"TITLE RACE" ( There is no sense not talking about it)

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I still think Man City will win the league so looking on the bright side, we're only 2 points off the pace.

It is frustrating always being the bridesmaid but never the bride but I think our disappointment is an illustration of how well the club have performed over the last few years......5 years ago you'd laugh at anyone who said they'd be disappointed by consistent top 3/4 finishes.... Yet now when we're so close to the top you can't help but be disappointed as it feels like it's within touching distance.

My one fear is that despite having one of the best ever Spurs teams the last couple of years.... We're going to come away empty handed yet again.

If it is true that we'll lose Dembele, Alderweireld, Eriksen and even Jan in the summer then will "the project" have to start again? Or will we have like for like replacements coming in?

I'd feel a lot better if Eriksen put pen to paper for us.....
 
Notabadsquad said:
People are struggling with this.

For me the really pertinent question is why are we not good enough? Why could Leicester have that collective season of a lifetime? Why were Chelsea able to find that certain something. City we can accept because they had all the tools. But Liverpool this season?

I mean player for player, would we really say they are that much better, if at all? Leicester had who (Vardy and Mahrez but 2 they are 2 players), Chelsea and Liverpool had and have bought who? Liverpool's front 3 yes and Van Dijk of course and Chelsea got a brilliant season from Hazard (what's new) and Luiz/Kante but any central defender been better than Vertonghen has been in that time? Any striker really been better than Kane over the last 4 seasons? Has anyone strode way above Eriksen?

So it's really hard to put a finger on it. Really hard to know what more could be done or if it is just buying players that makes the difference, because it seems too simplistic to this writer although important without doubt.

We are a strange strange club but you finish 3rd (when 2nd was ours, 2nd, 3rd and sitting 3rd again, but with different winners and you think why are we not bridging the gap and how is it that other teams jump so far ahead in 3 or 4 months?

Really conceptually quite a challenge in my mind.

Losing to Wolves was a by product.
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And this is why I have been saying the problem is not the staff, it’s the mentality.

People are kidding themselves if they think Milner, Keita, Robertson, Firmino etc are on some level way above our station.
If that team was sitting in 5th, nobody would be shocked that they weren’t higher.
The shock is that they are so far above City.

And the VvD stuff is farcical, people acting like they just signed Paulo Maldini.
He’s better than Lovren.....that’s the yardstick here.

Klopp has managed to get his team to gel, move the ball forward at every opportunity, instill belief for the badge and the club, and find consistency.
They also have a home and are not ravaged by injuries.

We have managed to tie key players down, but are still a club in everyone’s minds, our own fans included, that players deserve something better.
Liverpool players and fans believe there is nothing better. That’s Mentality.

It’s really not that baffling, but when people hit the disagree button and fly off the handle at anyone who suggests the Klopp is doing a better job that Poch this season, then you have some people who are really missing the point.

Because when Poch is infallible, then it has to be Levy, or Trippier etc etc

But it’s really not the point....people can’t say this is the best team since the 80s side that won 3 cups in 4 years, and it would be a crime not to win anything. And then not look at Poch. Of course he plays a part, but it’s taboo.

Liverpool’s squad is not that great. Just like Leicester’s wasn’t. And neither were the most expensive.
 
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sammyspurs said:
And this is why I have been saying the problem is not the staff, it’s the mentality.

People are kidding themselves if they think Milner, Keita, Robertson, Firmino etc are on some level way above our station.
If that team was sitting in 5th, nobody would be shocked that they weren’t higher.
The shock is that they are so far above City.

And the VvD stuff is farcical, people acting like they just signed Paulo Maldini.
He’s better than Lovren.....that’s the yardstick here.

Klopp has managed to get his team to gel, move the ball forward at every opportunity, instill belief for the badge and the club, and find consistency.
They also have a home and are not ravaged by injuries.

We have managed to tie key players down, but are still a club in everyone’s minds, our own fans included, that players deserve something better.
Liverpool players and fans believe there is nothing better. That’s Mentality.

It’s really not that baffling, but when people hit the disagree button and fly off the handle at anyone who suggests the Klopp is doing a better job that Poch this season, then you have some people who are really missing the point.

Because when Poch is infallible, then it has to be Levy, or Trippier etc etc

But it’s really not the point....people can’t say this is the best team since the 80s side that won 3 cups in 4 years, and it would be a crime not to win anything. And then not look at Poch. Of course he plays a part, but it’s taboo.

Liverpool’s squad is not that great. Just like Leicester’s wasn’t. And neither were the most expensive.
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I agree with all this but only add that Liverpool's point haul to date is astounding.

That for us to be on a par with them or closer would be hard but also with the fact that a win for us in our home match with them theoretically sees it only as 3 points difference. Fine margins but huge in impact.

Liverpool have a very good squad as do we.

What Klopp is doing though is all you say, plus they are being lucky re: injuries and we lack strike options.

But yes Klopp is getting more from players who are objectively no better.

It us only because United could not get him that he is not being sought because for me he is the better of the two managers.

The City game for them is their last hurdle apart from fatigue.

Our issue is a greater one that as yet remains unanswered but without a trophy this season big changes will occur. They will have to.
 
sammyspurs said:
They also have a home and are not ravaged by injuries.
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Number of days with key players out is one of the main deciding factors in the title race imo.

Leicester the year they won it barely changed their first 11. Chelsea the same the last time they won it.

Salah or VVD get an ACL or a grade 3 hamstring then it is over (prays).
 
We won't genuinely challenge for a title until we sort our defence and midfield out

Defensively we have gone to pot when you consider just a couple of years ago we had the best or second best defence in the league statistically
 
Jamie gspurs said:
We won't genuinely challenge for a title until we sort our defence and midfield out

Defensively we have gone to pot when you consider just a couple of years ago we had the best or second best defence in the league statistically
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We have the 4th best defence and will be 3rd in the league tomorrow. It's not going to pot. It's a bit worse than the last couple of seasons because we haven't had the stable combinations there, due to injury.
 
Travel Fan said:
We have the 4th best defence and will be 3rd in the league tomorrow. It's not going to pot. It's a bit worse than the last couple of seasons because we haven't had the stable combinations there, due to injury.
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This time last year we were 5th with a goal difference of 19. This year the goal difference is 25.
 
We have been excellent, more I think in terms of points than performances.

I maintain not losing games is a better determinant of a team's inner and mental strength.

I talk of us needing transfers because I think we need an elite player or one who is so demanding of others that anything less than 100% is unacceptable.

There is NOTHING really between our squad and Liverpool's but somehow their players are doing what ours are still not quite able to do. Of course Liverpool still need to win the league and tomorrow's match is huge but undefeated to now in the Premier. Amazing.

It is the last inch.
 
Travel Fan said:
We had conceded 20 goals after 20 games last season. This season the figure is 21. At last, conclusive proof. We have NOT gone to pot.

(Definitely back to work now)
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To be fair Jamie, two seasons ago we had conceded just 14 goals after 20 games, the best in the league. So you are absolutely right and my apologies.

On the other hand, the goal difference was exactly the same at 25. We had 42 points and sat 3rd. Now we have 48 points.

(fuck work)
 
ArtyB said:
We only got a sniff because City had a rotten fortnight...
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Great point and one that people should remember can happen to Liverpool. Since the first game of the season we have been chasing the other two favourites and people only started talking about us when we overtook City into 2nd. Their bad form threw us into the mix we simply have to do our job knowing that it can easily happen to Liverpool as well. A red card here or there, a poor refereeing decision, an injury, the fact it's coming towards the business end of the season, multiple cups to juggle and a lack of experience getting over the line can throw up all sorts of scenarios. We can't give up, all we can do is focus on the next game, be professional and go about our business without a moments thought of what's going on around us.

It's still on, even if some people don't see it that way. If City can Lose at home to Palace and we can lose a home game vs Wolves, Liverpool can slip up and hit the skids a bit as well
 
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It's all about the injuries. Our first 15/16 are on par with anyone of our rivals with decent cover in every position. Problem is the first team and the cover have had multiple games out all season.
 
Park Lane Mark Twain said:
Great point and one that people should remember can happen to Liverpool. Since the first game of the season we have been chasing the other two favourites and people only started talking about us when we overtook City into 2nd. Their bad form threw us into the mix we simply have to do our job knowing that it can easily happen to Liverpool as well. A red card here or there, a poor refereeing decision, an injury, the fact it's coming towards the business end of the season, multiple cups to juggle and a lack of experience getting over the line can throw up all sorts of scenarios. We can't give us, all we can do is focus on the next game, be professional and go about our business without a moments thought of what's going on around us.

It's still on, even if some people don't see it that way. If City can Lose at home to Palace and we can lose a home game vs Wolves, Liverpool can slip up and hit the skids a bit as well
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Mate, yes you are right but this is us.

Is there one proper THFC fan (I mean those who really get it) who thinks we would take advantage of a Liverpool slip-up?

We should be able to but in that event I think most of us would be behind the sofa, peering through the puny gap in our fingers.

Collectively and having been pretty close in the last 3 years the players should need little or no encouragement.

They have shown their ability and now should all want the silverware they richly deserve.

But they have to grab it when the chance presents itself. The enduring problem.
 
ArtyB said:
I remember the days when we were waiting for Leicester's rocky patch...
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But we were the only team that had half a chance come the end should anything not drop. You do that for 5-6 seasons and one team will have a blip and the titles yours.

We got to match day 35 that year knowing we had a chance. It was always an outside chance but we were the only ones there because everyone else threw in the towel. That kind of mentality is needed if you want to have a chance of breaking through to the other side by hook or by crook. Are we capable of going to Anfield and the Etihad and getting a result? Absolutely so with that in mind, should Man City beat Liverpool tomorrow and we turn Liverpool over in the league up there it'll be a three point gap with nearly half a season left. There's absolutely nothing we should be doing more than trying to install a little belief into the club to get some genuine fighting spirit and energy running through the club.

Poch is right when you look at the energy around Liverpool at the moment compared to Tottenham. It's chalk and cheese with their fans, the media etc but we are still there, we are still in the mix and as it stands mathematically we are the closest challenges to Liverpool still. Let's see how they get on when teams are scrapping for their lives against them
 
Notabadsquad said:
Mate, yes you are right but this is us.

Is there one proper THFC fan (I mean those who really get it) who thinks we would take advantage of a Liverpool slip-up?

We should be able to but in that event I think most of us would be behind the sofa, peering through the puny gap in our fingers.

Collectively and having been pretty close in the last 3 years the players should need little or no encouragement.

They have shown their ability and now should all want the silverware they richly deserve.

But they have to grab it when the chance presents itself. The enduring problem.
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They need to take responsibility agreed and the last few years have done so much for the shift in mindset of our club that it cannot be ignored but we need to look back on how certain winning was done. Fergie on Keegan, Pep coming out and questioning if Liverpool will burn out, even Warnock throwing a mind game in their regarding Wembley for the other relegation fodder the other day.

If we as a football club do not believe we are in this race then we were never in the race to begin with. We'll always be underdogs but Liverpool won't keep getting penalties for clear dives or balls bouncing off crossbars twice in injury time for it to fall to the feet of one of their players all of the time. If and when that moment comes we need to be ready to close the gap, which is great for the mantality of our boys going into the 2nd half of the season. Got to keep chopping down those points for when Liverpool find themselves in panic mode along the way
 
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