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Serge Aurier

I’m really not sure what people expected to happen.

Wanyama/Dembele were never going to play much - both being looked to be moved out as well.

Winks just returning from injury so was going to take a while to get back and up to speed.

That left Dier/Sissoko and Winks when he came back left and Dier was part of the England squad in the Summer.

3 players to realistically rotate over 4 cups.
Agree with this, I guess Levy wouldn’t replace dembele or Wanyama unless they were sold but we can’t put their absence down to bad luck, more a lack of contingency.
 
Quite a bit of tempering expectations going on - it's just slightly amusing, given all the rationalizing talk of 'we have the best squad in the league, no signings is actually genius' going on in the wake of last summer's disaster. ;)

Come on, fellas. The Carling Cup's still on. The FA Cup is still on. The league title is not, but it was never, ever on after the utterly empty summer we had.

Although 4th would be yet another superhuman feat for Poch given what he has to work with, I think we can grab some silverware. And we're closer to getting it now than we have been at any point since the CC final in 2015.
Beginning of season 4th was my highest expectation.
Revised to third after an above expectation start to the season.
Revised to 4th with an expected down turn with missing Kane and Son at the same time, negative impact of stadium delays and threadbare centre mid.
If everyone gets back to fitness we could finish the season strongly and if we remain in contention third would still be achievable.

In terms of pots I fear the aforementioned injuries have come at just the wrong time for us, of course I hope I’m wrong as I often am regarding this teams performances under Poch. I never understand why people say things like best squad in the league or lads it’s United, prefer to keep my powder dry, safe in the knowledge that we are doing a fantastic job swimming against the tide.

I’m in a bad mood at the moment, the combination of the ground and trying to squeeze every last drop out of the squad tempered with the Son and Kane absences have drained my optimism. It might be SAD disorder though!
 
You can’t legislate for 6 CM injuries and your 2 strikers becoming unavailable within 5 minutes of each other! Take 6 CM and the 2 main strikers out of City or Pool and their squads might look a little bare as well. Yet they’ve spent £27bn between them!

What is quite amusing is the spin that’s put on your argument though! I don’t think anyone said our squads as good as it can possibly be, just that to find someone to improve it is difficult, as we found in the summer. Basically the exact words Poch has used numerous times himself. I’m sure he would love to go out and spend 100m on someone but he’s realistic about the situation we are in as well.

Now, now do not be hard on DubaiSpur, you know he never got over Levy kicking his dog a few seasons ago. The guy is still carrying a lot of pain. :)
 
You can’t legislate for 6 CM injuries and your 2 strikers becoming unavailable within 5 minutes of each other! Take 6 CM and the 2 main strikers out of City or Pool and their squads might look a little bare as well. Yet they’ve spent £27bn between them!

What is quite amusing is the spin that’s put on your argument though! I don’t think anyone said our squads as good as it can possibly be, just that to find someone to improve it is difficult, as we found in the summer. Basically the exact words Poch has used numerous times himself. I’m sure he would love to go out and spend 100m on someone but he’s realistic about the situation we are in as well.

As others have mentioned, we went into the season with a perma-crocked Mousa and a now perma-crocked Wanyama. We also had Winks (slowly returning from a long-term injury), Sissoko and Dier.

Out of those players, only Dier and Sissoko could be said to be regularly available and fully fit. Other than that, we had kids (Skipp, Amos) to make up the gaps that would result.

So I don't think it was some act of GHod that resulted in our present issue in central midfield - just really poor contingency planning, and a frugality bordering on self-harm.

And I wouldn't quote Poch too much, mate. He tends to say two things at once, and I can bring out the quotes saying we need to do things differently, we can't think we're smarter than the rest, we spend the least out of every team and that needs to change, etc, etc.

I don't dispute that Poch said what you mentioned. But he also says the opposite.

What is quite amusing is the spin that’s put on your argument though!

Well, glad to be of service, I suppose. :p
 
^ Contingency planning for several first team players being injured at the same time and in the same position would be having players the standard of Amos and Skipp produced by the academy and able to fill in.

Or having several players throughout the squad who are also able to fill in (Eriksen, Alli, Vertonghen, Foyth for example)


What we should have done, with hindsight, is to have eliminated the possibility of us being in this position by selling both Dembele and Wanyama and bringing in a new player in their place.
 
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^ Contingency planning for several first team players being injured at the same time and in the same position would be having players the standard of Amos and Skipp produced by the academy and able to fill in.

Or having several players throughout the squad who are also able to fill in (Eriksen, Alli, Vertonghen, Foyth for example)


What we should have done, with hindsight, is to have eliminated the possibility of us being in this position by selling both Dembele and Wanyama and bringing in a new player in their place.
Or, what we should have done is bought four great players for each position so when we couldn’t do deals for Moose and the perma-crock Big Vic, a long injury list wouldn’t be a problem.
 
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Or, what we should have done is bought four great players for each position so when we couldn’t do deals for Moose and the perma-crock Big Vic, a long injury list wouldn’t be a problem.

Don’t think anyone is expecting four great players for every position. We have world class players at CB, striker, attacking midfielders and LB. there are two glaring weaknesses in the team, CM and RB. Not really asking for the world for just one of those positions to be upgraded. We are after among the top 20 richest clubs in the world.

Transfers are a normal part of football, if signing no one was a masterstroke then every other club would do it. I have every confidence that powers that be at the club will keep us one of the top 20 richest clubs in the world but I don’t have the same obsession that some on here have with penny pinching and until a net spend trophy becomes available, id like to see us replace two injury prone players with just one experienced, high level CM. We have sold one of them which is good.
 
So has Serge been dropped from the squad completely after his recent alleged indiscretion? I can't see any mention of an injury in the team news.
 
So has Serge been dropped from the squad completely after his recent alleged indiscretion? I can't see any mention of an injury in the team news.

Would appear he’s been dropped due to his recent indescretion but hard to say for sure. The club backed Lloris after his. Different circumstances for sure but both didn’t cover themselves in glory.
 
ICYMI, Pochettino’s comment on the matter at press conference...

https://www.football.london/tottenham-hotspur-fc/news/pochettino-delivers-update-lucas-mouras-15700918.amp

Pochettino once said that he'd told the defender when he first met him that if he repeated his controversial antics at PSG at Tottenham then he "would kill him" while mimicking a headbutt.

Reports stated that on Saturday Aurier was arrested by Hertfordshire Police at his home on suspicion of actual bodily harm but was released with no further action.

Pochettino was asked whether he was now going to fulfil his threat to headbutt the Ivorian.

"But that is a private matter. One thing is what I told you if something happened on the training ground, in between us, [or] in public – you know very well the things that happened in Paris St-Germain," said the Spurs boss.

"Another thing is a private matter that I wasn't involved [in]. It's private and we are going to deal with it in a private way."
 
Should be mitigated somewhat if we play a back 5. With no Kane or Son that is the way I would go.
I think Trippier is much more effective going forward from a full back position in a back four. Needs someone ahead of him to create a bit of space and to combine with.

Becomes too predictable as a wing back. Opponents know he doesn't really have the pace to take them on, as long as they get close enough to prevent the cross they'll be fine.

In a back four he can arrive later when there is a bit of space. Have been games where we've been able to pick him out repeatedly in the space vacated by others. Vs. Fulham he was rarely in any space at all and became ineffective.
 
I think Trippier is much more effective going forward from a full back position in a back four. Needs someone ahead of him to create a bit of space and to combine with.

Becomes too predictable as a wing back. Opponents know he doesn't really have the pace to take them on, as long as they get close enough to prevent the cross they'll be fine.

In a back four he can arrive later when there is a bit of space. Have been games where we've been able to pick him out repeatedly in the space vacated by others. Vs. Fulham he was rarely in any space at all and became ineffective.

The problem is he is too weak and slow defensively to play in a back 4, certainly for a team with aspirations of challenging for the title. He will always be great going forward in a back four but defending is not his area of expertise.
 
The problem is he is too weak and slow defensively to play in a back 4, certainly for a team with aspirations of challenging for the title. He will always be great going forward in a back four but defending is not his area of expertise.

Have to agree with this, he always looks shaky when a player is running at him and he gets caught out of posistion to often.
 
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