If for you, critical thinking is something that happens to other people, then the next steps for Daniel Levy are all too obvious. The Portuguese Pulis needs to be sacked with immediate effect, and Harry Redknapp be returned to his rightful place as the most exciting football manager Tottenham Hotspur has ever seen.
Overnight, Gareth Bale will switch back on his turbo jets, Harry Winks will rekindle his Iniesta tribute act, Eric Dier’s IQ will automatically bump into triple digits, Hugo Lloris’ voice will boom once again and make Brian Blessed sound like a shy choirboy. Perhaps most importantly of all. Dele Alli will return to the starting XI and score oodles of goals, and only via nutmegs!
Alternatively, one can look at the players and see that (as mentioned previously) there really are 3 glaring issues with the squad.
- There are too many duff players on the books, too many players that have run their course at Spurs.
Eric Dier, Davinson Sanchez, Harry Winks, Erik Lamela, Ben Davies
- There are players that aren’t fit for purpose
Matt Doherty, Gedson Fernandes, Carlos Vinicius, Gareth Bale, Dele Alli, Lucas Moura
- Injured players
Harry Kane, Giovani Lo Celso, Sergio Reguilon
Now, my maths isn’t great, but right now, but that’s 11 bad players, plus 3 good players missing, which leaves enough honest starting XI players to form a decent 5-a-side team. At best.
Only one man can overcome these odds – and at a price you can afford. Harry Redknapp. I’d also like Tim Sherwood as assistant to the manager.
Comments are open to those who can contribute something worth reading. Those that do not make the grade will not appear.
How does the owner sack himself?🤦♀️ And if he did that then he would have to employ a new chairman! So how is that cheaper?
A good read mate despite the repetition 😆 Son is brilliant running on the break towards goal latching on to through balls or balls over the top. That run and goal from his own half too was amazing. But notice the defence are backpeddling every time.. He’s great for counter attacking ideally against a team high pressing…. But when we need to build up play and playmake then he slows us down and achieves nothing with loads of safe and easy passing. He still has work to do to improve his game in my opinion.
Point well made!
Nailing adequate replacements quickly has dogged us for as far as I can remember. Regi is fantastic, but he’s probably the only LB with any sort of consistency since Benny LOLed off. We all hoped Doherty would finally fill the ancient RB gap, but he’s failed to show anything like the demo version we saw at Wolves last year. Eriksen’s creativity hasn’t been replaced and we’re talking about replacing him with himself on loan. Similar situation replacing Bale with Bale, and it’s taken a couple of years to fill in the Dembele shaped hole. Toby is due his bus pass soon, so how long will it take to get a solid CB with experience?
By freshening up the team, from whats on show, begs the question why Jose is not giving debuts to the likes of Alfie Devine and Harvey White et al which can’t be any worse than what we are seeing when at least they will play with a distinct passion and desire which is currently absent from the current motley crew!!
Will we still have a sad squad when the transfer window closes?
I hope not, it makes me sad the players are sad
If we don’t sign anyone, at least we haven’t signed another sh1te player, but have we missed out on signing a player to help us.
The defense is a mess, terrible full backs barring Regi, and one class centre half in Toby and 1 with potential in Rodon.
The midfield and wide players are chocca with bang average.
Is this what we are gonna be left with to nurse us thru the season.
I can’t see the squads happiness improving, which means neither will ours.
I tend to agree with H, and i am and will be a supporter of Jose, as he is the manager of our club, and trying to drive him out serves no benefit. I would also like to know who a suggestion is to replace him, and one caller on the radio suggested Frank lampard, so for me it’s not an option. But, a few things have disturbed me. A) we were top of the league, defending brilliantly, massive goal difference, Sissoko and PEH sitting in front of the defence and effectively forming a 6 man wall when we were defending. Jose decided to play around with that formation, leaving out Sissoko. Why? The Dele Alli thing. It’s not been dealt with, and as stated, it’s hanging over the club. The atmosphere with him around cannot be good, surely. The Serge Aurier thing. This really disturbs me if true, and that he is now going to be outcast (We dont know for sure, but if it’s true). Serge was not responsible for Liverpools first goal on Thursday, he recovered sufficiently to make Mane put over a piddly poor cross. The players that turned that into a goal were Dier and Lloris standing waiting for each other to do something. Then that awful second goal was all Lloris’s fault. So, does Lloris get a free pass, and Aurier get blamed for nothing. hence, yesterday, he was forced to put Sissoko at Right Back, and we were being overrun in Midfield. I could see that, all my Spurs supporting friends texting me could see that, so why couldn’t Jose see that. Winks should have come on as the extra man in Midfield i think. Yes, we are in the League Cup Final, 5th round FA cup, knockout Europa, and to be fair, 6th in the League in what is a very unpredictable season, when everyone has bad spells, so we can retrieve that. the worrying thing for me is that if the players continue to perform like they have been, our season could effectively be over in then next two or so weeks, and something does not look right at the moment
Ok, could be an understatement, but worse than Brighton. A team who didn’t have a home win all season and 3 wins in total before we played them.
He’s worked with two players who have genuine world class ability, our others don’t have that ability but it doesn’t mean they’re incapable of improving.
Plenty of managers make teams that are greater than the sum of their parts and I think that’s the type of manager that we need. Lots of talk of a painful rebuild and do you honestly think Jose is the man for that job?
Lack of quality investment is definitely an issue but unless there’s a change of board, I can’t see us spending loads, especially in the current climate. With all of that in mind, I can’t see JM being the right fit. Im not saying that he is suddenly a shit manager. He’s got more success than our last 30 managers combined or something but I don’t think he’ll get the investment he needs to be a success with us and won’t get the best out of the players that we can get.
This will actually be the third window,since his arrival and we are a few hours away from getting nobody in again.
Disagree with both of you.. Spurs playing ‘stylish attacking football’ and entertaining everyone with this barca esq attacking flair is pure fantasy and fairytales… Since 1991 we have won one fa cup and 2 league cups.. The 50s and 60s is long gone, and back then every team played with a low block and a back four that barely left their own 30 yard lines.. We have had some decent strikers and forwards over the years, but the top teams have usually been smashing us 3 plus goals to nil for decades now… Attacking entertaining football my arse. The Arsenal Invincibles was this.. Not us guys… Real reality check.
Whilst I can foresee a humiliating defeat which Jose will be livid about lets hope we turn up on the night and confound expectations. Given that our title challenge is over for yet another season I’d take a point now which is better than nothing!!
We’ve already lost the Chelsea game
Unless we step up big time I do fear for the Chelsea match which could get messy if we take a tonking and heap the pressure on Mourinhio!
When you are outplayed and outclassed by a much hungrier supposedly inferior Brighton side sharper and quicker to the ball then with matches coming up against Chelsea, West Brom and Man City, based on current form I can see us losing all 3 matches. Possibly beating West Brom but given the Allardyce effect thats no formality!!
I think the answers you seek might be in the last years’ worth of this blog.
1, some duff players in there + injuries this is a huge understatement
2. which of our players has mourinho improved? Kane, obviously and Ndombele obviously and Skipp, obviously.
3. JM’s had one window. what do you want? Let’s get Poch back and try to revive all the clapped out players again?
I get that we’ve got some duff players in there + injuries but I honestly thought we had the personnel to beat Brighton yesterday. Couple of things that I want to ask. Does anyone know what our system/style is…..Defend and then hope Kane and Son produce some magic?
Second question is which of our players has mourinho improved? Ndombele has definitely improved, Kane has got more assists but not sure if that’s down to mourinho.
Everyone knows we’re a club that can’t or won’t pay top dollar for established world class players so we have to take a punt and try and create them. Is mourinho the person to do that? Has he created any sort of recognisable style of play/system for players to work towards. I can’t see it.
There are issues with the squad, built over the last few years since the no transfer year. But duff players make up most teams as part of a squad though you never want them all playing at once, though sissoko isn’t on this list (mind blown). Deadwood/not fit for purpose players is an ability to move players in has been hurting the team for to long but this is a culture thing with levy. Though some not fit for purpose are loans which paints a picture we weren’t 100% confident in them? And we compound by who actually is scouting these players even allowing for the occasional mistake.
So you then play a system that fits the quality of players you have. Let’s start winning some pots and the squad will evolve and if we have 2 finals and one win it will be a good year considering where we are at.
I wish i could buy the club & do whats needed. 1/ I would love to see our great football again, but whilst the wuality isnt there , you have to try something different. 2/ It is a myth that to defend properly you have to sit back. Attack , then when possession is lost you get into shape. 3/ As well as getting rid of our huge pile of deadwood, replace with skill & steel. I know Souness, Mackay etc are not about , but it is the managers job & scouts to find the best available. 4/ also im sick of this lacklustre Spurs , so often , usually at top 5 away. Be up for it , fight , no inferiority complex. 5/ most of all , im sick to death of a club our size, not winning anything. No title in 60 years & only 2. We should have at least double our 17 trophies. Get the old Liverpool or even goons mentality. Win with style if possible , but win.
The last 18-months under Poch were not hardly sparkling – they were diabolical and humiliating!
Things are looking rather desperate, but let’s not kid ourselves, they have been for some time. Even the last 18 months under Poch were hardly sparkling. Come the Summer we will be at 3 years of decline, whether we win the Caffeine Cup or not.
I think the debate around Mourinho not being able to win without quality holds some truth, he looks like he is struggling with his ‘sad’ team (that was odd). However, he was happy with the squad when he took over, he said so himself. He and the team have had fleeting moments of brilliance (Beating the Manchester teams) but if Moyes can get a tune out of that average bunch in Stratford, I expect more. We have 2 world class players to their none, but for how much longer? I agree with HH that injuries are hurting us, but all clubs go through this, some just handle it better. Squad depth always helps, we don’t have it.
A big issue for me was Spurs didn’t ship anyone out in the Summer, especially the deadwood or the troublemakers. ‘But we weren’t going to get market value’ I hear some say. For me, getting rid of Dele for £35m would have been a statement of intent. Just like Utd getting rid of the freeloader Sanchez. Look how bad Arsenal have been with Ozil poisoning their club. A club has to cut ties with players like that. Dele wasn’t as bad as those two, but we needed to get rid.
Also, one of the best CB we have ever had leaves and we replace him with a kid with potential! Foresight like that is asking for trouble. Cue Rodon not clearing the ball v Liverpool. That has become the Spurs way. Eriksen wasn’t shipped out by the way, he left well before Dembele packed his bags! We have now lost Walker, Rose (in soul not body), Jan, Dembele and Eriksen and replaced those players with mediocrity, whether from the transfer market or our bench. And we only got a good deal out of one of them, Walker! Good players can move the ball quickly and forward, even Hojbjerg and Ndombele hold onto the ball too long for me. Was Levy truly expecting Jose to turn the likes of Davies and Winks in to world beaters? He’s not a magician. They are decent Premiership players, nothing more. A career at Palace awaits you.
I think Mourinho does needs to shoulder some of the blame here, but the buck stops with Levy and ENIC. Lots can be said about Levy being preoccupied with the stadium and not with football in recent years, but surely a good CEO could have ensured success in both? With what has happened to the football and the debt the stadium has incurred I see him as a resounding failure.
To be fair, as beautiful as it sometimes was, the old ‘playing with style’ never truly got us anywhere in the last few decades, bar the hope of a UEFA Cup qualifier place via the Fair Play Award and some more recent Top 4/6 finishes… There are two things that almost became a club ethos – (1) lack of aggression and (2) tendency to concede points in the dying minutes. Before last Christmas, and surprisingly under Jose, we got a glimpse of what could be achieved from a lovely attacking style of play married with an aggressive mentality and a little bit of shithousery. A lot of supporters complained it wasn’t “the Tottenham way” but if truth be told, it was fantastic and got results. It’s a mystery why it suddenly disappeared, and recent performances indicate it is sorely missed. Conceding late has always been an issue and has consistently cost us challenges. It went away for a while, but reared its ugly head in recent games where we were set up to defend early 1 goal leads.
Absolutely
The reason i watch football it’s because i love it, i love to watch exciting attacking football. Over the years Spurs have been renowned for being Spursy and messing things up, but for much of the time the emphasis was style and attack.
Sure we have had lean periods, but this appointment is the same as George Graham, a proven winner, but totally anti Spurs brand of football.
Mourinho is a winner, but it’s at severe cost, the cost is division of the fans, terrible football and when it all comes to a horrible end, relief and rebuild.
We needed progression, we are being kidded that we need to win something. A short term trophy is not the fix.
This is doomed and we are going to be suffering for some time, the football isn’t going to get better and poor results against Chelsea, Wet Spam, Man C, Everton and Man C in the cup and the defeaning silence at New White Hat Lane will really start to be heard.
Anyone who believes Mourinho is the right man and things will get better just need to see how it all ended at Man U, Chelsea twice, Madrid and Inter. Clubs with ifinitely more spending power than us and with more recent success.
I love Spurs, always have, but i can’t watch anymore of this dross. The Arse and Cheatski are turning the corner, Everton show glimpses and they are feeling better about themselves, Villa look decent.
Sure, reality check is we aren’t far of the top four, reality check, we are miles ofv the top four
Oh no it isn’t!
I agree sacking the manager is not the answer. When we were flying we underpaid Rose and Walker and probably Eriksen for example and those 3 were often in the press about moving on. Levy overvalued them as he is doing now with Dele and Sanchez, Moura should be moved on, same as Aurier. They are discontented and it affects the squad, hard to blame a manager for this scenario. Levy’s business model is buy low and sell high and thus we get stuck with deadwood or discontents. As a manager JM likes to buy high cost experienced footballers fit for purpose.
What is going to change?
I would expect Bale to lead by example and show others he is better than them, no? Fernandes did it at Utd. That has lifted other Utd player’s performance levels. Bale has hardly shone in any capacity. agree with everything else.
They could install a Jurassic Park clone of Bill Nicholson and it still wouldn’t make a blind bit of difference. Levy simply evaded Poch’s “painful rebuild” prologue by replacing him with “serial winner” Jose instead of accepting reality and hoovering the dust off the chequebook. Now that Jose’s honeymoon period has passed, the overhaul is glaringly obvious again. Hojbjerg and Reguilon being the exceptions, we’re once again talking about misfits brought in, replacement policy gaps (Eriksen?), and lamenting top talent recruits that Levy let slip away at the 11th hour.
Sorry guys the comments software has gone square-shaped like the team
I have followed Spurs since 1950. I am familiar with the Emperor’s New Clothes. I have never posted a comment before but will say this in our beleaguered times (virus that is). Over the the generations, the club has had many loyal followers who enjoyed watching football played with style. It is essential to the DNA of the club that we appoint managers and coaches who epitomise this. Great clubs of the past have played to their DNA.
So for the rest of the new “Roaring Twenties” and beyond we need club management, whoever it is, to provide responsible squad investment, not tied to getting a “deal”, in a timely manner for integration, and a coaching staff who understand their responsibilities in upholding the traditions of what this club has done in providing football with style. The field of dreams story, with a small adjustment, applies: if you build it success will come. Danny Blanchflower said the game is about glory. He meant not just in the winning of games but the manner in which they are played.
Michael
The overall quality in the squad is the defining issue. Jose cannot be held accountable for elite professional football players, being paid the sort of income that most of us could only dream of, not being able to pass a football accurately over ten yards. As I stated in an earlier post we have a cluster of gold nuggets surrounded and weighed down by a core of iron pyrite. Bale for all his issues would have shown much more if he had been played in a team with more quality around him. It looks to me that he has realised just how poor the squad is and with the added impact of no crowds he has not been able to lift his performances. Jose has the experience to know what he is working with and that is also the problem. Davies loses his man yet again and costs us a goal and then flaps both arms up in the air as if it was everyone else’s fault. Every time he receives the ball he stops and passes backward or gives the forward ball directly to the opposition. It would make any quality player on the pitch in the same team or its manager despair. We have no reliable full-backs except Requilion who may very well want to return to RM after watching his teammates here and if Bale goes back. We are shuffling the deck with a poor hand hoping it will turn into a royal flush. Sissoko has one position within his limited ability and that is alongside Hoijberg. He is being played as a fullback or a wingback. Ndombele will not want to hang around. He will look at the quality at PSG and the fact that it is his home patch and his mind will never settle here if we do not win major honours. Plus he just does not like the physicality of the EPL and getting lumps taken out of him every match. We have no midfield as such in the middle of the park and that is where we allow the opposition time and space to build form and momentum. We aim endless long balls in the air to Son and totally waste his ability which I feel has now affected his form and desire. He is a player who needs to enjoy playing and at the moment he is running around chasing shadows. He will not rush to sign a new contract at the moment. Add to that we now have the annual Kane injury and no adequate striker replacement. Sorry to the Vinicius advocates but he is not the answer. This window as many before looks like a non-event and yet again teams around us have brought in players. We have a sack full of rubbish that no one wants at the prices Levy wants and we are stuck in this continual status of non-achievement. We all know what the real problem is at this club and it is a four-letter word beginning with E and ending with C.
It is no wonder we were second best. Brighton played football the way Spurs used to in the 1960s, ie pass the ball forward to a player in a more dangerous position, then move forward to a position to receive the ball. All passes are played in front of the receiver ensuring the ball moves forward.
In contrast, Spurs, without Kane had only one player, PEH who was consistently trying to do this. But you can’t do it on your own, you need several players signed up to that way of playing. We had;
Hugo, worst distribution I have seen from a top goalie.
Davies – tries a few forward passes but is frequently inaccurate.
Toby, usually sideways, then tried long balls. No good last night as we had no one to hold up the ball, or even win it.
Sanchez, sideways
Rodon, sideways, taking his cue from the others.
Sissoko, first instinct is to go on a bullocking solo run, which usually ends in a loss of possession
PEH, tries his heart out, you can see him looking for a useful pass, but no one is moving to a useful position.
Tanguy; usually wants to take on opponents at close quarters and beat them by dribbling. Has produced some end product this season, but needs to do some simple stuff as well as the Hollywood stuff.
Bale, thinks he can take on everyone, so that’s what he tries, but he’s past it.
Bergwjn, another dribbler
Son, another dribbler, lost without Kane’s assists.
On the bench.
Lamela, another ;(one footed) dribbler
Lucas, another dribbler
Vinicius, at least he looked like a striker.
So when Kane is absent we have virtually no creativity. We so miss Dele for his ability to release the ball in tight situations, and CE who could open up defences with sweeping accurate passes that take out defenders.
We have bought the wrong type of players, kept the wrong type of players, let go the players we need. It’s no wonder we are in a mess. No quick fix that I can see. It’s a major rebuild required.
Ps. Although it would be Hilaaaaarious to see Levy go grovelling back to H to get him out of bother again….
Harry? Naaaa. That’s the same as signing Bale back. Those times have gone. Wasted, like every other good thing Levy stomped on. When Kane returns it’ll pick up….no idea what occured last night though. Everything was in their favour….then ….. *Raspberry*
Spot on H. The real problem is as always Levy and his disastrous transfer policy. Jose has been making the best of a bad job all season and the signs were there even when Spurs were at the top of the table. Way too many players lacking the necessary ball skills or physicality. Possessions lost due to pathetic passing, slow build ups due to poor first touches, over 90% of forward balls over head height being won by defenders. Jose tried to counter these shortcomings by putting 9 players behind the ball and relying on the fast break but once opponents sussed out the need to track Kane when he moved back and Son lost his scoring boots it was game over. Thanks to Levy this team has way too much coal and too few diamonds. To succeed in this league you can barely afford to have one underachiever while Spurs field at least 5 of them every game.
It’s like running round in circles being a Spurs fan you end up back where you started with the same common denominator as the problem.
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The overall quality in the squad is the defining issue. Jose cannot be held accountable for elite professional football players, being paid the sort of income that most of us could only dream of, not being able to pass a football accurately over ten yards. As I stated in an earlier post we have a cluster of gold nuggets surrounded and weighed down by a core of iron pyrite. Bale for all his issues would have shown much more if he had been played in a team with more quality around him. It looks to me that he has realised just how poor the squad is and with the added impact of no crowds he has not been able to lift his performances. Jose has the experience to know what he is working with and that is also the problem. Davies loses his man yet again and costs us yet another goal and then flaps both arms up in the air as if it was everyone else’s fault. Every time he receives the ball he stops and passes backward or gives the forward ball directly to the opposition. It would make any quality player on the pitch in the same team or its manager despair. We have no reliable full-backs except Requilion who may very well want to return to RM after watching his teammates here and if Bale goes back. We are shuffling the deck with a poor hand hoping it will turn into a royal flush. Sissoko has one position within his limited ability and that is alongside Hoijberg. He is being played as a fullback. or wingback Ndombele will not want to hang around. He will look at the quality at PSG and the fact that it is his home patch and his mind will never settle here if we do not win major honours. Plus he just does not like the physicality of the EPL and getting lumps taken out of him every match. We have no midfield as such in the middle of the park and that is where we allow the opposition time and space to build form and momentum. We aim endless long balls in the air to Son and totally waste his ability which I feel has now affected his form and desire. He is a player who needs to enjoy playing and at the moment he is running around chasing shadows. He will not rush to sign a new contract at the moment. This window as many before looks like a non-event and yet again teams around us have brought in players. We have a sack full of rubbish that no one wants at the prices Levy wants and we are stuck in this continual status of non-achievement. We all know what the real problem is at this club and it is a four-letter word beginning with E and ending with C.
The overall quality in the squad is the defining issue. Jose cannot be held accountable for elite professional football players, being paid the sort of income that most of us could only dream of, not being able to pass a football accurately over ten yards. As I stated in an earlier post we have a cluster of gold nuggets surrounded and weighed down by a core of iron pyrite. Bale for all his issues would have shown much more if he had been played in a team with more quality around him. It looks to me that he has realised just how poor the squad is and with the added impact of no crowds he has not been able to lift his performances. Jose has the experience to know what he is working with and that is also the problem. Davies lose his man yet again and cost us a goal and then flap both arms up in the air as if it was everyone else’s fault. Every time he receives the ball he stops and passes backward or gives the forward ball directly to the opposition. It would make any quality player on the pitch in the same team or its manager despair. We have no reliable full-backs except Requilion who may very well want to return to RM after watching his teammates here and if Bale goes back. We are shuffling the deck with a poor hand hoping it will turn into a royal flush. Sissoko has one position within his limited ability and that is alongside Hoijberg. He is being played as a fullback. or wingback Ndombele will not want to hang around. He will look at the quality at PSG and the fact that it is his home patch and his mind will never settle here if we do not win major honours. Plus he just does not like the physicality of the EPL and getting lumps taken out of him every match. We have no midfield as such in the middle of the park and that is where we allow the opposition time and space to build form and momentum. We aim endless long balls in the air to Son and totally waste his ability which I feel has now affected his form and desire. He is a player who needs to enjoy playing and at the moment he is running around chasing shadows. He will not rush to sign a new contract at the moment. This window as many before looks like a non-event and yet again teams around us have brought in players. We have a sack full of rubbish that no one wants at the prices Levy wants and we are stuck in this continual status of non-achievement. We all know what the real problem is at this club and it is a four-letter word beginning with E and ending with C.
The overall quality in the squad is the defining issue. Jose cannot be held accountable for elite professional football players, being paid the sort of income that most of us could only dream of, not being able to pass a football accurately over ten yards. As I stated in an earlier post we have a cluster of gold nuggets surrounded and weighed down by a core of iron pyrite. Bale for all his issues would have shown much more if he had been played in a team with more quality around him. It looks to me that he has realised just how poor the squad is and with the added impact of no crowds he has not been able to lift his performances. Jose has the experience to know what he is working with and that is also the problem. Davies lose his man yet again and cost us a goal and then flap both arms up in the air as if it was everyone else’s fault. Every time he receives the ball he stops and passes backward or gives the forward ball directly to the opposition. It would make any quality player on the pitch in the same team or its manager despair. We have no reliable full-backs except Requilion who may very well want to return to RM after watching his teammates here and if Bale goes back. We are shuffling the deck with a poor hand hoping it will turn into a royal flush. Sissoko has one position within his limited ability and that is alongside Hoijberg. He is being played as a fullback. or wingback Ndombele will not want to hang around. He will look at the quality at PSG and the fact that it is his home patch and his mind will never settle here if we do not win major honours. Plus he just does not like the physicality of the EPL and getting lumps taken out of him every match. We have no midfield as such in the middle of the park and that is where we allow the opposition time and space to build form and momentum. We aim endless long balls in the air to Son and totally waste his ability which I feel has now affected his form and desire. He is a player who needs to enjoy playing and at the moment he is running around chasing shadows. He will not rush to sign a new contract at the moment. This window as many before looks like a non-event and yet again teams around us have brought in players. We have a sack full of rubbish that no one wants at the prices Levy wants and we are stuck in this continual status of non-achievement. We all know what the real problem is at this club and it is a four-letter word beginning with E and ending with C.
The overall quality in the squad is the defining issue. Jose cannot be held accountable for elite professional football players, being paid the sort of income that most of us could only dream of, not being able to pass a football accurately over ten yards. As I stated in an earlier post we have a cluster of gold nuggets surrounded and weighed down by a core of iron pyrite. Bale for all his issues would have shown much more if he had been played in a team with more quality around him. It looks to me that he has realised just how poor the squad is and with the added impact of no crowds he has not been able to lift his performances. Jose has the experience to know what he is working with and that is also the problem. Davies lose’s his man yet again and cost us a goal and then flap both arms up in the air as if it was everyone else’s fault. Every time he receives the ball he stops and passes backward or gives the forward ball directly to the opposition. It would make any quality player on the pitch in the same team or its manager despair. We have no reliable full-backs except Requilion who may very well want to return to RM after watching his teammates here and if Bale goes back. We are shuffling the deck with a poor hand hoping it will turn into a royal flush. Sissoko has one position within his limited ability and that is alongside Hoijberg. He is being played as a fullback. or wingback Ndombele will not want to hang around. He will look at the quality at PSG and the fact that it is his home patch and his mind will never settle here if we do not win major honours. Plus he just does not like the physicality of the EPL and getting lumps taken out of him every match. We have no midfield as such in the middle of the park and that is where we allow the opposition time and space to build form and momentum. We aim endless long balls in the air to Son and totally waste his ability which I feel has now affected his form and desire. He is a player who needs to enjoy playing and at the moment he is running around chasing shadows. He will not rush to sign a new contract at the moment. This window as many before looks like a non-event and yet again teams around us have brought in players. We have a sack full of rubbish that no one wants at the prices Levy wants and we are stuck in this continual status of non-achievement. We all know what the real problem is at this club and it is a four-letter word beginning with E and ending with C.
The overall quality in the squad is the defining issue. Jose cannot be held accountable for elite professional football players, being paid the sort of income that most of us could only dream of, not being able to pass a football accurately over ten yards. As I stated in an earlier post we have a cluster of gold nuggets surrounded and weighed down by a core of iron pyrite. Bale for all his issues would have shown much more if he had been played in a team with more quality around him. It looks to me that he has realised just how poor the squad is and with the added impact of no crowds he has not been able to lift his performances. Jose has the experience to know what he is working with and that is also the problem. Davies lose his man yet again and cost us a goal and then flap both arms up in the air as if it was everyone else’s fault. Every time he receives the ball he stops and passes backward or gives the forward ball directly to the opposition. It would make any quality player on the pitch in the same team or its manager despair. We have no reliable full-backs except Requilion who may very well want to return to RM after watching his teammates here and if Bale goes back. We are shuffling the deck with a poor hand hoping it will turn into a royal flush. Sissoko has one position within his limited ability and that is alongside Hoijberg. He is being played as a fullback. or wingback Ndombele will not want to hang around. He will look at the quality at PSG and the fact that it is his home patch and his mind will never settle here if we do not win major honours. Plus he just does not like the physicality of the EPL and getting lumps taken out of him every match. We have no midfield as such in the middle of the park and that is where we allow the opposition time and space to build form and momentum. We aim endless long balls in the air to Son and totally waste his ability which I feel has now affected his form and desire. He is a player who needs to enjoy playing and at the moment he is running around chasing shadows. He will not rush to sign a new contract at the moment. This window as many before looks like a non-event and yet again teams around us have brought in players. We have a sack full of rubbish that no one wants at the prices Levy wants and we are stuck in this continual status of non-achievement. We all know what the real problem is at this club and it is a four-letter word beginning with E and ending with C.
The overall quality in the squad is the defining issue. Jose cannot be held accountable for elite professional football players, being paid the sort of income that most of us could only dream of, not being able to pass a football accurately over ten yards. As I stated in an earlier post we have a cluster of gold nuggets surrounded and weighed down by a core of iron pyrite. Bale for all his issues would have shown much more if he had been played in a team with more quality around him. It looks to me that he has realised just how poor the squad is and with the added impact of no crowds he has not been able to lift his performances. Jose has the experience to know what he is working with and that is also the problem. Davies lose his man yet again and cost us a goal and then flap both arms up in the air as if it was everyone else’s fault. Every time he receives the ball he stops and passes backward or gives the forward ball directly to the opposition. It would make any quality player on the pitch in the same team or its manager despair. We have no reliable full-backs except Requilion who may very well want to return to RM after watching his teammates here and if Bale goes back. We are shuffling the deck with a poor hand hoping it will turn into a royal flush. Sissoko has one position within his limited ability and that is alongside Hoijberg. He is being played as a fullback. or wingback Ndombele will not want to hang around. He will look at the quality at PSG and the fact that it is his home patch and his mind will never settle here if we do not win major honours. Plus he just does not like the physicality of the EPL and getting lumps taken out of him every match. We have no midfield as such in the middle of the park and that is where we allow the opposition time and space to build form and momentum. We aim endless long balls in the air to Son and totally waste his ability which I feel has now affected his form and desire. He is a player who needs to enjoy playing and at the moment he is running around chasing shadows. He will not rush to sign a new contract at the moment. This window as many before looks like a non-event and yet again teams around us have brought in players. We have a sack full of rubbish that no one wants at the prices Levy wants and we are stuck in this continual status of non-achievement. We all know what the real problem is at this club and it is a four-letter word beginning with E and ending with C.
Ah.
James, what about my blog post above did you not read or wish to dispute?
I agree about squad depth, but that does not change the fact, we have 2 right wing backs, yes, they are not great, but they are better than sissoko. Jose needs some blame. Even the formation, and in match approach. The players themselves are not naturally defensive (under Poch, the same players if anything, forgot they needed to!)…so something in training has changed…
Will Jose turn it around? Who knows, does he deserve more time…?sure everyone has different opinion…Will he get the money he needs? of course not…So the question really…will we be worth watching any time soon…of course not, so Kane will go – no manager change is going to fix us while Levy in charge.
The needs new players excuse can be used only so long in modern football. Jose got 7 new ones last summer, during a financial meltdown for the club.There is no money to give him 11 more. Even clubs with unlimited resources like Man U allow coaches only so many new players before they are invited to leave and not come back.
The key contrast with Tottenham is that such clubs can afford to award inflated contracts to coaches and pay them off when things implode. Levy unfortunately saw implosion as being inconceivable, despite what had happened in Jose’s previous two jobs. Now we are stuck with this.
Exactly, but it’s sad these facts have to be repeated after every disappointing result. With players fit and on form, we beat City and Utd, showing we can mix it with the top teams, but we also couldn’t beat several mid- to lower-table teams – so there are clear limitations even with Kane and Reguilon fit.
Now, three of our best players are out; another (Son) has seemed off colour, and Aurier, who was somewhat decent in a few games, apparently had a bust-up and couldn’t play yesterday. And because Doherty is god-awful, this leaves us with Sissoko as the RWB. Christ, Davies-Toby-Rodon-Sanchez-Sissoko was always going to be a car crash of a backline.
The squad was allowed to fester, and now it’s brimming with players who have been here too long without improving, who are unreliable, and who simply aren’t – and never will be – good enough. I only wish some of the fanbase’s goodwill, which is apparently reserved for perennial disappointments like Winks, Lamela, and Dele, were extended to Mourinho. We’ve learned to love Sissoko, for crying out loud!
If only the people talking about the Amsterdam comeback whenever Lucas doesn’t play would remember the 6-1 at Old Trafford or 2-0 at home vs City everytime we put in a duff performance. But Jose is held to a higher standard than players who play well once every 20 games.
Without our star players, the season won’t be getting any easier anytime soon. We might well get done by Chelsea, and then City in the league. We might even lose the cup final. But there’s no point in hounding the manager and the coaching team. Any replacement would still have the same, AWFUL job on their hands – and I, for one, am glad that we have a proven winner to do it for us.
Me too.
Just you I think
HH, one does not appear to be able to reply to a fellow bloggers comments, or is it only me?
Anybody know what’s happened to Son for the last couple of months? Leeds and Arsenal game aside he’s seemed pretty anonymous. Contract talks playing on his mind?
The problem is not Mourinho. Just ask yourself how many Spurs players would make the Man City and Liverpool first team, I’d say Kane, Son and maybe N’Dombele on a good day, that’s it.
We are not good enough. Thanks to Jose and Pochettino we have massively over achieved but eventually the true depth of talent reveals itself due to injury, loss of form, fatigue etc.
You’re kidding yourself if you think a Guardiola would do any better with Ben Davies and Erik Lamela to work with.
The perfect storm of a defensive coach taking over a squad with no good defenders. This isn’t going to improve any time soon. ENIC OUT.
As Captain Picard would say “make it so”.
No, Redknapp would drag us to 5-1 defeats every other week with this defence!
The squad is weak in places (esp defence) but the one problem is when you face teams like Burnley, Brom and Brighton you’re facing sides with even less ‘technically amazing’ personnel and that’s where we need some spirit, organisation and adaptability.
Those things, eventually, have to be instilled by the manager – you have to make the most of what you’ve got. Jose needs to suck it up and do just that otherwise part of the fault lies squarely with him. We look shambolic and that just doesn’t seem very Jose (I know we have injuries) – it can’t just be that he’s ‘met his match’ in a club with a history of a ‘weak mentality’. Is he adaptable enough? Is it ‘perfect or not at all’ and fold your arms? He has so much work to do proving to the fans that isn’t where he’s at. Positive vibes coming from the big man are at a premium.
Rubbish squad or not we should be competitive against Brighton – we weren’t.
Bale now knows what he has let himself in for. The Dele Saga , Sons Contract , Kanes Injury , Bales Wages and not to mention the Duffers in the ‘Great Squad ‘, and then theres the Football itself. I actually feel for the guy.
Not necessarily saying Mourinho should be sacked, or that the squad is perfect. If Mourinho reaches top 4 OR gets one of the cups each year that’ll be okay… and if he gets top 4 AND a cup then he’d be the best manager for ages.
But… (get ready for the swear word)… Poch managed to get a decent run in his early days from a team half composed of academy graduates… and with some very mixed additions over the years managed top four several times plus some cup finals… and with some entertaining football stirred into the pot.
It’s time Mourinho proves his genius does not depend on just buying some of the best players currently on the market (and a manager with a doorstep of a wallet to facilitate that). It’s time he applies some top training, top tactics and top man management into the mixed hand he has been dealt… and shows he can reach a top 4 and/or a cup. If he is a better manager than Poch then that is doable… with the current squad.
With a much better squad then a tilt for the title AND a cup would be the aim.
A real genius can mould the tactics and strategy for the mixed squad available. If the players ‘can’t apply the strategy taught’ then you change it to one they understand and CAN apply.
In his early days JM was not just a ‘defensive waller’ he fitted his strategy to the team he had.
Can he do that again?
Can he admit sometimes that the players just couldn’t do what I asked of them so ‘I need to explain it better or give them something advice they can follow’?
What was that post match interview all about?It sounded like he was channelling his inner Cantona.Was he trying to be gentle because perhaps he feels he’s losing the players?I’ve never seen him so defensive before.It was most strange.
If people didn’t accept the Bale deal was a huge mistake before last night you only had to look at that performance.Toby apart nobody came out of that game with any credit,but we should get a lot more from Bale than that particularly bearing in mind his 1M/month salary from us.
Levy can’t afford to sack Mourinho. Much cheaper to sack Levy.
I watched yesterday’s match with utter despair at another season falling apart. Year after year after year we are offered a little bit of hope only to have it snatched away.
The performance yesterday was utterly inexcusable and can’t be argued away with the quality of players. They are still much better than the Brighton players.
There was absolutely no fight, effort or passion.
Our main problem for the last 2 years is our midfield which msimply cannot string two passes together, create meaningful chamces or hold onto the ball. Look at the stats all season but particularly yesterday. We couldn’t even get into Brighton’s box and they are a team that hasn’t won all season and had only led at home for a combined total of 70 minutes in all their home games. Believe me as a long suffering fan, this is not a blip, there is nothing to tweak, we are utterly terrible. Those players are not playing for mourinho or the club. Mourinho may not help but this has been going on for a year before he came. Regardless of whether the manager needs to go the bulk of those players need to be moved on or the same will happen with the next manager.
.
Vinicius, Bale, Fernandes and Doherty were all signed on Mourinho’s watch along with Bergwijn. It’s all very well blaming Levy, Hitchen and Uncle Tom Cobley for these signings but I was under the impression that what happened under Poch in the transfer market wasn’t going to happen under Mourinho. Jose is a master of shifting the blame onto others when results go against him. Many fans opined that we had the strongest squad for a long time this season, thanks to Levy’s “masterful negotiations in the transfer market” and the allure of playing under Mourinho. Time to wake up and smell the roses. We are back to Groundhog Day.
The issue bringing in Mourinho was he was going to divide everyone, fans and players.
His track record is there for all to see, a couple of years away each club, major fall outs and animosity, a cup (or the league if he is at the big clubs) then it all falls apart.
Now for some, they don’t like Ali, he is a show pony, blah blah blah, but, in a tight knit group the manager comes in and starts treating people like that, in time, it will unsettle and upset the squad. That might be one reason why the players are sad. The manager blames everyone but himself, he singles players out, his messages in interviews are pointed at certain players.
Clearly the answer to some is well grow a pair, if you don’t like it ship out. Which is fine. But. The squad is under performing, the players are sad, the players don’t appear to be fighting, the players are making mistakes and they are playing rubbish football.
We can ship out all the naughty people, it is however, the manager who picks the team, the manager has a say in recruitment, the buck stops here.
For any Mourinho fan, the reality in the cups is, we walked to the final, barring ac lottery in the Chelsea game, it couldn’t have been easier. The same in the FA Cup and Eufa so far. Tactical genius hasn’t got us there.
This is a team in decline, the football is terrible and the manager points fingers at everyone else. Sepsis has set in and the shock is on its way.
That was always going to happen under Mourinho and whilst Brighton was poor a performance, it’s not in isolation.
We have some poor players of which some Mourinho bought in, this is his third transfer window, things are not getting better.
Other teams are moving past us and the ones that haven’t are on the road to recovery. Mourinho is not a progressive manager, he will no doubt deliver a cup, but the future is not rosy.
On a separate note, although i don’t concur with a lot of what the Author writes, he puts the effort, time and gives everyone a platform to voice an opinion. That’s a truly great thing, differing opinions is good and healthy, abuse in any form is poor and deserves censorship.
Keep up the good work
Cmon tottenham pick it back up, the
Tottenham fakefull
have got their knitting needles out.
Vinicius, Bale, Fernandes and Doherty were all signed on Mourinho’s watch along with Bergwijn. It’s all very well blaming Levy, Hitchen and Uncle Tom Cobley for these signings but I was under the impression that what happened under Poch in the transfer market wasn’t going to happen under Mourinho. Jose is a master of shifting the blame onto others when results go against him. Many fans opined that we had the strongest squad for a long time this season, thanks to Levy’s “masterful negotiations in the transfer market” and the allure of playing under Mourinho. Time to wake up and smell the roses. We are back to Groundhog Day.
Down this road before keep sacking managers is not the answer!!
Quickly running out of ideas and excuses, Jose’s post match interview gave little cause for optimism “the players were sad [when Brighton scored), lack self esteem and mentally fragile”, sounds like a team in turmoil / crisis!!