shocking. All the team spirit, commitment and fight we showed at brilliant moments this season...just *gone*, and replaced by utter indifference.

Of course its on Poch, changing formation every 20 minutes. Jenas just said everyone had to take an extra touch and look around and see where their teammates were. There was no tempo and pace because of how unfamiliar everything was. Complete joke trying Dembele at number 10 when he can only dribble the ball failing to spot Alli and Kane's runs. Moving Alli out the left and then deep in midfield. N Koudou as a wing back. It was a mess.

Play your best team in your best formation stick with it and win the thing.

This whole game was treated as if it didnt matter and the home leg will get up out of jail if needed.

And all that filtered down to the players as usual.

 

[paxtonwolf]

So stay at home then!

Its getting that way I am starting to get tempted. Upto a few months ago i would have been like a junkie without a fix if I had gone over 3 months without seeing Spurs live,but right now I am hardly missing it, and performances like the last 3 are just compounding it

 

[Baleforce]

There was a response after half time. We started the second half well, were clearly the better team on the pitch and started creating chances. Then the scored and we didn't respond at all.

it was a little bit better, but we didn't have them pinned in their own box whilst making chance after chance

considering how poor we'd been for the 3 previous halves i wanted them to take an absolute roasting at half time, come out, blow gent away and get our swagger back

either Poch didn't go nuclear on them or they are mentally weak and it didn't help, we'll never know

 

[scaramanga]

Honestly, why the fudge do you bother making dozens of posts in this match thread if you don't care about the game? Why can't you just fudge off and leave those of us who support Spurs and want us to win in peace? You can surely find a better way to spend your evening than to write post after post with the same tiresome content about a game you couldn't give a toss about. Find some porn and knock one out if you can still get it up. Go to the cinema. Read a book. Get out of the house and annoy people in real life instead. If you have nothing better to do than this, then your life must so incredibly sad that I cannot find words for it. You are the most obnoxious, arrogant, repulsive human being I have ever come across in my life.

OK snowflake.

Maybe I find posting here more interesting than watching pointless, low rent competitions. I suspect a large chunk of the footballing community would probably feel the same.

 

[DubaiSpur]

Meltdown yet? That was pretty poor. Again. Better than Liverpool, but with inferior opposition - I guess that equals the two performances.

We should beat these though, but we won't playing like tonight. Massive kick up the backside needed. And Rose back.

That's underselling it. These were a bunch of Belgian mid-table cloggers who couldn't beat some third-division side a couple of weeks ago. And we made them look like Brazil, what with their yellow shirts and their evident ability to make players earning 100 times what they do look useless.

 

[StephenH]

PS I think we are out of Europe. I cant see this lot getting past this round. If we cant hang with Gent, we wont be able to hang with the bigger boys. Also Wembley - beloved cant be bothered to play!

Wembley all of next season.

If we don't pull our collective fingers out we will be opening the new stadium in the championship, and I'm not overreacting. West Ham look better than us ATM

 

[scaramanga]

You're being paid to do what the manager tells you and give your all in training and in games - leave game management to the coaching staff and concentrate on not being spineless in games you can't be arsed with.

Maybe the manager told them not to get injured for the FA Cup match.

 

[ringo]

Honestly, why the fudge do you bother making dozens of posts in this match thread if you don't care about the game? Why can't you just fudge off and leave those of us who support Spurs and want us to win in peace? You can surely find a better way to spend your evening than to write post after post with the same tiresome content about a game you couldn't give a toss about. Find some porn and knock one out if you can still get it up. Go to the cinema. Read a book. Get out of the house and annoy people in real life instead. If you have nothing better to do than this, then your life must so incredibly sad that I cannot find words for it. You are the most obnoxious, arrogant, repulsive human being I have ever come across in my life.

You have been on the board for ages - it is not worth getting stressed about what happens here.

We all have our foibles. Over the years you learn to accept/ignore the bits that annoy you. And Scara does make sure the forum keeps going, and picks it up when it falls over. Even if he can be a bit argumentative at times (just for the fun of it possibly!). And we are all Spurs fans - even though we may grumble.

 

[DubaiSpur]

Maybe the manager told them not to get injured for the FA Cup match.

After yesterday? After all that talk about building a winning mentality and going for trophies and eradicating the losing culture at Tottenham, you think he went to the players and said 'right lads, get shown up by Belgian league skidmarks if you wish, but don't get injured for the Fulham game'?

If so, then he's either a patent liar or incredibly confused about where he wants to take us. And I don't think he's either.

 

[glasgowspur]

Two words

graham Roberts.