is it just planning? Or maybe we will just be more up for the Derby. It’s known to happen that players up their own standards against certain teams. I do not buy that Jose does not train or plan. Sooner or later we are going to start to have to admit that those players we clung onto for our dreams in the whirlwind created under Poch...is a thing of the past and we need another re build. You know this bunch were just as **** for a good year before Mourinho came I can only see one common denominator in all of this. ive always used ‘a lack of minerals’ as a way to describe the core...I see no pride and fight in them to get the job done. They just moan and groan. Each riddled with individual downfalls they can’t brush off. e.g Son...still just as **** at making decisions on the ball as he has ever been...through maturity if nothing else, he would improve his own game. Great players improve their own game by reflecting hard. I’m sure he does but he hasnt quite grasped it. There’s others too who forget the basics but hide behind the whirlwind created under Poch. Jose is the fall guy Levy is made of Teflon
I do hope we get a nice, fat bonus from Jeff Bezos due to the amount of Chavs and Nomads who'll be ordering it...
I can't disagree with you on our defence we were established in 16/17 now we are transitional. Dele, Son and Eriksen for sure we don't have that potency and Dele misses Eriksen more than anybody I think. I don't think we disagree on being not close to then in terms of performance, who could argue that when we are playing so poorly atm. The difference I put down to lack of a team but you think it's more fundamental. I hope you are wrong because I see little chance of wholesale changes for next season. Mourinho needs to add a couple of players (which is all he is likely to get I think) and mould our squad into a team. Bruno Fernandez has huge presence which IMO Eriksen lacked. He would disappear in some matches more like Pogba does. If you look at the impact he has already made at United his quality is very clear. WE need a reliable force in midfield, Dembele was the nearest we have had for many years but even he lacked the generalship. For me Fernandez could have been that player which is why I was miffed that we missed out.
For me Rose was rated by the media much like Trippier was but what I saw every week did not match the hype. The pair of them contributed for about 2 seasons each and not much more.
We have to face facts jose is a dinosaur and should never have been appointed in the first place. He hasn't improved us since hes been here and we all knew it would end in disaster. Some of the players are not good enough but he should be getting a tune out of the rest of them.
The issue for me is the shoutiest fans were demanding we hire him back in September/October because he Won Things, yet the problem with that argument is that you can say the same about Juande Ramos, Jacques Santini and - proof that the argument is deeply flawed - Christian Gross Rather than looking at the "Honours" section of a manager's Wikipedia page, instead look at how their teams play or if they have a track record of being a raving ballsack, because quantitative data is only good for glory seekers and twats who hide their insecurities by asking when we last won a trophy, qualitative data is how you find a manager who'll get the most out of a squad on the pitch and in the league table
So the refs made mistakes ( again ) and they continue to be employed. I have been sacked from jobs for making less costly errors. We repeatedly heard from the media , yesterday and against SU how those teams have been hard done by , are struggling , and need a break . Let's give them that break against Spurs because they are easy prey.
I don't think we'll see wholesale changes either though I think Jose will get a few players and he'll probably build a better team ethic but I still think we'll lack the quality to get to where we'll want to be. City and Pool are league's ahead at the moment, whilst Utd and Chelsea have strengthened considerably (Chelsea may be a real threat to City/ Pool next season with the additions they've made in Werner and Ziyech, if they get Havertz too, that's a game changer). I think for us to get back to being in top four/ title contention, we need four new defenders for a new backline, a DM and a backup striker. If we can at least get a DM, RB and backup for Kane, that should see us in contention for a Europa spot but until we improve the quality of more areas, I think that's the best we can hope for at the moment. I do think you've undervalued the presence Eriksen had though. Bruno's fantastic don't get me wrong, I said on the rival thread the moment Utd signed him he'll light up the league and he's not disappointed but I think somehow you've managed to see him in a light that you never really saw Eriksen despite the very similar style of players that they are. I also think you need to judge him properly over a whole season, whilst I definitely don't expect him to drop by a huge margin, new signings can sometimes go through periods of "invincibility" so to speak where everything comes off, he can even stamp on a defender's foot and a get a penalty for it at the moment . Although he didn't play that well against us, scored their penalty and tried diving for another, that's about it. But I think when you look at the effect Bruno has had on Utd and now look at Spurs post-Eriksen (or even Spurs when Eriksen was off form in the final months) you can see how much an in form number ten like those two can completely change the team in an attacking sense. Kane has been starved of service for too long and no one is delivering any deadly balls into the box or out wide to the wing forwards, Eriksen was a master at all of that and for me at least, he's sorely missed. In my opinion, before his slump he was our best and most important player.
He was rubbish towards the end because he mentally checked out but losing Eriksen was a massive blow and imo just as big as Modric and Bale, hopefully the club can rebuild like they did on those two occasions
We have actually gotten a better points per game ratio under Jose than Poch this season but the football under both managers has been dire. Both have made poor selection choices and both have left it too late at times with subs to change up a game. I'm still happy to give Jose the benefit of the doubt as I think he deserves to get more of his own players and should he do so, I'll expect an improvement in our play. The only reservation right now I have of him is that he's never been known as a manager to rebuild, he's been someone who adds the finishing touch, so it's also intriguing (but possibly risky) to see if he can indeed rebuild Spurs and have us competing again. The current players are definitely the biggest problem for me though, too many just aren't good enough and it won't really matter who's in charge, it could be Klopp or it could be Pardew, both won't get much out of this group.
I have reached the point now where the season can end tomorrow for all that I care, but to that end I see no reason not give game time in the 4 matches we have left to some of the younger players that we have around the place. I really can't see that Skipp, White and Gedson can really do a lot worse in midfield than Winks and Sissoko. I would also give Cirkin a couple of starts and maybe even get Etete on the bench. Lets give them game time and hope that they can give us some hope for the future.
I think it's Eriksen's cool Scandinavian temperament compared maybe to the demonstrative Latin Fernandez that could cause me to over value Fernandez and under value Eriksen but even the Dane's own countrymen would complain about him going missing in games. Football needs passion and if you don't see it you start to question commitment. Us British are not known for overt passion but on the football pitch it's a different matter. When I watch teams like Sheffield United I am reminded of the time that British teams dominated Europe with our own brand of fast tough passionate play. We never trusted fancy dans but now the PL is dominated by the top teams including lots of them. The rules have changed outlawing a lot that British and German teams used to have in their armory. For example the French have come to the fore once the British and Germans were prevented from overpowering them.
Remember this prophetic song in the musical? Only took minimal amending! (Mr. Bumble) Oliver, Oliver! Never before has a ref blundered more - Oliver, Oliver! Won't ref no more when he knows what's in store! There's a dark, thin winding stairway without any banister Which we'll throw him down And feed him the cockroaches served in a canister! Oliver, Oliver! What will he do when he's turned black and blue He will rue the day somebody named him Ol-i-ver!