googbye top 4

[Rorschach]

Central midfield is our problem, they dont create a lot and obviously dont defend very well either, after watching City, Utd and Chelsea at the weekend I had a reality check they are years ahead of us.

tbh I wish I had not watched them.

Yeah this is my take on it too. Parker and Dembele are not at the top of their game at the moment and I especially think Parker's defense contribution has dropped off significantly compared to last year (IMO). I also think our wide players and Bale also sometimes go through the motions of defending but don't effectively win the ball back. Then I see Ade sprinting around after the ball rather pointlessly as he has no support and it all adds up to more chances and possession to the opposition.

I saw the 1st half of the 'pool and Reading match at the weekend and even though the result didn't go Liverpool's way I was more than impressed by how the front 6 players cohesively hunted the ball down time and again. Reading punted the ball long over and over to get of trouble, or lost it in dangerous positions. This is straight out of the Barca defensive handbook (5 second rule, etc...) and you can see where Rodgers has learned his trade.

 

[PochettinoPochettinoPochettino]

I dont want to throw in the towel on 4th but it doesnt look good as we just arent playing very well at this moment. Ok Bale has been out but can you say this season we have won games convincingly? I cant remember us playing well in the last 2 months and we need to be at the top of our game and win 4 of our llast 6 games to have a chance whilst also taking a point off of Chelsea.

Im not saying goodbye to top 4 but Im not expecting us to achieve it and if we do, then great.

 

[Mumorn]

I dont want to throw in the towel on 4th but it doesnt look good as we just arent playing very well at this moment. Ok Bale has been out but can you say this season we have won games convincingly? I cant remember us playing well in the last 2 months and we need to be at the top of our game and win 4 of our llast 6 games to have a chance whilst also taking a point off of Chelsea.

Im not saying goodbye to top 4 but Im not expecting us to achieve it and if we do, then great.

I agree.

We could be 7 points behind Arsenal and 3 points behind Chelsea by the time we play Emirates Marketing Project.

 

[Bullet]

Edit - nothing to see here

 

[Kenyan Spur]

I feel confident all of a sudden. My weird logic is telling me, Arsenals run of good form has been impressive but it's more likely to come to an end soon, and when it does the wheels could come off. I am hoping they will drop major points in their remaining games. And I fancy us to suddenly find a second wind.

Blind optimism? Probably. COYS

=D> That is the spirit. \o/

 

[Spurs852]

I don't think it's "lack" of fast players. We lack a plan, a style. We should be aiming to play quick football, one touch passing to open teams up. You don't have to be a pacy footballer to do that. I was watching Arsenal against Norwich, sure before 80 minutes they didn't look like scoring but they were creating because they could do one touch football, I was actually very impressed with the way they pressed and then the way they used the ball. I was only thinking imagine if they had a Bale in there team.

We should be looking to play one touch passing, funnily enough I've seen that more in one game (everton last week) than at all this season and we didnt have Defoe, Lennon or Bale in that game. It was Siggy, Carroll and Holtby I believe that did a few one touch passes with eachother to beat about 3 different men. That is what we should be doing, not looking for Dembele to beat 3 men with a dribble or Bale to run past a player with his runs, quick intricate passing is what we should be looking for, it's why I thought we looked in to players like Holtby and giving Carroll a chance, because they have that ability.

Spot on.

Beside the passing ability , are Carrick and Cleverly much better than out midfielders? No way they are. Just because MU got a plan and a style which can get their best out. I am sure if Dembele , Sandro , Holtby , Sig , Carrol and Hud even Dempsey are all giving an instruction to play quick and simple pass , they can do it properly.

It's quite obviously what we are mainly rely on now is power , strength and speed. Players whose are good in these category looked and performed well (Dembele, Sandro....etc) but at the same time Holtby , Dempsey looked never get in the game.

 

[Mumorn]

We have a very athletic team, but that can only get you so far. We need quick intricate little players who can pass and move. It's quite sad when one of the only players we have that does that is a youngster that come through our ranks and has barely made any more than about 2 starts for our first team, yet comes on and does it better than anyone else in our team in Tom Carroll.

I'm hoping that this year really was "transitional" and it was more AVB getting to know the players, there strengths, weaknesses so he can have a big change in the summer getting to know his ideas, his future lay out and get his own players in with a nice one touch style and this year was a way of easing out of the old and getting used to the new with a new pressing game etc.

 

[Jimmy-g]

Yeah this is my take on it too. Parker and Dembele are not at the top of their game at the moment and I especially think Parker's defense contribution has dropped off significantly compared to last year (IMO). I also think our wide players and Bale also sometimes go through the motions of defending but don't effectively win the ball back. Then I see Ade sprinting around after the ball rather pointlessly as he has no support and it all adds up to more chances and possession to the opposition.

I saw the 1st half of the 'pool and Reading match at the weekend and even though the result didn't go Liverpool's way I was more than impressed by how the front 6 players cohesively hunted the ball down time and again. Reading punted the ball long over and over to get of trouble, or lost it in dangerous positions. This is straight out of the Barca defensive handbook (5 second rule, etc...) and you can see where Rodgers has learned his trade.

It makes you wonder if we should be brave and play Carroll and Parker in there, fourth is still doable but we need to change it abit, we have looked predictable for most of the time this season, it will be interesting to see what players AVB brings in next season, surely Lloris should play all the remaining games now along with Dawson and Verts.

 

[Charlie]

Too early to say Goodbye to top4. We will get in if we get 12 points from the remaining fixtures. Chelsea has Spurs (H), Liverpool (A), ManU (A), Villa (A), Everton (H) coming up. We need to at least draw Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

 

[Mumorn]

If Chelsea win at Anfield, I'll say goodbye. It just wasn't meant to be.

 

[Spur of the moment]

I dont want to throw in the towel on 4th but it doesnt look good as we just arent playing very well at this moment. Ok Bale has been out but can you say this season we have won games convincingly? I cant remember us playing well in the last 2 months and we need to be at the top of our game and win 4 of our llast 6 games to have a chance whilst also taking a point off of Chelsea.

Im not saying goodbye to top 4 but Im not expecting us to achieve it and if we do, then great.

Who cares? What matters right now is doing enough to win, we've done that plenty of times so far this season, no reason why we cannot continue.

 

[90291Spur]

I am usually super-optimistic but after the Goons turned over Norwich this weekend my bubble got popped. Supporting Spurs right now is like being Wile E Coyote too bloody often. Just when we think we can catch that Road Runner we get blown up by our own dynamite.

 

[Jurgen the German]

The main problem for me is we don't have enough creativity in the side, even when Bale plays. We don't have a player who can unlock defences like a Fabregas for example. We are a team that relies on wingers to a certain extent, and what do we do? Loan one of them out! Smart thinking. To have no cover for them essentially is madness. I mean Sig and Holtby can do a job there, but we like to hit teams with pace. I see us as quite a workmanlike team to be honest without Bale and Lennon.

 

[The Moonlit Knight]

The main problem for me is we don't have enough creativity in the side, even when Bale plays. We don't have a player who can unlock defences like a Fabregas for example. We are a team that relies on wingers to a certain extent, and what do we do? Loan one of them out! Smart thinking. To have no cover for them essentially is madness. I mean Sig and Holtby can do a job there, but we like to hit teams with pace. I see us as quite a workmanlike team to be honest without Bale and Lennon.

Maybe, but I still think we're a stronger side than Arsenal this year so it's really frustrating if we finish behind them again!

 

[Artic Fox]

I think the only thing all of us can hope for is the players chosen for the remaining six games go out and give a never say die 100% for every game.
To dare is to do.

 

[firefly]

I dont want to throw in the towel on 4th but it doesnt look good as we just arent playing very well at this moment. Ok Bale has been out but can you say this season we have won games convincingly? I cant remember us playing well in the last 2 months and we need to be at the top of our game and win 4 of our llast 6 games to have a chance whilst also taking a point off of Chelsea.

Im not saying goodbye to top 4 but Im not expecting us to achieve it and if we do, then great.

We beat Internazionale 3-0 at the Lane. Under normal circumstances this would be regarded as convincing.

 

[firefly]

Was nice being there for a few months, felt good but as the season comes to an end we have to take our end of season position. Not blaming anyone or anything for this, see you again in october.:lol:

The irony will be that people like you will be the first ones who hold tickets in their hands for Champions League matches at the Lane.

 

[spurspinter1]

I think the only thing all of us can hope for is the players chosen for the remaining six games go out and give a never say die 100% for every game.
To dare is to do.

 

[Crawley]

I see the Arse Vs Wigan game has been moved to 3 days AFTER the Cup Final..........thanks, Premier league.

 

[Crawley]

Mind you, BMJ has a vital role in our season...........Arse and Chelsea in consecutive home games