Vitesse Arnhem v Tottenham Hotspur 17:45 Thurs October 21st

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Just think 400 mile round trip for a tenner, followed by our best reserves battling with another top footballing team, then arriving back at breakfast time.
Who could want more ?

I bet we play most of our best players in that game.... Fair to assume that them having the night off on Thursday was based upon the upcoming run of fixtures (and the European travel itself) rather than just the WH fixture.
 
I bet we play most of our best players in that game.... Fair to assume that them having the night off on Thursday was based upon the upcoming run of fixtures (and the European travel itself) rather than just the WH fixture.
Will be interesting as we clearly cannot play Dele and Winks and stand any chance.
It may not be the place to play youngsters from the start as they arnt shy in the tackle but a mix of top 11 with a few slipped in May do it.
Scarlett cannot be the answer, I think we should try Bergy at CF
 
The fact is Poch got us to the Champions League final with a lot of these players in the squad hence why Mourinho was desperate to take over at Spurs. The problem we have is that Levy made the decision to sack Poch
But it was then a lot of those same players with Poch that got him sacked? It’s not Levy’s fault that those same players were suddenly shit (because the drop off had been coming since Dembele left…)

Let’s not reinvent history but:
1) yes, we should be refreshing the team more than we have
2) yes, our scouting appear(ed/s) to be pretty poor (jury’s out on this season’s buys so far, for me)
3) too soon to call on Nuno - it’s interesting that so many are keen to say he’s shit because he can’t improve the players, yet don’t allow for the possibility of a coach also developing themselves as a coach? Jose couldn’t adapt his personality to the needs of the team and brand (deliberately chosen word - clearly Levy had had enough, so wanted to make a point by firing him ahead of a final), hence the sacking, probably not his tactics which had us safely around Europa places and in a final
4) refer to 1 - too many players have aged and no longer suit the system - the league has also changed

I don’t want to get into a chicken-and-egg discussion about Poch, Levy, ENIC, recruitment etcetera - best to do what you can with the hand you have and learn from past mistakes (which is why we now have a DoF, seem to be investing in youth, have a coach and not a manager…)
 
He was far from the worst player on the pitch last night, despite the narrative here.
He’s like the new Sissoko, when only the coach and a few fan see his quality.

Take that however you wish - he may have been asking for the ball all night, but there’s a reason everyone watching from home thought he was invisible - the camera follows the play - don’t know what else to say, really?

Clearly, whole team were slow and piss poor, but being passionate doesnt - sadly - make you a decent footballer. Would he play better with better players around him? Yes. Had he had his chances to do that? Yes. He was a big part of the successful Poch squad; he’s played for England and so on - has his apparent quality dropped dramatically? Yes. Would he be better than any MF ahead of him in the first XI pecking order? Not on that performance.

It may be coaching, it may be confidence, he may be just not very good - but he wasn’t great, at all.
 
Will be interesting as we clearly cannot play Dele and Winks and stand any chance.
It may not be the place to play youngsters from the start as they arnt shy in the tackle but a mix of top 11 with a few slipped in May do it.
Scarlett cannot be the answer, I think we should try Bergy at CF

Kane will most likely play, but for me playing Dele as a false 9 is surely the most viable proposition for both player and team right now as far as ST#2 goes (shit, I know!).

For me what stands out about this run of games for me though is that people are talking about the idea of qualifying based on home form in the ECL (which may very well be the plan), but given the run of fixtures

WHam
Burnley
Man U
Vitesse
Everton

....How can Nuno not heavily rotate again vs Vitesse?
 
That's because we quite obviously should always try to play to the strengths of our best player
Interesting discussion: is it best to have a powerful and effective team, or to build around an individual? We seem to have a history of going backwards if we build around or relying on a talent (Bale, Kane, Dembele, Eriksen). Perhaps it’s time to play as a squad and a team? Jose played to Kane, and was then fucked when he was injured; Poch had more of a team ethos and could just about survive (ie, get to CL final without him).

Football is a team game, and perhaps more trust and coaching for the remainder of the squad could elevate their level and their performance? Dunno - only as good as weakest link etc.
 
Kane will most likely play, but for me playing Dele as a false 9 is surely the most viable proposition for both player and team right now as far as ST#2 goes (shit, I know!).

For me what stands out about this run of games for me though is that people are talking about the idea of qualifying based on home form in the ECL (which may very well be the plan), but given the run of fixtures

WHam
Burnley
Man U
Vitesse
Everton

....How can Nuno not heavily rotate again vs Vitesse?
Might do the 60minutes for first XI thing and hope enough is done in that time? Eek.
 
Will be interesting as we clearly cannot play Dele and Winks and stand any chance.
It may not be the place to play youngsters from the start as they arnt shy in the tackle but a mix of top 11 with a few slipped in May do it.
Scarlett cannot be the answer, I think we should try Bergy at CF
Need one of Son or Kane playing every game at the moment - currently looking like Sonny is the go to on form.
 
Every Wolves fan I have spoken to says we made a terrible choice. The fact is Nuno was fine when he played teams that attacked Wolves but any team that defended against them they struggled to break down.

The fact is Poch got us to the Champions League final with a lot of these players in the squad hence why Mourinho was desperate to take over at Spurs. The problem we have is that Levy made the decision to sack Poch and not to back him. Then we bought in Mourinho who thought he had a world class squad but we bought him in with a very different coaching set up without the man who ran training for Mourinho and made sure his ideas worked.

Then after Mourinho demoralised the squad we had no idea who to hire and we bounced from one manager to another. Then we hired Nuno out of sheer desperation after every other club said no to him. The fact is Nuno strength lies in organising a compact defence not in creating place pressure or attacking. Then there is the fact he is known to be a very poor man manager who players struggle to like. When Spurs have been successful in recent years it has been under good man managers like Redknap, Jol and Poch. These guys get an extra 20% out of players .

He may not be the long term solution, but Nuno is not the core of our problems..... Too many players aren't standing up to be counted; some attitude, some a lack of talent, some a mixture of the two.

Hugo has spoken of it and it's plagued 3 seperate managers now.
 
we are so goddamn average. I'm sad
This you...
Baby Reaction GIF
 
I'm with the idea of keeping our best XI for PL matches and latter stages of cups if we get to any.

I'm not here to defend Nuno but it's not his fault the B team are a sulky bunch of ****s lacking drive, vision, fight!! They should be fighting for a first team place not lying down and rolling over.

No wonder he has to stick with the same XI in the first team.
 
Kane will most likely play, but for me playing Dele as a false 9 is surely the most viable proposition for both player and team right now as far as ST#2 goes (shit, I know!).

For me what stands out about this run of games for me though is that people are talking about the idea of qualifying based on home form in the ECL (which may very well be the plan), but given the run of fixtures

WHam
Burnley
Man U
Vitesse
Everton

....How can Nuno not heavily rotate again vs Vitesse?
Well, if we fail to win the next Vitesse match, we at best lumber ourselves with two avoidable round of 32 games in February, or at worst fall to a group stage exit in a competition we should be joint favourites to win.
 
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