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West Ham - League cup game

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Playing a rotation squad in a weaker competition doesn't mean that the manager doesn't care a shit about winning the competition. He was bothered. He just thought that the rotation team he fielded was good enough - which they were.

Again, it is about accepting and understanding that a weaker squad for a less important competition doesn't mean that the competition is irrelevant or is not cared about by the manager or the fans. Poch still cared about it. The fans who say it doesn't matter are simply those that have succumbed to the fan arrogance engendered by our recent success. Well, I'm sorry to say that I personally don't feel our trophy record in the Premier League era truly justifies that arrogance. Nobosy is going to give a shit how good we were in five years time unless we start winning trophies, and that includes all the silverware available. Not just those we have decided we are good enough for and arrogantly thinking the rest are now below us. I have a real problem with this idea we have leapfrogged the cups. Ten years from now we could still be nearly men will no trophies. Will people still be saying the donestic cups are irrelevant relics of the past?

Bored of this shite now, move on!
 
Because I want us to be ruthless and for us to create and instill fear and respect whoever we play and whenever we play them.

Give nothing should be our mantra.

Yesterday we loosened the noose and we now have no quarter-final place and an opponent who will see 2 down against us when they come to Wembley in the league as retrievable.

We need to learn how to win things. I have said earlier that this is the hurdle Pochettino must overcome.

Like Ramos? That didn’t go so well if I remember correctly. You are talking nonsense - just
platitudinal rubbish.
 
It’s not bullshit, the argument is on the pitch. It’s obvious we can’t win it with our reserves. It’s as plain as day.
Sorry Joe, but I can't agree. Last night's team was more than good enough. We have enough rotation players to win it, especially with Rose, Dembele and Lamela now returning and the additions of Aurier and Llorente.

If we had fielded 11 18 year olds then it would not have been a reflection of the squad's potential.

Look, you know I am no melt or negative nancy. I truly believe the argument that competing in this competition harms our CL and PL chances is false.
 
Playing a rotation squad in a weaker competition doesn't mean that the manager doesn't care a shit about winning the competition. He was bothered. He just thought that the rotation team he fielded was good enough - which they were.

Again, it is about accepting and understanding that a weaker squad for a less important competition doesn't mean that the competition is irrelevant or is not cared about by the manager or the fans. Poch still cared about it. The fans who say it doesn't matter are simply those that have succumbed to the fan arrogance engendered by our recent success. Well, I'm sorry to say that I personally don't feel our trophy record in the Premier League era truly justifies that arrogance. Nobosy is going to give a shit how good we were in five years time unless we start winning trophies, and that includes all the silverware available. Not just those we have decided we are good enough for and arrogantly thinking the rest are now below us. I have a real problem with this idea we have leapfrogged the cups. Ten years from now we could still be nearly men will no trophies. Will people still be saying the donestic cups are irrelevant relics of the past?

Poch’s record in the cups for Southampton and us proves otherwise. He just doesn’t take them seriously.
 
Because I want us to be ruthless and for us to create and instill fear and respect whoever we play and whenever we play them.

Give nothing should be our mantra.

Yesterday we loosened the noose and we now have no quarter-final place and an opponent who will see 2 down against us when they come to Wembley in the league as retrievable.

We need to learn how to win things. I have said earlier that this is the hurdle Pochettino must overcome.
Haha, astonishing.

Our rotated side losing in our 2nd least important game so far defines us more than our 1st team battering Liverpool in the League and drawing away to Real Madrid in the CL.

Not only that, other sides are now going to be inspired by our loss? As if Prem teams go 2-0 down and generally abandon ship. Even then, we play better when teams come at us, so that plays into our hands.

You have absolutely had yourself with contradictions in this thread, showcasing a distinct lack of understanding of Spurs, Pochettino and football in general and it's been a shambles to see.

Results against Liverpool and Real Madrid in the 2 premier competitions we compete in are drowned out by a loss in our lowest priority. Amazing.

4eaa39ddcb1183ad266c3dc59f231b3c--billy-madison-movie-lines.jpg
 
Sorry Joe, but I can't agree. Last night's team was more than good enough. We have enough rotation players to win it, especially with Rose, Dembele and Lamela now returning and the additions of Aurier and Llorente.

If we had fielded 11 18 year olds then it would not have been a reflection of the squad's potential.

Look, you know I am no melt or negative nancy. I truly believe the argument that competing in this competition harms our CL and PL chances is false.

You don’t have to agree - no problem with that, but whilst last night’s team looked reasonably strong on paper ultimately it wasn’t strong enough to win on the pitch. Poch tries to wing these games. He always will.
 
Poch’s record in the cups for Southampton and us proves otherwise. He just doesn’t take them seriously.
Yes, but it doesn't means he cares nothing if we drop out and doesn't want to win them. All it proves is that he knows which competitions are priorities for progression.

My argument is clear and consistent. We have the squad to try in all competitions. Repeating endlessly that "Poch doesn't prioritise the cups" doesn't make a case that we just throw the towel in and can't compete in them without it harming our PL chances. We have depth and rotation that is good enough to give this and the FA Cup a decent crack. Last night's team was good enough and better than West Ham. None of this excuse making changes the fact that we should have been in the quarter finals, and this fan arrogance that the cups don't matter is the same arrogance that caused the players to stroll around without a care in the world during the second half.

We are not too good for any trophy.
 
Lloris, Vertonghen, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Dembele, Wanyama, Winks, Eriksen, Son, Alli, Kane.

Vorm, Davies, Aurier, Rose, Walker-Peters, Dier, Sissoko, Winks, Lamela, Edwards, Llorente.

That's two elevens there, which can be mixed and matched.

People are saying we don't have enough to field a lesser team in the cups without it impacting our CL and PL run. We have enough to rotate our entire starting 11!!!
 
Lloris, Vertonghen, Sanchez, Alderweireld, Dembele, Wanyama, Winks, Eriksen, Son, Alli, Kane.

Vorm, Davies, Aurier, Rose, Walker-Peters, Dier, Sissoko, Winks, Lamela, Edwards, Llorente.

That's two elevens there, which can be mixed and matched.

People are saying we don't have enough to field a lesser team in the cups without it impacting our CL and PL run. We have enough to rotate our entire starting 11!!!

We did rotate last night...and lost?
 
No, and we won’t be if we go all out for this every year. We’ve got much bigger games on Saturday and Wednesday against two of the biggest clubs in the world. Would you risk those games by starting the 1st team last night?

There was nothing wrong with the team we played last night, what was wrong was the way they played in the second half. I would argue that the two games coming up are bigger, as we aren't going to win either the CL or Prem, but we may have been able to win the league cup.
 
We did rotate last night...and lost?
We lost...with a team good enough to win. That's why some of us are complaining and resisting the "it doesn't matter" narrative. Last night's side was much better than the team of job centre claimants. We should have won and if we had we would have had a total of three extra matches at most, which a rotated squad is, on paper, capable of winning.

We don't need to be out of this competition because we shoudn't have to rely on the first team for it. Our squad is good enough. That is the point.
 
There was nothing wrong with the team we played last night, what was wrong was the way they played in the second half. I would argue that the two games coming up are bigger, as we aren't going to win either the CL or Prem, but we may have been able to win the league cup.

So if there was nothing wrong with the team what’s your problem? (Apart from losing that is).

If there was nothing wrong with the team Poch fielded, why these accusations of not taking it seriously? I’m not suggesting that you have said that btw.
 
Yes it is but I was just expressing a preference

Some clever chap put together a chart showing we were the most consistent team over the last two seasons and it wasn’t even close

I would prefer that to finishing lower and winning a tin pot cup

Of course I would like to have both same as I would like to be stuck in a lift with Scarlet Johanssen but life ain’t like that
And yet this post is premised on the basis that if we won the league cup and lost the league we would have lost the latter because of the former. There's no logic in that.
 
Performance last night was pedestrian. I literally dozed off after 1-0. We took west ham too lightly, and there was little to no intensity last night.

Regardless of the competition, which I'm not particularly arsed about and also believe in the long run won't do us any harm being in, it was still a game against West ham. We should always be up for it, and we only seemed to look interested once we were pegged back. By then, the momentum of the game had already shifted.

I hope it gives the players a kick up the arse for Sunday.
 
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