But in these 24% possession numbers Spurs had all the chances, they should have won yesterday but again they bottled it.
Spurs officially departed tonight
- Thread starter Fortitude
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I think I agree. Not sure why we as United fans are about the style of play in the league as much as we do about the possibility of Liverpool tying United's all time mark for league championships.
I remember the celebrations when we clinched the 19th title in 2011. That was such a big achievement and everyone was euphoric that even the Champions League loss against Barcelona didn't dampen everyone's exhalation, in my opinion. And when Ferguson took it to 20-18 before retiring (having finished 15 points ahead of Liverpool in that campaign), none of us would have anticipated Liverpool clawing that back this quickly.
I'm with you. I can't fathom how anyone could possibly prefer having Liverpool win the title rather than any other team. And the fact that the alternative is Spurs - a team that isn't a hated rival - makes it even more perplexing.
Is this true? I didn’t watch the game, but I followed it via a live feed, and it seemed to me Liverpool had more chances. I’ve seen it said both being the deserved victor on here though.
Everybody has these fixtures though, fans are putting Leicester and Wolves up there so its nearly half the league that fans say are really tough fixtures so every team is seeing a run like this. If they had a tough run now then they had an easier run to get up there in the first place? It just looks as if their results are getting evened out which doesnt make them title contenders imo. Its hard to wave away tough games and proclaim them challengers. If Leicester win this weekend they go 2 above Spurs, if that happens and West Ham wins then theyre a point behind them. Even Everton overtakes them with a win
There are very few, non tough runs of fixtures in this league.
All the proper chances fell for Spurs who should have scored at least 2 more goals. Salah scored an text book deflected luck goal and then the header was a good chance. Other than that I only recall Mane getting a decent chance from a tight angle.
So pretty close?
They will finish outside of top 4 I'm sure of it, what Kane/Son are producing now of the scraps while working like maniacs in defense is not sustainable at all. They'll snowball down the table pretty quickly once these ugly tactics stop producing the results and players get fed up/lose confidence.
Agree also Kane and Son won´t keep it up all season long, if these two start to struggle Spurs won´t win shit.
I don't honestly remember the last time I have seen a top 6 team facing City Chelsea Arsenal Liverpool Leicester in 5 out of 6 games in a row. It's a terrible scheduling. Usually at one point when the fixtures get tough you face 2 big teams in a row before a couple of easier matches, but this is just brutal. For them it was always about trying to minimize the amount of points lost during this period so that when it gets easier next on they still have a chance to catch teams that would leapfrog during this period.
They had an easier run going into this but they entered the City game about 1st or 2nd I don't remember, and now after facing City Chelsea Arsenal Palace Liverpool they are still 2nd. That's a pretty good job from their perspective if you asked me. I honestly expected them to be 4th/5th after Liverpool.
So yeah they have done well. They aren't in crisis at all at the moment, maybe if they lose the next 2 games or so they would be, but at the moment they did fine.
What were you expecting their results during their period honestly?
What I thought was annoying was that had they just played the second half as they did the first they may have actually won the game.
They were unnecessarily over the top defensive in that first half. You can hurt this Liverpool side defensively.
They should have played a lot higher up the pitch in that first half. They’d have created openings, worse sides have given Liverpool more to think about at Anfield this season.
Mourinho sometimes just tries to do too much Mourinhoing. Was the same against Palace. A game they would have steamrolled had they just carried on attacking. Instead they deliberately went into this over the top sitting back mode and invited Palace on, who then got on top and scored. It was beyond stupid and they go and do the same things a few days later.
The second half yesterday and for 65 mins on Sunday showed Spurs don’t need to go ott Mourinho to win games in defence mode.
They were unnecessarily over the top defensive in that first half. You can hurt this Liverpool side defensively.
They should have played a lot higher up the pitch in that first half. They’d have created openings, worse sides have given Liverpool more to think about at Anfield this season.
Mourinho sometimes just tries to do too much Mourinhoing. Was the same against Palace. A game they would have steamrolled had they just carried on attacking. Instead they deliberately went into this over the top sitting back mode and invited Palace on, who then got on top and scored. It was beyond stupid and they go and do the same things a few days later.
The second half yesterday and for 65 mins on Sunday showed Spurs don’t need to go ott Mourinho to win games in defence mode.
Cheers, but I can’t watch that vid here in Norway. I was just curious as I heard conflicting reports.
The only games Leicester lost in the year they won the league were the ones they had more possession than the opposition. Beating the more entertaining Tottenham Hotspur by over 11 points.
Bit of a strange time for this thread to be active again.
Have to give credit to Mou / Spurs - it's pretty boring stuff but deadly effective. If either of those Bergwijn chances fell to Son or Kane, they'd have ran out winners yesterday. I think Mou has some of his ol' swagger back - he's becoming quite snarky in interviews, playing the mind games.
Spurs have been very impressive this season. Hojbjerg fits the Mou plan / team like a glove. I think they'll suffer the moment Kane and Son have a drop in form or pick up injuries, but they've come through some difficult fixtures (Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool) with 7 points. That's a great return.
Have to give credit to Mou / Spurs - it's pretty boring stuff but deadly effective. If either of those Bergwijn chances fell to Son or Kane, they'd have ran out winners yesterday. I think Mou has some of his ol' swagger back - he's becoming quite snarky in interviews, playing the mind games.
Spurs have been very impressive this season. Hojbjerg fits the Mou plan / team like a glove. I think they'll suffer the moment Kane and Son have a drop in form or pick up injuries, but they've come through some difficult fixtures (Man City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool) with 7 points. That's a great return.
Completely agree. Said this in that game as well, they were dominant and could have scored 2 or 3 without really giving away any clear chances. Then they sit back and essentially just let Palace have possession in dangerous areas.
I get Mou's tactics, they make the most sense of any manager when you think about it (minimal risk) but he's started a trend of coming out 2nd half with almost no intention of scoring. I guess if you sit deep, stay organised and the players put in a shift it is highly unlikely you will concede unless it's some piece of outrageous skill, a wonder goal or bad luck (Salah's goal) and he knows with Son and Kane he should get 1 or 2 clear chances a game.
Question for Spurs fans, if you get top four and no trophies will that be a decent return for Mou or is the expectation greater for him given his tactics?
Liverpool created more chances and efforts on goal but Spurs had the best chances in the game.
Thank you! Short and sweet
But we are far enough in that it evened out is my point. Its no tougher than anybody else's since we are almost halfway through the league at this stage. Hell our bad home record is mostly down to facing these sides in a row with West Brom in between.
People say we are dependant on Bruno, but my GOD, what would Spurs be without Kane and Son
Arsenal?
Spurs are only 34% of the way through their league fixtures.
We had a tough period too when we faced Spurs, Chelsea and Arsenal in 3 out of 4 matches in a row but after that it was mostly even I would say. Spurs literally faced all good teams in the league bar United in space of one month, and they still maintained their position around 2nd so far throughout the run, so they really did well overall imo.
And its evened out. Your next 4 to 5 games is identical to ours for that reason
Who do we think they will buy come January? Surely Levy knows to stay close up there they’ll need some additions as any team that goes on to place first or second does imo
So maybe the amount of possession will be correlated with the amount of games and by the end Spurs will have 100% possession?
Hold on your showing too much ambition. Most fans on here are still giving Ole child formula in the form of top 4 and nothing more. Surely we can't entertain a discussion about who the most successful team in England is.
The same Liverpool would be without Mane and Sala.
Every team would be weaker if you took 2 of the best players out. Strange post.
Who cares about possession. Better to care about goals and points.
Pool got away with that match. In my book they deserved to lose. Spurs wasted way too many clear cut chances.
Spurs are perfectly equipped for Mourinho transition ball. There won't be any spectacular loss of form nor confidence. Plus not a single player will question his tactics if he stays near the top of the table and wins a trophy.
The same as any team without their main talisman or 2. ....
Delusional. Providing Kane and Son stay fit, Spurs will comfortably finish top 4. Its entirely dependant on the fitness if those 2 though.
Current form: DDWWDL
I think people overstate Tottenham based on their fast start to the season. Lets see how they handle the next two fixtures, if they get back to winning ways then they'll be a proper contender but if they continue to stutter then they'll have another fairly mediocre year imo.
The difference is the degree to which the team is set up to rely on Kane and Son for scoring. No Spurs player other than those two has a non-penalty xG >1. Literally, nobody else is getting into scoring positions frequently enough to have been expected to score more than 1 goal this year. Not their wingers on the other side, not their most advanced midfielders, nobody.
In comparison, Liverpool and City have six such players, Chelsea and United five.
Kane and Son are both elite players but their scoring is unsustainable and when they hit a bad patch of finishing form or Kane gets his annual 6-8 week injury they will be in trouble unless Jose switches tactics so that the team establishes other ways to score goals.
You could also say that Spurs wouldn't have the joint best defence (with City) in the league if you took out (say) Alderweireld and Hojbjerg. It's not all about goals scored.
It's too simplistic to keep playing "what if player X" get's injured. And besides, we can all do that with any team.
What the feck are you on about? Liverpool are nowhere near our PL record. They've won one league title in 30 years and, apparently, that's now the end of the world
Couldn't agree more. There's a very strange narrative spreading around that Tottenham are a better team than they actually are.
(Mid post disclaimer - I'm from Tottenham. I actually want them to do well as long as its not as Uniteds expense)
I watch almost every game they play, and I really feel that Jose will ultimately take them backwards from what they were, despite the current league position. Im concerned that they are in the same 2 year win or bust cycle that we went through with him. Massive underdog culture. Forwards feeding on scraps, and a team that will over time forget how to play on the front foot. Time will tell.
At one point against Liverpool, late on, the stats showed 220 final 3rd passes against Spurs 15. They were comprehensively outplayed. A team with a punchers chance at best, and some of those punches nearly landed but it shouldn't alter the overall narrative. Ole got stick from our fans for doing exactly that last season, at a time when he had far fewer attacking options available to him.
They may well get top 4 this season, because Jose is certainly skilled at wringing everything out of a squad and squeezing results, but I'd be concerned about where he is taking them.
Holy feck are you for real?I've heard it all now!
Some of you lads are hilarious honestly - fecking balloons. This thread is comedy gold.
I mean... you're a Tottenham fan so surely the jokes on you? When was your last trophy again?
What the feck are you on about? Liverpool are nowhere near our PL record. They've won one league title in 30 years and, apparently, that's now the end of the world
Spot on, even if we want to talk leagues then you can hardly say they 'undid' anything in 8 years" to 'undo' the gap Fergie made up on Liverpool I suspect it would take them far longer than 27 years.
What the feck are you on about? Liverpool are nowhere near our PL record. They've won one league title in 30 years and, apparently, that's now the end of the world
Number of leagues total they're 19 and we're 20. I'm pretty sure people and neutrals usually care more about this number than the number of Premier Leagues alone excluding the titles before it. Do you remember the celebration for our 18th and 19th title ?
And yes, if they win their 20th title and equaled our all time record in less than a decade after SAF retired it'll be a disaster for me. Feel free to not feel otherwise, though.
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