Best defensive record in Europe

most shots are still from long range.

we create chances but we need to improve the quality of chance.

I'd be interested to see the amount of shots in the box and outside the box. I think the quality of chances created against Cardiff was very high.

All positives for me. It used to grind my gears that we didn't take enough shots.

Siggs must have hit the woodwork more times than any other player in Europe!

Shots on target is more relevant as anybody can have 10 attempts from 30 yards that go out for a throw. 1 goal conceded in 8 competitive games is great though and very unlike us.

Soldado is a fantastic signing, his positional play, hunger and intelligence is superb....i cannot remember the last striker like that we had, maybe Jurgen...

We had higher shots per game than most teams last season avg 18, beating barca bayern etc, didnt count for alot though

Suso,

That may be true but high shots and low goals conceded is the key reason. in isolation its not great but together paints a good picture.

Stats don't mean an awful lot though. In the same way we dominated possession against Arsenal but they came away with the points and the most threatening opportunities on goal. Anyone can get their possession up by playing a series a neat sideways passes at the back, in the same way I'd guess our shot stats are up because Townsend suddenly thinks he's Robben, cutting in from the right and having a pop every 5 minutes.

It's also worth mentioning we've had a very fortunate start to the season fixture wise. When we were tested, we came up short. The rest of the fixtures we were expected to win, and win comfortably.

It's also worth mentioning we've had a very fortunate start to the season fixture wise. When we were tested, we came up short. The rest of the fixtures we were expected to win, and win comfortably.

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swansea home is tricky.

palace away not so much but you probably want to avoid a newly promoted side away from home on opening day.

cardiff beat man city at home already this season, and will take points off other top sides at that place


not the hardest fixture list ever, but deceptively tricky.

We drew with Norwich and lost to Wigan, both at home, early last season. Easy start or not, lets be happy we got the points in the bag.

We gained 72 last season and dropped easy points at home.

fridgeboy

It's also worth mentioning we've had a very fortunate start to the season fixture wise. When we were tested, we came up short. The rest of the fixtures we were expected to win, and win comfortably.



Rubbish, Spurs have had in reality no easier start than any of the other clubs, played Arsenal away, who are top of the prem, a difficult game at Cardiff, who smashed City`s defence for 3 a couple of weeks back, a game against Swansea who have just gone to one of the top teams in Spain and mullered them on their own patch, another difficult away London Derby at Palace and OK Norwich at home was probably the easiest. But then Chelsea have played Hull, Villa and Fulham at home, so hardly difficult fixtures.

Arsenal were expected to beat Villa at home they lost, City we expected to win at Cardiff, they lost, United have lost all their difficult away games when they were tested, so why are you saying Spurs are having it easy.

If we keep this up then the goals should really start to flow.
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I’d be cautious about concluding that.
We (at Liverpool) held a similar record for quite a long time. Last season we had the highest number of shots in Europe (overall), and the seventh highest number of shots on target.

If memory serves, we had a similarly high number under Dalglish, and in his last season, we also hit the woodwork 34 times (which I don’t think even counts as a shot on target).

We too concluded it must inevitably turn into goals, but it never did.

It’s hard to put your finger on why....it could just be a long run of bad luck (I’m sure that must sometimes happen), but it lasted so long, I tended towards the conclusion that the quality of the chances we were making was not quite good enough,, and I’ve seen several articles which support that view (using other stats such as how many defenders were in the way, to assess the difficulty of the chance, etc).

Exactly sandy, hate all this we have had easy fixtures bulls. Hit especially when it comes from our own spurs supporters. Although that's debatable wether "fridge boy" is actually a supporter of spurs because he spend 99.9 % of his time on here moaning about us. Norwich at home we drew last season and struggled- this season we comprehensively outplayed them and won. Cardiff away is a tough nut to crack as proven by their win against city. Swansea are a top 10 side and in Europe, was a good result to beat them. Our fixtures have been no easier than Chelsea's or Arsenals and we currently sit joint top for a reason

Don

Sometimes our own supporters give the team more stick than the opposition. I cannot for the life of me think why any Spurs supporters should be moaning with the start they have made 7 wins out of 8, 2nd in the prem, top of their Europa Group, 16 goals in all competitions scored, 1 goal conceeded. I doubt any of them have ever had it so good. I have admittedly having seen the double team. You are very upbeat Don, and so you should be.

You can only play and beat what is put in front of you.
If you cannot do it against so-called lesser sides, forget the serious opponents.

Spurs have 4 fixtures til the next internationals break.
Try to win them all, maintain the shut-outs, and not pick up any serious squad injuries in those games.

Over to AVB and the boys ...

You dont need to beat the good teams all the time to challenge.

Stats over so few games are less meaningful than over longer period of time.

Last year Spurs beat Arsenal, Liverpool, United, City and drew at Chelsea, and still only finished 5th. All games are important, you only get 3 points whether you beat Palace or United.

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All games are important, you only get 3 points whether you beat Palace or United.

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Not all games are equal.

For example:

2 wins against Norwich is just 6pts

2 wins against Arsenal would be 6pts AND a 6pt net gain on them. Not only do you win, but they 100% lose.

Looking solely at the NL teams finishing positions, I'd have rather drawn against both Arsenal and Cardiff, at the expense of a point, than lost to Arsenal and beat Cardiff. We'd be 1pt above them if that was the case.




I don't think anybody can seriously say we've had a difficult start. Two newly promoted sides is rarely easy, but I'd rather that than United or City away. Our two home games have been pretty decent too, neither of which were any of the top sides. Arsenal away is our standout game and we lost.

We've made a good start overall though. 10pts probably par for those games, but tempered by losing to Arsenal which gave them 3pts advantage.

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