No wins from losing position is not correct. Sorry to point this out twice ! I should really have deleted the second post.
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No wins from losing position is not correct. Sorry to point this out twice ! I should really have deleted the second post.
I guarantee that there isn't a team that has lost as many points as we have with th quality that we have in the team.
12 points lost from winning positions this season, none of those teams we've thrown points away against are currently in the top 4. The players are not focusing enough, their game managememt been shambolic compared to what it should be based on their ability
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Apologies I saw this in your post but responding evaded me. 2 wins from losing positions you are correct.
I still can't believe we haven't got 3 points after watching that first half today. Unreal with how in control we were
My iPad constantly does stupid things like that. (Yup, blaming the iPad :s)
I don’t understand this. What makes you think Levy will give Pochettino more money if he goes to the public? I mean aren’t they discussing club things in an office like they should? Do you think Poch is shy and doesn’t want to annoy Levy with things like the transfer budget?
Teams who lost most points from winning positions:
Southampton - 20pts
Fulham - 18pts
TOTTENHAM - 14pts
Huddersfield - 13pts
Crystal Palace - 13pts
Everton - 12pts
Woolwich - 11pts
West Ham - 10pts
Brighton - 10pts
Man City - 9pts
Newcastle - 9pts
Watford - 9pts
Chelsea - 7pts
Burnley - 7pts
Wolves - 7pts
Liverpool - 6pts
Bournemouth - 5pts
Man Utd - 4pts
Leicester - 3pts
Cardiff - 3pts
Proves my point. 14 points lost from winning positions, none of them I believe have been against teams in the top 4.
Coicide that with the fact we've only won 2 games against the rest of the top 6, with 1 draw and 5 losses these silly mistakes really do need to stop soon.
Danny Rose for the first goal epitomises our recent blip. Too casual, no care for the threat just far too lax for the quality we possess. How he does a step over that far out when we crucially need a win is just really poor. We now need 6 wins from our remaining 8 games IMO
Oh my fooking god. How can bunch of fans be SO SICKLY ATTACHED to their single agenda - that everything is always and only Levy's fault.
Please, carve that into your skulls - MAURICIO ROBERTO POCHETTINO IS 100% RESPONSIBLE FOR LOSING THE GAME TODAY. This is as clear as anything gets in football. We all love the fella, and he has done so much for this club, but we cannot just keep finding him excuses because of that. It would be absolutely deluded.
We were absolutely dominant in first 45 minutes. Opposition team had absolutely no sniff of the goal. Everything was going just smoothly. Then Soton manager made 2 changes, changed personell, changed a game plan and motivated his players. He reacted to what was happening in the game, and in 2nd half Southampton was in control of the game.
And what did Poch do? Absolutely nothing. Everyone could see we were on the backfoot there. Before the goal was scored there was even graph on the screen that showed "Last 5 min posession 73% Southampton 23% Spurs" (might be few percent wrong one or other way). When did something change? At 72nd minute. So 60% of 2nd half we VOLUNTARILY let them dominate the game. And then it was just like for like substitution. Only positional one was on 82nd (Alli->Llorente). It was when we were already behind. If Southampton would have used this approach, we would have cruised on comfortably in 2nd half. But no, their manager made a change, that made a difference that won them game. Just drop your agenda driven bollocs - on the bench today we had Davies, Foyth, Wanyama, Son, Lamela, Llorente. There were many options to change. For example to bring in Wanyama (okay, he has not been superb this season, but at least he could help to solidify CM for like 35 mins, I am sure) - either as staright swap for Sissoko who went bit missing on 2nd half. Or for some of the more attacking players, switch Vic to CM and Dier to 3rd defender. Or bring in Son for Moura (whose touch was awful today, unfortunately) earlier. Or number of other options. But he just sat there and let us being overplayed. BY INFERIOR PLAYERS.
Well, of course - some of our defending players could have done better in number of situations. But guess what - they were on more pressure due to the fact that Southampton controlled the game so strongly. Without that they would have never been so exposed. Sure, I am extremely unhappy about performance of Sanchez (again) and KWP. But that is not the point. Tactical changes were key that gave Soton the upper hand and ability to put pressure on us. While they never should have had this opportunity for such a long spell.
How is that on Levy? I cannot see it.
Go position by position. Include bench. And explain to me, how Southampton was superior to us purely on players quality (so that we could blame Levy). Please - do.
Also, I would like to add, that I just recently (I think it was Burnley game) pointed out in matchday thread, that we really suffered due to lack of options in midfield (I never supported selling Dembele, and said that his presence could win us just maybe few games but this margin could count) and it was down to the lack of options. Today it was not. Sure, we dont have the best midfield roaster in EPL but Dier, Sissoko, Wanyama, Alli/Eriksen should be enough to beat average side like Soton.
Poch has to really look into mirror over that loss.
There is literally no one else to blame.
Compare that to points won from losing positions:
Leicester - 13pts
Man Utd - 12pts
Woolwich - 12pts
West Ham - 12pts
Wolves - 11pts
TOTTENHAM - 10pts
Liverpool - 10pts
Watford - 9pts
Cardiff - 9pts
Fulham - 7pts
Newcastle - 6pts
Brighton - 6pts
Bournemouth - 5pts
Crystal Palace - 5pts
Chelsea - 4pts
Burnley - 4pts
Southampton - 4pts
Everton - 3pts
Huddersfield - 1pt
Man City - 1pt
Before today, Southampton had only gained ONE point from a losing position this season. How depressing.
Another individual error leading to a crucial goal. Are ourndefenders being told to play out too much? I love the philosophy of playing football but first things first, do what you need to do to keep that clean sheet
It's probably the ability of those they're passing too.... (Dier, Sissoko etc).
In previous seasons, we never had too much of a problem as we'd pass to Dembele and he had the ability to take the ball, under pressure, turn and break away.
Dier has NEVER been able to do this (and is our worst footballer under pressure) and Sissoko isn't blessed enough skifully to do this because his touch isn't his greatest asset
Poch should KNOW this is a weakness in midfield and should be telling players to bypass those in midfield if they're under pressure.
Midfield is 100% the reason we've struggled defensively and in general struggled in games. We've missed Dembele (not moaning that we sold him as I think he's struggled all season) and of course Wanyama, who hasn't been fit for near on 2 years anyway.
That’s pretty clear evidence of poor mental fortitude, lack of concentration and ineffective in-game management. No surprises then, that our title challenge withered away first and top 4 is now under serious threat.
We’ve been a different beast in the Champions League because the players know they have to bring their A+ game for the full 90 minutes, and the poor start put them backs against the wall. They’ve grown complacent with the league - not good enough to win it, but thought top 4 was easily in the bag.
I don’t actually disagree with a lot of what you are saying. Poch is making some horrendous mistakes in game management and it is a concern that no one, including him, is learning lessons.
Wolves was horrendous, no one learnt fuck all. Burnley horrible. No one learnt fuck all. No reaction. The Chelsea game was abject. Woolwich bossed us. Today ? It’s criminal and no one is listening to him.
So on to the key point highlighted which is digging out my view that it’s Levy “How is that on Levy? I cannot see it. Go position by position. Include bench. And explain to me, how Southampton was superior to us purely on players quality (so that we could blame Levy). Please - do”
It’s not about position for position. It’s about attitude from the top down.
As the company leader (CEO / Chairman whatever he is ) everything is on him. He has an obligation to oversee everything and set the objectives and to ensure that those he employs do the correct things, in the correct ways. Therefore everything is on his head and given he earns more than any other chairman and has become enormously rich from THFC I am not letting the guy off any hook and blaming others as much as I blame him.
He must have seen that his team (( product )) finished 3rd last year. He must have known that there were gaps in the squad and performances in big games was missing. So he has an obligation to insist that his staff address the shortfalls and improve or he says stagnation is progress.
Then he either accepted the utter bullshit that there was no one better on the market whom would have improved the squad, in which case he is a fucking idiot, or he directed that we are not buying anyone to improve the squad. In which case he’s not fit for purpose.
It’s been obvious for at least 18 months that without Dembele we have problems with ball retention and direction from midfield. What did he do to address that ? He failed to sell the problem in the summer and bring in a replacement. Then he scantioned the sale of truely ( flawed ) world class midfielder and brought no one in.
Either he is so dumb that he believed that an Andre Gomes or a James Ward Proswe is not better option than Oliver Skipp or he is so fucking tight that he forced Poch to play a 17 year old. I like Skipp by the way and I am not attacking him. But I am attacking the chronic lack of investment. Where is Dembele’s repalcement ?
Why the fuck was Moutinho not at the club years ago and why the holy fuck did he end up at Wolves and not at Spurs ? It’s pathetic. Oh how about Andersen ?
Pick anyone of the Burnley, Chelsea, Woolwich or today’s games and put Dembele on for 30 minutes you do not lose one of them games. Because he was the one player we had that got tempo, control and link play. Levy sold him for 10 million and that decision could cost the club much much more. I get the argument that he was injury prone, but how much would you rather 30 minutes of him today rather than what we all saw ? If he’s fit he plays. If he is not fit you sign a replacement and then sell. That’s correct squad management. You don’t sell and not replace. And if both Poch and Levy think they can get away with that then they are tweedle dum and tweedle Dee and deserve each other.
The Dembele situation is just one example of mismanagement. I can’t be arsed to point out others. Sleep walking to 5th place is ridiculous. Two weeks ago the club were a win away from the title being in our own hands. Now we look like we have taken a collective shit in our own hands and thrown it at each other. It’s not acceptable. Losing is fine. Losing like you don’t give a toss is wrong.
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I don’t think I’ve seen another team that’s struggled like that - clearly trying to stick to the game plan and philosophy but putting themselves under repeated pressure in doing so. With Dembele, and perhaps Winks, we had an outlet who could turn and run. Sissoko is not a link up player, and Dier, well, the less said the better.
People are calling for the head of Poch? Who should we bring in? Pulis? Big Sam?
Fucking hell, three more weeks of this!!
Fucking hell, three more weeks of this!!
And in bold above ^^^ is why we are fucked. No Dembele and no Dembele replacement.