Interesting article........

also if other teams play on Saturday and win, it makes the whole place more nervous as we know we have to win.
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^ this. Agree Chronic

Couldn't agree more about the sunday thing.

We know the other results so there is a lot more pressure to get the points or we fall behind. If everyone was playing at 3pm on a saturday, psychologically it would feel like a different game.

It often seems like qualifying for the europa league is a punishment - playing thursday and sunday.

"Lesser" teams will play how they want to play in order to survive in the premier league. That is what is important to them.

To the teams challenging for the top spots it is up to them to find a way of getting around this.

Spurs do not do themselves any favours by playing with so little pace. By the time they have played the ball across the back four a few times, including the goal keeper occasionally, the opposition are in textbook formation to defend again.

Spurs players need to find ways of running into space rather than standing next to their markers, allowing forward passes to be made, and at pace so that defences are thrown into disarray.

Having said that I am not sure that this defence at all costs is having a good effect on the game. Perhaps we should look at ways of rewarding possession in the attacking half; ways of harsher punishments for ploys to deliberate interrupt momentum of the attacking team with deliberate time wasting tactics such as feigning injury, taking too long to take goal kicks to get the ball back into play.

After all, in many sports you are penalised if, in the opinion of the referee or judges, you are not attempting to win.

To the teams challenging for the top spots it is up to them to find a way of getting around this.

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yes but spurs have only encountered this problem for a few years.

teams like arsenal and man u have 20 years worth of experience and know how on how to beat teams that park the bus.

How do fans expect free flowing end to end football when the opposition park the bus? Even the spurs teams you reminisce of would find it impossible. Raising the tempo is what we should do, but it still won't be that entertaining

Next home game against weaker opposition the Spurs fans should really raise the roof. If Spurs still play at a slow tempo and struggle then we'll know it's something else contributing to this. Let's at least find that out.

yes but spurs have only encountered this problem for a few years.
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Spurs are the ones who started it. The first time I heard this expression, "parking the bus", it was uttered by Mourinho after our visit to Chelsea had resulted in a 0-0 draw.

To be fair whilst I do miss our old attacking style it is the results that matter. We are winning games and keeping a lot of clean sheets so for now I'm happy. If we suddenly start dropping points through our lack of penetration then change it. I do believe we should attack at home though and play more on the counter away as it seems to be doing us well at the moment.

When we did raise the tempo against Hull we looked good, the crowd seemed respond ...surely AVB saw that aswell.

My only reasoning on the way we play so slowly is AVB is trying to gel the squad without dropping points, we are in for a few 0-0 draws if we dont pick up the pace of the games against so callled "lesser" teams ...but why we are winning, albeit by slight margins, he wont change anything

I didn't think we played that bad, Hull are a decent side and considering they've been struggling with injuries did well, teams saw what West Ham did to us, and will do this again and again, unless we play big sides at home where the play can be end to end at times, when we play teams like Hull, we have to be patient, because the win will come

When we played Saints and Sunderland the tail end of last season, two Bale goals got us out of damger, because I went to both games and we didn't look like scoring at all!

Patience, we have to open defences up, it's not just open, flowing football, there's an understanding most fans need to realise, I'm all for getting caanted and going to WHL and watching us, but support the team, in full voice, we will prevail