What IF....

Spurs really need to turn their overwhelming possession in most games into winning performances. The last four games have seen them boss possession and have not won any of the games.

comment by sandy brown (U20258)
posted 14 minutes ago
Spurs really need to turn their overwhelming possession in most games into winning performances. The last four games have seen them boss possession and have not won any of the games.
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Scoring early and having effective inside forwards is key.

The formation Poch plays needs at least 10 goals and 10 assists each from inside forwards...Townsend and Lamela have how many?

This is not going to change till the end of the season. We have inside forwards and 2nd and 3rd string strikers that can't score. Thats too many passengers to qualify for Champs league.

Let's see how we get on first..

We've only had 4 home defeats all season, all after Europa games.. and barely scraped a draw against West Ham.

I think if our form gets worse it'll probably be down to confidence and motivation - something Poch has to keep on top of now we can't win anything this season.

For sure we need to improve the squad if we don't want to have similar European hangovers next season.

Given our recent results, this is a MUST WIN game.
Now then, wot do I expect to happen?
Soldado to blast a sitter over the bar.
Eriksen to score just before HT.
Spurs to go in 1-0 up, but defense to wobble in second half as team gets tired, and swansea to draw even.
Kane to be well policed.
Townsend to try hard.
Soldado to miss yet another.
Final: 1-1. Yup, another damned draw.

I think the answer will be (a), although that is not my personal view.

Its also funny how 6th would be considered a good season under Poch, yet 6th was not good enough last season from a different manager.

The problem is for me, in the areas we have made changes, we have downgraded from the players we had - and i just hope posters realise that having new players does not automatically make them better (not that our comments affect anything, of course).

One problem we'll have now is keeping all players happy, because some of them may not get much game time at all from now until the end of season.

I hope our league form doesn't suffer too much over the recent disappointments.

Its also funny how 6th would be considered a good season under Poch, yet 6th was not good enough last season from a different manager.

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here we go

You couldn't resist it, could you Chicken?

A little innuendo about Sherwood, who is digging his own grave at Villa judging by his latest comments about making Villa great again

Greaves,

This is not a manager Vs manager debate. I just find it strange how 6th is not good enough one season - yet the next its acceptable - with the same group of players + signings.

Its a valid point. Just because it may make some of your historic opinions incorrect, doesn't mean i dont have the right to mention the truth.

I dont care what Sherwood does at Villa, what Harry does when he comes back, what AVB is doing at Zenit or what Jol is upto...this is not a pro / anti manager debate but just being consistent with my views and expectations on THFC.

6th will not be good enough. End of.

Chicken,

I think under current circumstances, 6th is a reasonable expectation for us, possibly 5th. We cannot compete with the money side of things until we have a new stadium, which I turn might help us afford the players we need to achieve consistent results and CL qualification.

It is a chicken (excuse the pun) and egg situation. What do we do first? Organic growth via youth development, or growth by procurement means. Either way is fraught with problems going forward.
Until we can match the revenue streams of clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea etc we will continue to lag just outside the top 4.

I have always maintained that this is a learning curve season for Pochettino, he has probably already decided who will be staying & who will be going in the summer. He has already shown that our fitness levels are amongst the best in the PL, and in most cases not easily rolled over.
Building on that will come in the summer & I expect us to improve quite a bit results wise next season.

Greaves,

That is fine - as we all have our own individual expectations for our club. The only point I was making is that my expectations are about the club and not an alliance to a certain manager because I like or dislike them.

I just find it a bit frustrating when certain posters expected (or demanded) more from managers they do not like but are lenient when it is someone they favour.

This is what I disagree with. And so as I said, if 6th wasn't good enough last season - why is it considered okay this season?