Spurs 2018/19

In fairness, I understand why glaston would stay away. Being on the rival forum of the team you just lost to is a little testing, especially when people are in gloat mode (although in fairness the vast majority have been very decent about it). It's even worse after you're already annoyed by a frustrating game in which your team missed chances for fun.

The way I see it though is if I'm going to be around when Spurs are winning, I'm not going to disappear after a defeat. Maybe he sees it differently and doesn't see the immediate post-defeat climate as being the right atmosphere for healthy discussion, I couldn't really blame him if that was the case.
 
Zero faith in this happening. We'll get the usual excuses about there being nobody on the market and us not wanting to overpay, so we'll just ignore the problem of our best central midfielder the past few seasons (Dembele) leaving the club and Levy will hope that Winks and Skipp fit the bill.

Pochettino will sit quiet and work with it, as usual, and probably keep us in the top four despite basically having no central midfielders of top 4 quality left. Could I really blame him if he started to think that we can't make that next step? Not really, as much as it sucks to admit. The decline of our central midfield has been pretty depressing given that in 16/17 we had Dembele & Wanyama at the base of it, both of which were fecking titans that nobody could bully, you certainly wouldn't have had Pogba as free as he was yesterday. They're both broken/leaving now and we're doing nothing about that.

I actually think we've improved as an attacking team since then, but have totally neglected a key area of the team and settled on 'make do' options. Sissoko & Winks are good players but they shouldn't be relied upon to start nearly every game. We needed at least one player coming in this summer, everyone knew that, only the most optimistic fans thought that Dembele and Wanyama were going to stay fit.

The situation is probably not as desperate as you think. Football fans (and I mean all of us) have a tendency to over react at the most minor of issues. Not making light of the predicament, an injury-crisis is always shitty to contend with, I'm just saying it's probably not quite as serious as you think it might be.

You still have a six-point cushion ahead of us and Arsenal, plus you're a point ahead of Chelsea. In any case, it's Spurs. Spurs will just Spurs their way through it like they always do. I've actually given up waiting for them to fall away because, as Glaston said, it won't happen.

I'd rather United were in your position than where we are now, praying for Arsenal to continue being Arsenal (which is a pretty much a given admittedly) and Chelsea to start dropping points. The grass is not always greener on the other side ;)
 
In fairness, I understand why glaston would stay away. Being on the rival forum of the team you just lost to is a little testing, especially when people are in gloat mode (although in fairness the vast majority have been very decent about it). It's even worse after you're already annoyed by a frustrating game in which your team missed chances for fun.

The way I see it though is if I'm going to be around when Spurs are winning, I'm not going to disappear after a defeat. Maybe he sees it differently and doesn't see the immediate post-defeat climate as being the right atmosphere for healthy discussion, I couldn't really blame him if that was the case.

You're considered one of the better Spurs posters, there's probably a reason why you can actually stay here after a loss. Glaston is the premier opposition Wummer on this site, which means he gets borderline harassed when he gets egg on his face.

No matter what is being discussed Glaston will always find a way to turn it into point scoring in favour of Spurs. His shtick in recent times has been about the new stadium.
 
The situation is probably not as desperate as you think. Football fans (and I mean all of us) have a tendency to over react at the most minor of issues. Not making light of the predicament, an injury-crisis is always shitty to contend with, I'm just saying it's probably not quite as serious as you think it might be.

You still have a six-point cushion ahead of us and Arsenal, plus you're a point ahead of Chelsea. In any case, it's Spurs. Spurs will just Spurs their way through it like they always do. I've actually given up waiting for them to fall away because, as Glaston said, it won't happen.

I'd rather United were in your position than where we are now, praying for Arsenal to continue being Arsenal (which is a pretty much a given admittedly) and Chelsea to start dropping points. The grass is not always greener on the other side ;)

Oh yeah, like I said I think we'll still make top 4 (90% sure) and Pochettino will still have us getting wins. It's not that I'm predicting doom and gloom, it's just frustrating that we're going to suffer because exactly what people predicted would happen, has happened. It was obvious to everyone what we needed and that midfield would be an issue, but we did nothing! Which is just irritating as feck, really.

We'll be totally fine, we have enough quality throughout the squad to get through an injury patch. It's just annoying as a fan when you can feel that your team is so close to something great, a side which could really challenge for top honours, but is just falling short because of that lack of an extra push. That's how I feel about us, it doesn't change the fact that it's still an incredible time to be a Spurs fan and I'm overall delighted with my football club, but being a football fan in general isn't always rational. You're always gunna want to dream.
 
Didn't know Dembele was sold. What happened to him? I thought he was one of their key players.
 
@SquishyMcSquish @balaks two great opposition posters but you seem to have different opinions on Llorente. He hasn’t really done enough to justify any kind of run in the team and arguably not enough to be considered a good option from the bench. What’s the general consensus on him amongst spurs fans?
 
Didn't know Dembele was sold. What happened to him? I thought he was one of their key players.

Yeah it’s really weird. Last season and the season before you had people on here who would have chucked 50million at spurs to get him, now he’s off to China for less than 10.
 
Oh yeah, like I said I think we'll still make top 4 (90% sure) and Pochettino will still have us getting wins. It's not that I'm predicting doom and gloom, it's just frustrating that we're going to suffer because exactly what people predicted would happen, has happened. It was obvious to everyone what we needed and that midfield would be an issue, but we did nothing! Which is just irritating as feck, really.

We'll be totally fine, we have enough quality throughout the squad to get through an injury patch. It's just annoying as a fan when you can feel that your team is so close to something great, a side which could really challenge for top honours, but is just falling short because of that lack of an extra push. That's how I feel about us, it doesn't change the fact that it's still an incredible time to be a Spurs fan and I'm overall delighted with my football club, but being a football fan in general isn't always rational. You're always gunna want to dream.
Don't be so sure. With United's form and momentum looks like we should be able to catch you. This win of ours against you lot have seriously pull you back into a top 4 fight with us. The pressure is on you lot to not drop points now like you did against wolves.
 
No Son or Kane, inexperienced midfield of Winks and Skip? I thought Spurs were selling Llorente? Whatever happened to Dire? Wanyama only has 1 knee like King?

Any signings on the horizon Spurs fans?

Top four fight for Spurs now with Arsenal, Chelsea and us.
 
In fairness, I understand why glaston would stay away. Being on the rival forum of the team you just lost to is a little testing, especially when people are in gloat mode (although in fairness the vast majority have been very decent about it). It's even worse after you're already annoyed by a frustrating game in which your team missed chances for fun.

The way I see it though is if I'm going to be around when Spurs are winning, I'm not going to disappear after a defeat. Maybe he sees it differently and doesn't see the immediate post-defeat climate as being the right atmosphere for healthy discussion, I couldn't really blame him if that was the case.

Tbf to Glaston he said before the match that he won't be watching it as he will be traveling to India. Maybe wrong but remember him posting that.
 
No Son or Kane, inexperienced midfield of Winks and Skip? I thought Spurs were selling Llorente? Whatever happened to Dire? Wanyama only has 1 knee like King?

Any signings on the horizon Spurs fans?

Top four fight for Spurs now with Arsenal, Chelsea and us.

Got lots of injuries including Dier.

I still think we'll get third since we're the third best team, but things can change. At the moment I don't see Arsenal in a battle for top 4, but I think United will get it as I believed at the start of the season and even did when Jose was sacked (only just).

With Dembele leaving I hope we will sign a CM, but it's hard to know.

edit: People are desperate to talk badly about Glaston here. I have seen him posting straight after losses before. Regardless, I am someone who sometimes distance myself from football when we lose for a day or two. I'm not desperate to talk about it or watch it when I don't enjoy it.
 
I don't like Spurs. The only player I like from there is Eriksen.

I think Spurs pad their stats v teams like Watford with goals like tap ins.

Did you not realise we have played away at Watford , in our worst performance this season and took a lucky lead, only to concede two headed goals
However , we thrashed Everton away and like yourselves thrashed Bournemouth
 
It's all Mike Deans fault.

He played an extra 90 seconds or so in which time Kane got hurt.

If he'd blown for full time on time Kane would be fine now.
 
@SquishyMcSquish @balaks two great opposition posters but you seem to have different opinions on Llorente. He hasn’t really done enough to justify any kind of run in the team and arguably not enough to be considered a good option from the bench. What’s the general consensus on him amongst spurs fans?

We don't really have much of an alternative than to play him - We could try Moura up there but he is still recovering from an injury. I think he is a good player but not really great for the way we play as a team which means that he has not really had the chance to do well with us. He is not mobile enough basically. He can do a job for us but he isn't really any sort of realistic first team option for regular game time. Do I think he has done enough to justify a run in the team? No probably not. Do we have a realistic alternative? Right now we don't. I'm not aware of even any youth strikers who are anywhere near ready.
 
No Son or Kane, inexperienced midfield of Winks and Skip? I thought Spurs were selling Llorente? Whatever happened to Dire? Wanyama only has 1 knee like King?

Any signings on the horizon Spurs fans?

Top four fight for Spurs now with Arsenal, Chelsea and us.

No signings likely - squad decimated by injuries - not looking too good.
 
Spurs' next run of league games are pretty favourable

Fulham (a)
Chelsea (a) League Cup
Palace (a) FA Cup
Watford (h)
Newcastle (h)
Leicester (h)
Dortmund (h) UCL
Burnley (a)
Chelsea (a)
Arsenal (h)
Dortmund (a)

Dortmund is when they really need Kane back by as that's when the league starts getting hard for them
 
Spurs' next run of league games are pretty favourable

Fulham (a)
Chelsea (a) League Cup
Palace (a) FA Cup
Watford (h)
Newcastle (h)
Leicester (h)
Dortmund (h) UCL
Burnley (a)
Chelsea (a)
Arsenal (h)
Dortmund (a)

Dortmund is when they really need Kane back by as that's when the league starts getting hard for them
Some tough games there, especially when your two biggest goal threats aren't pickable.
 
Just seen that haven't drawn any league games yet.

Kane and Son missing. Here's hoping for draws aplenty...
 
@SquishyMcSquish @balaks two great opposition posters but you seem to have different opinions on Llorente. He hasn’t really done enough to justify any kind of run in the team and arguably not enough to be considered a good option from the bench. What’s the general consensus on him amongst spurs fans?


I don't like him tbh. Like @balaks points out he has a total lack of mobility so when he's on a pitch our attack slows down to a standstill. I'm struggling to think of any time where he's come on and changed the game so he's not even a particularly effective substitute, he can nod on a few balls for Kane but that is pretty much where his uses end. I don't dislike him (we've had worse strikers at the club for sure) but I don't think he's what you need in a backup striker, you want a player to come in with energy and movement against tired legs.

Facts are though, we have no other options with Kane and Son out. It's a horribly unfortunate situation that Son is off and Kane happens to get injured at the same time. We're going to need the likes of Alli & Moura to properly step up over the next month or so but it's a hard ask.
 
Don't be so sure. With United's form and momentum looks like we should be able to catch you. This win of ours against you lot have seriously pull you back into a top 4 fight with us. The pressure is on you lot to not drop points now like you did against wolves.

Could do, but I'm relatively comfortable with us making top four. That might prove overconfident come the end of the season but we generally seem adept at making it, even if we have a slightly bad run over the next month or so I'd expect us to finish the season well.
 
Facts are though, we have no other options with Kane and Son out. It's a horribly unfortunate situation that Son is off and Kane happens to get injured at the same time. We're going to need the likes of Alli & Moura to properly step up over the next month or so but it's a hard ask.

Is it horribly unfortunate? Or should you have moved Llorente on and purchased a backup striker to Kane?
 
Is it horribly unfortunate? Or should you have moved Llorente on and purchased a backup striker to Kane?

Well yeah but then that's also horribly unfortunate because we have a tight fisted cnut as a chairman (I'm kidding, before any of Levy's top fans arrive).

In all seriousness though, it's still a bit of bad luck that our main striker gets injured for a month, just when the player you'd have to replace him is going off to a tournament. Regardless of who we signed as a backup for Kane this would be an issue because you can't replace that kind of loss of quality. Could we have prepared for it better? Maybe, but finding a backup striker is a bitch of a situation because nobody fantastic is going to come in to play Kane's understudy.

I'm more annoyed about the midfield situation, an entirely predictable affair.
 
Well yeah but then that's also horribly unfortunate because we have a tight fisted cnut as a chairman (I'm kidding, before any of Levy's top fans arrive).

In all seriousness though, it's still a bit of bad luck that our main striker gets injured for a month, just when the player you'd have to replace him is going off to a tournament. Regardless of who we signed as a backup for Kane this would be an issue because you can't replace that kind of loss of quality. Could we have prepared for it better? Maybe, but finding a backup striker is a bitch of a situation because nobody fantastic is going to come in to play Kane's understudy.

I'm more annoyed about the midfield situation, an entirely predictable affair.

I agree - it would be the same if Utd lost Rashford and Lukaku for a month - ok they have Martial who could maybe step up but it would be a serious problem for them too. Midfield is a big issue for the squad and has been for some time - still peeved off that we didn't think so sign a midfielder (even a young prospect) to bulk up that area of the squad. Dembele was always on his last legs, Wanyama it has been known for a while is done - we got unlucky with Dier but is he really the answer anyway? If Sissoko had not stepped up big time this season I honestly have no idea what we would have done. It's a bloody ridiculous situation.
 
I agree - it would be the same if Utd lost Rashford and Lukaku for a month - ok they have Martial who could maybe step up but it would be a serious problem for them too. Midfield is a big issue for the squad and has been for some time - still peeved off that we didn't think so sign a midfielder (even a young prospect) to bulk up that area of the squad. Dembele was always on his last legs, Wanyama it has been known for a while is done - we got unlucky with Dier but is he really the answer anyway? If Sissoko had not stepped up big time this season I honestly have no idea what we would have done. It's a bloody ridiculous situation.

Honestly if we have no funds available I would have preferred we sell Toby last summer and use those funds to help bring in a proper central midfielder. Would have been far from ideal, but our needs in midfield are greater at the moment, it badly requires investment as we're falling way behind the other top four contenders.

Yeah, Sissoko emerging has been a huge boost this season, that and Winks coming back well from his injury and doing a good job. I honestly can't believe there was a single Spurs fan on here who thought we didn't need to spend money in midfield, some were suggesting that it would be spending for the sake of it .. what? Our best midfielder for the past 3 seasons or so is breaking down! We needed a replacement.
 
It's just struck me how much I'm going to miss watching Dembele. Such a glorious player when at his best, just glided through the midfield and nobody could touch him. So many big games he was the difference in midfield, so much harder to bully a team when they have a player so safe in possession, not to mention his ability to draw 2-3 opposition players towards him with those powerful runs through midfield. One of my favourite players to watch play, especially live it was ridiculous watching him just bully his way through.

It's been underestimated how significant losing his presence will be, all the attention has been on the likes of Kane and Eriksen the last few seasons, but Dembele has been a key player. It's like if Kane or Eriksen left and we just didn't bother to replace them. Our big game record has been patchy this season and I do believe a big part of that is down to losing him, most of our best positive results in these games last season came when we had him in midfield. Proper attention needs to be given towards replacing him.
 
Is it horribly unfortunate? Or should you have moved Llorente on and purchased a backup striker to Kane?

I don't think we need a 'back up striker'. If anything another versatile forward would be nice, but not someone who will only play when Kane doesn't, that's just pointless imo. Another player like Son would be perfect, let's hope Moura or Alli can step up, I actually think Alli and Moura will play furthest forward next few games.
 
I don't think we need a 'back up striker'. If anything another versatile forward would be nice, but not someone who will only play when Kane doesn't, that's just pointless imo. Another player like Son would be perfect, let's hope Moura or Alli can step up, I actually think Alli and Moura will play furthest forward next few games.

Wouldn't be surprised if this was the case. Llorente would slow us down too much, we would lose that movement we have going forward.
 
I don't think we need a 'back up striker'. If anything another versatile forward would be nice, but not someone who will only play when Kane doesn't, that's just pointless imo. Another player like Son would be perfect, let's hope Moura or Alli can step up, I actually think Alli and Moura will play furthest forward next few games.

I think it will be Lamela if Lucas is injured. He was actually decent the last time Poch played him as a striker. He did some of the stuff Kane is good at. Decent hold up play, can drop deeper and still fast enough to be a threat running in behind the defense. Obviously not a goal threat like Kane, but not many are. Also likes to play one-two with Eriksen.

I remember a game when Kane was injured or got injured and Lamela had played behind the striker and he had a garbage first half. Then Poch put him up as striker and he was much better in the second half. I think Poch kept him up there for at couple of games.

But it all depends on who is ready to play against Fulham. Lots of questionmarks.