***OMT*** Tottenham Hotspur v Swansea City, Sunday 19th January 13:30

[glorygloryeze]

Serious questions no doubt will start to be asked, even by those for whom Timmie is like a priest giving away golden coins, if we lose or draw this.

Swansea are REALLY on a downturn at the moment, a maybe have more injuries than us.

We HAVE to win this game if we want to remain in the hunt for top 4 (I personally think we have no chance for that, but there you go).

There will be NO EXCUSES if we don't

 

[THFC6061]

If Spurs do win on Sunday, we'll be three points ahead of our total points after 22 matches last season when we recorded our highest points total in the Premier League Era.

And it would be four consecutive Premier League wins and five wins and a draw for Sherwood since his appointment.

 

[90291Spur]

Serious questions no doubt will start to be asked, even by those for whom Timmie is like a priest giving away golden coins, if we lose or draw this.

Swansea are REALLY on a downturn at the moment, a maybe have more injuries than us.

We HAVE to win this game if we want to remain in the hunt for top 4 (I personally think we have no chance for that, but there you go).

There will be NO EXCUSES if we don't

Must win?

 

[Libero]

I'd be disappointed with that really considering their poor run of form.

I would be too but I think it might prove a difficult game despite their poor run of form.

I think we have to win to stay in touch really and although I don't think we will finish 4th or indeed 5th, if we keep winning these games against teams from 20th - 10th then we just have to do the business against the other challengers at home like Arsenal, Everton and City to really give ourselves a big chance come the end of the season.

 

[Cochise]

Out of the fourth place pack (us, pool, everton and UTD) only UTD look likely to lose this weekend so yes this match is a must win. TS came in for criticism after the Arsenal game because of how we were setup against a possession based team. This team are great at keeping possession but lack the cutting edge that the goons have and it will be interesting to see if we change anything. If we lose or draw then more questions get asked of Sherwood and our long term goal. Honestly, right now Swansea are in the mire and we should be looking to capitalise.

 

[Craig_J]

Just woke up have a very bad feeling about this game. Agree with Cochise's post above mine that only United look likely to lose.

 

[paxtonwolf]

Out of the fourth place pack (us, pool, everton and UTD) only UTD look likely to lose this weekend so yes this match is a must win. TS came in for criticism after the Arsenal game because of how we were setup against a possession based team. This team are great at keeping possession but lack the cutting edge that the goons have and it will be interesting to see if we change anything. If we lose or draw then more questions get asked of Sherwood and our long term goal. Honestly, right now Swansea are in the mire and we should be looking to capitalise.

I think coupled with the fact 4 of our next 6 league games are away, and the 2 home games are City and Everton (far from banker home wins) we really need to be looking at winning tomorrow.
Saudi Sportswashing Machine will be far from easy, same with Hull and the last match in that run of 6, Norwich away, we certainly have to be targetting a win there too

 

[paxtonwolf]

Wasn't to hopeful in getting one as i was unsuccesful last season,but it was in our dark period between Emirates Marketing Project/liverpool game so not many takers i presume but to cover myself got a ticket for the home end,should sell it on the day.

The weather is going to **** tomorrow but sunday looks ok, i know which hotel they be staying if you fancy an early visit to swansea and a walk on the sea shore on the sunday morning. Where you staying??

Driving down to Bridgend. Wont be doing a walk on the seashore though. Sunday mornings is the only real lie-in I get these days wont be leaving for the match until nearer ko, after a bit of brekkie

 

[Pirate55]

Serious questions no doubt will start to be asked, even by those for whom Timmie is like a priest giving away golden coins, if we lose or draw this.

Swansea are REALLY on a downturn at the moment, a maybe have more injuries than us.

We HAVE to win this game if we want to remain in the hunt for top 4 (I personally think we have no chance for that, but there you go).

There will be NO EXCUSES if we don't

Again you appear to be wanting to judge TS on ONE match. Oh the irony of those who called for another manager to have more time even after 18 months in the job! Seems to me that you almost seem to be hoping for him to fail. Let me tell you here and now, AVB ain't coming back. Get over it and give TS a fair crack at the job. He may or may not succeed, but one thing is for sure, it is far too early to judge him.

 

[glorygloryeze]

Again you appear to be wanting to judge TS on ONE match. Oh the irony of those who called for another manager to have more time even after 18 months in the job! Seems to me that you almost seem to be hoping for him to fail. Let me tell you here and now, AVB ain't coming back. Get over it and give TS a fair crack job. He may or may not succeed, but one thing is for sure, it is far too early to judge him.

Forget talking about AVB; I'm talking about this Swansea match and TS.
We have had some good results for sure, but we need to win this match that's for sure. I fear the final scorelines are papering over some large cracks which were clear to see last weekend. The amount of chances being created by the opposition is eventually going to catch up with us. Apart from Stoke, we've possibly been lucky to win the others; even West Brom created some very good chances and could look back with some justification over two points dropped.

That is fine in the early games if TS is trying to formulate a set of tactics etc, but now is the time to see something more smart and tailored somewhat to bear in mind the opposition's strengths. If we see ourselves get dominated in midfield simply because of lacking numbers, like against Arsenal, then eventually we are heading for a big car crash.

It's a must win game tomorrow considering our next 5/6 games and also the games that the other top 7 clubs are playing this weekend. I doubt anybody will say otherwise

 

[Pirate55]

Forget talking about AVB; I'm talking about this Swansea match and TS.
We have had some good results for sure, but we need to win this match that's for sure. I fear the final scorelines are papering over some large cracks which were clear to see last weekend. The amount of chances being created by the opposition is eventually going to catch up with us. Apart from Stoke, we've possibly been lucky to win the others; even West Brom created some very good chances and could look back with some justification over two points dropped.

That is fine in the early games if TS is trying to formulate a set of tactics etc, but now is the time to see something more smart and tailored somewhat to bear in mind the opposition's strengths. If we see ourselves get dominated in midfield simply because of lacking numbers, like against Arsenal, then eventually we are heading for a big car crash.

It's a must win game tomorrow considering our next 5/6 games and also the games that the other top 7 clubs are playing this weekend. I doubt anybody will say otherwise

Of course every game is important to us. I would like to see us win EVERY game and tomorrow's comes into that category.

However, in terms of RELATIVE importance, the result is not AS important as those against our top four rivals, which really are 6 pointers.

We still don't have fully available arguably our best two centre backs, our best two midfielders, our best right back and our most expensive signing. When everyone is fit and available, we will have more robust grounds to judge the coach, tactics, formations, playing style, results etc etc.

 

[glorygloryeze]

Of course every game is important to us. I would like to see us win EVERY game and tomorrow's comes into that category.

However, in terms of RELATIVE importance, the result is not AS important as those against our top four rivals, which really are 6 pointers.

We still don't have fully available arguably our best two centre backs, our best two midfielders, our best right back and our most expensive signing. When everyone is fit and available, we will have more robust grounds to judge the coach, tactics, formations, playing style, results etc etc.

So we can afford to drop points against the bottom 10/11 as long as we win against the top 4 rivals?? Yes, that's worked for Arsenal, Liverpool and co so far. Arsenal got top 4 based on pummeling the bottom 8 last season whilst being some of the worst against the top 6, so that logic is clearly flawed.

Those players missing means you have to make adjustments to the team and formation based on opposition. A manager can be judged on that, and like against Arsenal if TS doesn't try to counter those weaknesses we'll eventually get spanked.

Oh and another thing; you talk about our injuries but Swansea probably have much more serious injury problems considering their squad, so again we must win tomorrow and they'll be no excuses if we don't imo.

I think we will anyway; just hope we are not lucky and 'winging it' when doing so. We have more than enough capabilities as a team/squad to go there and do a fully professional job on Swansea

 

[braineclipse]

Surprised by the "must win" attitude.

Yes Swansea have struggled lately, unsurprisingly perhaps as their small-ish squad has been worn down by European football and with their injuries and the packed Christmas period a poor run is hardly shocking.

This is still the Swansea that went to Old Trafford and beat United in the FA-cup, and the Swansea that went to Old Trafford and put in a (to me) convincing performance against United a week ago. The Swansea that only lost by a goal to powerhouse Emirates Marketing Project at home before that.

The fixture list decongesting will have done them well and even though they still have injury problems they always seem capable of making a game tough for most opponents.

Obviously I'm hoping for a win and I think we're well in with a chance to do just that, but I don't think this will be easy. Glad to see the focus is on limiting their possession based on what Soldado said in an interview, if we play Soldado and Ade we need them to work as hard as they did against United. Even if we play only one traditional striker we need to work super hard to get a result I think.

 

[Pirate55]

So we can afford to drop points against the bottom 10/11 as long as we win against the top 4 rivals?? Yes, that's worked for Arsenal, Liverpool and co so far. Arsenal got top 4 based on pummeling the bottom 8 last season whilst being some of the worst against the top 6, so that logic is clearly flawed.

Those players missing means you have to make adjustments to the team and formation based on opposition. A manager can be judged on that, and like against Arsenal if TS doesn't try to counter those weaknesses we'll eventually get spanked.

Oh and another thing; you talk about our injuries but Swansea probably have much more serious injury problems considering their squad, so again we must win tomorrow and they'll be no excuses if we don't imo.

I think we will anyway; just hope we are not lucky and 'winging it' when doing so. We have more than enough capabilities as a team/squad to go there and do a fully professional job on Swansea

To use your logic, tomorrow's result is more important than say winning at Anfield? Sorry, but I don't think you will find in the context for the race for fourth that it is. We win, lose or draw tomorrow and if our result is matched by our top four rivals then no harm is done. Lose at Liverpool and we have handed a three point advantage to them regardless of other results.

As BE says above, Swansea shouldn't be underestimated, especially on their own patch.

 

[diego_maradona]

Surprised by the "must win" attitude.

Yes Swansea have struggled lately, unsurprisingly perhaps as their small-ish squad has been worn down by European football and with their injuries and the packed Christmas period a poor run is hardly shocking.

This is still the Swansea that went to Old Trafford and beat United in the FA-cup, and the Swansea that went to Old Trafford and put in a (to me) convincing performance against United a week ago. The Swansea that only lost by a goal to powerhouse Emirates Marketing Project at home before that.

The fixture list decongesting will have done them well and even though they still have injury problems they always seem capable of making a game tough for most opponents.

Obviously I'm hoping for a win and I think we're well in with a chance to do just that, but I don't think this will be easy. Glad to see the focus is on limiting their possession based on what Soldado said in an interview, if we play Soldado and Ade we need them to work as hard as they did against United. Even if we play only one traditional striker we need to work super hard to get a result I think.

Absolutely. I hope the Spurs boys don't dare take this for granted. I don't think we will. We've been reasonably switched on for away games although we could have easily lost the Fulham and Southampton games recently. We were worth the win at Southampton though with the number of chances we created.

Ade and Soldado either need to be super clinical or again work their socks off to help make numbers. Swansea like to play their way out from the back so this is the type of team that's worth pressing fairly high up

 

[braineclipse]

Absolutely. I hope the Spurs boys don't dare take this for granted. I don't think we will. We've been reasonably switched on for away games although we could have easily lost the Fulham and Southampton games recently. We were worth the win at Southampton though with the number of chances we created.

Ade and Soldado either need to be super clinical or again work their socks off to help make numbers. Swansea like to play their way out from the back so this is the type of team that's worth pressing fairly high up

I would love to see us come out pressing them way the **** up the pitch. I know it's risky, but so is Swansea's approach trying to pass through pressure and it's worked for us and others in the past to just press the living daylight out of them.

 

[glorygloryeze]

To use your logic, tomorrow's result is more important than say winning at Anfield? Sorry, but I don't think you will find in the context for the race for fourth that it is. We win, lose or draw tomorrow and if our result is matched by our top four rivals then no harm is done. Lose at Liverpool and we have handed a three point advantage to them regardless of other results.

As BE says above, Swansea shouldn't be underestimated, especially on their own patch.

We are 2 points behind Liverpool now. If we lose/draw our games against the lower teams, we get further behind Liverpool assuming they win their games against the same equivalent team (which has been the main reason why they've been up there this season). So by the time we play them a win against them might be not that useful anyway as it might still leave them way ahead of us.

Simple maths: there are far more bottom 10/11 teams and far more points to gain against those side, compared to the number of top 4 challengers and the available points from those games. We need to gain as much as possible against the bottom 10/11 and then go into those games against the top 4 challengers being as close to them as possible.

I'm not underestimating Swansea, but they are in their biggest rut of the season so far and in the bottom 10/11: must win for our top 4 hopes

 

[glorygloryeze]

Absolutely. I hope the Spurs boys don't dare take this for granted.' I don't think we will. We've been reasonably switched on for away games although we could have easily lost the Fulham and Southampton games recently. We were worth the win at Southampton though with the number of chances we created.

Ade and Soldado either need to be super clinical or again work their socks off to help make numbers. Swansea like to play their way out from the back so this is the type of team that's worth pressing fairly high up

Surely a 'must win' attitude means the players DON'T take the game for granted??

 

[Nigeyman]

Surprised by the "must win" attitude.

Yes Swansea have struggled lately, unsurprisingly perhaps as their small-ish squad has been worn down by European football and with their injuries and the packed Christmas period a poor run is hardly shocking.

This is still the Swansea that went to Old Trafford and beat United in the FA-cup, and the Swansea that went to Old Trafford and put in a (to me) convincing performance against United a week ago. The Swansea that only lost by a goal to powerhouse Emirates Marketing Project at home before that.

The fixture list decongesting will have done them well and even though they still have injury problems they always seem capable of making a game tough for most opponents.

Obviously I'm hoping for a win and I think we're well in with a chance to do just that, but I don't think this will be easy. Glad to see the focus is on limiting their possession based on what Soldado said in an interview, if we play Soldado and Ade we need them to work as hard as they did against United. Even if we play only one traditional striker we need to work super hard to get a result I think.

Good post and very well said.

What I do find amusing is all those posters who predict us to finish 5-7th get hoitey toitey when it comes to 'must win attitude'

Tim has had a good week to prepare for this and I expect us NOT to start the game in the same fashion as against Palace...this is crucial for me...we need to see the desire from our players straight from the off.

While I do not want to sound like a snob I think it is Imperative that we win at the liberty as we simply have no margin for error at the moment...thats not to say I dont respect Swansea or that I am unaware of their ability to beat us. I just belive that if Timmy gives the players the right messages and makes decent deciscions in game then we can win this game...although it will be a hard slog.

I am under no illusion that anything other than a win and certain posters will be on here tapping away with glee how timmy is thick and how we need a sexy named manager surname ending with an aal, ino or oer.

So for the benefit of our season and to keep us in the mix, yes people we NEED to win this!!!! it doesnt necessarily have to be pretty but the three points would be charmont!

 

[braineclipse]

We are 2 points behind Liverpool now. If we lose/draw our games against the lower teams, we get further behind Liverpool assuming they win their games against the same equivalent team (which has been the main reason why they've been up there this season). So by the time we play them a win against them might be not that useful anyway as it might still leave them way ahead of us.

Simple maths: there are far more bottom 10/11 teams and far more points to gain against those side, compared to the number of top 4 challengers and the available points from those games. We need to gain as much as possible against the bottom 10/11 and then go into those games against the top 4 challengers being as close to them as possible.

I'm not underestimating Swansea, but they are in their biggest rut of the season so far and in the bottom 10/11: must win for our top 4 hopes

http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/premier-league/2013-2014/versus-bottom-half/away

So far away to the bottom half teams we've won 5 out of 5, Liverpool have won 3 and drawn 1 out of 4. Whatever the reasons are that we're 2 points behind Liverpool now it's not our results away to bottom half clubs.

Tremendously small sample size and most likely inflated results for both us and Liverpool. Last season we were tied for 2nd with Arsenal with an average of 2.1 points per game away to bottom half teams. Manu the runaway winners here like in the league.