Following a week in which Tottenham Hotspur fell to Burnley, leading to manager Antonio Conte questioning whether he’s the right man for the job, Spurs came up with an impressive 4-0 win over Leeds United.
Spurs find themselves back in the top four fight. The north London club sits five points from fourth-place Manchester United, which occupies the spot with 47 points.
In a column for the Daily Mail, Ian Ladyman wrote that Tottenham could challenge for a top-four finish considering they have two games in hand over The Red Devils. As a result, they can jump right over some clubs if they win both, which is why Ladyman wants Conte to stop moaning.
“The fourth Champions League spot is there for anybody half-decent enough to take it — and that includes Tottenham,” Ladyman wrote. “A ticket into next season’s competition would open a few doors for Spurs and would provide Conte with a little bargaining power when it comes to talking to chairman Daniel Levy about transfer funds.”
“But instead of focusing on a single and entirely achievable objective, Conte continues to see injustice and unfairness everywhere. He sees only problems, and while all this goes on, his team is allowed to squeeze in a wretched defeat by Burnley in between big wins at Manchester City and Leeds.”
Tottenham will have two matches this week. The first is an FA Cup 5th round fixture against Middlesbrough. Then, next Monday, they’ll be welcoming Everton to north London. The Toffees are fighting to stay off from being relegated, so Spurs will need to avoid another Burnley result.
exactly — they always tell you if you care to see. born a biological male ( check the skeletal markers), playing the deceivers’ game, our fault if we buy it.
No it just means that the next uber wealthy investor may buy into a club which has a heaving trophy cabinet, as opposed to one that doesnt, for no more purchase price maybe less.
What about all the other teams we failed to beat who were also crap? Or maybe they weren’t crap? Or maybe they were crap but they were good on the day? Or maybe they were crap but we were crapper?
IMO the way the last few weeks have gone any win for Spurs is a good thing, regardless of who it is!
If we cannot get Top 4 and I do not think we will I would like a Europe free year. No one is going to sign for the ECL..so drop it out.
Spot on ..clubs don’t overachieve for 4 seasons..we only went downhill because…..lack of..
Kicked in the teeth if I was a betting man.
Wet windy night opp t north tomorrow night should see us back down to earth nicely.
A normal and even typical train of thought following such a comprehensive defeat of Leeds on Saturday, would be one of confidence going into the next couple of games against M’Boro in the cup and Everton in the league, however this is Spurs and you just don’t know what your going to get.
Yes, we probably did over achieve, but the misfiring of several bigger clubs at the time actually afforded us the opportunity to have cashed in and to perhaps have won the title, if our owners had made a few extra player purchases rather than spending ridiculous amounts of money on a stadium that, so far, has brought no obvious benefits but, indeed, seemingly, drawbacks as, plunged in debt, we seem unable to compete in the transfer market at all. But it’s not all been a waste of time: after all, Levy and Lewis have enhanced their property portfolios.
Well said.
THFC seriously over-achieved for the several seasons getting into UCL in front/place of other clubs but we should all remain optimistic & hope to return asap.
(Optimists see the opportunity in every difficulty. Pessimists see the difficulty in every opportunity. – Winston Churchill?)
Actually, Judge, I would say that our top three currently are probably the world’s top three! Not sure how good Bayern are this season: they may be up there with Chelsea….. but perhaps not! (only Bayern from Germany reached last 16 of CL this time around and Dortmund, recently second in Germany, finished below Sporting Lisbon… and then were removed from the Europa by Rangers!)
7th position is, I think, where I expect us to finish; Man Utd or Arsenal will get 4th. We could, of course, actually get our act together and possibly win the European Conference next year, but it would surely be a fairly meaningless success when we have to finish as LOW as 7th to get in it in the first place!
To a lesser degree, admittedly, but I have similar thoughts about the Europa League, with our top FOUR playing in the CL. Winning the Europa these days would in no way be comparable to our successes in the UEFA Cup in 1972 and 1984 (in those days, unless they won the FA Cup – or were runners up to a team completing the double – our 2nd placed team would compete…and our 3rd!). In fact, the UEFA Cup, with its depth, was generally harder to win than the, admittedly, rather more prestigious Champions’ Cup. Today, reaching the final of the Europa is roughly on a par with reaching the last 16 of CL. .Sevilla suggest i’m right with SIX wins in the Europa over the last 20 years or so, while in about 8 forays in the CL during the same period managed, just once, to reach the QF.
Yes, a good point – to a degree – what you say, BUT, the balance of football has been distorted to such a degree that England is now a particularly “special football place” because it gets nearly all the money! With the money our clubs have, it’s quite normal and natural that our 4th best team will be in the world’s top ten or even higher. Competition with other countries is being destroyed; it’s heading back towards the time when being top in England meant you were far better than anyone on the continent, because Europe then was still in the infant stage of learning how to play the game.; third division champions, Nelson beat Real Madrid (in 1932?). Third Lanark once beat Benfica 4-1 in Lisbon!
Of course, we’re not going to return full circle to third tier sides from this country beating the likes of Real Madrid, but meaningful competition is being eroded by TV money and all these oligarchs investing in the Premiership. The Portuguese league has consistently been among the top six leagues in Europe (at least at the top end, maybe not in strength in depth terms) over the last two decades, sometimes eclipsing France in co-efficient and, one year, even Italy; and, this year, had two sides in the last 16 of the CL – more than Germany! And, yet, when Man City or Liverpool go to Portugal now to play the likes of Sporting Club or Porto, they often (usually?) win four or five nil! Away! There were, apparently, FOUR ex Benfica players in the Man City team that were five up in under an hour against Sporting.
Before the influx of all this money, such results as above would be rare; indeed, Portugal has won the European Cup on four occasions. Back in the sixties, if our champions played, let us say, the champions of Yugoslavia, a quite likely, indeed normal, set of scores would be a 1-0 to them out there and a 2-0 to our lot at home ie we get through 2-1 on aggregate (Man utd beat Sarajevo 2-1 on the way to lifting the European Cup in 67-68, Celtic beat Vojvodina 2-1 with a last minute winner in their European Cup winning year – with a last minute goal – and United unexpectedly lost 2-1 to Partisan Belgrade in 65-66) Nowadays, because of the extreme way in which today’s finances are shaping the game, our champions would be expected to beat Red Star Belgrade etc out of sight.
In otherwords, yes, we are possibly one of the finest teams in Europe but in the prevailing cicumstances, we’re inevitably so if we’re anywhere near the top domestically. And it is that DOMESTIC position that really tells us how well we’re actually doing.
Pretty much exactly!
We did play quite well this weekend, it seems; the problem is that even while winning 4-0, Leeds had some good chances and you just know we’d be in a spot of defensive bother against the top sides.
Saturday again showed that we do seem to be a genuinely useful team on the counter attack and of course that 6-1 mirage against United under Mo was an especially impressive example of this. It seems to me that things really would improve significantly with a Modric type in midfield and a tightening of the defence, bringing in a commanding centre back.
Nothing is what it seems.
Off topic for a moment: What happens to Chelsea if Roman’s assets seized? The delicious prospect of Chelsea going bust? Seriously, though, you may want incredibly wealthy backers to fund a spending spree at your club, but there are dangers to having these obscenely wealthy people loaning money to your club. Football as a supposed sport has been unbalanced and undemocratised by all this money, oligarchs and TV money.
No he is en emotional Italian ..witness his celebrations v Citeh..tighten your laces and do that belt up even tighter ..tighter
He is a cry baby though
Where is the Big Stage Haringay Planning Dept..
It’s all in the name..Shock Jock..
Before anybody says it’s Paratici not Levy, let me point out that Levy controls the finances hence the actual amounts offered will be down to him always. Hence the regular transfer debacles, it doesn’t matter who the DoF is with us, Levy will always wreck deals for good players but buy other clubs deadwood with ease. So we’ll always miss out on the Diaz, Fernandes and Dybala type deals, but get the Emerson, Doherty type deals done.
7th position is a disaster though isn’t it? Conference league full of part timer farmers – no self respecting PL club wants to play in that.
Nothing big about beating Leeds – they’re crap.
As for Conte moaning, what we don’t know is what he was promised in January window. We all know the Traore saga where Levy basically took so long with the deal that Barca eventually stepped in just to relieve the boredom. The Diaz deal was also a farce of Levy’s making. He had no intention of buying the player imo, he just went in with jjoke offers knowing full well that Liverpool would swoop. It’s all smoke and mirrors with Levy.
Anyway nobody takes anything the Daily Fail writes seriously.
Ian Ladyman can go and ….
Our league position , and the one we would like , has to be 4th . We do take for granted , because of the depth of class in the Premiership , that any position other than 4th is unacceptable ?
If we take into consideration that the top 3 are amongst the top 10 football teams on earth , then the position of 4th , 5th or 6th is not the debacle that is made out .
Possibly , probably , the strongest division on the planet , i believe that coming 4th is a fabulous achievement and not to be ridiculed , in fact guarantees entry to being a world top 20 club .
Dont get me wrong , this should not be the limit to the aspiration of Tottenham Hotspur FC , but it does suggest where we are in this world , ie not embarassing , but a true reflection on the fact that England is a special football place , that some one has to finish 1st , 2nd etc and that Spurs despite a number of setbacks this season are amongst the Heavyweights on the big stages .
We need Harry , for no other reason than he is a fantastic player and plays in the style of Spurs , Spurs , Spurs .
We need Conte , to remind us that a little emotion is great if its laced with professionalism and integrity , Antonio has that in Spades .
We need just a bit more patience , change is coming……………COYS !!!!