The jury was in some while ago, Conte-ball is Mourinho-ball, just minus your prejudices. But that’s okay because when we’re winning, and pretty much everyone else is pointing out how bad to watch the football is, you can still criticise, and it just gets lost in the mix. Nobody could ever realise you’re being inconsistent.
Looking at Tottenham’s numbers, after having wasted another hour and half of my life watching this particular brand of top-flight football, it’s pretty obvious that this squad is struggling to approach games in a sufficiently assertive manner.
Conte’s boys failed to demonstrate anything approaching the required levels of flair one might hope to see from any Champions League side, let alone a Tottenham one. To me, Conte looks to have overtrained them; they don’t get going until they catch their second wind and that’s been the case all season.
We looked tired and were largely pressed out of it by an effective, but unexceptional Sporting Lisbon – if we’re honest with ourselves. Is Supporting going to make the last 8 of the Champions League? With all the goodwill in the world, that feels ambitious.
Tottenham looks to all intents and purposes only marginally improved from the mob that stank out the Europa Conference League.
We know that there are some fine players at Spurs, but that’s been the same ‘go-to’ default position for far too many years now.
What we’re looking at, after not just one game but all the games so far this season, is a different shade of stagnation from the last guy. Spurs are way deep in the hole. I referred to Spurs’ transfer deficit as a £119million hole in the boat. Here we established that Levy’s net spend was £118million.
The new regime has won over many of the fans. Paratici is cooking and Conte’s name is readily sung. But the reality is within the gaffer’s words, telling us it’s now two or three windows to get where we need to be. At this point, our elder players will be approaching their pensions.
This club has underspent on quality which will provide an immediate benefit, and overspent on junk that can’t even be loaned out without the wages being heavily subsidised.
I called Pochettino a patsy, and now I’m calling Conte one, which is easy to do when you’re not in their position, being paid over a million each month.
There are voices bleating we should have sent on Spence and Bissouma, the inspiration is suffocating.
Are ENIC really in the last chance saloon? Methinks they don’t care a jot what anyone thinks except the accountants. As long as the people are funnelling down the longest bar in Europe, what odds a few thousand grumpy football fans. After all, Levy is in this for the land grab and gentrification – not the football.
Not sure you can underestimate how poor Sonny has been this season. By any metric you’d have Deki over him on current form
He was flying before he got injured to be fair. I’m not claiming he is prime Alves, of course, but it is an upgrade on Royal.
Wingback is his position after all – he was good for about 4 goals and 4/5 assists for a very pragmatic Wolves from that position. He got 2 goals and 4 assists for Conte from limited minutes last season.
I think you may be underestimating Son’s contribution and overestimating Kulusevski’s just a tad, respectively.
Chirpy we don’t need an AM as the press comes from the WBs. If 50% of the WBs is not fit for purpose where does the fault lie?
It looks to me as if Conte is one of a long line of Spurs managers who sign a player and then say “in 6 months/12 months they may be ready”.
How has Bissouma suddenly become “not tactically aware”? I really dont understand.
Drill it into him if Potter could do it i’m sure you can.
How come you blank Spence he has all the equipment to become a top WB yet you stick to Emerson who Gold has just confirmed was available to leave in the Summer.
You are a confusing little man Tonio and I am getting sick of your extreme highs and lows I wonder if he is on the spectrum.
Doherty now elevated to cult status 🤣
Welcome Mr Choos. Great post sir…
That is true but by & large the first touch for both Kane & son is often woeful…all too often our midfield gets the ball & it goes backwards… surely every team has figured us out… press them high up the pitch or challenge them to break us down & hit them on the counter… let’s see what Arsenal turn up next week…. we could easily lose that 4-0… or scrape a 2-0 win via smash & grab
Doherty was playing in pre-season games. We are now mid-September, absolutely no reason we have not seen him come on for 20 here and there, especially seeing how poor Royal is at times. Then there is Spence, who has proven he can perform against PL sides for Forest. Conte has said Moura is an option. Someone. Anyone!!
Sonny has had 8 games now, and as much as class is permanent and all that jazz, he is now actively hurting the side. Why should it be the ever-impressive Kulusevski who misses out?
The problem with Conte is I don’t think he knows how to manage a squad. All the flouncing last season was show
1) The two players he loaned out couldn’t do it. If they could provide anything of worth to the current squad, they’d be kept on (on the bench at least, to change things up). But Ndom can’t be arsed to stay fit for more than a week and GLC’s only priority at Spurs has been to get loaned back out to Spain.
2) Conte wanted a squad and he isn’t using it – isn’t that a rather clear indicator that the squad he got wasn’t the squad he wanted? Maybe Bissouma still isn’t match fit or used to the tactics or something, but other than that – Perisic is 1st choice, Richy is doing okay, Lenglet might be rotated, Spence is a punt, Forster is likely to see a couple of minutes in the cups, if that, and Udogie is back at Udinese.
3) As for RBs, Doherty, I think, is still coming back from injury, and Spence has work to do to step up. Conte himself said he was not of the required standard yet.
All in all, it’s slow building. The summer amounted to getting in 2 first-team players (Perisic and Richy), two more who might be rotated (Lenglet and Bissouma), a back-up keeper, and some jam tomorrow.
Three windows to go. Let’s see if Conte stays that long.
That’s all they are, bodies, they’re not footballers
Absolutely
Sonny and Royal attacking passengers. Again. Not the only culprits, but a pretty common theme across the season and they both start every game.
Everyone can see Royal is very limited in that role. We have two or three players we play there, or even bring on for 20/30. But the coach does not do it
Sonny, wonderful player of course, is having a torrid time and it is having a detrimental effect on the side. We bought Richarlison for situations like this, but our most in-form and creative attacker Kulusevski gets dropped instead. Again, on the Coach.
To those bemoaning the lack of a creative midfielder….Conte has clearly decided this isn’t how he wants to play. He has loaned out two players that could do it, and if he wanted one we’d have signed on (even a cheap one if that is your viewpoint).
He wanted a squad and he is not using it. We are making so few subs compared to other sides. Ridiculous.
That being said, it is early days in a long season. Sooner or later things will turn I feel. It may take an injury or suspension.
Unless you have blind faith, you aren’t a real fan. This pance is trotted out regularly by some, I’m always curious as to who they actually think they represent. Because it generally feels like ENIC…
Bissouma looked like a solid signing, but that’s largely irrelevant when he’s got three similar midfielders ahead of him. I see Skipp playing more than him if he gets fit. Bissouma, Spence and the others (apart from Perisic) were not players Conte ‘wanted’. They never are at Spurs, for any manager so when people like Alasdair Gold come out and say that “Spence was a signing for Conte” (because he plays wingback), they should really also say “but he actually wanted someone else instead”…
Things need to improve, we can only keep ‘lucking-out’ for so long, as Sporting’s late flurry showed. We need to take the game to the opposition more and have the ball more, if and when it’s required. This isn’t just about ‘pretty’ football, this is about changing the record occasionally…
I can’t see Conte managing us past this season, it just doesn’t stack up…
No coach/manager ever comes out at a top club and says that they’re not happy about what their employers are doing, it never happens. So Conte saying he’s ‘ok’ with things is the same as any other manager saying it, it’s meaningless. Plus, his comment about needing more transfer windows doesn’t mean he intends to still be at the club when those three windows have passed. I reckon unless the next two improve us markedly, he’s off. His contract expires in just over 12 months…
Semi-strike? That doesn’t even make sense…
Probably the lowest bar for well over a decade…
The dysfunction found in some other clubs is irrelevant, all Utd fans want the Glazers out because of the directionless mess that club has become under them.
That’s a bit like you comparing now to 12 months ago at Spurs, you keep asking us to compare ourselves to an absolute nadir. These really should not be the barometer’s to use, you’re just attempting to make things look better by comparing it to something completely sh*te, to fit the narrative.
Exactly.
His contract expires in just over 12 months…
And yes I am HP you are our coach and I dont want any other atm but you have been presiding over a shite storm waiting to happen for ages but do you give Son a 60 min rest no you drop Kulu who is in better form. Is Emerson ever going to become a functioning WB? Do PEH & Bentancur rip up oppenents midfields?
Grow a pair Conte.
My take is that we aren’t creating enough decent chances, you can’t expect forwards to be clinical all the time. You have to keep feeding them and they hit their stride and find confidence again. That’s not easy feeding off scraps…
The names we missed actually make you wince (Hazard/Salah/Suarez etc) but Mane was the biggest in my eyes. The forst time he played at WHL for Bindip FC he was magnificent and yes I read somebody months ago defending the Grealish non deal (Goldy?) but my info disagreed with the party line he did his low offer shute again and they got investment.
There are many but one of the things I hate about Levy (and every non entity who kisses his ‘arris) is his stating on the record that “oooh we did spend big on Toyboy Ndonkey and look what happened” you signed it off shortstop how come you couldnt sign off on Mane?
We have beaten most inferior opponents this season…this particular game was also so close it could have gone either way (as much as that’s still not good enough).
But..we’ve played better than this under Conte than recently and with a weaker squad/not as many options.
Why this is could be a lot of things but Conte and his team need to work it out as they know the state of the squad a lot better anyone else.
Thank god
I think if Kane and Son had their shooting boots on this season we’d have won every game – seriously, margins have been fine on the draws and this first loss
But Antonio Conte has said he’s ok with the summer business done & THFC need another 2 or 3 transfer windows (may have been 3 or 4?), so sadly for all of us, patience again, but now for THIS manager should be afforded, shouldn’t it?
Great point!
& not forgetting Sir Alex Ferguson needed about 4 seasons before he led Manchester United to winning an FA Cup.
Ditto.
Conte walked in and he found he had about 7 players he could rely on…he now has at least 14.
So why are we unable to beat inferior opponents?
It’s not been about one cagey game though. it’s become a theme in almost every game we play…
Looks like it, on those sort of wages you don’t bite the hand that feeds. Clearly…
Can’t help feeling there is an element of playing all the right notes just not in the right order..maybe it’s hope..
How dare you speak truth…off with your head..
Conte came with a reputation for being a ‘genius’ at converting players into his type of wing back – he needs to work that trick again, we have bodies…
Great Post.
“We know that there are some fine players at Spurs, but that’s been the same ‘go-to’ default position for far too many years now.”
For every fine player there are two that are hopeless. That’s the bigger problem. Our transfer policy has seen to it for decades that we rarely buy what we actually need.
A good example of this is the fact we now host 5 defensive MF and 0 creative MF We have no outlet. We want to play with WB’s but buy full backs. We still only have the one (aging) CF.
Is it because Levy still micro manages the club to the enth degree. Of course it is. The manager may change the policy never does.
Conte a patsy ? Yep he sure is.
Fair point, but more than that, it could halt our progress in Europe and cost us league points…
Nobody can play a telling pass from midfield…
You aren’t a ‘nay-sayer’ its an invention, a bit like a ‘happy-clapper’.
It’s the happy-clappers that say “nay-sayer” you’ll notice too…
What on earth is a ‘nay-sayer’ in this respect? What are people saying ‘nay’ to exactly?
The ENIC spin that Conte has been ‘backed’ this summer? I say ‘Nay’ to that.
Our first eleven has been improved to any significant degree this summer? I say ‘Nay’ to that.
We’ll do well in Europe under Conte, given his record I say ‘Nay’ to that.
If a ‘nay-sayer’ is someone who disagrees with stuff that just doesn’t stack up, then sure, then a ‘nay-sayer’ they are. If that’s a convenient label you choose to put on salient individuals with a need for hard evidence. that’s your own business. However, there’s really no need to subject others to such nonsense…
His contract expires in just over a year, I don’t see him signing a new one…
Yep
Too many defensive midfielders.
Conte gets a pass because of what he has been given.
I’m sure Poch had similar issues in his 2nd season (remember a post about the amount of draws).
With Royal seemingly our best RWB and we recruited players ready for the training pitch, is it any wonder we see what we get?
The club has flip-flopped on the philosophy of playing style, and DNA has been binned as a coined phrase.
We don’t have a joined-up plan throughout the whole playing structure of the club, it was a mess which was one of the big things Paratici was recruited to sort.
Paratici started that we would only play with a back 4 (hence Nuno had less than no chance)
Though don’t forget, Conte’s contract only runs until next summer.
It’s not the only deal he botched, the list is too numerous to mention. Penny wise, pound foolish still after twenty three years.
Trust me it wasn’t a volley of abuse..it simply pointed out that we aren’t playing well we have ground out / been lucky in some games ..and yet there is a reticence to use the bench .Why ? Not like we are a team of sparkles is it…our only consistent performer is Peresic at 33 yrs.
If I am DJed Spence and I am being told that “I need to earn the right” to replace Royal I m thinking I was warned I was warned.
Conte wouldn’t let Gil go..Bissouma was hailed by all and sundry as a great early doors signing ..what’s the problem..can he not be programmed like the other automatons .
We are poor.
What you heard and reality are clearly not the same thing.
Cheers 👍
Maybe his instructions are to be conservative in possession, look for the safe pass even if it means passing backwards. Just another view.
Modric was magic. He has never been replaced. I’d go crazy and stick Kane in midfield alternating with Richie and Son up front in possession. He has an attacking instinct.
Devoid of a quality creative midfielder of Modric ilk what does Bentancur actually contribute? added to the list of overloaded holding midfielders?!!
I don’t expect too much, anything will be a bonus, because after less than a full season under Conte we aren’t really ready – there are stories of complete turnarounds in teams within 12-18 months of a new manager but they’re rare.
We should be good enough to navigate the group but also I wouldn’t be surprised to see us exit if we continue in this form (which is effectively ‘rolling the dice’ more than we should be). We should overpower teams like Sporting last night with this squad and being potentially a top 4 PL side.
I agree with much of this. Yes, we have been found out and it’s our predictability that is our Achilles heel. The WBs are clearly a problem but the real problem is midfield where there is zero creativity and the ability to dribble past an opponent to create space as Dembele did for us with Eriksen providing the passes. These two players have never been replaced and Bentancur struggles to impose himself when the game is played at pace. I hate Conte’s system but I give him credit for qualifying for the CL but I cannot see us going very far in this competition. In truth, we are crying out for a player like Mudryk but sadly Levy’s Holy Grail is a top four place and that is the height of his ambition. If you watched the Bayern Barca game, you would have seen how far behind our so called peers we really are.
2018 not 2016
Sure, but so far we’ve hardly bucked that trend in the first two European games. It’s a long season, we’ll see but I don’t see us doing anything in Europe from what we’ve seen so far…
It’s hardly rocket science that we have failed to replace Modric. On his day Eriksen was good but IMO Modric was better. Needless to say continually haunted Levy by the insane collapsed signing of Jack Grealish in 2016 I rest my case!!Quality creative midfielders are seemingly in scarce supply so when a good un like JG is available for a relatively modest figure you simply have to accomplish the deal! Alas Levy botched the deal. The rest is history.
The state of the footballing side was purely down to the people that run the club. Conte is a very good manager, but it was obvious to me once people who knew nothing about football started to take their hands off a little bit, and allow the manager to get on with his job, things started to improve.
Conte did a very good job last season, I’m just trying to work out where it goes this season. I don’t believe he’s been backed in quite the way people like to make out this summer. So there are several different factors to consider, particularly Conte’s very poor record in Europe.
So I’m not particularly convinced that we are a team ‘going places’, based on the transfer activity of the summer and the lack of improvement and to the first 11. We have added some much-needed depth in a few areas but we are not transformed and I don’t expect huge strides on last season. We could win a domestic cup, even Arsenal managed to do that a couple of years ago. We’ll see how it goes, but we’re going to have to improve significantly to do anything important this season. The two Champions League matches have not inspired, let’s be honest…
Turned into Winks Mk. II recently. Got to improve.
“we DO have a reputation for coming across as entitled as a fanbase.”
Very glad to see someone else pointing this out. Spurs’ fanbase often reminds me of Statler and Waldorf sitting up in the balcony back in the Muppet days.
This match should have been bossed. It wasn’t. Conte left the players in because this group should have done better. They should have it in them to boss that sort of competition. That should have been an ideal matchup for Spurs’ current style of play. However, the players did not hold their mud, and they were exposed for it.
Drawing the conclusion that Spurs should blow everything up in favour of the beautiful, flowing old game is madness. Beating the attacking midfielder drum might have a little merit, but it is not the magic button many of these stiff-necked fans blindly expect.
Yes, I would love to see Conte trying a different adjustment or two. However, this group should have been able to win this match with the same style they have focused on for months now… and the players were the ones who fell short.
Until these core players get to where they can fully execute the game Conte is after, we may not see him trust these players enough to put in very much adjustment.
Kane seems to be finding a reason to go on ‘semi-strike’ the first half of every season 😉
Maybe he also feels he’s closer to the exit door again, or contract issues are playing on his mind?
Then, he is renowned for starting seasons slowly anyway.
I hear you. It’s hard to be patient after so many years of dross. Certainly we’re improved from a year ago, but that’s a low bar for sure.
Regarding Kane, as someone noted here earlier, might it be that he’s playing at less than 100% effort to make sure he’s not injured for the WC?
Fair assessment – we are too reliant on Kane’s ‘magic radar’ through balls and long passing, and he’s malfunctioning in that regard right now.
As you say we have pace in the squad with Son and Kulu and don’t seem to be utilising it too well.
The evidence so far…the bigger the game the less you get from Bentancur.
His homework is to improve his ‘big game’ form.
I’m not usually a nay-sayer, but this is blinkered. How many rough AF “bullied our way to the points because we worked harder and are a bit fitter” sort of results can a team get away with before they actually start needing to be good at football?
A question United fans have been asking for about 12 years now.
Sometimes the stars need to align…Liverpool were average under Klopp for a fair old time.
I think patience for now, Conte could be the manager to make us purr…but also, if he isn’t we will need to move on.
I’d like to think the team will never sink as low as under Nuno again though – that put us back two seasons. Conte is doing his best but my lord, Nuno left us at rock rock bottom. Everton last season level, truly worrying.
Running into space, faster passing, knowing what you’re going to do with it before the ball even reaches you.
This is what good football teams seem to execute with a degree of skill that makes it look effortless. We see it for maybe 5 minutes in each game? Results holding up, but can’t last.
I’m gonna come out and say it: I don’t like the formation. We are screaming out for someone in the centre circle pulling the strings. Bentencur had that look about him, seems to have lost it now though.
It was a cagey away CL fixture but we had more chances, yet they capitalised on less.
They looked far more clinical in the final third, seems a massive problem to me. Kane in particular is fluffing his lines, he usually creates about three chances for himself and three for others. At the moment near zilch.
I keep hearing we’re a big team, have world class facilities yada yada. So when are we going to play like a big team?
you want to remove the context of the job he walked into?
It’s the only barometer
I’ve been trying to analyse the formation and style of play compared to the teams that are performing well at the moment. You look at Shakthar and Napoli, both had big wins against Leipzig and L’pool respectively. Both teams play with an inverted left winger/playmaker. Mudryk scored one and had 2 assists. Kvicha(signed for €10m, recruiting??) had only one assist, but largely dominated against the Scousers. Milan won the league last season and inverted left winger Leao was their star player. It works because right backs are often the weak point, we needn’t look any further than to Royal.
Our style brings about congestion in the middle of the final third. Only Perisic provides any attacking outlet when Kulu is not playing, curiously down the left flank. He’s often wasted having to defend deep. Inverted winger Kulu was a big hit last season and has performed well so far this season. He has to start every game, the only real baller with unpredictability in the squad. The style is flat, been found out, and the formation doesn’t suit the players. The only way to make it work is to use Perisic and Kulu as WB’s and get them to bombard the box with crosses to Kane and Richy. I think Conte wants to bulldoze teams with physicality and grit, hence our recent signings. It’s just not working. We’re flat, slow, uncreative and there’s no space in behind to run in. Maureen understood the value of space on the counter, which explains the Golden Kane and Son combo. It’s completely non-existent today because there’s no space to run in and Kane gets jumped as soon as he gets the ball.
If either Kulu or Perisic are injured we’re basically nullified offensively. In which case a change in formation is logical. Either 433 or 4231. I’d opt for the latter at this rate. Kulu would be capable of playing as a no. 10 with Perisic and Son on the wings. I think Son would perform a lot better as a winger. He looks neutered and miserable. Constantly faced away from goal when receiving the ball. Playing with some width and attacking face to goal from the middle tends to work. And I’ll say this; the best teams in Europe don’t use 3 at the back. We’re pretty solid defensively, but completely ineffective at front. A back four of Davies, Lenglet, Dier and Romero should be sufficient enough.
I’m not calling for Conte’s head. He did a fantastic job last season. But here we are, it’s looking bad and something has to change. I think overtraining is less the issue and more a case of formation and style(or lack thereof). Outdated and we’ve been found out. I don’t consider our squad magnificent, but in all fairness we should play teams like Marseille and Sporting off the pitch.
Conte walked in and he found he had about 7 players he could rely on…he now has at least 14.
Progress is being made and it’s too slow for you. Maybe it’s too slow for Conte, but the trajectory is up.
Our best players are in a rut and that’s partially down to the manager but also it’s more than that and really to judge this team I think we need a period with our star players playing in form to see what’s possible.
RWB is a concern for certain. Lenglet/Davies looks an adequate pairing for now but can be improved.
Attacking mid…I’m just more of the opinion we just need a rolls royce midfielder of any kind really. A Kante, a Rice, etc etc. I was hoping Bissouma could be that player but so far something’s up. If it’s a real problem we go again because that’s what makes the best teams, the star midfielder.
In simple terms, we’re a difficult watch when getting results.
With no results it’s simply a waste of time.
No, I think the fault is partially Conte’s for playing an insipid style, but mostly on ENIC for not properly backing him with the pieces required.
We do not have an attacking midfield player. Hence we try to play out from the wing.
But we only have one acceptable wingback, so all attacks must come from the left side unless somehow Kulu gets some room along the right.
We did not acquire a quality left-sided CB. Hence we have the Statue of Davies backing up and allowing the Sporting winger to cut inside and fire a shot at Lloris that led to the corner and then the game winner.
We do not have adequate depth that Conte trusts. Hence he does not make substitutions to change the game when change is required.
Is this Conte’s fault or management? I think both.
I’m sure he’s aware of that and wants to improve on it – sometimes these things are an unfortunate quirk or he needs to find a different approach.
In terms of Spurs there’s an argument we’re ‘punching’ having him as manager rather than the other way round…I’m not sure there’s a queue of CL winning coaches waiting for Levy’s call. The bloke saved us from not just mediocrity but potentially total embarrassment PLUS got us back to the big boys table on top of that.
His CV has a weakness – not a surprise. Just keeping an open mind for now.
Get a life, and have a problem with the team you support playing like cr*p.
Anything is better than 12 months ago, perhaps try to use a more relevant barometer?
How many clear cut quality chances are we creating for our forward players? The more chances created, the more chances to score. All forwards miss chances, if you don’t create a volume of chances to either score or miss with… Well, do the maths.
No ‘high horse ‘ here – just a fan who doesn’t overeact to adversity .
This result was bound to happen at some stage and now is the time when Conte shows his mettle . We think he’s the business [ I know I do ] and I wanna stand up and say it , okay ?
A poor performance , and two very late goals [ albeit preventable] have conspired to bring about a volley of abuse
We’ve never been different , Spurs fans are their own worst enemy and I’ve always hated that . Conte will rise to this , no doubts ……….
He’s one, maybe two, players short of what I think would be a perfect squad for him to work with. Not saying a ‘perfect squad’ (which is?) but a totally acceptable one for him to meet his ambitions. It really isn’t far off that level at all and he should be able to minimise the impact of that slight weakness.
He should be able to achieve something this season with the squad at his disposal – anything less and he’ll have failed.
January we must enter the market again like last year though.
Conte’s European record is abysmal…
If we’d been clinical in attack we’d have deserved to win…but we weren’t.
This lack of composure and conviction up front is hobbling our season more than anything.
This
It is very rare any side, other maybe than the best two or three best teams in Europe, will ever ‘walk a CL group’.
The draw was comparatively kind but I don’t think I heard too many fans say it would be easy. It looks a balanced group more or less and that’s what’s playing out.
Well that’s not believing Conte is an intelligent coach in the most basic of facets and is therefore dismissed by most?
Listen to you on your high horse ..deciding who and who doesn’t support Spurs ffs ..
Last night Sporting did to us what we had hoped to do to them simple .just as we did to 10 man Marseille,.their counters were better they had more shots on target and scored more goals ..is it the end of the world No ..does it signify we need to rotate the squad more I hope so ..that was another poor performance in a CL group many on here thought we would walk..it’s the deluded fools blinded by the ever dimming light that need to check their heads.
I think there is a tendency to over-react in the face of a disappointing defeat such as this H. Truthfully, we played better than we did against Marseille, against a better opponent. The only difference is a couple of fine goals from Richarlison saved our bacon against the French outfit, whereas last night, after a decent enough second half that we basically controlled, we were treated to the opposite outcome.
Notwithstanding the above, there are points worthy of criticism. Conte’s non-usage of his sub’s bench was bizaarre. Davies clearly struggled all night to create anything and wasn’t on the same page as Perisic, so I would have brought on Lenglet (I would actually have played him from the start). The midfield duo were clearly tiring late on, so why not bring on Bissouma and Skipp? Kulu also should have been brought on earlier, in place of Emerson.
I don’t feel we ‘deserved’ to lose, but we didn’t do enough to ‘deserve’ to win and we were punished. Freshening up the starting XI with proper use of a strong subs bench, in sapping heat, would surely have been the right way to go. Similarly not settling for a hard won point, as we entered injury time, seemed tactically naive. A tiring team was losing it’s shape in the last 5 minutes of normal time, yet the subs stayed on the bench.
A third way is that Conte is playing a style most conducive to the talent provided and like the countless others before him is destined to fail.
That , I feel , is a very legitimate point .
Forgive me but the blood and thunder English league game is looking criminally soft .
Twas only the Chelsea ‘derby ‘ game that indicated any passion and that is especially so in the Prem .
I think there are two ways last season was viewed by Spurs fans.
The first is Conte achieved what he wanted, to instil some sort of belief/guts and a playing style. He worked out ‘his’ players. He did this all in a pragmatic, slightly dogged and dull way, but he achieved. this season he’s raised his ambitions, it took a while last season…so some fans give him that benefit.
Or…other fans accept he did achieve but my god it wasn’t all that scintillating or entertaining, they put him ‘on notice’ and he’s up against it from the off. They want Conte’s ambition this season to be to play ‘easier on the eye’ football and there’s a realisation that might not be an outright ambition as such.
Both are I guess valid but the latter does feel a smidgen misty eyed and/or entitled.
absolutely correct === 24 hours has elapsed and its as though some we’re aching for this to happen === get a life and just SUPPORT your team right when you’re needed most . C O Y S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
The squad isn’t bad. The manager isn’t bad. Our star player isn’t bad. Our second best player isn’t bad. Our recent transfer activity isn’t bad. Our season so far isn’t bad. So what is bad?
Nothing is ‘bad’ – compared to 12 months ago it’s positively orgasmic.
But something (our play) is a bit poor and it needs to improve but i’m not going to go around saying any of the above are bad yet. Because, if you apply logic and perspective, none of the above has been bad.
This is not to say it couldn’t fall apart – but people embarrassing themselves saying ‘Conte out’ and thinking we have ‘a divine right to be as good as City by now’ – if other fans of clubs did this we’d point and laugh. News just in…we DO have a reputation for coming across as entitled as a fanbase.
I want improvement but nothing is actively awful, plenty of room for improvement, restraint and patience, there will be a time to make big calls (such as the manager being sacked) but it isn’t now.
It may be faint at times but surely we can all clearly see the writing on the wall. A top class manager brought in, not adequately backed, the best players leave in search of trophies. The manager is blamed but the writing on the wall tells the real story.
Lets get this right = we suffered the inevitable defeat that was gonna kick start the nay-sayers .
Well this is the time for the man we know he is , to step forward and repair replace and re invigorate our players , this is why he’s paid the big potatoes .
Is there any one out there thinking he will not be going ‘radio rental’ at that performance , any body doubt he has the courage to do what is necessary to correct this absurd situation – we lost a match !!!!!
What a reaction , a million miles over the top [ and yes I do realise it was a pile of sh..] Conte was brought in to remove this from our system – its a setback that had to come but now is the time to measure the man , I for one have complete faith………….
I have never been convinced that anything has changed at Spurs in the last few years. I vowed never to watch another game after last season.
Yet – just at the beginning of this summer’s transfer window – Perišić – an EARLY signing – maybe Conte was to be backed after all.
But alas – it was to be one more hopeful dream.
It’s taken the NEW England cricket team to remind me of why I have supported Spurs for 45 years. For it is here that we hear once more our history…….
“The game is about glory. It is about doing things in style, with a flourish, about going out and beating the other lot, not waiting for them to die of boredom.”
and for reference see the article below.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/62872257
Levy and ENIC are in the last chance saloon with the fans. Failure under Conte would be the final nail in the coffin. All fans, all possible future managers and everyone else in football would know for certain to never bother with Tottenham Hotspur. There would be no benefit of the doubt. Look how hard it was to recruit a manager after sacking Mourinho.
The question is, does Levy realise?
And I really don’t think Poch would ever come back if the same nonsense was going on.
In my opinion the transfer window went quite well. Could have been better but if you had offered me that in April I would have bitten your hand off. We are seeing that it is going to be a slow process. Whilst it is fair and right to continue to criticise the deficiencies in the transfer business, we shouldn’t be losing our minds over it.
Sounds a about right. We almost got away with a draw and then we could have continued to say we’re undefeated. The cracks are getting bigger! I worry about managers who have rigid systems and play the same players. Work with what you have and change up. It’s odd he’s persisting with Royal and why not rotate Son more. Porh will be back before long to save Levy’s skin. I hope he gets a job soon so Levy can’t use his get outta jail free card.