The Race for 4th

[rolling boh]

Last night's result defo opens it up for the moment the goons have a nicer game next out home win likely we on the other hand have a tougher away game to get over . Still likely to have little room for dropping points but chances are better than a few weeks back .

 

[Rocket]

Ditto v WH.
Ditto v Chavs.

Ultimately we must keep our end up though..... Away at Anfield looms like an elephant.

Yeah, I mean our run in is definitely favourable, but if we're honest there's virtually no chance of getting anything from Anfield. I'd like to think we're good enough to get a draw, but a win there would be dreamland.

 

[Zomb]

I think Woolwich will suffer death by draw. A draw in the Man U /Arse match would be massive.

Don’t score enough goals so yeah, agree. Should start leaking goals without both full backs

 

[Shadydan]

We are city’s bogey team tho. Pep knows it too. Liverpool on the other hand, they know how to beat us. That being said, we have conte. If anyone can figure it out it’s him

Yeah and in the game at home we should have won, Conte will do something up there I feel, we will definately more about us going there compared to previous seasons.

 

[Darnswim]

I've already written Liverpool off. We need to be extremely consistent in the other games (Villa away and Brentford away seem the trickiest fixtures to me). If we are, I have no doubts at all that we'll be fighting with Chelsea for 3rd, let alone 4th.

 

[Deleted member 13260]

Wasn't it us that put an end to City & Chelsea having record breaking unbeaten / winning streaks over the past few seasons?

 

[SwinSpur]

We went to City and won, we have more than a chance.

We can definitely go there and cause an upset IMO as long as we cut out the individual brain farts.

 

[Airfixx]

There is a big opportunity for us now but I’m not getting carried away, this is the type of situation where our players normally shit the bed. They find it very difficult to hold their nerve when top 4 is in our hands.

A lot also depends on the way our opponents play. Newcastle played suicidal football in the second half but in the first 45 they had the game under control. Just like Burnley we could not reach their goalkeeper. We’ve shown that we can make mincemeat of any opponent who leaves space for Kane and Son, but surely teams will recognise that and start playing more compact football. It’s the only way to beat us. Even City lost twice against us with their high line. That is where the real challenge for us will come.

Liverpool will be a test because they defend much better than City, but otherwise yes..... Concerns lie with the likes of Burnley (H) and tricky away games at Villa & Brighton.

 

[NotThatTedHughes]

There is a big opportunity for us now but I’m not getting carried away, this is the type of situation where our players normally shit the bed. They find it very difficult to hold their nerve when top 4 is in our hands.

A lot also depends on the way our opponents play. Newcastle played suicidal football in the second half but in the first 45 they had the game under control. Just like Burnley we could not reach their goalkeeper. We’ve shown that we can make mincemeat of any opponent who leaves space for Kane and Son, but surely teams will recognise that and start playing more compact football. It’s the only way to beat us. Even City lost twice against us with their high line. That is where the real challenge for us will come.

I think that depends on the opponent and what they need to take out of the game.
Obviously, you see Liverpool at Anfield leaving space in behind that we can exploit. If Woolwich need a result against us badly then they’ll do the same. I haven’t watched Villa recently but I suspect they’ll come at us.
Brighton? Who knows?

 

[Notabadsquad]

There is a big opportunity for us now but I’m not getting carried away, this is the type of situation where our players normally shit the bed. They find it very difficult to hold their nerve when top 4 is in our hands.

A lot also depends on the way our opponents play. Newcastle played suicidal football in the second half but in the first 45 they had the game under control. Just like Burnley we could not reach their goalkeeper. We’ve shown that we can make mincemeat of any opponent who leaves space for Kane and Son, but surely teams will recognise that and start playing more compact football. It’s the only way to beat us. Even City lost twice against us with their high line. That is where the real challenge for us will come.

It is, Transporting and yes, so we will need.to be clever.

 

[Airfixx]

I don't think it's by design that teams are just naturally playing high up the pitch, I've been watching us closely lately and it seems like we are luring teams onto us by playing out from the back so much so that we are waiting for them to press us so we can spring a trap and go on attack and it's catching them off guard.

The way we play the ball amongst our CBs and CMs seems far more effective at drawing the oppo out than it has under previous managers who have tried this (AVB, Nuno, latter-day Poch).

 

[Shadydan]

The way we play the ball amongst our CBs and CMs seems far more effective at drawing the oppo out than it has under previous managers who have tried this (AVB, Nuno, latter-day Poch).

Yup, acid test is Liverpool, best pressing team in the league, we struggled against Southampton though but we didn't have Dier and Winks played so we were pretty useless at doing it.

We were quite decent at City when we had the chance to play out from the back and they press pretty well.

 

[Matt1882]

We seem to have some hoodoo over City. We’ve shit our pants generally against the scousers recently.
In fact a quick check shows we haven’t beaten them in the league at their place since 2011. 7 losses and 3 draws since then.
Recent history doesn’t bode well. And remember that includes the period when we were arguably the best team in the country and also regularly finished above them in the league.

But this is another season. A different squad. A very good manager. So yes, there is a chance we get something. I’m just not going to get my hopes up.

A few of those draws should have been wins and a few of the losses should have been draws. We had points stolen from us.

 

[Shadydan]

Brentford is actually the tricky tie IMO

 

[Matt1882]

We can't afford any injuries.
Is anyone close to a suspension from totting up?

We currently look like a well oiled machine, but there's a few players now that we simply can't afford to lose.

 

[sudoku]

Let's talk about the Anfield game when we will get there. First of all we have Aston Villa, Brighton, Brentford and Leicester games coming up. Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Let's see what happens this weekend..
Saturday April 9
Everton v Man Utd 12:30
Arse-anal v Brighton 15:00
Soton v Chelsea 15:00
Villa v Spurs 17:30
Sunday April 10
Brentford v WHU 14:00
City v Liverpool 16:30 (May have an influence on us)

 

[KaneDomBadBoy]

Looks like the lads are a bit more loose and having fun out there... always a good sign!!

 

[MemphisWill]

If we manage 4th, would that be a copper medal or a nickel medal?

 

[db_spurfan]

fivethirtyeight have Woolwich as slight favourites but that's mainly due to their game in hand as they've given us a higher SPI (their rating system on how strong a team is)



Before this game week, it had Woolwich at 67% and us at 25% so it's a massive swing (which arguably shows how pointless these forecasts can be - but I find them interesting)

Still interesting. Assuming Spurs can maintain this high level of play, the 538 model will lag reality and bodes well for Spurs.

 

[A Tuba]

We've won 3 in a row and everyone is pissing themselves.
Our PL record winning streak is 9 games at our absolute best in modern history.

If Conte even matched that, given out squad deficiencies, he could argue he's the best in the world.

Conte is the best in the world, especially at preparing a team on a weekly basis. We're still Spurs though so we'll fuck up somewhere.