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Match Spurs v Barcodes. Saturday 4 January 2025 KO 12:30. Live on TNT

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For everyone who is going crazy at me for this idea of binning off the league to win cups. Here is some Context.

Man United 23/24. FA Cup champions. Finished 8th in the league.
West Ham 22/23. Europa Conference Champions. 14th in the league.
Woolwich 19/20. FA cup champions.Finished 8th in the league.
Chelsea 11/12. Champions League champions. Finished 6th in the league.

Its a huge advantage if you can rotate in the league and target the cups. None of the above teams planned to do that at the start of the season but it just happened. Its never done by design. We'd much rather be up near the top competing for the top 4 but we are not. But what this does do, is give us a huge advantage now in the cups because we may aswell prioritise them games. Just like the 4 teams I mentioned above. There is plenty more examples of Liverpool and Chelsea having these type of seasons before. We have always been a club who has put top 4 ahead of everything else. Well this season for the first time in my lifetime, we can try doing it the other way around!

And before people shout me down. Just remember we have knocked City and United out of the cup already and should be on course to qualify for last 16 of EL. No matter how bad you think we are, just remember how bad those 4 teams above were them seasons and what they went onto win! This is a massive opportunity which we might now get again. Because guess what? The priority next season will be the league again and trying to get back into the top 4.

This makes too much sense for people who are thinking rationally, it's the obvious thing to do in fact I'll be pretty pissed with whoever is in charge for not prioritising the cups over the league.
 
I'll be honest. If you told me at the start of the season that we'd go through a period of 10 league games with Forster in goals and Dragusin and Gray at centre back then I'd have immediately said "wow write off season, we'll probably finish midtable so".

We had Austin in goal at home to Newcastle, Spence and Gray at centre back with Reguilon playing left back. Was that on your bingo card back in August? This was always going to be a midtable season when you consider who we have been missing and who we have been playing.
Counterpoint: Reguilon and Spence have been available most of the season and could have been rotated in here or there to ease the pressure. They're not awful players either. Ange may have wanted both gone but they're here and he needs to make use of what he's got. Especially when his system appears to be so draining on our players.

Van de Ven was rushed back from injury. That was silly and a desperate gamble when Ange felt some pressure.

If Dragusin is so awful that we should be writing off games he plays in then who the fuck identified and signed him?

Our form isn't a bit patchy it's fucking awful and it's brave to try to justify it. Yeah there's mitigating factors but come on. To pick up 4 points in 6 games, or 8 out the last 10 is abysmal.
 
This makes too much sense for people who are thinking rationally, it's the obvious thing to do in fact I'll be pretty pissed with whoever is in charge for not prioritising the cups over the league.
I even forgot the best example of all! The year we won the Carling cup in 2008, we finished that season 11th in the league! And if I remember correctly, that team was even patchier than our current side. Berbatov and Keane scoring plenty of goals but we'd always find ways to lose games.
 
Our current 11 of available players? Yes.
Our best 11 when we have most our team back? No.

Our fully fit team got played off the park by Crystal Palace this season and the fully fit team minus one whole player got beaten by Ipswich in our backyard.

Before that, they already lost back to back to Newcastle and Woolwich (showing a total lack of balls in big games) and had already set the season up for disappointment by drawing the opening game against Leicester.

Our ‘first choice team’ has gotten better and better to some of you the longer the injured players have been out.
 
Honestly, no, it doesnt. King and Woodgate, Steed/Bale and Lennon, Berbatov and Keane. Those 6 immediately make it a team that beats a full strength 2025 Spurs side. Even Jenas, Zokora and the Hudd dont give our current midfield a chance.
I loved Steed. He would run through walls to win a game. Lennon was so good from a standing start taking a man on and crossing. Bale was just Bale.
Berbatov was pure silk. Could watch him all day.
 
Honestly, no, it doesnt. King and Woodgate, Steed/Bale and Lennon, Berbatov and Keane. Those 6 immediately make it a team that beats a full strength 2025 Spurs side. Even Jenas, Zokora and the Hudd dont give our current midfield a chance.
I agree on the whole, but 2007/2008 Bale was still a spotty kid with some promise. Circa 2010 he turned into the Galactico. Oh to have him back.
 
Our fully fit team got played off the park by Crystal Palace this season and the fully fit team minus one whole player got beaten by Ipswich in our backyard.

Before that, they already lost back to back to Newcastle and Woolwich (showing a total lack of balls in big games) and had already set the season up for disappointment by drawing the opening game against Leicester.

Our ‘first choice team’ has gotten better and better to some of you the longer the injured players have been out.
hang on we got played off the park by Crystal Palace now? You are so dramatic. I guess Newcastle played us off the park in both games too did they? No point discussing this team with you if that is how you see it
 
Honestly, no, it doesnt. King and Woodgate, Steed/Bale and Lennon, Berbatov and Keane. Those 6 immediately make it a team that beats a full strength 2025 Spurs side. Even Jenas, Zokora and the Hudd dont give our current midfield a chance.
Ah the good aul nostalgia. Revisionism is strong here! Bale was no good to us at the time, pretty sure he was on some run of around 15 games for us without a win! Steed Malbranque was a good player but he's no better than Bentancur. A fit romero and VDV matches King and Woodgate. TBH I'm not going to go any further into it - the fact you brought up Bale as a big player that season made your point irrelevant from the start.
 
hang on we got played off the park by Crystal Palace now? You are so dramatic. I guess Newcastle played us off the park in both games too did they? No point discussing this team with you if that is how you see it

Palace were the better team than us. Ange himself said that they simply out worked us on the day. They had more expected goals, more shots and more shots on target - they fully deserved a win. It’s not my fault you have white tinted glasses on.

Newcastle didn’t, no. They played well to our weaknesses in the first game and then the second was a relatively even match where they were better first half and we were better second, but they carved out the marginally better chances and took them.
 
Palace were the better team than us. Ange himself said that they simply out worked us on the day. They had more expected goals, more shots and more shots on target - they fully deserved a win. It’s not my fault you have white tinted glasses on.

Newcastle didn’t, no. They played well to our weaknesses in the first game and then the second was a relatively even match where they were better first half and we were better second, but they carved out the marginally better chances and took them.
Palace didn't play us off the park anyway. Was a stop start game where they managed it well and turned into into a physical battle. Mikey Moore started that game. We were just outfought. I didn't come away from that game thinking "Wow that Palace team outplayed us". I came away annoyed that our players weren't up for the physical fight required to grind out an ugly away win
 
Yes, they managed it well. We have frequently not been managed well under Ange. That's been part of the problem.
Think them defeats are on the players really. Giving away a silly goal and losing their individual duals. Winning ugly is the piece that this team is missing and for me that is down to the players. We can play really good and some of the performances under Ange are as good as I've seen from any Tottenham team. The problem is we are crazy inconsistent and if the game doesn't go our way then we don't seem to have the ability to grind out a dirty win.

For me, that is down to mindset and concentration. Our attacking tactics don't help for giving away stupid goals, but some of the individual errors are terrible player decisions or a lack of concentration.
 
Ah the good aul nostalgia. Revisionism is strong here! Bale was no good to us at the time, pretty sure he was on some run of around 15 games for us without a win! Steed Malbranque was a good player but he's no better than Bentancur. A fit romero and VDV matches King and Woodgate. TBH I'm not going to go any further into it - the fact you brought up Bale as a big player that season made your point irrelevant from the start.

I didn’t say he was a big player. I said he would be part of a team that would beat the current lot. Nice admission that you’re wrong though. If that’s all you can come up with!
 
Think them defeats are on the players really. Giving away a silly goal and losing their individual duals. Winning ugly is the piece that this team is missing and for me that is down to the players. We can play really good and some of the performances under Ange are as good as I've seen from any Tottenham team. The problem is we are crazy inconsistent and if the game doesn't go our way then we don't seem to have the ability to grind out a dirty win.

For me, that is down to mindset and concentration. Our attacking tactics don't help for giving away stupid goals, but some of the individual errors are terrible player decisions or a lack of concentration.

If we lose: it’s the players, injuries, the fates, the officials..

If we win: Ange is the reason. This is the best football we have ever seen.
 
Winning ugly is the piece that this team is missing and for me that is down to the players.
Pay attention. Were you not listening when Ange waffled on about winning when you don't deserve to? He wasn't interested in that!!

He's had 18 months to iron out individual errors. And that won't happen because of the stupid stupid stupid stubborn "tactics" he employs.

4 clean sheets all season!!!
10 matches 8 pts!!
Relegation form!!

What fucking planet are you on?
 
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