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What’s really painful at the moment is looking at the likes of Davinson Sanchez, Sissoko, Moura and Aurier - players that Pochettino went out into the market and signed.
No he didn't. Levy signed.
Sammy. You're desperately arguing for people to see the truth that Kane isn't as good as we all think he is.Premier League Player Stats - Big chances missed
View Big chances missed played by Premier League players for 2023/24 and previous seasons, on the official website of the Premier League.www.premierleague.com
19 “big chances “ missed between our front three, Son 9, Kane 6, Bergwijn 4
Not taking into account shit passes or offsides etc
Not taking into account that Dier is average, or we parked the bus, or Winks who was on the bench should be sold......
These are clear cut chances. Apparently according to some though, the PL’s own website must be wrong because they never happened.
Imagine if between them they had converted, say put one more away against Fulham, Wolves and Palace.
We’d be on 42pts, 4th and above Liverpool with a game in hand on the teams above us bar City.
Just three of 19, not all 19.
Between three players, not one.
How people still don’t see our attack as part of our problem is astonishing.
But if I agree with you, your only solution is to say he should train harder?
You feel that Levy provides his managers with adequate resources for success.
You're simultaneously arguing that Kane is not as good as we think and a bottler over the YEARS whilst also arguing to not change any of the conditions re: personnel he operates in (investment).
Which is it Sammy?
Or do you moan that Kane needs to train harder right up until he retires if we win nothing?
No I’d say people are far more desperate to avoid it
That’s why most actually just stay silent. They know, but it’s uncomfortable
I am a very uncomplicated thinker. If someone plays well, I’ll say they played well.
If someone doesn’t, I’ll say they didn’t.
It really is that simple
Which is it?
Well Kane isn’t a bottler, just not a leader.
And he’s not playing to his best ability.
His solution to play better is the same as everyone else’s solution.
Play better.
If Kane can’t play well because Winks isn’t, well then he’s clearly not as good as we thought.
I never said train, I said work harder.
The whole squad need to work harder, and Kane is not different.
Son needs to work harder, Dier needs to work harder. All of them.
I'm surprised that this is only seven pages long !!
Ok Sammy thanks for helping so many see the light re: Kane's specific level.
Sammy we've had these players for YEARS.
If it was as simple as working harder they would have fixed it by now. At least one of Jose or Poch would have. This is their limit. Period. YEARS of seasons show it.
You want to keep slagging off players until they retire because you believe they never worked hard enough if they don't see success here? Really?
That's the best variable you can think of?
Yep for years, and won nothing when they were peak.
Remember the title decider at WHL v Leicester?
Kane one on one at 0-0.........oh look he fluffed his lines in a crucial game.
Where have I seen that before
Yep, yep I know, ENIC made him smack it at Schmicael
And that CL final what a performance.
But we won The Who Loves Scoring Against Woolwich Trophy so that means he never plays shit
When we conceded the penalty tonight it’s like we accepted defeat , which is strange as we battled from 3-1 to 3-1 and then 4-3 to 4-4 mid week against Everton, maybe the 120 minutes and playing every week have taken it out of players like Son and Hjojberg.
do we still have a weak mentality in the squad or is it just bad tactics ? The Sissoko sub was baffling , I would have thought Bergwijn for Lucas would have made more sense.
do we still have a weak mentality in the squad or is it just bad tactics ? The Sissoko sub was baffling , I would have thought Bergwijn for Lucas would have made more sense.
Three pronged actually.
In the fitst imstance and in the short term it's a lack of confidence. The question here is whether that's in the manager or the collective self?
The next issue for me is that nobody is pushing up that bar of performance. For a while Kane and Son seemed like they were not just gelling and playing really well with each other but challenging each other to greater heights. That's all but gone.
The third issue is that nobody and I mean nobody is scared of playing us at the present time. That means no free points and we are simply not good enough to overcome the threat or difficulty that poses.
From very early I said in search of Mourinho's successor, said more because he is not a philosopher as opposed to someone who ordinarily sorts players into a working system. Again not seeing that with us but more because our players are so unreliable.
In the fitst imstance and in the short term it's a lack of confidence. The question here is whether that's in the manager or the collective self?
The next issue for me is that nobody is pushing up that bar of performance. For a while Kane and Son seemed like they were not just gelling and playing really well with each other but challenging each other to greater heights. That's all but gone.
The third issue is that nobody and I mean nobody is scared of playing us at the present time. That means no free points and we are simply not good enough to overcome the threat or difficulty that poses.
From very early I said in search of Mourinho's successor, said more because he is not a philosopher as opposed to someone who ordinarily sorts players into a working system. Again not seeing that with us but more because our players are so unreliable.
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But, yachts.
Winning is a habit. Years of not winning anything will eventually lead you to accept mediocrity
Stop running away.
You're just giving further proof that this is Kane's limit. You've found him out. Great, now what?
Keep moaning? Hope Kane trains really hard and surpasses his peak? That's daft to put it nicely but all you can offer as you're clearly scared shitless to go back on what you've said re: investment/Levy providing the right conditions. And don't go running in circles again it's transparent.
Our problems? Unity. Cohesion. Functioning as an organic unit and not just as independent talents who seem vaguely aware of one another. I'd argue against the theory that we're carrying too many mediocre players. I think we're loaded with talent (well, not at the back) but we need a manager with a long-term vision and great people skills to get the players to gel as one. And we need a director and board who are willing to accept that we do have some gifted footballers who lack the football IQ to function properly in a top level team and be ready to ship them on and replace them with keen new blood. No holding out for the right price and then shackling us with them for another season. There are more bargains like Hojbjerg out there.
Mourinho is a short-term fix. He has no eye on the long game because he is a nomad, wandering from team to team snagging trophies here and there. A great manager for some teams in the past but not this one. Not even if we walk away with the League Cup this season. I appreciate that he is hobbled - and probably quite suprised - by our less than capable defense, but he recruited Rodon to help and then plays Sanchez. His team selections, which seemed so secure and logical back at the start of the season - have given way to late era Poch-like randomness. Strange line-ups and substitutions that seem to suggest he is a man who has not won over the players; who doesn't know who will work for him; who may just have pissed one too many people off in the year+ that he's been here.
Poch was perfect at the time because he had the gift of making the players believe and was signed in to the long-term plan. And he instigated it. He secured us top four slots. He had us as regulars in the CL. He believed in our cause and expanded our profile. At the moment all we're doing is being crushed under Mourinho's deflating one.
Mourinho is a short-term fix. He has no eye on the long game because he is a nomad, wandering from team to team snagging trophies here and there. A great manager for some teams in the past but not this one. Not even if we walk away with the League Cup this season. I appreciate that he is hobbled - and probably quite suprised - by our less than capable defense, but he recruited Rodon to help and then plays Sanchez. His team selections, which seemed so secure and logical back at the start of the season - have given way to late era Poch-like randomness. Strange line-ups and substitutions that seem to suggest he is a man who has not won over the players; who doesn't know who will work for him; who may just have pissed one too many people off in the year+ that he's been here.
Poch was perfect at the time because he had the gift of making the players believe and was signed in to the long-term plan. And he instigated it. He secured us top four slots. He had us as regulars in the CL. He believed in our cause and expanded our profile. At the moment all we're doing is being crushed under Mourinho's deflating one.
You know Gary Neville's "Lads, it's Tottenham" anecdote that gets wheeled out with frustrating regularity in the media and repeated on social media by the profoundly unfunny?
Part of the reason it was so annoying the first time you heard it was that you knew it was true. I've been a Spurs fan for 50 or so years and we've had a soft underbelly the whole time. Even when we were great in cups and Europe, there was a weakness to us when the chips were down in the league. As far as I can remember, until the Leicester season, we only challenged for the title once (86-87) and even then we folded in all three domestic competitions.
I thought Pochettino had got us to turn the corner in that regard, even Neville himself said so, but no, it seems it's too tightly interwoven into our DNA.
I haven't the faintest idea how you set about changing it, to be honest I doubt anyone has. Like Pennywise the Clown, it lurks in the sewers of our psyche. Unfortunately it rears its ugly head more frequently than he did
Tottenham's weak underbelly, pictured earlier
Part of the reason it was so annoying the first time you heard it was that you knew it was true. I've been a Spurs fan for 50 or so years and we've had a soft underbelly the whole time. Even when we were great in cups and Europe, there was a weakness to us when the chips were down in the league. As far as I can remember, until the Leicester season, we only challenged for the title once (86-87) and even then we folded in all three domestic competitions.
I thought Pochettino had got us to turn the corner in that regard, even Neville himself said so, but no, it seems it's too tightly interwoven into our DNA.
I haven't the faintest idea how you set about changing it, to be honest I doubt anyone has. Like Pennywise the Clown, it lurks in the sewers of our psyche. Unfortunately it rears its ugly head more frequently than he did
Tottenham's weak underbelly, pictured earlier
Oh I think you know how we change itYou know Gary Neville's "Lads, it's Tottenham" anecdote that gets wheeled out with frustrating regularity in the media and repeated on social media by the profoundly unfunny?
Part of the reason it was so annoying the first time you heard it was that you knew it was true. I've been a Spurs fan for 50 or so years and we've had a soft underbelly the whole time. Even when we were great in cups and Europe, there was a weakness to us when the chips were down in the league. As far as I can remember, until the Leicester season, we only challenged for the title once (86-87) and even then we folded in all three domestic competitions.
I thought Pochettino had got us to turn the corner in that regard, even Neville himself said so, but no, it seems it's too tightly interwoven into our DNA.
I haven't the faintest idea how you set about changing it, to be honest I doubt anyone has. Like Pennywise the Clown, it lurks in the sewers of our psyche. Unfortunately it rears its ugly head more frequently than he did
Tottenham's weak underbelly, pictured earlier
I don't, which is why I wrote that I don't have the faintest idea.
You think we erase a mindset that goes back half a century just by sacking Mourinho and bringing in Brendan Rogers/Julian Nagelsmann/Ralph Hasenhüttl or whoever?
Spot on Bill. I’ve recently written a book about London football. In the Spurs section I mention ‘Lads it’s Tottenham’ as well as Shankly’s ‘Drury Lane Tap Dancers’ put down and Roy Keane’s players with ‘Tottenham Tendencies’...You know Gary Neville's "Lads, it's Tottenham" anecdote that gets wheeled out with frustrating regularity in the media and repeated on social media by the profoundly unfunny?
Part of the reason it was so annoying the first time you heard it was that you knew it was true. I've been a Spurs fan for 50 or so years and we've had a soft underbelly the whole time. Even when we were great in cups and Europe, there was a weakness to us when the chips were down in the league. As far as I can remember, until the Leicester season, we only challenged for the title once (86-87) and even then we folded in all three domestic competitions.
I thought Pochettino had got us to turn the corner in that regard, even Neville himself said so, but no, it seems it's too tightly interwoven into our DNA.
I haven't the faintest idea how you set about changing it, to be honest I doubt anyone has. Like Pennywise the Clown, it lurks in the sewers of our psyche. Unfortunately it rears its ugly head more frequently than he did
Tottenham's weak underbelly, pictured earlier
There really is something deeply ingrained within the DNA or psyche of the club. It’s been on my mind throughout this horrible season but to bring it up without context is to make it seem that you are blaming bad juju or curses or something.
Our players and coaches seem to have a brittleness about them - if only for the time they are in our colours.
I think it’s fair to say that since 1961 everything and everyone about the club has changed, been replaced, altered or died. You could also say the same or similar about 1991. Just think of the clubs that have won the league and the FA Cup in that time. Something must linger or attach itself to the name of club because I don’t believe in curses or fairies or leprechauns.
Ive said it many times on here but we will be the first club to break or defeat Mourinho (not that I’m in favour of him). I honestly have the feeling that if Mansour or Abramovich had invested in Spurs, then something would’ve gone horribly wrong (not that I’d welcome those individuals).
So, it just leaves us. For a long time I was smugly content with our identity. Trying to play football the Tottenham way, making the game about glory (Blanchflower’s stress on the word ‘beating’ is often overlooked) and even being nearly men had its own glamour. Then desperation took over and now we are pinning all of our hopes on winning the Milk Cup against a team who have just pulled our pants down and are on a 16 game winning streak.
To our rivals and to many casual fans Spurs are something of a joke. A multi billionaire owner who doesn’t invest. A Champions League arena fit only for the Thursday Cup at best. Wasting the most lethal goal scorer in generations. Constantly re-iterating the ‘big club’ moniker only to finish third in a two horse race while Leicester City win the league. I can’t bring myself to discuss the CL final - still.
I know I’ll always love Tottenham Hotspur. I can’t help it but it’s like an abusive marriage.
It's not a mindset like that though. Squads, and management have changed completely several times.
Many of our players are foreigners born in the 90s or 00s with little clue about our history.
With a wiser managerial choice we'd still struggle as evidenced by us always coming close but no cigar.
With a good manager we could keep plugging away and eventually we'd get the luck in a cup game. But even then there's no guarantee for how long it would take. Anomalies are unpredictable.
The way to fix it is to strengthen the squad. That's the tried and tested proven way to increase your chances heavily.
If we do that and still go a decade without success I will join you in cursing the universe/football gods etc.
Correct. Damage was done by the board over 5 the last 5 years. Some good signing over the last 18 months but too little too late.