"TITLE RACE" ( There is no sense not talking about it)

[Totti]

I think that when liverpool finally lose, it'll rattle them.
And they will lose. If you lose to red star belgrade, you aren't going unbeaten in the prem.

I would take pleasure in us being the team to do that to them when we visit them next month, but I could do with a loss before then too. Maybe city can do us a favor on the third, though i'd rather that match be a draw.

Or maybe newcastle can do something tommorow. I mean, the likelihood is they get thrashed. But one can dream right?

They will have to rest Mane, Salah, Firmino at some point - they will likely go deep in the FA Cup, Champions League and of course the Premier League - they already rested them for Burnley away I believe and went a goal down. Wasn't until they brought them on they turned the game around. Wouldn't surprise me if they rest two of them against Newcastle on Boxing Day with Woolwich at home and City away coming up.

They won't go the season unbeaten - we just need to make sure we can counter any slip up.

 

[Princess Bleach]

That could win us the title

We are going to need a huge run at some point. Like an 8-10 game win streak, maybe bigger. We could well be in the middle of that right now, given our games coming up. The fact we have so many home games next half of the season will make doing this easier. Reminder that when we did our 9 game win streak back in 2017, six of those were at home.

Once we get into the new stadium we will get a huge burst of energy that could be decisive as things go to the wire.

 

[AndriusTH]

If Liverpool rans out of luck then we have a chance. Because games like MU v Liverpool, Everton v Liverpool was just to show how lucky they are. First two deflections and second Pickfords error. And in our game vs them we should have given the penalty when Mane fouled someone if VAR existed.

 

[Totti]

We are going to need a huge run at some point. Like an 8-10 game win streak, maybe bigger. We could well be in the middle of that right now, given our games coming up. The fact we have so many home games next half of the season will make doing this easier. Reminder that when we did our 9 game win streak back in 2017, six of those were at home.

Once we get into the new stadium we will get a huge burst of energy that could be decisive as things go to the wire.

Liverpool also have a lot of home games.

11 of their remaining 18 games are at home. Which is 1 less than us.

 

[Murphy]

Liverpool also have a lot of home games.

11 of their remaining 18 games are at home. Which is 1 less than us.

Well, one of those 11 is against us. Which we absolutely have to win.

 

[Princess Bleach]

Well, one of those 11 is against us. Which we absolutely have to win.

We can win that game.

We really didn't play that well in the league until the chelsea game. It's just that level is still good enough to beat most teams in the league, except the good ones like Liverpool and City. Now that we are playing well, the next game will be nothing like the last. The players are beginning to really raise themselves for these big games.

I see a late Vertonghen header (75-85 minute) giving us a 1-0 win. All replays of the goal will have Klopp reaction shot as he stands there with his smug grin wiped off.

 

[sammyspurs]

I don't think the quality of the current premier league is anywhere near 2005-2009 level.

Dunno you only have to look at us and City then and now to question that.
Liverpool are also better, and its a top 6 not a top 4.

Personally I think you have teams like Bournemouth and Brighton and Wolves coming up and staying there that would beat their equivalents back then (Wigan, Reading etc) about 10-0 if you could time travel and play a match between them.

This team would win the PL by about 15pts if you could place it in 2005 I reckon

 

[Princess Bleach]

Dunno you only have to look at us and City then and now to question that.
Liverpool are also better, and its a top 6 not a top 4.

Personally I think you have teams like Bournemouth and Brighton and Wolves coming up and staying there that would beat their equivalents back then (Wigan, Reading etc) about 10-0 if you could time travel and play a match between them.

This team would win the PL by about 15pts if you could place it in 2005 I reckon

Well we will never know if that is true or not.

I do believe that the leagues quality, or at least the top 6, has got much better over the past couple of seasons.

but until we have prem teams taking up 3/4 champions league semi places each season, i don't think we're at the 2005-09 level.

 

[sammyspurs]

Well we will never know if that is true or not.

I do believe that the leagues quality, or at least the top 6, has got much better over the past couple of seasons.

but until we have prem teams taking up 3/4 champions league semi places each season, i don't think we're at the 2005-09 level.

I don’t think the CL is a measure, though, could be a case of teams abroad getting better too.
Again, put this Spurs team in the 2005 CL and why wouldn’t it have won it, if that Liverpool team did?

 

[El Noel]

I don’t think the CL is a measure, though, could be a case of teams abroad getting better too.
Again, put this Spurs team in the 2005 CL and why wouldn’t it have won it, if that Liverpool team did?

In 2006 there was the Calciopoli scandal that drastically affected the big Italian sides (AC & Juventus), leaving Inter Milan, who had typically been a distant third after the big two, as their only team in Europe with real pedigree. Also Bayern were not as strong during the Van Gaal era as they were at the turn of the Millennium, so English teams’ main opposition really comprised just the Spanish big two.

Post-2010 I’d argue there are much stronger teams on the European stage; the resurgence of Juventus, the rise of PSG, the coming of age for teams such as Atletico, Dortmund. Hence why seeing two or more English teams in the semis is not necessarily a reflection of a weakening Premier League. In fact as someone else pointed out, it’s more likely the opposite is true.

 

[HampshireSpur]

Well we will never know if that is true or not.

I do believe that the leagues quality, or at least the top 6, has got much better over the past couple of seasons.

but until we have prem teams taking up 3/4 champions league semi places each season, i don't think we're at the 2005-09 level.

It’s more polarized imho. The top teams have got better, but there’s some utter dross as well. Disaster capitalism in action.

A big shift is the gap between the bottom teams and the also rans, it’s huge now. In contrast the gap between relegation fodder and top of the championship is non-existent.

 

[spursmalc]

We play Fulham on Sunday at 4:00pm on the 20th January and Chelsea on the 22nd. What an absolute piss take that is! Surely common sense tells you that we should be playing that one on the Wednesday regardless of how the draw was made. Either that or the Premier League simply shouldn't be allowed to pick a game that weekend whereby a team potentially in the semi finals that could be playing that day are moved to get TV time on the Sunday.

Appalling decision making over something so simple from the top brass yet again!

From Tottenham site
We can confirm that the first leg of our Carabao Cup semi-final against Chelsea will be at Wembley Stadium, connected by EE, on Tuesday 8 January. Kick-off will be 8pm.

The date/kick-off time for the return leg at Stamford Bridge is yet to be confirmed, although the match will take place on the week commencing 21 January. As soon as we know a date and kick-off time for this game, we will communicate the details to fans through our usual channels.

 

[ElTel]

I don't think we can win it, we always come up short somehow but think we can finish second above City. Unfortunately I think it will be Liverpool who end up champions. Klopp seems to have got that blend, momentum and belief he created at Dortmund when he turned them into league champions.

Carabao cup could well be ours though

 

[Thin Lilywhite Duke]

I don’t think the CL is a measure, though, could be a case of teams abroad getting better too.
Again, put this Spurs team in the 2005 CL and why wouldn’t it have won it, if that Liverpool team did?

I'm a big sceptic of using CL success as a benchmark for how strong the PL is at any given time.

For me, I think other nationality teams have a certain 'knack' against our style of play (e.g. Italian trickery) and certain behemoths who steamroll their leagues have the luxury of resting their players in domestic games prior to a European match whereas every premier league game is tough.

 

[ArcspacE]

Again, put this Spurs team in the 2005 CL and why wouldn’t it have won it, if that Liverpool team did?

Oh dear

 

[Totti]

 

[FightingIllini]

It’s more polarized imho. The top teams have got better, but there’s some utter dross as well. Disaster capitalism in action.

I think that disaster capitalism is outside the PL though. It's peripheral leagues in Europe and elsewhere getting just a little bit worse year by year as the giant money vacuum sucks up their better players with ever more speed and efficiency.

In the old PL there were four world-bestriding behemoths. Now there are 6.

In the old PL there were three clubs with major support and financial resources nipping at the big clubs heels (us, Everton and Villa) now there are at least four (Everton, Leicester, Wolves, West Ham).

So the real cutthroat competition between big clubs with big ambitions is half the table now. And as for the rest, the influx of TV money means they have more and better foreign talent and top-level management that makes them better sides than the relegation fodder of a decade ago. I feel pretty confident that all 20 teams in the PL would have survived relegation if you transported them back then. They'd probably all be contenders to nick a UEFA Cup spot.

It took the PL awhile to learn how to use their riches effectively, but it was only a matter of time as it's not exactly rocket science. Quality follows money in football. And where in Spain or Italy that has resulted the massive gaps within their top divisions, in the PL the more equitable distribution has made the entire league much stronger than before.

 

[Murphy]

Interesting season that, in that we were NEVER in a position to lose the lead, yet we bottled it. Hd we heated Woolwich we’d have gone top in goal difference however we drew, and Leicester then extended their lead to five points.

Also interesting is Woolwich were top too, joint, yet Sky’s narrative that Liverpool are (twice) the only team in the last ten years to have led and not converted. Woolwich should be there too.

 

[Totti]

Interesting season that, in that we were NEVER in a position to lose the lead, yet we bottled it. Hd we heated Woolwich we’d have gone top in goal difference however we drew, and Leicester then extended their lead to five points.

Also interesting is Woolwich were top too, joint, yet Sky’s narrative that Liverpool are (twice) the only team in the last ten years to have led and not converted. Woolwich should be there too.

That's after 19 games that's why - Leicester were top after 18 games (Which was at Christmas)

 

[Murphy]

That's after 19 games that's why - Leicester were top after 18 games (Which was at Christmas)

That image says top at Christmas, though.