Half-Season Review - The 45-Minute Wonders?

[Yiddo]

Here comes mr negativity. . .

I would rate it a C solely on the performances. I think we have done well being in the top 4 and through to the knockout stages of the CL and as said above, i think where we are has been dampened slightly by how well Arsenal are doing. We have been absolutely shocking in our performances this season and we could quite easily be up there with Arsenal if our performances wasn’t so lacklustre and thats what i am unhappy about. We are very fortunate to be where we are and although we have shown good character to come back in a number of games, we should never have been in that situation in the first place. Conte is at fault for 50% of it and the players for the other 50%. Actually i would say its 40% Conte 50% players and 10% fans, and i will say i have been one of them toxic fans (although i would never boo our own players) that are negative but its not as if the negativity is not warranted. In the end there are players who are not good enough, players who are that have just not hit the heights and there has also been players that have been overplayed. I feel C is a fair grade for what we have seen so far this season. I just want to see exciting football and players doing the basics correctly.

 

[tw12yid]

With the amount of games leading up to the World Cup sitting were we are in 4th and in the knockout stages of the CL is good. It was never going to be an easy schedule. I always thought it was about just getting through to this stage whilst inflicting minimal damage. In January/February we have 6/7 free midweeks, Emirates Marketing Project might get re-arranged if they don’t make the league cup final.

This will be a key time to rest the bodies and hopefully go on a run.

 

[Gutter Boy]

who said it’s an excuse? It has to be considered a factor in teams performance
Teams with less injuries always do better

Better teams have less injuries however, because: i) it's less tiring to have possession than to chase it, ii) they have bigger squads, iii) they can canter in games more and iv) they tend to have better fitness/medical/conditioning staff and facilities.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Better teams have less injuries however, because: i) it's less tiring to have possession than to chase it, ii) they have bigger squads, iii) they can canter in games more and iv) they tend to have better fitness/medical/conditioning staff and facilities.

Some of that is true, some of it isn’t
We have seen conte teams and also Jose teams win trophies and stay fit without the ball because the players would play through injuries for example to win the big prizes

 

[Hotspur75]

Better teams have less injuries however, because: i) it's less tiring to have possession than to chase it, ii) they have bigger squads, iii) they can canter in games more and iv) they tend to have better fitness/medical/conditioning staff and facilities.

This is an extremely puzzling comment when you look at what we as a club have been doing in the last five to eight years or so. Investing in the facilities has been our priority first and foremost - stadium, training ground. Do you really think we have held on to or appointed support staff (deliberately? or because we cannot see the problem from up close?) who are less capable somehow than at other clubs?

 

[Gutter Boy]

This is an extremely puzzling comment when you look at what we as a club have been doing in the last five to eight years or so. Investing in the facilities has been our priority first and foremost - stadium, training ground. Do you really think we have held on to or appointed support staff (deliberately? or because we cannot see the problem from up close?) who are less capable somehow than at other clubs?

No, the opposite. I meant because we in theory we have the best of that, we should be having less injuries than other clubs. It's another reason injuries can't be an excuse for us - because we've got the clout to pro-actively reduce them.

 

[Hotspur75]

No, the opposite. I meant because we in theory we have the best of that, we should be having less injuries than other clubs. It's another reason injuries can't be an excuse for us - because we've got the clout to pro-actively reduce them.

As in? We are in the position to pay other clubs' players to not kick some of ours?

Which injuries have we picked up this year that should have been 'pro-actively reduced'? Or that should have healed sooner?

 

[SpurMeUp]

Point 3) is a good one. We knew our defence was a bit iffy, but it’s proved to be worse than we thought.

We badly need a top level CB and RWB (depending on Doherty, but so far he seems inconsistent). Would tranform us hugely and hopefully the RWB would also add to attack.

Obviously, we've missed Romero. He's more composed on the ball when playing out and quick and aggressive snuffing out opposition attacks. But on top of this, Conte is trying to change the team's culture. They are so used to getting into a low-block position post-Mourinho and Nuno. Conte is trying to make the team push up more and be more ballanced. Which is the right thing to do. While we develop and become more competent playing this way, we are leaving more space with less protection of the backline. The way we concede possession is not good enough for a CL team. All these factors are at play. But yes we need to upgrade CB and RWB. Whether Spence or Doherty can be the ugprade at wing-back is TBC. I wouldn't be suprised if we just focused on the CB position. Even though Davies has been standout, consistent and reliable, he doesn't have the dominance or skill we require long-term. We need players who are as good as the forwards, dominating our defence and playing out with skill.

 

[Gutter Boy]

As in? We are in the position to pay other clubs' players to not kick some of ours?

Which injuries have we picked up this year that should have been 'pro-actively reduced'? Or that should have healed sooner?

You can always divide injuries into impact ones (unavoidable) and muscular/fatigue ones (avoidable).

I haven't gone through our injury list for this season, but from memory Richarlison has been out with a calf strain and Kulusevski a thigh strain - so both avoidable (potentially if we'd rotated with Moura and Gil more).

 

[90291Spur]

You can always divide injuries into impact ones (unavoidable) and muscular/fatigue ones (avoidable).

I haven't gone through our injury list for this season, but from memory Richarlison has been out with a calf strain and Kulusevski a thigh strain - so both avoidable (potentially if we'd rotated with Moura and Gil more).

Kulu was rested for two or three games, as far as I can recall. Richarlison also hadn’t played many minutes. In the other hand, Kane and Dier have racked up huge amounts of game time and neither got an ‘avoidable’ injury.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

You can always divide injuries into impact ones (unavoidable) and muscular/fatigue ones (avoidable).

I haven't gone through our injury list for this season, but from memory Richarlison has been out with a calf strain and Kulusevski a thigh strain - so both avoidable (potentially if we'd rotated with Moura and Gil more).

moura was injured already so couldn’t be rotated and gil has the body of a 5 year old

 

[K.D.D.D.D.Soc]

Apart from being out of League Cup I would have been pleased to be in this position at the break before the season started.
Our first team is ok but struggle without 2 or 3 key players, no one in the top six would want any of our defenders except Romero and we lack a midfielder who dominates games.
The style of play is the biggest problem as we have not clicked yet, but you cant be critical of the fight in the team as they have turned many games round, something we are not known for, we use to throw many winning games away.
I hope our players stay clear of injury at WC and return with a bit of form, that with a couple of players to strengthen the team could see us finish strong.
The frustration is heightened by the form of Woolwich, if City were running away with league I dont think it would annoy that many on here.

 

[billyiddo]

Apart from being out of League Cup I would have been pleased to be in this position at the break before the season started.
Our first team is ok but struggle without 2 or 3 key players, no one in the top six would want any of our defenders except Romero and we lack a midfielder who dominates games.
The style of play is the biggest problem as we have not clicked yet, but you cant be critical of the fight in the team as they have turned many games round, something we are not known for, we use to throw many winning games away.
I hope our players stay clear of injury at WC and return with a bit of form, that with a couple of players to strengthen the team could see us finish strong.
The frustration is heightened by the form of Woolwich, if City were running away with league I dont think it would annoy that many on here.

Not sure i agree on the last bit, Arsenal doing well doesn't help but we were ahead of them under Mourinho and the defensive nature of our play was being critiqued as much, if not more as it is now.

Generally i think people were accepting of it as a means to an end when it was working and we were defending well whilst being clinical at the other end, but once the mistakes started creeping in and we kept giving ourselves a mountain to climb that's when things started to change - when your tactics aren't working and there's no obvious attempt to change the approach then people become unhappy.

 

[harr1984]

Not sure i agree on the last bit, Arsenal doing well doesn't help but we were ahead of them under Mourinho and the defensive nature of our play was being critiqued as much, if not more as it is now.

Generally i think people were accepting of it as a means to an end when it was working and we were defending well whilst being clinical at the other end, but once the mistakes started creeping in and we kept giving ourselves a mountain to climb that's when things started to change - when your tactics aren't working and there's no obvious attempt to change the approach then people become unhappy.

Was going to say, seen this mentioned a few times about how Arsenal top is part of the frustration - its got very little to do with it.

People havent been watching games, and thinking ' We were ok there' then seeing Arsenal have won again and thought 'Actually we played brick.' The fact is people have been watching games and finding it a tough watch most of the time, Arsenal could be bottom of the league and the assessment of our performances would not be any different....

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Apart from being out of League Cup I would have been pleased to be in this position at the break before the season started.
Our first team is ok but struggle without 2 or 3 key players, no one in the top six would want any of our defenders except Romero and we lack a midfielder who dominates games.
The style of play is the biggest problem as we have not clicked yet, but you cant be critical of the fight in the team as they have turned many games round, something we are not known for, we use to throw many winning games away.
I hope our players stay clear of injury at WC and return with a bit of form, that with a couple of players to strengthen the team could see us finish strong.
The frustration is heightened by the form of Woolwich, if City were running away with league I dont think it would annoy that many on here.

Are there any midfielders who dominate games anymore? I can name some DMs who do that side well and some attacking midfielders too but can’t think of one who does everything to dominate

 

[Bedfordspurs]

Was going to say, seen this mentioned a few times about how Arsenal top is part of the frustration - its got very little to do with it.

People havent been watching games, and thinking ' We were ok there' then seeing Arsenal have won again and thought 'Actually we played brick.' The fact is people have been watching games and finding it a tough watch most of the time, Arsenal could be bottom of the league and the assessment of our performances would not be any different....

I disagree
Fans find it all relative
If we were 4th and united were too and arsenal 5th our fans would be happier

 

[braineclipse]

Very happy to be done with what must have been an exhausting period for everyone involved with good enough results to be through in the CL and be fourth in the league. Play hasn't been that impressive at times, but our ability to fight back and get results despite that has been good.

Hindsight may make things look different, but I think the players and Conte have just passed a really difficult test. Fixture congestion, injuries, squad still being built, drop in form. They haven't passed with top marks, but they've done enough to be where we are. I think the task of doing that has been greater than may be obvious.

Now we need to not get into the same grind again. Conte needs more players he trusts, that can do a good job here and now. A couple of players will get a break, the others will get a distraction at least.

If we can't get back to a higher level of all round performances that won't do. But I'm optimistic that we will.

 

[metalgear]

I think if you look at the last 5 games when the congestion started, we fared really poorly. Not our fault entirely, but it looked like we were going into free fall until Bentancur struck a brace in the dying minutes of the, last game.



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[Bedfordspurs]

I think if you look at the last 5 games when the congestion started, we fared really poorly. Not our fault entirely, but it looked like we were going into free fall until Bentancur struck a brace in the dying minutes of the, last game.



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I dunno
We were the better team vs pool and Saudi Sportswashing Machine… both games heavily influenced by the ref in digger by ways
United was as bad as I’ve seen at team play TBH
The European games haven’t been exemplar performances but the results have been fine

 

[braineclipse]

I think if you look at the last 5 games when the congestion started, we fared really poorly. Not our fault entirely, but it looked like we were going into free fall until Bentancur struck a brace in the dying minutes of the, last game.



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Inconsistent more than really poor for me. There have been really good spells and halves, there has been clulesssness.

That inconsistency is something that needs sorting out for sure though. We cannot keep relying on bouncing back, great as it is when it happens.