• Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara

*** OMT Tottenham Hotspur v Watford FC ***

greatwhitenorf said:
"I would dearly love to know what happened in the second half of last season, because for the first half of the year they looked confident in the plan too, and then they just looked shot. ".

Poor training and lack of fitness, plus Mourinho put a grinder to their souls and wore them out.
Click to expand...
Fitness is so key
We had an early season lift last year because we had europa to get us fit
This year we have had more players than normal at pre season by our standards and it helps
But also because of how I suspect we will manage the ECL I don’t think we will have the drop off fitness wise
I also think the fresh voice being assertive rather that a clam will help the players
Look at dele in the summer doing his fitness work on holiday. Bergwein did it too. I know most players do it but these are two in make of break mode who are doing everything they can
I’ll also add we are control the end of games this season. We barely get threatened last 20 so far. That’s fitness and confidence in the system.
 
I think we look so much sharper for the start of a season than previously.
I believe it has gone some way in making up for the lack of start of season game time.
Nuno looks to have done well fitness-wise not so sure about the system of play but it's very early days.
Defensively we are much better and that is so surprising.
 
StephenH said:
Defensively we are much better and that is so surprising.
Click to expand...

Not surprising to me:
- We have two defensive minded midfielders covering our average CBs
- We have a RB who is more defensive rather than attacking
- We have a shape/system which is solid, rather than under Mourinho where the plan was to morph into a back 6, invite pressure and hope that the weight number of numbers help us stop conceding...which of course is didnt because it relied on no individual errors

Question is whether than midfield balance, along with a defensive RB, is the right set-up for home games against weaker teams. Its just tweaking/evolving the current system though, rather than being wholly inappropriate
 
On the fitness thing and looking sharper. Probably helps that the coach had a clear run at pre-season. No overseas tours. Just training and a few easier games against lower opposition then a few tougher ones. Apart from not having the players away at international tournaments. I doubt a coach could ask for more in today’s modern game.
 
greatwhitenorf said:
"I would dearly love to know what happened in the second half of last season, because for the first half of the year they looked confident in the plan too, and then they just looked shot. ".

Poor training and lack of fitness, plus Mourinho put a grinder to their souls and wore them out.
Click to expand...

Really Nuno and Jose are very different despite some shared ideals

- Main one is we are a possession side under Nuno, we want it, we try to keep it (we may not always execute, but we want it), under Jose possession is irrelevant
- Second big difference is how deep Jose's side are willing to sit, and the expectation that everyone drop back and defend. Under Nuno we are at least 10-15 yards higher without the ball and the top 2-3 stay up even when we lose the ball (mostly)
- We look coached under Nuno, we stay compact, we have patterns, again not the finished article but certainly not relying on individual talent to think something up as it appeared under Jose
- Fitness, last season we had a bunch of Europa games that gave us a head start vs. actual fitness training (see Bergwijn comments re Nuno's double sessions)
- Player playing for the shirt, Nuno has got buy in from the entire squad (or they don't play), Jose only ever managed to get a few onboard and that will cost you in the end.

I really think people watch football today with so many preconceived notions in their head they make up their mind before the game

- We don't play boring football, we are not waiting for something to happen, we are constantly trying to make it happen ourselves
- There are (now) truly very few easy games in the PL, everyone is well coached, everyone has good players (look at United vs. Wolves and Southampton), so the expectation of we should just roll over sides while we haven't even settled our own is fudging naïve

But the two most important things for me in the Nuno era are things I haven't seen in years (including end of Poch era)
- Everyone is playing for the shirt, look at the last 3 PL games and the home game against Pacos, who had a "bad" game?
- We can control a game for 90 minutes, for so long Spurs has had a good half, or a good 60 minutes and then for the rest the opposition (regardless of quality) get 20-45 minutes where they have enough control to change the result of the game, yesterday Watford were completely managed out of the game.
 
Mr_B said:
i dont like santo, he's a negative manager that plays "nihilistic" football but this is a results business, for the next 2 weeks, tottenham are the only unbeaten team in the PL and all of europe will see who is top. It won't last of course but I will celebrate this, I am a betting man and a student of football, the 1960's Inter Milan team won half of their games 1-0. I love 1-0 scorelines, and can't really see this happening in this modern day league but football is a simple game, if u dont concede, u dont lose.
And the scum are bottom and in disarray, enjoy the international break lads, COYS
Click to expand...
What do you make of his vehement insistence yesterday that the team right now is very far from how he wants them to be playing?
 
Legohamster said:
Wait till we play someone good with a forward - Chelsea is coming up after the international break ?
Click to expand...
You mean, wait until we have to come up against one of the top strikers and top teams in the world?
That'll give a true picture of where we are? That'll show our real vulnerabilities??
 
Legohamster said:
If Watford/Wolves/City could finish we would be in a different place completely
Click to expand...

You mean the side that scored 10 goals in two games after playing us with exactly the same personnel? the side that in 90 minutes had 5 shots on target? (want to bet how many times that doesn't happen again to City all season?)

What Watford chance you think they should have finished?

I think you are mistaking forcing your opponent into low percentage attempts from positions you want them to be in, vs. conceding chances due to poor defending.

If you really think a side with Dier & Sanchez in the back line has had 3 clean sheets in a row due to luck/poor opponent finishing, I really don't know what to say to you.
 
Legohamster said:
If Watford/Wolves/City could finish we would be in a different place completely
Click to expand...

Didn't we have a better xg than both Watford & Wolves? If so that argument doesn't really stack up imo, City yeah we rode our luck early on but we competed well all over the pitch outside of that.

It'll take longer than one month of competitive games for a new manager to get the team playing how he wants - seems like we are showing intent to attack though, which is important even if the quality is lacking - hopefully over time we improve as the players take onboard what is being taught on the training field
 
Last edited:
There are no weak teams, some have better players and game changers but most team are well drilled and it's all about how well they perform on the day. Teams manage to get 1 or 2 chances a game if they take them and we dont we will lose as will anyone, the Wolves game against United showed that.
 
SpurMeUp said:
So you could have been a City supporter? :) Would have been an easier ride these last few years :)
Click to expand...

That is one way at looking at it, but i have always been Spurs ( and despite what happens i always will). We moved up to Manchester when i was 12 and lived there for a while. My old man was always a City supporter when they were a football team not the finacially doped club they are now.
 
parklane1 said:
That is one way at looking at it, but i have always been Spurs ( and despite what happens i always will). We moved up to Manchester when i was 12 and lived there for a while. My old man was always a City supporter when they were a football team not the finacially doped club they are now.
Click to expand...

Exactly. I would never (want) to swap the highs and lows of Spurs for any other team. Sure, City winning everything and having elite players would be fun - if your old man is watching from up high - but I don't hanker after that. I somehow prefer our honest setup, and when we succeed it will be that much sweeter.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back