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Hope you're right. Although I'm getting more Christian Gross vibes myself
I think he's a bit more outgoing too than ETH (not that it was a concern of mine but clearly the Spurs hierarchy was put off by it). There's no such thing as a sure bet but my honest opinion is that if we didn't get Slot now then his stock would be even higher down the line if he did move on to a bigger league this summer.
Definitely would be the smartest/best fitting managerial appointment since Poch if we do make it.
Whilst I agree with you in the main, it's amazing just how much the technical ability of players will improve, when they are given the coaching to help it flourish.
That lineup you've posted contains a lot of players that do have a high degree of technical ability, it's just been stifled for the last few years. Skipp and Sarr have both displayed good technical ability outside of this current team, as has Gil. Udogie too this season and last. We know Perisic has great technical ability, he's displayed it throughout his career, but it disappeared under Conte. What we're missing is the coaching and playing style that allows it to come to the fore.
This is why I feel that Slot, and even moreso Postecoglou, would be great appointments. I honestly think that either of those would have us looking at certain players and saying "I didn't know he had that in his locker."
But your overall point I agree with completely. We do need more, though I'd actually wait to see what either manager could do with some of the players before I labelled it as a dearth.
Having said that, I've been saying for a while that the old guard need to be moved on. Not due to lack of technical ability, but due to their attitude. I think they've phoned it in to be honest, accepting that they won't win any honours, and just being content to take a hefty wage whilst doing just about enough to remain in contention for the first team.
Dier and Sanchez are the two that spring to mind immediately. Many would say PEH, but I'm not totally sold on that yet. He's far more creative with Denmark, I just think he's been set up to fail by the 2man midfield he's been forced to operate in. With a more progressive and attack minded setup, I have a feeling he'd be one of those that we say "didn't know he had that in his locker."
Ben Davies is just a steady professional. I don't think he's phoned it in, I just think he can be upgraded.
I feel that with the right coach/manager, we'll see the confidence grow as they enjoy the Football, that's when they'll be more daring and display the ability we think they lack. I don't, I just think they've been handicapped. We're talking about professional Footballers, playing in the most competitive league in Earth, containing many of the greatest talents in the game. To have got there isn't because they're lucky, it's because they've shown the technical ability that elevates them above those in lesser leagues, along with the rest of us plebs.
They may not have as much as a lot of the players in this league have, but coached properly, they have more than enough to produce the style of Football we crave.
You only need to look at Brighton to see the truth of this. They have good players, no better than ours and, in many cases, less talented players, but the coaching they've had has them expressing their technical ability to its maximum.
The filth have players who are really no better than ours, but they've been coached to maximise the technical ability they have.
Ange or Arne, either I'd be very happy with. They'd maximise the talents of the players we have. The caveat to that though is that it may take longer than many fans are prepared to suffer. It took Potter a few seasons before he got Brighton to really play the way they currently are, all De Zerbi has done us polish the team up to a brighter sheen. The same could be said for Arteta, I believe he's been there 4 seasons and they've taken some time to improve. Unfortunately for him, and to our own great amusement, you can't coach bottle, particularly if you have none yourself.
That would be my biggest concern if Ange or Arne were appointed. Not that they'd fail, but that we don't give them the opportunity to succeed, and I aim this mostly at the fans.
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There's a whiff of that, not gonna lie.
I feel like the reality is nobody even knows, so vibes is probably the right word. I estimate the amount of people on this forum who have watched more than 2 Feyenoord games is probably less than 1%.
In truth, despite success in the Eredivisie, its a bit of a wildcard. So I get the 'unknown' factor providing a sense of excitement. It's at least something different to the monotony our fans have been treated to lately.
From the little we do know I think the transition is going to be incredibly hard - our squad is used to & built for counter-attacking football. Reversing that, without huge spending which we ain't getting this summer folks, is going to be hard & likely a very long process.
Why lol? The fans don't make decisions, you should aim it at the board. Levy is ruthless with coaches and goes through them for fun, is that the fans fault? Even if we backed Slot through hard times, if Levy thinks we're nowhere near Europe & that will fuck us financially, he will sack him. Makes no difference if we happy clap or don't, the money is what the board care about.
Oh and Brighton have a much higher average level of technical ability. Not necessarily better all round footballers, but better technicians because this has been a prioritised trait. Our current squad of players could not play the football Brighton do, even if we hired De Zerbi and gave him 5 years. He'd need signings.
Shouldn’t you aim that at the board since the decision is theirs ultimately?
Blaming fans who are by definition fickle doesn’t make much sense.
Love and agree with the post, but I share the reflexive reaction to this last bit.
Both because of Levy's impatience being much greater than Spurs fans in general, but also because there's this fetishization of playing badly in the name of "rebuilding" that I think is really misguided.
If it's working, we'll see it.
Levy sacked our greatest manager of the modern era after half a season of shit form, but yeah the fans are impatient...
And yes, some fans were turning against Pochettino. But it was nowhere near a melting point fan wise, plenty still backed Poch or wanted him to have the season at least. Levy just hit the panic button.
Spot on. I dont get this we'll be rubbish for 2 years view. It took Jol, Redknapp and Poch between 2 or 4 months before you started to see something. It might not be brilliant, it might be inconsistant but you can tell. I'd expect us to be pretty average until around November as the manager works out our best formation and team but if he's good 2nd half of the season will be better.
Fans hadnt turned against Jol or Redknapp either.
People saw Woolwich finish eighth twice and now think that being shit is a requirement in a rebuild.
Every single team is different.
Good post, well balanced, but I'd go slightly further, or off on a bit of a different tack...
I don't think our squad is half as bad as many think. The likes of Zomb who reckon that three-quarters of our players are utter shitcunts and should all be shipped out sharpish.
I think they are shot to bits in terms of confidence and self-esteem. I'd be interested to see what a good man manager could do with the popular scapegoats like Dier, Sánchez, PEH and so forth. With those underachieving - Son, Perisic, Kulu and so on. Even our misfits out on loan...
A mixture of arm around the shoulder and good tactical coaching could do wonders for them, at the very least any of the above - even Hugo - could be very decent squad players.
In that sense, I sort of don't mind who the next man is. I might not like Brendan Rogers but hey, what do I know? Like many of us, I couldn't stand Harry Redknapp before he came to us but I warmed to him when I saw what he did with a bunch of players who were drained of confidence. If Rogers or whoever it is can do that, they'll have my unconditional backing, for what that's worth.
Nice read on Slot
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Delaney: Arne Slot is Tottenham’s prime managerial target
Slottenham Hotspur?
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We are a fair few that don't want him back. I guess the board is on our side. I think is the correct decision by Tottenham, but not by Pochettino. Wish he would go somewhere else. The "Chelsea is our biggest rival" quote rings pretty false now. I bet he would start running if Barcelona called despite him saying he would never go there because Barca is Espanyol's biggest rival.
ochhail:With regard to your first paragraph, we might not make the decisions, but we certainly influence them. You've claimed often enough that were more an entertainment franchise than a Football Club, so what happens when the punters voice their displeasure at the "entertainment" by roundly booing the team off regularly? Every manager we've had has been goonered because the fans weren't happy with what they were seeing, apart from Jol.
You'd have to be deluded to think that fan unrest doesn't put enormous pressure on Levy to make a change.
Insofar as your second paragraph is concerned, please stop making out that your suppositions are fact. You have no idea of the technical ability of our players, as they haven't had the opportunity to display it. We have what I believe are technical players, who've been pressganged into playing a style that really doesn't suit them. We've shown, in brief spells, that we can crack open a team with some intricate interplay. We have players who have demonstrated this with previous teams or internationally. Brighton are a brilliant example of how players, when coached to play technical Football, can be better than the sum of their parts. Christ, even Wellbeck is flourishing there like he never did at any other club he played for.
Top professionals ALL have that technical ability, some more than others, but they all have the capability to play pass and move, one touch Football, they coach that at youth level FFS!
I'm not suggesting that we don't need signings, that had nothing to do with the point I was making, which was that we have players who I believe are a lot more technically proficient than we've seen, they just need a coach to give them the platform.
Do I think it'll be enough for where we want to be? Not a chance, but it's not going to happen overnight, which is what many seem to expect. Old guard out, fresh, hungry talent in that fits the vision.