*** Tottenham Hotspur vs clams***

[lurker of old]

I said it before the season started but I think our attacking options look weak even compared to last season. We lost 16 goals from Bale, 10 from Vini, and a seasoned PL player in Lamela. We're expecting a 20 year old whos never played in the prem to be at the heart of our CM, our most talented CM wanted to leave, and our star striker looks about as threatening as Andy Booth.
What he said. Starting to have some sympathy with calls for the owners to invest some of their own money on higher quality players, rather than just borrowing to build an amazing stadium.

 

[3rdside]

hello mate and welcome...you might find the thread on MP worth a visit. It will offer an idea of the opinions on the board plus avoid us getting back into those rabbit holes (believe me, they get divisive)...here's hoping you find some good debate/ discussion in these parts...

Cheers mate and noted.

Just to clarify, my point wasn’t to draw attention to one bad decision ie Poch, rather the many bad decisions that suggest Levy has lost the plot, Mourinho and Grealish the picks of the bunch.

That said …

Spurs under Poch had 11 points after 9 games in his first season, and apparently he was worried about his job at that point, so the least I can do is give Nuno a bit more time.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Cheers mate and noted.

Just to clarify, my point wasn’t to draw attention to one bad decision ie Poch, rather the many bad decisions that suggest Levy has lost the plot, Mourinho and Grealish the picks of the bunch.

That said …

Spurs under Poch had 11 points after 9 games in his first season, and apparently he was worried about his job at that point, so the least I can do is give Nuno a bit more time.

 

[3rdside]

View attachment 12755 View attachment 12755

What am I looking at here?

 

[Finney Is Back]

Pool definitely bucked the trend. But the trend is there. Selling Coutinho and getting a massive cash injection was helpful as is having Klopp at the helm. They also bought well.

What I find funny is that many went into the summer hell bent on a DoF. What happened to that? It was the answer no? Levy listened, your wishes were granted…but it’s back to blaming Levy?

I also find it odd that when 2 clubs - with oodles of oil money - dominate trophies, fans focus on Levy as the root of our lack of silverware. You don’t think there is misplaced wrath? Spurs are just like the 95% of clubs who are outspent by clubs with, let’s face it, pretty dirty money. Spurs are probably a bit better off than most with a chance to beat these elevated clubs now and again; as we did on the first day of the season. There are two teams who are tarred with hundreds of million of brown petrol dollars. It is the root and reason for their success. Our successes are far harder won.

I think it is great that we got a DoF.... I think we've already seen some improvements in our recruitment as a result. I think it will take another 3 years of Paratici being in place to get us back to challenging for 4th place (I don't really see us properly challenging for the title in the foreseeable future now. I think we had our chance there and failed to strengthen when it was within our grasp.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

What am I looking at here?

Poch first games
It highlights your point

 

[SpurMeUp]

I think it is great that we got a DoF.... I think we've already seen some improvements in our recruitment as a result. I think it will take another 3 years of Paratici being in place to get us back to challenging for 4th place (I don't really see us properly challenging for the title in the foreseeable future now. I think we had our chance there and failed to strengthen when it was within our grasp.

Recruitment wise not sure we've done much different. Sales on the other hand...

 

[Pirate55]

Chelsea are the champions of Europe. We are a work in progress with a mixture of unfit, semi injured and new players with our star man off form or mentally befuddled. Nuno gets a pass from me in this game. His team selection was as good as we could have hoped for in the circumstances - unlike Palace where he completely got it all wrong. Not one of our team ( except possibly Kane) would get in the Chelsea side at the moment. Our loss to them was hardly a surprise and we did at least give it a go in the first half.

The Arse game is now vitally important for Nuno to start demonstrating he has what it takes. It's really not his fault that our recruitment process has been ridiculously poor for about the last four years. We have spent the money - but not one player has proved to be worth what we paid for them (maybe only PEH).

 

[metalgear]

First goal - individual error - dele
Second goal - individual error (not clearing fast enough) then deflection - defensive playing out issue maybe due to unsettled/new defence
Third goal - someone from midfield needed to cover the penalty spot - defensive organization issue, also maybe due to unsettled/new defence

Performance was far far better than our first 4 games despite the scorelines (this vs all the previous games).
If Nuno can keep the starting eleven and make subtle changes and settle down the back four i think we can have a good season.

Main issue is that back line is too deep. Hence gameplan was for Kane to start deeper.

Dele and Ndomb are half a player in impact each, with a well drilled team like chelsea it was 11 vs 10, Kante schooled all our midfielders in terms of excellent movement to get into the game. So, so useful.

Hojberg and Lo Celso looks tasked to protect the defence. So we are overcompensating. Romero is good but is he good enough to compensate for Dier's lack of mobility which will be exposed when the back line starts to push up.

Same issues as what Mouinho had.

Hope Nuno has the courage to drop Dele - Skipp looks good alongside Hojberg. Lo Celso for Ndomb could be possible as we saw his excellent attacking support with Argentina but both still below Eriksen's capabilities to string play together and free up attack.

No reason for Kane to not score if he gets the right supply. He's a natural striker, its about triggering that instinct.

 

[Diamond Lights]

They took off Mount and brought on Kante.... Giving them a numerical advantage in midfield. Tuchel looked at the first half and made a swift tactical change.

definitely but the lack of atmosphere and crowd really showed yesterday. Second half just nothing from us to start the second half with a bit of wind behind us. Disappointing. Not throwing blame here so dont take it personally, it's a collective thing, but that's where we need those in the South to really get the mood going. It all starts from there and reverberates around the ground.

 

[parklane1]

Chelsea are the champions of Europe. We are a work in progress with a mixture of unfit, semi injured and new players with our star man off form or mentally befuddled. Nuno gets a pass from me in this game. His team selection was as good as we could have hoped for in the circumstances - unlike Palace where he completely got it all wrong. Not one of our team ( except possibly Kane) would get in the Chelsea side at the moment. Our loss to them was hardly a surprise and we did at least give it a go in the first half.

The Arse game is now vitally important for Nuno to start demonstrating he has what it takes. It's really not his fault that our recruitment process has been ridiculously poor for about the last four years. We have spent the money - but not one player has proved to be worth what we paid for them (maybe only PEH).

I think that sums up our posistion spot on. Work in progress and iits FAR to early for some fans to get hysterical.

 

[braineclipse]

Chelsea are the champions of Europe. We are a work in progress with a mixture of unfit, semi injured and new players with our star man off form or mentally befuddled. Nuno gets a pass from me in this game. His team selection was as good as we could have hoped for in the circumstances - unlike Palace where he completely got it all wrong. Not one of our team ( except possibly Kane) would get in the Chelsea side at the moment. Our loss to them was hardly a surprise and we did at least give it a go in the first half.

The Arse game is now vitally important for Nuno to start demonstrating he has what it takes. It's really not his fault that our recruitment process has been ridiculously poor for about the last four years. We have spent the money - but not one player has proved to be worth what we paid for them (maybe only PEH).

I take a lot of optimism from that first half, perhaps somewhat clouded in my expression on here by other things that have disappointed me this season.

Agree that the Arsenal game is very important. Second best performance and 3 losses in a row in the league won't be a good look. I will still think that Nuno deserves time of course, but not a good look.

 

[DeanoAustin]

Stayed away from posting for the last 24 hours as I was down big time on Nuno after Sunday. Massively disappointed with the second half after an encouraging first half. Thought he got the starting eleven right but once they got on top, he had no answer. Maybe there was no answer given how weak the squad is and how good they are but it was grim. Ndombele and GLC were particularly disappointing again. These are two lads I've been wanting to play in the same team consistently but any time they have, they've underwhelmed. I know GLC was played in a strange position but he didn't do much. I was really hoping for Tanguy to break the lines a few times but I can't remember him doing it at all.

On Sunday evening, I was talking about having Nuno out which was a nonsense emotional knee jerk reaction fuelled by a few pints. I still don't have much faith in him but he deserves some time. Looking at the squad now, I'm worried. For the last 15 years or so, since BMJ, we've been easily one of the best 6 sides in the league. Now, I'm not so sure.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

definitely but the lack of atmosphere and crowd really showed yesterday. Second half just nothing from us to start the second half with a bit of wind behind us. Disappointing. Not throwing blame here so dont take it personally, it's a collective thing, but that's where we need those in the South to really get the mood going. It all starts from there and reverberates around the ground.

There was a lot of disgruntled fans in the south near me moaning about dele
But not much cheering

 

[harr1984]

Stayed away from posting for the last 24 hours as I was down big time on Nuno after Sunday. Massively disappointed with the second half after an encouraging first half. Thought he got the starting eleven right but once they got on top, he had no answer. Maybe there was no answer given how weak the squad is and how good they are but it was grim. Ndombele and GLC were particularly disappointing again. These are two lads I've been wanting to play in the same team consistently but any time they have, they've underwhelmed. I know GLC was played in a strange position but he didn't do much. I was really hoping for Tanguy to break the lines a few times but I can't remember him doing it at all.

On Sunday evening, I was talking about having Nuno out which was a nonsense emotional knee jerk reaction fuelled by a few pints. I still don't have much faith in him but he deserves some time. Looking at the squad now, I'm worried. For the last 15 years or so, since BMJ, we've been easily one of the best 6 sides in the league. Now, I'm not so sure.

Whatever the state of this team it has very little to do with Nuno. As has been highlighted several times he has had naff all time to work with his first choice team, and has been firefighting various situations from day one.

Poch appeared to lose the dressing room, then apparently it was all ‘dinosaur’ Mourinhos fault that we were not around the top 4, and now some people are already questioning Nuno. These are all at the very least decent coaches and none of them are getting a real tune out of the players.

The situation was summed up for me by one poster who in the past was vocal about being massively against Mourinho because we were underachieving with what he insisted to be a top 4 squad. Yet the other day I saw him claim that we have at least a top 6-8 squad - funny that. Like him or not the real problem never was Mourinho, just as it isn’t Nuno. It all stems back to that big refresh that was needed under Poch and we just stayed with the same squad for way too long. Something really doesn’t feel right about the balance and harmony of this squad and it could take a few years to properly put right. The expectations of many Spurs fans are quite frankly ridiculous, and just have to accept the peaks and troughs of football. Even the very biggest clubs Man U, Arsenal etc have gone through years of mediocrity before coming again so why on earth any Spurs fan expects us - a team that wins the square root of naff all to be competing for the top 4 every season is beyond me. Especially with what is a pretty average squad right now. Just enjoy the ride…..

 

[Spoonman]

Whatever the state of this team it has very little to do with Nuno. As has been highlighted several times he has had naff all time to work with his first choice team, and has been firefighting various situations from day one.

Poch appeared to lose the dressing room, then apparently it was all ‘dinosaur’ Mourinhos fault that we were not around the top 4, and now some people are already questioning Nuno. These are all at the very least decent coaches and none of them are getting a real tune out of the players.

The situation was summed up for me by one poster who in the past was vocal about being massively against Mourinho because we were underachieving with what he insisted to be a top 4 squad. Yet the other day I saw him claim that we have at least a top 6-8 squad - funny that. Like him or not the real problem never was Mourinho, just as it isn’t Nuno. It all stems back to that big refresh that was needed under Poch and we just stayed with the same squad for way too long. Something really doesn’t feel right about the balance and harmony of this squad and it could take a few years to properly put right. The expectations of many Spurs fans are quite frankly ridiculous, and just have to accept the peaks and troughs of football. Even the very biggest clubs Man U, Arsenal etc have gone through years of mediocrity before coming again so why on earth any Spurs fan expects us - a team that wins the square root of naff all to be competing for the top 4 every season is beyond me. Especially with what is a pretty average squad right now. Just enjoy the ride…..

Great post. Agree with all that.

The problems run far deeper than any manager, so no point getting on Nuno's back.

There is no quick fix to the issues in our squad so we just have to suck it up, take the stick and wait until we rise again.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Whatever the state of this team it has very little to do with Nuno. As has been highlighted several times he has had naff all time to work with his first choice team, and has been firefighting various situations from day one.

Poch appeared to lose the dressing room, then apparently it was all ‘dinosaur’ Mourinhos fault that we were not around the top 4, and now some people are already questioning Nuno. These are all at the very least decent coaches and none of them are getting a real tune out of the players.

The situation was summed up for me by one poster who in the past was vocal about being massively against Mourinho because we were underachieving with what he insisted to be a top 4 squad. Yet the other day I saw him claim that we have at least a top 6-8 squad - funny that. Like him or not the real problem never was Mourinho, just as it isn’t Nuno. It all stems back to that big refresh that was needed under Poch and we just stayed with the same squad for way too long. Something really doesn’t feel right about the balance and harmony of this squad and it could take a few years to properly put right. The expectations of many Spurs fans are quite frankly ridiculous, and just have to accept the peaks and troughs of football. Even the very biggest clubs Man U, Arsenal etc have gone through years of mediocrity before coming again so why on earth any Spurs fan expects us - a team that wins the square root of naff all to be competing for the top 4 every season is beyond me. Especially with what is a pretty average squad right now. Just enjoy the ride…..

Agree with this. To me the bigger question is how many more managerial appointments do Levy and ENIC get before they should think about stepping aside? They are after all the one constant at the club for the last 20 years. We have some very good to borderline world class players along with some very average players and others that need replacing quickly. The squad still needs reinforcements. Either we back the DOF and the coach to rebuild or ENIC should just move on.

 

[Jurgen the German]

Anyone else notice how many people were still casually strolling back to their seats 5-10 mins after HT? I was late myself (my partner insisted we go and get food) but I guess that’s the downside of having such a beautiful stadium with world class facilities, people aren’t in a rush to actually get back to their seat and watch the game

 

[SteveAWOL]

https://www.coachesvoice.com/cv/tottenham-0-chelsea-3-premier-league-tactical-analysis/

https://twitter.com/x/status/1439946247394168832

 

[Finney Is Back]

Whatever the state of this team it has very little to do with Nuno. As has been highlighted several times he has had naff all time to work with his first choice team, and has been firefighting various situations from day one.

Poch appeared to lose the dressing room, then apparently it was all ‘dinosaur’ Mourinhos fault that we were not around the top 4, and now some people are already questioning Nuno. These are all at the very least decent coaches and none of them are getting a real tune out of the players.

The situation was summed up for me by one poster who in the past was vocal about being massively against Mourinho because we were underachieving with what he insisted to be a top 4 squad. Yet the other day I saw him claim that we have at least a top 6-8 squad - funny that. Like him or not the real problem never was Mourinho, just as it isn’t Nuno. It all stems back to that big refresh that was needed under Poch and we just stayed with the same squad for way too long. Something really doesn’t feel right about the balance and harmony of this squad and it could take a few years to properly put right. The expectations of many Spurs fans are quite frankly ridiculous, and just have to accept the peaks and troughs of football. Even the very biggest clubs Man U, Arsenal etc have gone through years of mediocrity before coming again so why on earth any Spurs fan expects us - a team that wins the square root of naff all to be competing for the top 4 every season is beyond me. Especially with what is a pretty average squad right now. Just enjoy the ride…..

I was one of those who was certainly against Mourinho. Mainly because of the fact that he comes across as a rather odious character who quickly alienates his team, while organising them to play terribly defensive, boring to watch football. A par finish for Mourinho last season with our squad was probably 6th place and he was pretty much on for that.

This season though our squad is weaker than last season:

Romero in for Toby (probably stronger here, though perhaps not until later in the season when the player has settled in)
Gill for Lamela (weaker initially, though likely to be stronger in seasons to come)
Royal for Aurier (probably weaker initially, though likely to be stronger in seasons to come)
Nobody coming in for Bale (16 goals not replaced. Undoubtedly weaker).
Skipp coming in for Sissoko (Not really any change initially, though we may well be stronger in seasons to come if Skipp fulfills his potential)
Nobody coming in for Vinicius - (Undoubtedly weaker. 10 goals in Cup competitions not replaced. We either need to accept we'll exit cups or flog our senior players and impact our PL finish).
Gollini coming in for Hart (should be stronger but a team's backup keeper generally doesn't play many games and hardly any important ones).
The above is before we consider that Kane was giving his all last season whereas this season he doesn't want to be here and is playing like it.

7th place is a decent finish for us this season - that may be good enough for another qualification to the Euro Minnows Bowl (depending on who wins the domestic cups)

I completely agree with you that it is abundantly clear that the problem at our club is not whoever the manager happens to be, the problem is higher up than that.... I'm sure we'll waste even more valuable potential transfer budget sacking managers over the next few years however.