Match Day Thread Tottenham Hotspur v Brentford

Football is a Sport...it's not a business. There may be an aspect of the Sport which requires business acumen but assembling a team to succeed on the pitch isn't one of them....the assembling of a team to succeed in a physical sport isn't the same as pen pushing in an office.

Football performance involves psychology very different to that required to be an office worker.

Being a taxi driver isn't the same as being a Pilot...the preparation isn't the same, the psychology isn't the same...the demands aren't the same and the actual job roles of both forms of transporting passengers isn't the same...so why would I apply the same thinking?

I wouldn't dream of approaching the 2 roles in the same manner even though by basic definition both jobs are the same....a taxi service.

 

PROFESSIONAL sport IS a business

< I think we're done here >

 

First half good, second half bad, referee ****. We switched halves, basically.
No idea what Mason said or did at the break, but he shouldn't do it again.

Good for Brentford on getting the result, but the club should be burned to the ground, frankly.
The buildup to their 3rd goal was genuinely disgusting to the point that a rules change is needed.
Exploiting a rule that was implemented for player health is appalling.

 

What would constitute something really obviously wrong in your opinion?

 

Ok

 

Would now be a bad time to mention the current issue of WSC has an article saying that people are being hyperbolic about our season?

Admittedly the article was likely written in mid-April, but it certainly makes valid points about both fan and press overreaction, specifically calling out one hack calling us the worst-run club in the country when there's plenty of clubs in London, let alone the country, run so much worse than we are

 

For "low-hanging fruit" , I would start with :

Chels** 2015-16 / 2022-23.
Lesta 2016-17.

 

From a footballing perspective I’d put us up there as one of the worst run. Our recruitment has been awful for a number of years now and I’m not one who’s just going to blame levy for this, despite what people think, I don’t believe he is going out and scouting these players.

Either side of Nuno, we’ve had short-term spending the earth managers to get short-term success in Jose and conte (which has massively failed). That goes against everything that made us the club we were under poch as we’re not going to spend the earth on ready made world class players and the two managers mentioned aren’t going to spend time with younger players who could turn out to be great meaning we’re left with ready made, experienced but ridiculously overpriced and average players to give the perception that we’re a big spending club now. That has finally come to its conclusion this season when we have clearly regressed.

The sooner we get a plan in place with a DOF and manager the better.

 

Right on cue about talking about plans, Matt Law claims Levy’s talking with advisors about following a data based model, similar to the way Brentford/ Brighton do things.

On the one side it’s good he’s looking at going down a route that’s proven successful for scouting and transfers, on the other it’s yet another sign he hasn’t really had a plan himself lately and is simply just seeing “oh that looks good, let’s copy it”. A moneyball type model with our finances could prove quite a success though, so long as we have the right people in charge of it and the right philosophy to stick by.

 

I mentioned this the other day, but I can see the logic of bringing in the ubermensch and Conte as we want Harry Kane to be central to our tactics (and club identity) but he won't be the hard-pressing CF he was under Poch due to injuries, time, and several years of Poch levels of workrate taking some of that out of his legs

So from that standpoint, a counterattacking coach actually made a lot of sense as that takes the pressure off his legs as the workrate is moved into midfield and defence

But the issue that highlighted was our midfield isn't set up for counterattacking football as the personnel needed to be overhauled while our defence certainly needed to be tightened up too - not an either/or situation, as even in the summer of 2020 it was obvious we needed a starting CB, dedicated DM and a CM to give us a spine to make that workable - and that DM still hasn't been signed, as neither Hojbjerg nor Skipp have the Sandro/Palacios grit and determination needed for that system

And this is the thing: there is a systematic failure at the club, but that system is the system the coach uses that is failing either due to key components not being available due to injury, or supposed key components not working as hoped, with a sprinkling of hubris or arrogance in thinking the system would work in spite being cobbled together from parts which weren't suited for purpose

 

Methinks Matt Law is copying what Paul O'Queef tweeted on Saturday evening

There's an issue with that claim, though: it's complete bollocks, as Paratici was overhauling our scouting network to include data-based scouting eighteen months ago, with Udogie certainly being an example of data-based scouting - and I'd be tempted to include Bentancur and Kulusevski to the list as well - and Oaratici wasn't the first to do that at the club, as Paul Mitchell was using data-based scouting for us the best part of a decade ago

Given we've had scouts at Sporting on a regular basis this season, not just for Porro but also Goncalves and Ugarte, that would also suggest data-based scouting...only somebody got a pirated version of the software which only has the Portuguese league on it

 

Your first two paragraphs contradict each other. You first argue that we shouldn't blame Levy as he isn't the one scouting the players, and you're right.

But you then go on to highlight that two of our last three managers were extremely well-known for favouring recruitment models that simply don't fit with "everything that made us the club we were". And who appointed those managers? Who compounded that issue by appointing a DoF (even leaving aside the lunacy that he was under criminal investigation) with a clear remit to sign players the manager had zero intention of ever using (Sarr, Spence, Bissouma etc.) and even confirmed us such in multiple press conferences, referring to them as "club signings"?

Levy, that's who.

Buck stops with him. He has dodged responsibility for far too long and even mistakes that weren't directly his fault can be traced back to him in no more than 2 or 3 steps, and it was absolutely within his power to prevent them from happening. No-one forced him to sack Poch, no-one forced him to appoint Mourinho, or Paratici, or Conte.

 

Taxi Driver is probably more difficult and stressful than pilot these days!!

 

You talking to me?

 

Your last comment.... Recruitment is massively important and very difficult in any competitive situation. But everywhere you look you will find the best people go to the most successful organisations.
But perhaps you could refer me to a big successful club where the Levy equivalent is a football man...

 

Being in the bottom half two seasons running. Players leaving. Stadium less than 80% full.

 

Bloody wish some players would leave!

 

There's no doubt the buck stops with him but he is chair of a board of directors all of whom are responsible for the decisions the club makes and behind them sits Joe Lewis.

 

Spot on.
Sport is a strange bedfellow for business. Football clubs can’t be compared to most other businesses. Most aren’t even viable.