Wotcha.
Something’s gotta give. Three games in 7 days and an physio room with standing room only this is no time to be sending out a full strength side. What I would like is a the following with a few gems on the bench if we look like we’re making a meal of it.
Clipboard Chris will himself be making a few changes: “There will be changes – how many I don’t know yet,” he said. “I have to say that where I am fortunate is that I’ve got good options and we are not the type of squad that has got a best 11 that’s far better than those outside it .”
What I find infuriating is this from the Independent: “Striker Emmanuel Adebayor is a doubt for Tottenham’s Capital One Cup game at Norwich after he missed training yesterday with a stomach bug.” Is the guy dragging his feet or is he simply unlucky? If he cannot play -which I would like in order to get him some game time prior the Wigan game – then we should run with Dempsey.
The back four needs Jan, Billy Walker all to put their feet up. So an opportunity to ship in Naughton, Smith and Dawson. The midfield is a grim business, I’m struggling to see beyond Thudd, Jake and some rosary beads.
The Adebayor thing is now officially an issue. Despite the boss’ faith in Defoe he’s such a one dimensional option I can’t help but think that right now, ‘we’re merely getting away with it.’ Teams need some luck, for sure. But I fear we frittered a fair whack of ours in Southampton.
Provisional squad: Friedel, Lloris, Cudicini, Naughton, Walker, Caulker, Gallas, Dawson, Vertonghen, Smith, Livermore, Parrett, Dembele, Huddlestone, Dembele, Mason, Sandro, Sigurdsson, Lennon, Townsend, Bale, Falque, Dempsey, Defoe, Adebayor.
Good post Mr. Astro. But..
Not an ideal evening but wanting the burn the whole house down aver losing in the Capital One cup is a tad of an overreaction.
I agree, but it’s more a sign post for growing unease with the direction we’re going in – or lack of one – and the quality of our play in general. Hence the ‘overreaction’.
Very few teams now come out to attack us and AVB is trying to set the team up to be able to play football that can control games. For large parts of the game, this is working but the missing link is getting it to work over 90 minutes.
It’s a convincing argument to some extent. However, and I don’t have the stats, but I from what I’ve seen, I’m pretty sure our general possession rate was better last year and the year before than it has been this season. And most of our possession has been pretty ineffectual, in areas the opposition knows we can’t harm them.
In terms of controlling games for 90 minutes, I see it a bit differently. Most games we have played OK for 45 minutes and looked knackered for the other. The high intensity pressing that AVB is instructing is obviously too hard to keep up for 90 minutes. Ok, so you need to do either of two things: play a holding striker who can slow the game down and a passing midfielder who can keep better possession, OR build in the 45 minutes you are pressing an unassailable lead. The thing is, for reasons of personnel, both of these are out of the question. So AVB needs to alter his philosophy / tactics to suit the squad he has, and hopefully add more and better players in time. One of the things he did wrong at Chelsea was not adjust to the squad he had, and instead tried to get them to adjust to what he wanted, and too quickly. Is he doing the same thing here?
AVB has inherited a side that had it’s attacking heart and guile ripped out and has inexperienced players to put it back together with.
Well, if this is true, then someone should be held accountable. What you describ didn’t just happen by accident. Thing is, most of AVB’s most ardent fans are also staunch Levy apologists too.
The only difference is that I feel like we are starting from a position where we feel we deserve to be at the top table. AVB, along with the training ground has bought that.
Often people say things like, ‘remember where we were 10 years ago’ as if this comparison allows us to be as shit as they like now, so long as it isn’t quite as shit as that. But anyway, it isn’t just the fans getting carried away with unreasonable expectations. Our chairman sacked a manager who finished 4th twice – whatever the specifics, it’s clear that he expects a similar if not better return from the new guy. The new guy himself has publicly accepted that 4th is the minimum target he agreed with Levy.
He sacked a media h**r,disloyal,self serving spiv who thought he could buttf**k Levy,TWITCHY OUT :ninja:
Jesus Christ. Didn’t I say, elsewhere, I didn’t want to talk about R*******? Why? Because the slightest mention and the debate gets hijacked by pro- and anti- bellends!
Our chairman sacked a manager who finished 4th twice – whatever the specifics, it’s clear that he expects a similar if not better return from the new guy.
Exactly my point. The new guy accepts that the target rather than saying that 5th ‘was as good as it gets’ and that anyone who didn’t think so was an idiot. There is a raised level of expectation but not the squad/experience yet to achieve it. That doesn’t diminish from the bar set by the management however, they know now what we are trying to achieve rather than feeling that it was something that was nice if it happened.
On the accountability point, I think you’ll find my answer was in the next but one para. Levy made a mistake by not following up with enough vigour on the Moutinho lead and he has, on occasions, taken his brinkmanship to an extreme at the detriment of the squad.
Having said that, I’m not a Levy apologist (And I don’t know why you always have to reduce things to George Bush “You’re either for us or agin us” style maxims) but we could do a lot worse. Under Levy’s tenure we have seen a steady rise in the level of expectation at the club and I don’t see this changing. The new training ground is testament to that.
Agree with your point on adapting the pressing style to suit the available players and he has done that in a couple of league games and succeeded. Like most people that have a plan that they want to implement, they try to push it through as opposed to watering it down to suit those around them. Try getting any kind of conceptual ad campaign signed off at the moment and you know how difficult that is when everyone is jittery around you.
There is a fine line in sticking to your guns for the long term and shooting yourself in the foot and I still think AVB is on the right side of that. In general though, I don’t think it’s time to start cussing everyone out and gnashing teeth. We have to accept that the side is a work in progress just now with half the pieces missing. Against that backdrop, there are worst things that could be happening than us being in 4th and beating Man U away.
For me, the ‘work in progress’ argument can only take you so far. Whilst you are 4th in the league, with results better than the actual performances that took you there, that’s a very fine argument indeed. But the project here – the terms agreed – doesn’t allow for much less. 4th is the minimum agreed between the chairman and the manager.
AVB could also gain a lot more faith if he addressed glaring faults in the way he’s been setting the team out – such as playing Defoe as a lone striker and his repeatedly disastrous defensive substitutions. The football has been mostly tedious and rotten to sit through, we could stomach that a bit more if some of the problems weren’t so seemingly obvious and self-inflicted.
AVB spoke of ‘titles’, winning trophies. On that side of things, he has been very short indeed so far. Sitting 3rd with no wins in a poor Europa group, in spite of fielding first team line ups in all fixtures, and going out of another cup against a relegation candidate’s reserve side. I’m just throwing this in as a counter-weight to the 4th in the league / work in progress optimism btw.
Against that backdrop, there are worst things that could be happening than us being in 4th and beating Man U away.
Of course there are worse things. My worry, based on performances and management so far, is that we may be about to find out what they are, very shortly.
such as playing Defoe as a lone striker
Alternative?
This isn’t AVB’s issue… Like I say, he’s dealing with the deck of cards he’s been handed. Him not having a back-up striker isn’t bad management on his part, It’s bad dealing on the club’s part. It just seems a bit weak to attack AVB for something that he has no control over, just because it justifies another augment… Just saying.
Being worried for what might be is the perennial raison d’etre of the Spurs fan but let’s give them the chance. That’s not blind optimism, just where we are.
Alternative is / was our long and protracted Summer signing Adebayor. OK, he is now MIA with a tummy ache or whatever it is. But he should surely have been introduced a lot earlier in the season. In fact he should have started games, in Defoe’s place if AVB didn’t want to play 4-4-2.
It’s not attacking AVB for things beyond his control at all. It was 100% his choice to opt for Defoe as the lone striker.
Do you honestly think Levy and the board expect us to finish top 4? Levy had that option by keep Redknapp, but chose to do away with him and look longer term. That won’t happen overnight or even in the first season. When the word ‘project’ is mentioned that means long term, and unless AVB makes a complete balls of things-I’d see the whole thing taking 2-3 seasons before fruition. The main things people on here can’t seem to understand is firstly, AVB is in Mourinho’s image and he played pretty negative football with Chelsea, but he had the resources to attract players we can’t, and secondly-this squad of players are still finding their feet in playing terms and having to chop and change through numerous key injuries-it’s not all about a goalkeeper or the manager-it’s still very early days and last season would’ve been hard to follow after losing Modric and many other fringe players who would’ve played last night and probably in Europe if they were still here!
Do you honestly think Levy and the board expect us to finish top 4?
I’m just going by what has been said publicly by AVB – that he agreed this target. What else is there to go on?
Resources, common-sense, opposition, facts, investment,lack of investment-you take your choice pick of available choices-the simple fact’s of the matter are all the above are factors in our current set of circumstances and should be addressed before posting an opinion of any sorts. All players purchased are a gamble, but the more money-the less of gamble it becomes. Dempsey and Siggardssen were signings, along with Demble and Lloris who by and large were welcomed, yet within a few games, in a new team and under new management they’re all expected to be world beaters from the off.AVB is expected to roll over all before him, but hasn’t had the benefits of a larger fit squad at his disposal and is having to play players to exhaustion, when anyone with half a brain would know that it’s not feasible to do so! Did we win the league cup every year?, no, of course not, but a defeat controlled by circumstances more than tactics or manpower suggests it’s got to be someone’s fault, when their equaliser was a pure stroke of luck that happens in football, which is why it’s a game-not a science.The substitutions AVB were wrong-but entirely understanable given the game against Wigan is on Saturday and Huddlestone,Defoe and Vertoghren wouldn’t have played had others been fit to play-no-ones at faultl-least of all AVB, just a poor run of luck on the injury front-that’s all!
The bar for Tottenham by them or by us is and should be high.
Teutonic physics demands you start moving in the right direction so you can get there as soon as possible.
We are 4th and that is very acceptable.For me even 8th is acceptable right now.
The quality of our play and consistency is not where it should be.
Hope we did not buy a sick note in Dembele.
Last year we simply didn’t have the injuy list we have had this year. Add to that last year was the 4th year for the players to adjust to’Arry’s style, and they did– till ‘Arry abandoned them on his chase of the job he was never going to get.
This guy is in the early months of building a team and he has had massive injuries. The one thing I fault him on is not playing Ade. But are we sure Ade wants to play? Not so sure.