Nice goal by Alli. Such a good finisher, one of his best attributes.
The Spurs thread | 2016-2017 season | Serious thread - wummers/derailers will be threadbanned
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Janssen scores! Inter Milan collapsing completely, 5-1.
Always nice to score five, even in pre-season. Janssen and Alli are linking up well.
Yeah, especially so close to the start and with quite a few first team players featuring for both sides. Best thing is getting some confidence back in Kane/Alli after their poor Euro's.
Inter Milan have been dreadful though, so I'm not looking too much in to this.
Agreed. Inter are a disgrace. Harrison getting in on the goal fest. One touch, one goal.
6-1! Inter all over the place, shocking.
Just learned than Candreva signed for Inter. Always rated him, they'll definitely need him if this performance is anything to go by.
Yep looking good, Lamela picking up from last season.
Any Spurs fans on here watching the Inter game? I don't usually pay much attention to pre-season, but since this one is so close to the start of the season, thought I'd give it a watch.
Not a penalty, but we should have had one when Kane was bundled over. Vorm should have saved the equaliser and Lamela's goal was justcould be set for a brilliant season for him. He started to look like the player we paid 30m for last season, could this season be the one where he really hits his stride?
Yes, I reckon it very well could, which is why is tipped Lamela to the poster who was asking before about who to choose for his Fantasy team out of Lamela, Eriksen and Alli.
He combines so much: tenacious, combative and energetic + great footballing intelligence + a wand of a left foot, capable of both delicate touches and looping it in from long range.
Hope so, we've always known he's incredibly talented, but for a while it looked as if he wouldn't adapt to the league. Certainly one of those cases when a player is judged to be a flop too quickly.
I always thought his future lied in a central position, due to the fact he's not particularly quick. Has made that right hand side his own though.
Just had a look at his goal/assists highlights for Roma, some absolute crackers in there. He really was stunning for them, so dangerous curling one in with his left foot.
I was impressed by Janssen today: strong, holds the ball up well and some nice touches (particularly the lay-off for Alli's goal). And scoring today will have given his confidence a good boost.
It looks like he will expand our options a fair bit. He can play up front alone if Kane is out, or else Kane can drop deeper and play as the No. 10 behind Janssen, which turn allows for the possibility of Alli dropping deeper to play alongside Dier in CM if Dembele is out. Or we could even go 4-4-2 with both Kane and Janssen up front.
It looks like he will expand our options a fair bit. He can play up front alone if Kane is out, or else Kane can drop deeper and play as the No. 10 behind Janssen, which turn allows for the possibility of Alli dropping deeper to play alongside Dier in CM if Dembele is out. Or we could even go 4-4-2 with both Kane and Janssen up front.
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Yes he's linked but I doubt there's any truth in it. According to reports he's got attitude issues. If that's the case he wouldn't last 5 minutes with Poch.
Also currently injured. Would seem a bit of a risky one.
I was impressed by Spurs today. Inter were horrific but that's not to say Spurs didn't play well. It was only a pre season match but given that all the top teams bar Arsenal and Leicester? Have had wholesale changes and are by no means certain to hit the ground running could Spurs maybe push on and get closer to or even win the league? They certainly have a decent prospect in Janssen meaning Kane won't have to play all the time and get burned out like last season. On the other hand it seems a fairly small squad and the Champions league might hamper them a bit. Plus I don't really rate signing Wanyama because I don't think much of him.
It's certainly going to be an interesting season given that so many teams can come anywhere between first and seventh.
It's certainly going to be an interesting season given that so many teams can come anywhere between first and seventh.
Mauricio Pochettino has that Spurs team playing with so much drive and ambition. I would not be surprised if he managed to get top four this season again even though competition will be much stronger.
Lamela performance today took me by surprise. I might have to replace Erikson in my team with him instead!
Lamela performance today took me by surprise. I might have to replace Erikson in my team with him instead!
Great performance from Spurs tonight but Inter were truly awful so I can't take too much from it personally. That said, Janssen looked very strong and I was really impressed with Winks how I think may have played his way into being the main backup for Dembele for the first few games.
Not sure how Lamela's performance could have taken you by surprise as he was easily one of our best players last season - that said he does seem to be full of confidence now and that can only bode well for the future.
Will Lamela be a definite starter in the PL then?
Yes, as he was last season for the most part.
From what I saw, he was not better than Dier, Kane, Ali, Dembele, Walker, Rose, Alderweild, Erikson or Lloris last season. He definitely had a much better season compared to the season before last, but he was not one of your better player for your team that season. Perhaps the weakest leaks out of your midfield and attack. However, that is not really a criticism because those other midfielders and forward played great that season. So being the weakest is not really such a bad thing.
This season, he could potentially become one of the better player. Better than Ali, Erikson, Dembele and Kane if he puts in that sort of performance against Inter more consistently.
Opposing fans still don't seem to realize just how good Lamela actually is.
I've had several still refer to him as a "flop" even now.
He's already one of the best two-way players in the league, but I really think he's going to kick it to yet another level this year as well.
LOL. Please like us, please respect us. Please think of us in the same way we do about ourselves.
The problem for Spurs is the opposite to the one they've had traditionally. They used to have one or two exceptional flair players and a soft, mushy underbelly that was routinely squashed by decent teams. Now they have a solid midfield and defence, are well coached and very hard working. But they are full of decent to good players, none of which are exceptional. They have no one of great pace, no one of great skill, no one who can beat three players. And they cannot afford to spend 50 -70 million on a player who might give them that necessary elevation. Neither, of course, are they a club with the pedigree to attract such a player.
Rather than poking at the wound of your insecurity, Spurs fans should embrace the reality of financial restriction. Your competitors are West Ham and Everton for the forseeable future.
The problem for Spurs is the opposite to the one they've had traditionally. They used to have one or two exceptional flair players and a soft, mushy underbelly that was routinely squashed by decent teams. Now they have a solid midfield and defence, are well coached and very hard working. But they are full of decent to good players, none of which are exceptional. They have no one of great pace, no one of great skill, no one who can beat three players. And they cannot afford to spend 50 -70 million on a player who might give them that necessary elevation. Neither, of course, are they a club with the pedigree to attract such a player.
Rather than poking at the wound of your insecurity, Spurs fans should embrace the reality of financial restriction. Your competitors are West Ham and Everton for the forseeable future.
Spurs have a first XI that is better than yours and probably at par with United. Another successful (top 4) season coupled with the new TV deal, could see them spending around the 50 mil mark quite easily.
Spurs are probably this seasons dark horse.
Oh no doubt that your performances were way better than United's and Chelsea's. However this young and learning thing also has drawbacks. Just look at Arsenal. Every year they play good football with young players but that does not translate into a better team the next season.
Maybe you will improve and stay comfortably ahead but I feel that your performances were also blown ouy of proportion because of the rise of some of the players. This season will surely be interesting though as a lot of usual contenders are raring to come back while the ones who performed above par last season will be looking to cement their own positions in the top 4.
I think maybe this highlights the difference between a club like Liverpool and Spurs and why one so consistently finishes over the other. Pace and dribbling look nice, but only get you so far. This is an unforgiving game that only cares whether you've scored more than the opposition. Not whether you've dribbled past them, or beaten them to the by-line, when it's met with no end product the 3 points are given to the winners who put the ball in the net by any means possible - not the ones who looked the prettiest during the game. Although I will say we look darn good in this Pochettino era.
Look at players like Coutinho and Eriksen. People absolutely rave up and down about Coutinho and yet he's been outproduced by Eriksen every season. In fact in just about every single statistical category Eriksen is a better player, except at dribbling. Eriksen doesn't need to dribble past 3 players, he simply makes a good pass and the ball ends up in the back of the net, which is what wins you games.
Kane is another example of that, he has an all around skill set, but no great pace or flash. Yet he won the golden boot, those goals are what win you games, not dribbles.
Maybe you're right. Perhaps none are exceptional on their own, but what they are is an exceptional team and that's all that matters.
Through this whole pre-season process I've really liked the looks of academy CM Harry Winks. I wouldn't be surprised if he surpasses Mason and Carroll this year to be our 4th CM behind Dembele, Dier, and Wanyama.
It also looks like we're really giving Cameron Carter-Vickers a shot at being our 4th CB, but I still think he's a bit raw and not quite ready yet. I'd prefer to see him out on loan personally.
It also looks like we're really giving Cameron Carter-Vickers a shot at being our 4th CB, but I still think he's a bit raw and not quite ready yet. I'd prefer to see him out on loan personally.
Stoke and West Brom, lol
This post is possibly the most ill informed nonsense I have ever had the displeasure of having to read. Thanks.
None of our players are exceptional? We might not possess a 'star' name, but we certainly have exceptional players. Go ahead, argue about how the league's top scorer or the French captain are 'decent to good' players. Tell me more about how average Alli is.
No one of great pace? You ever heard of Walker or Rose? Nope? Two of the quickest players in the league, who provide all our width. Nobody who can beat three players? Yeah, Dembele, Alli, Eriksen and Lamela are awful at dribbling. My god.
We could afford to spend 50 million on a player, it's just not our strategy. As for 'pedigree', we're a London based club who have Champions League football, we certainly can't attract the top players but we are capable of attracting some top talents. Our wage structure means we don't often go for established players, sometimes we do (In the cases of van der Vaart and Soldado) but it's rare.
Honestly, it sounds as if you've never watched Spurs play. I can totally accept the view that we won't make Champions League next season, it's a reasonable opinion, but I find it a little bit ridiculous when you're making wildly inaccurate assertions about a team. It sounds like you're describing us under AVB to be honest, when we did lack a lot of creativity and had the likes of Capoue/Paulinho in midfield.
We were organised last season, but people seem to think that sums up our play. We also played the most entertaining brand of football in the league with quick, incisive passing a key part of it. We took the game to the opposition and there were some incredible moments of individual flair across the season too, Kane's goal against Arsenal and Alli's against Palace for example.
Disagree entirely, we've got some very talented individuals who are fulfilling that potential because of Pocchetino's guidance. Just because we're organised doesn't mean we don't have some exceptionally gifted players.
Kane: winning the Golden Boot on top of scoring 21 league goals the previous season - and all whilst being 21/22 years old - is pretty exceptional, not to mention the 59 goals in all competitions across both seasons.
Alli: 10 league goals and 9 league assists in 33 appearances is pretty exceptional for an attacking midfielder who was aged just 19 for most of the time.
Alderweireld: probably the best CB in the Prem last season. Is that not "exceptional" enough for you?
As for the "50 -70 million", you've entirely missed the mark because we haven't needed to spend such absurd sums to acquire players that have very significantly improved the team.
I think obviously they are. There's a young golden boot winner who has had back to back 20+ goal seasons, a 19 year old with close to double digit goals and assists, one of, if not the best CBs in the league, etc. I was simply playing devil's advocate that even if they weren't we are still very good.
Like most people I did not care at all about Spurs until I encountered a particulalrly odious supporter on another ( non football specialist )forum; bullish, deluded, blind and full of completely unreasonable hate and bile for Liverpool. I admit this has coloured my view somewhat and I now anticipate their collapse with some glee. I wish I could get over it because you do not deserve even negative attention.You have never been a team of thugs, nor have you had provocative managers. You're just.. Spurs.
If you challenge for the title, or get a CL place in the coming season when the major clubs are reinvigorated and focused, I will reconsider my view. Until then I maintain Spurs are a side of ordinary over achievers, a team that should finish sixth every year.
If you challenge for the title, or get a CL place in the coming season when the major clubs are reinvigorated and focused, I will reconsider my view. Until then I maintain Spurs are a side of ordinary over achievers, a team that should finish sixth every year.
This just goes to show your wishful thinking in the face of actual reality. In the last seven seasons Spurs have finished 6th just once, whilst finishing higher than 6th in all the rest, including 3 times in the top 4.
Check Liverpool's average finishing position over the same period: worse than 6th.
...and Liverpool.
@Twigginater cant see them in 6th place
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