Spurs 2018/19

FootyGirl88 said:
Whats Spurs preferred formation nowadays? Is it still 4231
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I'd say so, yes, more or less, or at least whilst Vertonghen is absent. When he returns we might revert to 3 at the back (Sanchez - Toby - Verts), at least in some games.

But if there's a fluid playing style, with a large degree of player interchangeability, then I'm not so sure about the real validity of some of these numbered formation-descriptions.
 
>Spurs boast about their new stadium being "the only place to watch Champions League football in London"
>could be out of the tournament before they get to play there

You can't make this up
 
Spurs' football is always dull and slow when I watch them these days, any Tottenham fans here shed any light on why Pochettino has changed his style this season? Or is it just a blip?
 
One Night Only said:
No eriksen and no son and they look average.
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They look average period, the only one playing consistently is Kane. They've scored the same amount of goals as United, but they have Vertonghen making sure the back line is organized and so have conceded a lot less.
 
Vadim said:
Spurs' football is always dull and slow when I watch them these days, any Tottenham fans here shed any light on why Pochettino has changed his style this season? Or is it just a blip?
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They have looked insanely boring when I've watched them this season.
 
Won 7 out of 8 away games this season.

I know their football hasn't been on level of last three seasons but think they're starting to develop a bit of a backbone in grinding out good away wins at likes of Brighton, Wolves and West Ham.

As we've seen with Man. United it's not a lock you win at all of those venues.

Will have plenty of home games to play after xmas somewhere which I think will be crucial in the top 4 race.
 
breakout67 said:
They look average period, the only one playing consistently is Kane. They've scored the same amount of goals as United, but they have Vertonghen making sure the back line is organized and so have conceded a lot less.
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Vertonghen has missed a month. He has only played six games and won't be back for another month.

FootballHQ said:
Won 7 out of 8 away games this season.

I know their football hasn't been on level of last three seasons but think they're starting to develop a bit of a backbone in grinding out good away wins at likes of Brighton, Wolves and West Ham.

As we've seen with Man. United it's not a lock you win at all of those venues.

Will have plenty of home games to play after xmas somewhere which I think will be crucial in the top 4 race.
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Spurs neglect in the transfer market is what will cost them. The central midfield is weak. At the moment they're holding firm with all the injuries but their next game is Chelsea which will be the real test. Dembele is injured again which is a surprise to no one yet they didn't act and Wanyama is injury prone too. If Wanyama gets back to his standard two seasons ago he'll be key but how can you do that if you break down every few games. That's the same with Rose who had one really long term injury but has also picked up several small knocks so he can't get back in the team.

I think Winks is a very decent player who keeps the ball moving but he also has a suspect injury record. All the other contenders have better midfield options and that's key.
 
Boycott said:
Vertonghen has missed a month. He has only played six games and won't be back for another month.



Spurs neglect in the transfer market is what will cost them. The central midfield is weak. At the moment they're holding firm with all the injuries but their next game is Chelsea which will be the real test. Dembele is injured again which is a surprise to no one yet they didn't act and Wanyama is injury prone too. If Wanyama gets back to his standard two seasons ago he'll be key but how can you do that if you break down every few games. That's the same with Rose who had one really long term injury but has also picked up several small knocks so he can't get back in the team.

I think Winks is a very decent player who keeps the ball moving but he also has a suspect injury record. All the other contenders have better midfield options and that's key.
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This was one of the biggest things I was banging on about during the summer ... I said multiple times Dembele will get an injury and it could cost us. Winks is stepping up and honestly Sissoko has been better than expected, but you're absolutely right that we're lacking some real quality in this area. We have too many players who are injury prone there.

A proper central midfield signing would have been fantastic, but alas .. we're very, very reliant on Winks staying fit and pushing on.
 
FootballHQ said:
Won 7 out of 8 away games this season.

I know their football hasn't been on level of last three seasons but think they're starting to develop a bit of a backbone in grinding out good away wins at likes of Brighton, Wolves and West Ham.

As we've seen with Man. United it's not a lock you win at all of those venues.

Will have plenty of home games to play after xmas somewhere which I think will be crucial in the top 4 race.
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Yeah - to have won all 4 of Brighton, Wolves, Palace and West Ham away is impressive, undeniably. They aren't great sides by any stretch of the imagination but they all gave us (and give other sides) a game yet we held on for 3 points in all of them.

We do seem to have a certain steel about us these days, at least in terms of consistency in the league.
 
Kinda torn because I’d rather see them or Chelsea win the league over Liverpool and City but the more they win the more 4th place looks trickier for us.
 
We'll have a massive fight on our hands for a CL finish, they keep picking up 3 points and none of their players are particularly in-form either. When you think of the string of home games they'll have in latter half of the season, it's going to be incredibly difficult to catch them if we fall further behind.
 
Irwin99 said:
Kinda torn because I’d rather see them or Chelsea win the league over Liverpool and City but the more they win the more 4th place looks trickier for us.
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We aren't winning the league so I'd take that out of the equation.

Top 4 is definitely doable.
 
SquishyMcSquish said:
… we're very, very reliant on Winks staying fit and pushing on.
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I think this exaggerates things a little bit. Winks didn't even start today and only came on for the last few minutes. Dier didn't play today either (but was on the subs bench). Then we have Eriksen (who also didn't play today but was on the subs bench), who can play in CM very comfortably. And likewise Alli can easily play in CM if needed.

The Spurs squad has a versatility which some people under-estimate. Foyth, for further example, would probably do well in the DM position if needed - he's a ball-playing CB who looks pretty comfortable on the ball.
 
GlastonSpur said:
I think this exaggerates things a little bit. Winks didn't even start today and only came on for the last few minutes. Dier didn't play today either (but was on the subs bench). Then we have Eriksen (who also didn't play today but was on the subs bench), who can play in CM very comfortably. And likewise Alli can easily play in CM if needed.

The Spurs squad has a versatility which some people under-estimate. Foyth, for further example, would probably do well in the DM position if needed - he's a ball-playing CB who looks pretty comfortable on the ball.
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We struggled today .. badly creatively. We got a jammy goal off a set piece but otherwise did not threaten Palace, they were well organised and we couldn't penetrate. Dier doesn't change this, nor does the fact that we have a couple of players who can do a job there if needed. Dropping Eriksen deeper is hardly ideal, he's one of our key players and we want him in his best role. Ditto with Alli, him playing deep just isn't getting the best out of his abilities. As for Foyth, the lad is barely getting to grips with CB in the premier league, I really don't think considering a move to DM would be a good idea.

With Dembele's decline/injuries we lack a genuine quality central midfielder. He was our go to man in so many big games over the last few seasons, without him we have plenty of players who can do a job but are not going to drag players in like he did, leaving more space for our attackers. We're easy to defend against at the moment, especially with Eriksen out. I much prefer how we look with Winks playing, completely different player to Dembele but makes space in different ways.

I think we have plenty of options, but little genuine quality. That said, massive props to Sissoko for stepping up in the last few games .. still have plenty of reservations about him, but no denying that he can be a bloody handful.
 
Boycott said:
Vertonghen has missed a month. He has only played six games and won't be back for another month.
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Well yes, the player United wanted has taken his place and been almost as good. They have two very good centre backs.
 
Poch working miracles there at the moment. Think they got more away points in the league than any other team in the last 9 months. 34 points compared to United's 20 over the same period. Tremendous job when you consider the expenditure of the other teams around them.
 
They're probably 8 points better off than their performances deserve in truth. They will be proud of their ability to dig in and "win ugly", which would be great if they were a few points clear at the top, 30 games into the season. However scraping fortunate wins isn't quite the same when you're clinging to 4th and only 12 games in.

I get the feeling they'll be hoping to stick on to the heels of fourth until the January window whilst praying the stadium costs don't continue to consume all their resources.
 
finneh said:
They're probably 8 points better off than their performances deserve in truth. They will be proud of their ability to dig in and "win ugly", which would be great if they were a few points clear at the top, 30 games into the season. However scraping fortunate wins isn't quite the same when you're clinging to 4th and only 12 games in.

I get the feeling they'll be hoping to stick on to the heels of fourth until the January window whilst praying the stadium costs don't continue to consume all their resources.
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Currently joint 2nd on points (albeit having played 1 more game than Liverpool and Chelsea), having played twice as many away games as at 'home', is hardly "clinging on".
 
GlastonSpur said:
Currently joint 2nd on points (albeit having played 1 more game than Liverpool and Chelsea), having played twice as many away games as at 'home', is hardly "clinging on".
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Won't Arsenal be a point behind with better goal difference if they win their game in hand?
 
finneh said:
Won't Arsenal be a point behind with better goal difference if they win their game in hand?
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Yes, but that's still an 'if' at this moment in time. And you might also say that Spurs will only be 2 points behind City if they were to lose tomorrow.

Moreover, as I've said, we've only played 4 'home' games so far, so looking ahead I don't really see that Spurs are "clinging on" any more than Chelsea for example.
 
finneh said:
They're probably 8 points better off than their performances deserve in truth. They will be proud of their ability to dig in and "win ugly", which would be great if they were a few points clear at the top, 30 games into the season. However scraping fortunate wins isn't quite the same when you're clinging to 4th and only 12 games in.

I get the feeling they'll be hoping to stick on to the heels of fourth until the January window whilst praying the stadium costs don't continue to consume all their resources.
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Everybody has more points than they deserve, apart from City. I haven't been consistently blown away by any other side. Arsenal in particular have been fortunate to pick up points in a number of games, Liverpool have been mostly 'ehhhh' but like us have picked up the points whilst struggling in Europe. I think I'd be more concerned if the competition was looking fantastic, but they simply aren't.

I do agree though that we can't keep playing this way and expect to make top four, however I do expect the performances to step up when Eriksen comes back in to the team. We're keeping up with everyone despite a few pretty big injuries (our best cb, our best attacking midfielder, our best cm, son/alli out for extended periods, lloris out etc) which has led to quite a bit of chopping and changing. I'm pretty damn impressed by the teams resilience under these circumstances, we've gone away to sides who have taken points off our rivals and we've won. I don't think you can call it fortune when it happens over and over.
 
Do people still want poch and think his team consistently play very entertaining football? Boring personality.
 
With amount of injuries they have piling up im impressed with the results. Eriksen, vertonghen, dembele, dier, wanyama, alli, rose. Wanyama could be done at the top level with yet another knee injury? Dembele was already on his last legs last season.

No squad investment was crazy, they needed to actually shell out for a midfield star. Winks and Lamela are fit atm yet I remain unconvinced about their sustained fitness.

You take all those players out of any team and they are going to struggle. Except maybe City. They are missing their two most creative players in Alli and Eriksen. Im guessing this is a big part of the reason the goals arnt flowing. Well this coupled with all the tough away games.
 
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ayushreddevil9 said:
1) Record profits
2) New stadium with cheese room
3) Keeping hold of players and the manager
4) Finished above Arsenal
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Kudos, they deserved a cup for that.. only happens a couple of times every quarter century or so.
 
Surely their current form isn't sustainable? They're getting battered but somehow get the wins. I suppose they're missing Erikson a lot, so that should improve when he comes back.
 
KM said:
Surely their current form isn't sustainable? They're getting battered but somehow get the wins. I suppose they're missing Erikson a lot, so that should improve when he comes back.
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I agree with you, but let's not pretend that all the other top teams are coasting, only City is atm. Liverpool got a close win against Huddersfield and others, and both Arsenal and Chelsea have had games that could have ended differently.
 
hellohello said:
I agree with you, but let's not pretend that all the other top teams are coasting, only City is atm. Liverpool got a close win against Huddersfield and others, and both Arsenal and Chelsea have had games that could have ended differently.
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I agree, even Arsenal has been lucky imo but this is the Spurs thread so didn't mention them.
 
KM said:
I agree, even Arsenal has been lucky imo but this is the Spurs thread so didn't mention them.
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Fair enough, Spurs need to improve. But I have been impressed with our points total considering the stadium situation and all the injuries. But we really need to kick on from here, many teams look strong and no one seem to drop points.
 
Irwin99 said:
Not even if you dropped out of Europe early? Granted, it would still take Pool and City to lose a lot of points.
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No chance.

City are waaayyyy too good. I'd say we'd have somewhat of a chance if you took them out of the mix, but even then we'd be at best 3rd favourites.
 
KM said:
Surely their current form isn't sustainable? They're getting battered but somehow get the wins. I suppose they're missing Erikson a lot, so that should improve when he comes back.
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Will find out in the next two, Chelsea (h) and Arsenal (a).

Mind you way their season has gone Spurs will probably lose those two and then win their next six 1-0 against relegation candidates.
 
Do people think we'll buy in January? I'm personally hoping for a CM, and I think we might get a player in.
 
hellohello said:
Do people think we'll buy in January? I'm personally hoping for a CM, and I think we might get a player in.
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I don't see it to be honest. And even if we go get someone in, can't imagine them making much of an impact this season.
 
hellohello said:
Do people think we'll buy in January? I'm personally hoping for a CM, and I think we might get a player in.
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You certainly need a CM, Dembele on his last legs, Wanyama becoming more and more injury prone. So many knee injuries hes probably going to end up King pt 2 without the club legend status. Winks has a bit of history with inuries.

Leaves you Dier who is a very limited footballer and should never be the pivot. Never checks his shoulder or receives on the half turn, not amazing on the ball. Can ping a pass however. But for me his role is midfield destroyer, that is it. And Sissoko who is imo an incredible athlete, poor footballer. Great engine all action, poor in front of goal, average passing.

I dont think a bargain cut price player will cut it. Or a one for the future. Levy needs to sanction some funds to Poch to go after a quality CM.

Or you drop Alli back into midfield, it is where he played his MK Dons career at. And he was deployed there at the start of the season before his injury.
 
hellohello said:
Do people think we'll buy in January? I'm personally hoping for a CM, and I think we might get a player in.
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As non Spurs fan, i wouldnt spend money next transfer window, only if something really juicy chance opens. If your manager accepted last transfer window, he should hold the funds imo.
 
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