I hope people aren't pinning their hopes on Dembele coming back being the answer to our woes. Agreed, he is a fine player, but for me it's the system rather than missing Dembele that is our problem.
On the face of it our results picked up for the games Dembele played in, then dropped once he got injured. Does this tell the full story though?
Reading - good performance
QPR - rubbish performance, OG got us back in it
United - good first half, City-esque second half
Villa - decent performance, did enough
Lazio - decent performance, uncreative on the whole
Panathinaikos - under-par performance
A mixed bag performance-wise - not dissimilar to the games since he has been out. The difference being we rode our luck before, now it is slapping us in the face.
My point is that people can't keep saying it will be ok when Lloris plays, Kaboul is back, Dembele is back or Ade starts (with or without Defoe). If it takes X amount of players to be starting to make a system work to any standard then it's the system that is flawed, as you will always have injuries to contend with.
Drop the high defensive line please AVB.
Dembele is not the magic bullet
posted on 13/11/12
Grand
Funny how this sort of article isn't getting anything like the derision it was getting all the time we were winning a few. The blinkers are dropping I think. Fair play to Bales though, he is sticking to it
posted on 13/11/12
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 13/11/12
Exactly.
If/when Dembele, Kaboul, Ade, Benny and Lloris eventually start together playing AVB's way and the performances are still patchy, I wonder what the excuse will be then?
I have no doubt they will help, but ultimately it's the system that is flawed for me. If he changes this we will see improvements immediately, not just pin our hopes on saviour A or B
posted on 13/11/12
Comment Deleted by Site Moderator
posted on 13/11/12
If/when Dembele, Kaboul, Ade, Benny and Lloris eventually start together playing AVB's way and the performances are still patchy, I wonder what the excuse will be then?
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Assuming he gets at least one player of his choosing to work in his system there will be no excuse. It's quite apparent that we missed out on at least two players (Willian and Moutinho) that he identified as requirements.
But yes, if he doesn't improve us with a full squad the experiment will have failed and you'll have your day in the sun.
posted on 13/11/12
At least one of his players? People just assume Siggy and Dempsey were pure Levy signings with no input from AVB, and that he didn't sanction VDV going. I don't know either way but it would be silly to simply assume.
You make it seem like I WANT him to fail, rather than simply THINK that he will.
My 'day in the sun' would mean Spurs floundering, so I certainly don't want that. I want him to buck his ideas up, stop making basic errors and be a success.
posted on 13/11/12
You make it seem like I WANT him to fail, rather than simply THINK that he will.
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I should hope not, I just think you want to be right.
Maybe he had some input but they weren't his first choices.. Dembele excepting he made do. I'm sticking by my 5th place prediction, that's par for the squad in my opinion.
posted on 13/11/12
You think I want to be right because I have a strong opinion?
To what end?
So I can gloat on a faceless forum at the expense of the team I invest several hundred pounds and spend literally weeks of my year travelling to games to support?
Yeah, right
posted on 13/11/12
I should hope not, I just think you want to be right.
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I dont want to be right I am just 100% certain that I will be. That will give me no pleasure at all as IMO it will have set us back and wasted a season. If anybody thinks that will give me any pleasure whatsoever then they really should seek immediate medical attention
posted on 14/11/12
I'm jumping for joy at every sheet performance personally. It sends me home with a spring in my step - scrub Spurs, as long as I'm right