Tottenham Hotspur FC 2013/14

[EJG1980]

God yes, just switched on BBC5 Live whilst I'm online, hoping for good news.........now I'm really depressed. I'd like to hope it is going to change in the second half but from the sound of it there's not much chance of that.

It's been very unlike us under Poch, a lack of the grit and fight you normally see from us this season. Souness just summed it up, he said we've been "wishy washy" today, so far. At the very least we need to really fight and salvage some pride in this second half.

Edit: well at least it didn't get any worse, although I think Man Utd were happy with what they had and knew they didn't need to go full pelt any more. We did improve a bit though, albeit without ever looking like getting a goal.

Bad day at the office, just have to hope that it's a nasty experience that our youngsters can learn from.

[BaronSqwelch]

From a neutral POV...I was looking forward to the game, thought it would be a great battle...but Spurs were pitiful. Actually left the pub at 60mins because it was so depressing.

[EJG1980]

Yup, we just didn't turn up today. It's disappointing but sometimes these things happen. I'm happy with the way things are going with Poch in charge, so for days like today you just have to take it on the chin and hope that the team bounces straight back in the next match.

[EJG1980]

Glad to get back to winning ways, great to score four goals, but bloody hell Not sure if Harry is going to keep his hat-trick, massive deflection on his second goal, but hopefully it'll be given to him. One more goal needed for twenty in the league / thirty overall.

I think the defence might need, ahem, a little bit of attention over the summer. We've been heavily linked with a young Austrian defender in the past few days so maybe that's the first sign of that being worked on.

Hope Lloris is okay, I don't like imagining us playing too many matches without him being there. Having him in goal is like having the "get out of jail free" card in Monopoly!

[fallenangle]

Good game to watch yesterday judging from MotD and we deserved to win, in fact we would have had at least two more goals if Chadli had a bit more composure. But letting in three goals two weeks running - that is bad. The reason, clearly explained on the BBC's Final Score and repeated on MotD, was also very obvious. The back line plays too high up the pitch without the cover, defensive line discipline or the players with the speed to recover.

That's always been the way with Tottenham since the days of Pat Jennings and Ray Clemence - having a world class goalie has made up for those sorts of mistakes and/or the failings of some pretty ordinary defensive players Spurs have fielded over the years.

Did I see Kyle Walker is back in the Engand squad? I don't want to be be too harsh but on his current Spurs form he's far from his best and just hasn't been the same since he returned from his long term injury.

[EJG1980]

Yup, a bit surprised to see Walker get the call. Personally thought that Rose should have been in the initial squad as I've been quite impressed with the way he's played this season, although he has now been called up thanks to Shaw beg injured.

Haven't seen it myself by my brother told me that Poch mentioned in an interview that he saw our lack of pace at centre back as a problem, so hopefully that is something that will be addressed over the summer.

Edit: Ryan Mason has now been called up into the squad too.

[EJG1980]

What an awful match that was

I don't think we could have got top four even if we'd won (you never know but it would have been a long shot) but today was a really good chance to steal a march on Liverpool and Southampton and get some momentum in the battle to be best of the rest. An shame we had to have an off day today.

Strange team selection. Vertonghen was ill, so no complaints there, but I was surprised Townsend didn't start. I've said I'm not his biggest fan but he's played seven or eight in a row, just scored a cracker for England, and NOW he gets dropped? Not the right choice, imho. Surprised Paulinho got the nod ahead of Dembele too (and that he stayed on for the whole ninety).

Ah well, can't get it right every game, just have to hope for an improved performance and three points against Villa.

[fallenangle]

Just watched it on MotD and it was dire. Missed a great chance to climb the table.

The formation looked all wrong to me and putting on Eriksen, Paulino, Benteleb and later Lamela - all of whom like to play in the centre on mid-field was daft. Agree too: what was Paulinho was even doing in the start up team? Kane as captain? Ludicrous, it seems even Poch has been affected by the media hype.

But the worst thing is that Poch did almost nothing about the shape of the team even when it was clear by half time it wasn't going to be successful breaking down the Burnley defence and a strategy rethink was needed.

All a bit disappointing.


Saturday/Sunday Edit:-

...........and that sentiment is equally applicable to the result against Aston Villa too. Even our Europa League qualification will be in doubt if Spurs repeat lack lustre performances like that.

[EJG1980]

Yup, a disappointing couple of matches that have derailed any thoughts of a late charge for a top four finish. With Man City still to vist WHL things could have been very interesting if we'd gone into that still within striking distance. Even more annoying that we've dropped off the pace by failing to even score against the 19th and 16th placed teams in the league.

Still, a young side, a new manager in his first year, there are bound to be ups and downs. Hopefully though we can overcome this little slump in form. Need to get back to winning ways at Newcastle and then we have a big match at Southampton. It'd be a tough task to finish better than 7th if we lose that one.

Forgot to mention, I was glad yesterday to see Yedlin make his debut. If Walker is going to be out for any length of time I really hope we give Yedlin a few starts in the remaining games this season. I think we'd get more benefit from that than just playing Chiriches at right back.

[EJG1980]

Much better performance yesterday, albeit against an admittedly wretched Newcastle side. In the second half especially we played some excellent football, a good number of really slick, one touch passing moves, that just didn't quite have the final pass or finish. I saw the MOTD highlights after getting back but time restraints meant they didn't really convey how many good attacking moves we had.

A shame we had that lapse right at the start of the second half (bizarrely nigh on identical to what happened against Newcastle at home) but the response was really good this time. Really we should have scored more than three, but 3-1 away is a good result and hopefully we can kick on for the final five matches of the season.

And that's now twenty league goals and thirty overall for Harry Kane. I don't think he will win it (Eden Hazard would be my guess) but he wouldn't be an unworthy winner of the player of the year award. To be scoring as many as the likes of Cotsa and Aguero, in a worse team, in his first season as a first team regular, is an excellent achievement.

Speaking of awards, I saw that Deli Alli was named the football league young player of the season last night. With young Alex Pritchard also having a superb season with Brentford (their manager has been raving about how good he's going to be), I'm looking forward seeing if they can break into the first team squad next season. Another couple of youngsters making the step up and becoming regulars would be very satisfying.

[fallenangle]

Agree very much about the match yesterday, far better performance and from the MotD highlights it was clear Spurs could have easily had more goals. But Newcastle, as you say, really were poor and except for the, indeed, bizarre repeat of that goal at WHL at the start of the second half, if we couldn't beat them on that form we don't deserve a Europa League spot.

[EJG1980]

Yup, if you're in need of a confidence boosting win, I think Newcastle would be every team's first choice of opponent at the moment!

Southampton away next weekend is the big one. If we can get a win we'd have a four point gap and be able to stay ahead of them even if we lost to Man City the following week. Our run in is a bit tougher so I think we probably do need to beat them to finish top six.

[fallenangle]

Looks like we will have to support the other N.London team in the FA Cup Final because if they win that 7th position in the Premiership will become, at least according to sources I read yesterday, a Europa League spot. If correct that is is a useful safety net to have but one I hope Spurs won't need.

[EJG1980]

I saw that too, apparently the rule was changed at the start of this season.

I saw a Villa fan complaining about their luck with that rule. It was changed to the runners up getting the Euro spot the season after they lost the final to Chelsea, so they missed out by the rule being changed one season too late. If they lose to Arsenal this year they'll miss out again thanks to the rule being changed back one season too early.

As you say though, hopefully we'll finish top six and make it a moot point as far as we're concerned. I'm not really too fussed by what Arsenal do (obviously I'd rather they didn't win, but I won't lose any sleep if they do) so I hope we already have a Europa League spot in the bag as I'd like Villa to win just to see someone different win a cup!

[EJG1980]

Good match. A shame we couldn't get the win we needed to give us a cushion over them but Southampton is a tough place to go. I thought it was fairly even but Saints had more clear cut chances than we did (and were a bit more creative in general when they had the ball) so I'm happy with a draw, and that we showed the fight to come from behind twice.

Unless Liverpool make a real pigs ear of their games in hand I don't think we can finish higher than 6th now. Gonna be tough to keep Southampton behind us but hopefully we can do it.

Side note, a bizarrely slippery pitch today. Two players injured and (half) an assist for a goal from players slipping over. Perhaps they need to water it a tad less!