2016-17 season compass

I thought RobSpur was only talking about premier league matches so was was only talking about those games...I still guessed wrong though

Wasn't agreeing or disagreeing with you...was just giving a bit of info as I thought you made a mistake re the number if premier league matches played by Sissoko.

I have been very critical of Sissoko ... both his signing and his performances as a spur but in fairness he has played well as a sub in our last 4 matches against Swansea, United, Hull and Burnley...hopefully he will build on this and make me and all the others eat our words...if so I would happily do so.

 

It's not a question of me being exactly right with the number of games.

The question is whether the fact that he has scored 2 goals as a substitute in his appearances this season, demonstrates that his critics were wrong.

It doesn't.

It's as simple as that

 

Like I said...I was completely against us signing him and think his performance against Leverkusen at Wembley was the worst performance of a Spurs player since David Bentley played v Arsenal in the League Cup in Sept 2010...and it was arguably worse.
He has been a terrible signing until our latest 4 matches.

But there is a big difference in 2 assists in 17 matches and 2 assists in 9. That is why I raised the issue of how many games he has played

2 assists in the last 4 and playing well in each of those matches may well signal that he has settled, found form and is about to go on a good (or even a great) run. On the other hand it may well be a blip.
I have no idea which it is but I know what I am hoping for

 

Not in terms of the discussion that myself and RDBD were having.

On the separate issue of Sissoko (as opposed to the issue of the statistics posted by RDBD), I largely agree with your well made comments.

 

Agreeing with me normally makes people seriously question themselves.
Mrs RCL has only agreed with twice in 20 yrs...once was when I said I was wrong about something and once when I said it was hot when we were in Spain

 

I take this occasion to repent of my sins, turn my coat again, and rejoin the glass half full camp. I ought to be happy the club with the sixth biggest payroll finished third last year, and is within reach of second despite a tide of injuries this year.

It's true I thought we had as good a chance as anyone to win the league this year but it ain't happening, and the fact that it looked like it wasn't happening was making me an even more miserable bastard than nature intended. From here on in I'm looking at the bright side insofar as I can, which is not very well at all.

 

Can do better. Let's see if we fail in our latest 6 pointer against the chavs.

 

Spurcat has been very critical of MP and not just his shaving habits and sartorial choices. He feels we have lacked bravery and I can see that in our performances this season, whilst I back MP as by far the best boss available to us and someone who can make us great again. We haven't got out of third gear in more than a couple of games this season. If we're going to win something then that needs to change. If we play to our maximum and come up short then I am sure that we'll be accepting of the situation as supporters. Going down playing percentages and limited football isn't something that anyone wants to see.

We need to win a high percentage of the games in the second half of the season as it's those drawn games and not putting away our close rivals that is holding us back. However, it needs to start happening right now if we're going to have anything approaching the season that we were all hoping for. Danny Rose and Kyle Walker are on fire this season. They are the best pair of full backs in the league and we need players bursting their lungs to get in the box to get onto their crosses and cut-backs and score. We're not getting that out of a midfield 3 of Victor Wanyama, Mousa Dembele and Harry Winks. Let's get Erik Lamela back in and return to the vice-like high press. We have a bigger and better selection of players than last season, so let's use that by going all out more often and rotating players to stay fresh. 'To Dare Is To Do' good people.

I'd rather finish 7th going for it than end up 5th playing it safe.

 

That's why I don't begrudge my Scouse brothers some success. They do play some entertaining stuff.

 

Injuries plus fixture congestion did us no good whatsoever. But I ran across a quote from Arnold Palmer which made me think (I’ll paraphrase): "Most people aren’t comfortable winning. They get afraid. Then they start doubting." For whatever reason, Spurs haven’t been able to seize the moment. It’s a hurdle a lot of young teams need time to get over, so there is hope--but hope for big things this season is running out. I watched my other team get over the hurdle with flying colors this year. They looked at a long history of failure as an advantage. "We haven’t won in a long time. If we don’t win this year, nobody will blame us. But if we do, we’ll have accomplished something great. Who wouldn’t want to be in our shoes?"

A willingness to take more risks seems very much in order. Faults so far include a lack of players in the box and an unwillingness to get the ball at the goal quickly. Spurs have looked a bit better in both departments lately. Let’s hope a rest and a healthy squad will keep the improvement going.

 

Late entry for 'post of the year' ^^^

 

Spot on RWAEB, fear is the great inhibitor. I see it in our players in front of goal - Dele Alli is best when he has no time to think about shooting. Christian Eriksen's free kicks have gone to ****, not because he lacks the skills but is afraid of failing. Mousa Dembele doubts his finishing - you can see it nearly every time he hits the ball at goal that he's not confident.

Individually and collectively the team need to find the bravery to succeed. I see it in Rose and Walker, two players who looked anything but confident internationals before MP got into their heads. If our forwards can find that improvement...well, anything's possible.

 

We need to win tonight to keep on the heels. That's extra pressure. Soton haven't lost in their last 6 home games I hear. We have lost 2 away to big teams. We should be winning tonight or we need to have a look in the mirror.

I've been talking about psychology for over 2 seasons! Its all about the head...we have a culture of being nearly men. These boys have to be a bit more arrogant.

 

We're going to finish 6th lads.

 

Do you still feel this way RobSpur?

 

I've been thinking about that comment quite a bit actually !!

I made it when Kane, Alli, Eriksen looked like they didnt have an ounce of creativity between them. Since then - thank god - they have all sparked into lofe, and imo we are a completely dofferent side as a result.

The answer is a firm 'no'. From thinking we were on the verge of becoming a fairly average side a few weeks ago, I am delighted to see that we can again compete against anyome with condifence.

The sky's the limit atm ! Long may it continue.

 

Some interesting comments from Poch about Janssen's form of late...

Maybe it was too early but it’s part of the process,” the Argentinean said, as quoted by ESPN. “He’s still very young, he’s a kid, and he’s in a moment now where he needs love and the way that we can help him is to try to push him, give him extra work for him to be fitter, to be sharp and try to recover his good feelings.”

He added: “We expected maybe for him not to play too much. When Harry got injured, he was our main striker and played a lot.

“He is a young player, who came from a different country, a different league, different football. He needs to adapt his qualities to the team and a different league

As I suspected (and said a while ago) the comparisons between Janssen and Soldado are missing one vital point: Soldado was signed to go straight into the side and provide the goals we needed, while Janssen was signed to grow into the side over a period only to get thrown into the deep end due to injuries elsewhere - which is exactly what happened during Kaboul's first stint.

 

Been a while since this has been updated ...

PL (like for like with 2015-16) : Pts = +2 , GF = +1, GA = 0.


So in PL terms, very much like last season.
Even the Vertonghen injury is close to a year to the day.

If that means another 70 pt finish, I suspect that will not be PL top 4
(IMHO this season is much like 2013-14, and 76 pts was needed for 4th then) .

The FA Cup is now under way, and progression in that is a definite PL fixture
congestion curse. The Europa League KO stages begin again in a couple of weeks.

12 months ago, Pochettino began serious rotation of the FBs until the EL was done.
Do we think that starting XIs with uninjured squad players should be sufficient to
progess beyond the 3 FA/EL cup games while resting the main starting XI ??

 

One thing I'm wondering is how Dier will be deployed in this period: the obvious question related to the Europa League, asking if he'll play centre back or DMF - because if he plays in one position, that means in the other either Toby or Victor aren't getting rested (or we'll be giving CCV more starts than we expected)

 

Still in second.............................nice