Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[fallenangle]

Just finished watching MotD and the Chelsea v Arsenal game in particular - very disappointing result unless Chelsea keep up this return to losing ways. Then that third spot, as I said earlier, may still be up for grabs too.

Hope Conte was watching too because Arsenal's Nketiah looked damned dangerous. If he plays Emerson R without extra defensive support alongside and in front too ( 4-4-2) Spurs could be in a lot of trouble.

For that Arsenal game and against Liverpool as well we need to do what Brighton did to us, close everything down quickly, control the pace of the match, not leaving any spaces at the back, then hit them on the counter and be disciplined enough to keep that up for the whole 90+mins.

Big ask.

[EJG1980]

Conte has two religions in his life: Catholicism and three at the back

So I don't think we'll ever see him go 4-4-2 (I think I remember once where we switched to it during a match when we had quite a few injuries, one of the Chelsea matches I think...) but in matches where we're under the cosh Kulusevski will drop back to help out Emerson. I'm sure if we watched back, say, the win against Man City away, there'd have been quite a few examples of him doing that.

I think the main thing we need for the rest of the season is to be, as clichéd as it is, really up for it. Whatever tactics Brighton used in our match against them, the biggest problem was the lethargic and un-energetic performance from our players. When everyone is on it and up for it, we've shown we can blow teams away and go toe to toe with the very best, and that's what we need for every remaining game.

[TonyDA]

Back to squeaky bum time then? Mind you, I'm not sure we were ever not in it, given the fact we're Spurs fans.....

Has anything has changed, post Brighton, really? It's a case of stating the obvious - we need to beat Brentford and Leicester, as the next game is quite possibly a defeat (Liverpool). So, win the next two and the worst case scenario is going into the NLD with Arsenal three points ahead but with a worse goal difference - win the NLD and it would be a case of win the last two and finish 4th, possibly on goal difference only. Simple, really.

When we play Leicester next weekend, there's a good chance they'll rest a few players as they'll be in between the two legs of their Europa Conference Semi Final against Roma. Trouble is, Arsenal play away at West Ham that weekend - normally a tricky looking game - and they'll be in the same position, probably resting loads due to being in between their Europa League semi.

Good luck guessing all these results and permutations!

[TonyDA]

Half time thought - Christ, we are awful. Absolutely no intensity whatsoever. That’s a game and a half now - what is going on?

[EJG1980]

Half time thought - Christ, we are awful. Absolutely no intensity whatsoever. That’s a game and a half now - what is going on?

Make that two whole games. Another poor display, didn't deserve anything more than a point from the match, and if anyone should have won it should have been Brentford (we were so lucky with that header that hit the post in injury time).

How have we gone from a team that has scored more goals than anyone in the Premier League this year, to one that looks devoid of any ideas and hasn't had a shot on target for two matches? Mind boggling. It can't all be because Matt Doherty is injured

Technically still in our hands, we'd still finish fourth if we won all our matches, but given the way we've suddenly started playing AND one of those matches being away to Liverpool... we're almost certainly going to need Arsenal to drop other points as well as losing to us. I still can't predict who'll get fourth though, as both us and Arsenal have shown we're capable of going on losing runs out of nowhere, but, today was definitely not a good day.

Edit: I should add that it was really lovely seeing Christian Eriksen playing again today. A bit weird to see him playing against Spurs, but wonderful that it's a possibility!

[fallenangle]

Serious talk about him wanting to return to Spurs in the summer. He'll get a far better wage packet than at Brentford so I think it is a real possibility and boy do we need a creative midfielder.

But whether he'll want to come to Spurs if he gets a better offer from elsewhere, particularly after Spurs' recent performances I'm not so sure.

We have one of the best attacking line ups in the Premiership and barely managed more than a couple of half-chances during the whole game against Brentford......................................... ...bad, very bad. Brentford looked as if they'd borrowed a leaf out of Brighton's play sheet when they were defending.

Surely the manager must have thought that might happen as it was so successful in stifling Spurs' attack last week and have some sort of ready made solution worked out if that proved the case?

Apparently he did not.

[EJG1980]

Serious talk about him wanting to return to Spurs in the summer. He'll get a far better wage packet than at Brentford so I think it is a real possibility and boy do we need a creative midfielder.

But whether he'll want to come to Spurs if he gets a better offer from elsewhere, particularly after Spurs' recent performances I'm not so sure.

We have one of the best attacking line ups in the Premiership and barely managed more than a couple of half-chances during the whole game against Brentford......................................... ...bad, very bad. Brentford looked as if they'd borrowed a leaf out of Brighton's play sheet when they were defending.

Surely the manager must have thought that might happen as it was so successful in stifling Spurs' attack last week and have some sort of ready made solution worked out if that proved the case?

Apparently he did not.

We did according to Conte's post-Brentford press conference. He said that after the Brighton match we spent a lot of the next week on the training ground practicing trying to break down ten men behind the ball with little space to run into. Obviously whatever was done on the training ground didn't translate onto the pitch for the Brentford match, but I think the main problem is that most of our players are not suited to that kind of playing style, and it's a problem we've had for a few years even going back to the final months of the Poch era.

At Inter Conte often switched to 3-5-2 instead of 3-4-3 with a creative player (usually Christian Eriksen himself) as the extra midfielder, giving them an extra option for breaking down the opposition. If we put in an extra midfielder it'd be Skipp or Winks who aren't that kind of player, so the formation change probably wouldn't work too well, so I can see why Conte hasn't tried it.

As you said, we need a creative midfielder (and Conte has said the exact same thing a couple of times in press conferences, saying we can't always rely on Kane being able to drop back, we need genuine creative midfielders) and Eriksen would seem like the perfect solution: played for Conte for two years so knows his system inside out, knows the club and most of the players so no trouble settling in, would cost nothing so we'd have more money to spend on other problem areas of the squad. And, of course, the sentimental value of him returning. I'd love to see it happen.

[EJG1980]

Unfortunately we won't be seeing Skipp back on the pitch this season:

https://www.tottenhamhotspur.com/news/2022/april/injury-update-oliver-skipp/

Scheduled to be back for the start of pre-season though, so he should be fully up to speed and raring to go for the start of next season.

Thanks for that. I'll keep an eye as I'd like to get to a game if I can. My fault for not continuing with the membership really. Did you say that Tottenham ticketing isn't always straight forward? Really?

It's not a first team game, but, if you did want the chance to see a match before the end of the season the Spurs vs Brighton under 23 game is being played at the THFC stadium. It's on the upcoming bank holiday Monday at 1PM.

Tickets are a fiver and you don't need a season ticket or membership to buy a ticket. Thought I'd mention it just in case you were interested! I went to a Spurs vs Barca under 21 match at the old stadium about ten years ago and it was quite fun, despite the small crowd.

[TonyDA]

Thanks for the heads up - will have a look actually as I'm in London that evening so I'll look into whether I can tie both things together.

Disappointing news about Skipp, though it was beginning to look inevitable just due to the constant Conte updates! Had to google what a pubis injury entails (have to say, I was wondering what Oliver had been up to ) and it's a rather common sporting injury - too much running. And sounds rather painful. Hopefully the op does the trip and enables him to hit the ground running (pun unintended) for pre-season. It sounds like Conte really rates him, so he should be a main part of the team next season.

And that's if Conte is still there! Rumours, mainly in the tabloids, about Poch getting sacked and coming back to Tottenham to replace Conte, who was allegedly offering himself to PSG! All rumours, probably rubbish.....hopefully.

[EJG1980]

And that's if Conte is still there! Rumours, mainly in the tabloids, about Poch getting sacked and coming back to Tottenham to replace Conte, who was allegedly offering himself to PSG! All rumours, probably rubbish.....hopefully.

From what I've seen it has all stemmed from a single story on a French radio station (RMC) which has just been repeated multiple times by others. I'm 99.99% sure it's just a made up story to generate some easy clicks.

I'd worry more if the Italian press started saying there was something in it, but the only mention of it over there is a story in Gazetta with the headline "Conte, il Psg e le fake news sulle sue richieste" which translates as "Conte, PSG, and the fake news on his requests"

It basically says that the whole thing is made up and there have been no contact at all between Conte and PSG, let alone Conte giving them his list of demands if he were to take the job. Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano was asked about it on some kind of online Q&A earlier this week and he too said there was nothing in it and Conte was concentrating on Spurs.

[TonyDA]

All sounds good to me. Funnily enough, I have an Italian colleague at work who is football mad, an Inter supporter and he said the same thing to me today.

[fallenangle]

Well that was a welcome and very decent result against Leicester.

Pity about giving a goal away but 3-1 is a pleasing scoreline to say the least.

Now fingers crossed WH give Arsenal a torrid time but I'm not expecting much joy but its good to hope.

[EJG1980]

Well that was a welcome and very decent result against Leicester.

Pity about giving a goal away but 3-1 is a pleasing scoreline to say the least.

Now fingers crossed WH give Arsenal a torrid time but I'm not expecting much joy but its good to hope.

Yup, much much needed win to get back on the horse!

First half was actually quite nervy overall: we started well for about the first ten minutes, then Leicester took over and were unlucky not to go 1-0 up themselves, and then we scored against the run of play. Rest of the half was fairly even, but we had a couple of "eeeeeeek!" moments at the back but luckily Leicester were unable to take advantage of them. The feeling at half time was that despite being a goal up, we definitely needed to improve in the second half.

Second half was much better though, especially when Kulusevski replaced Moura. We were on top for basically the whole half and played well, could have had an extra goal with a little bit of luck. Two very different, but both brilliant, finishes from Son for his goals.

Big chance for Moura to try and show Conte what he can do after being given a chance to freshen up our attack, but unfortunately he didn't take it, quite a subdued and ineffective display. However, Kulusevski responded brilliantly to starting from the bench; he was excellent when he came on and gave a real "I'll show you that I deserve to be back in that starting 11!" display. Exactly the kind of response you want to see from a player.

Over to West Ham now. Time to get out the claret and blue bunting, blow a few soap bubbles, and cross all our fingers

[TonyDA]

Predictably, West Ham did us no favours at all and we are back in 5th. Given the fixtures next weekend, there is potential for us to be going into the NLD FIVE points behind - we're away to Liverpool, where you'd say a draw would be a great result, but let's face it there is a high chance we'll be beaten. Meanwhile, Arsenal are at home to Leeds - again, a game they could draw or lose (Leeds desperately need the points), but the more likely result would be an Arsenal win.

So, a Spurs defeat and an Arsenal win would put them 5 clear - we'd need to win the NLD and hope for two wins, and an Arsenal defeat/draw somewhere. We have Burnley at home (a Burnley also scrapping) and an already relegated Norwich away; Arsenal have an away trip to Newcastle (definitely a chance of a draw/loss there) and Everton on the last day. I think we need to be wishing that Everton are not safe by the time that game comes around, nor already relegated!

I'm not confident - I can't see us getting anything next week, but I can see Arsenal beating Leeds. Would make a refreshing change for Spurs to become unSpursy over the next few weeks, passing the mantle to Arsenal. Would that make them Arsey? I'll take that

[EJG1980]

I'm not confident - I can't see us getting anything next week, but I can see Arsenal beating Leeds. Would make a refreshing change for Spurs to become unSpursy over the next few weeks, passing the mantle to Arsenal. Would that make them Arsey? I'll take that

Arsenal have the advantage but you'd have to be very brave to put a big bet on either team. The advantage has swapped back and forth multiple times over the past few months: we had games in had that would have put us in clear in 4th place, we lose to Wolves and Southampton; Arsenal have a couple of games in hand that would have put them clear in 4th, they lose to Palace and Brighton; we have a wafer thin advantage but give it away by losing to Brighton; Arsenal hand it straight back by losing to Southampton; we give it back again with the draw against Brentford.

We're very capable of being Spursy and they're very capable of being Arsey You just never know when either are going to go on a run of wins or a run of **** ups!

Liverpool are a brilliant side but we went away to Man City and (deservedly) won, so, we're capable of pulling off big wins away at the best. Do I expect it? Nope, but if we turn up and play our best, you never know. Would be a massive psychological boost if we did get a win there, to keep our fate in our own hands. Whatever happens I don't think we'll get fourth if we don't beat Arsenal at home, but all the other matches... no idea what combo of results will be good enough for fourth. I think there are going to be some twists and turns still to come though.