Fair enough. I think it’s more than that though. We were playing some of the best football I’ve seen two years ago with largely the same group of players. At the moment we don’t look anything like. I hope there are no issues behind the scenes, but I suspect something’s happened. Poch calling out the team for ‘attitude’ problems. I think this will get worse. Hope I’m wrong.
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Fair enough. I think it’s more than that though. We were playing some of the best football I’ve seen two years ago with largely the same group of players. At the moment we don’t look anything like. I hope there are no issues behind the scenes, but I suspect something’s happened. Poch calling out the team for ‘attitude’ problems. I think this will get worse. Hope I’m wrong.
I know you do. You said so earlier.
What do you suspect they might be? You must have a theory or two
Putting my tin foil hat on I’d say that Rose and Alderweireld are obvious candidates for behind the scenes trouble. Problems with Alderweireld could have a knock on effect on Vertonghen and Dembele (and maybe even Eriksen and Sanchez if the Ajax connection has any relevance).
I think Harry, Lamela, Son, Moura, and possibly Dele all seem quite happy, so my money would be on the Ajax contingent potentially rocking the boat.
Sissoko is just happy to somehow be paid actual currency to misskick a ball.
I really don’t, but I’ll try. It’s out of character for Poch to berate the team. After beating Utd so handily maybe some players felt they deserved a bit of praise for turning the game around and instead they got a volley in public. That’s so unlike him - man management is his real strong point and I think he should have kept that in house. I got some stick for suggesting Alderweireld’s reintegration might have caused some problems, and that’s fair enough, I was guessing, but we aren’t playing for each other at the moment. Something is definitely going on. I think his ‘clean slate’ statement has upset some of our more loyal players who maybe thought opportunities were close. Just a few thoughts, but who knows?
That’s a given.
I don’t think I’ve ever watched MOTD when we’ve lost. Possibly the 5-4 loss to Woolwich out of curiosity. In Ramos’ last season I pretty much forgot it existed.
I was at the 5-4. I woke up in the garden, and I didn’t have a garden in those days. Not my finest hour.
A lady garden?
Not that night. I got a scolding and no toast and coffee.
I get what you are saying about undroppable, I hate the idea that anyone is, I don't think anyone should be, I think it's definitely a fair criticism to level at Poch over the last 3 years. I think Alli needed dropping at various times during his first couple of years - and we had Son and or Lamela to rotate him with (like the first three months of last season when Alli was clearly struggling for form and also not applying himself properly% either). And Kane shouldn't have been rushed back last season for example, we were doing fine without him, and it would have been better to wait and have him back in proper nick,
But while I think Eriksen is flogged to death by Poch and played unnecessarily in the odd domestic cup game or dead rubber CL game, he's one player, who for me, is as close to undroppable as is justifiably possible, because even on a bad day, he's invariably contributing more than any other fucker. Even today, playing in that fucked up system, as a 10, he's still processed nearly as much ball as all our three CM's, he regularly does se more ball than the CM's. And he does this as well as being our most intelligent footballer, the only one that really plays a 360 degree game, and also chipping in with 20 goals/assists a season.
He's not looked great for us so far, but he's not playing roles or is the type of player drags a team through a tactical mire, your CM's really need to do that, they are the engine room, so to a degree, yes, when he's not at his best, it often is because Dier (and Dembele et al) aren't doing great jobs. That's not always all their fault, lately Poch isn't doing them any favours either. But we really need a new engine room, whether we buy it, get existing players back firing, or integrate a kid or two.
Players can get complacent and also just downright demotivated. No improvements to the squad when we were so far off any trophy last season. In the danish media it sounds like Eriksen was willing to sign an extension, on the condition that we showed ambition in the market
Awful performance . Effort was there but no quality .
This is gonna be our toughest season. Since poch’s first I reckon . There are gonna be more games like today and against Watford . We’ve got more losses in us this season with the odd goodcwon along the way . We are just not gonna be good enough this season to even qualify for cl let alone challenge for any title .
Cl is gonna justvbr about fun and experience playing against Barcelona and inter.
I would concentrate on the domestic trophies , try and win a cup . Been too long .
Poch looks a very frustrated man . Obviously because we arnt playing well , lack of money to spend . I think he knows he has taken us as far as he can . Which is why winning a trophy this season will make it all the more special
This is gonna be our toughest season. Since poch’s first I reckon . There are gonna be more games like today and against Watford . We’ve got more losses in us this season with the odd goodcwon along the way . We are just not gonna be good enough this season to even qualify for cl let alone challenge for any title .
Cl is gonna justvbr about fun and experience playing against Barcelona and inter.
I would concentrate on the domestic trophies , try and win a cup . Been too long .
Poch looks a very frustrated man . Obviously because we arnt playing well , lack of money to spend . I think he knows he has taken us as far as he can . Which is why winning a trophy this season will make it all the more special
Excellent post.
I understand what you mean about Eriksen, but I honestly think we have started to build him up too much.
I’m not sure how manny games he’s missed for Spurs, what the results were, who else we had available at the time, or how well we played without him in those games.
So for me it’s all turned a bit Emperors New Clothes.
It’s become this thing: “When Eriksen is poor Spurs are poor”
My solution to that is “get him off the pitch then”
Eriksen could be rotated with Dele for a similar effect, or change our attack completely play wingers and two up top.
We’re not varying it up enough with what we have and that’s the problem. I’d be happy to drop both Eriksen and Kane next PL match.
That’s how much confidence I have in the quality of Son, Moura and Lamela as a front three, and that’s why I’m putting Pochs failings before the signings argument.
He won’t rotate. So why would Martial, or Zaha or Grealish get a game ahead of Kane or Eriksen when he won’t drop them for the better players we already have?
People make the point Eriksen is dropping back to do the CMs work.
That’s not his job.
If he can break rank and do what he’s not supposed to be doing in central midfield then how about he breaks rank and does the same for Kane then?
I don’t buy it. When the central midfield disappears the defence usually gets a pummeling, yet by and large Jan and Toby are playing just as well as they always do.
So why are Kane and Eriksen so poor with the same central midfield.
Why is that Moura, Lamela, Dele and Son all look ok with the same CMs?
Poch is happy to drop Sanchez and Davies for no reason, for two players who showed no loyalty, but point blank refuses to rotate up top.
It’s a poor message to the squad. We were better with Davies and Sanchez in the side.
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John is like a man that bet 2017 was a leap year. Despite being wrong he just doubles down on his prediction for the next year. He'll continue to do this until February 29th 2020, when he will proudly tell us all how he was right all along
Wow! What a contribution
Odd that it's never ever even partly Levy's fault.
In any other company it would be
In any other company it would be