Tottenham’s midfield dynamo Moussa Sissoko is sticking to the corporate line, and telling people that a top four finish is still possible for the Lilywhites – this season.
Gerry Cox for The Telegraph does a good job here, and by luck or design shows us the dreadful gulf between Moussa’s conservatively optimistic words and the stone-cold reality of our situation.
As Cox alludes, there is close to zero evidence to support even the meekest claims of revival of fortunes at Tottenham Hotspur.
The rot set in last season, not this, and Mauricio Pochettino’s form has plumbed depths that few fans would have thought he was capable of dragging us to.
All the Spurs players speaking publicly have been talking about the innate quality within the squad being there in order to save the situation, yet we’re all still waiting.
This unwittingly points the finger back to the manager. Whilst there have been gripes about Christian Eriksen’s commitment, one hapless Dane hasn’t brought this entire mess upon our heads.
The assertion that we suddenly have squad full of defunct players doesn’t stand up to much scrutiny.
Absolutely, Spurs needed to spend moderately each and every window over the past 5 seasons, in order to stave off the staleness that now endures; but the real problem is that we have a manager that doesn’t know what to do with his current inventory. An inventory that publicly he has repeatedly championed.
Pochettino’s seeming unwillingness to find a starting XI and stick with it cannot have helped anyone. For proof, I’ll point you at the clubs currently above us in the table who have inferior resources.
Spurs sunk to 14th this weekend, and after the international break we travel across town to play West Ham United. What joy.
‘Has been ‘, The Bluffer has made his bed and now he must lie in it .
I am not saying he is not, and I am not saying he hasn’t been hamstrung by ENIC, but his mid game match decisions are poor, his man motivation is poor and he has never had a plan B. He never sorts a steady playing style or formation and will not settle on his best 11. He doesn’t make the difficult decisions (like dropping Alli and CE, and not bringing Kane back for the final) and realistically he fits the form of coach more than manager.
I’m actually looking forward to seeing Poch walk away from the con men that are Levy and ENIC and go to a club that backs him. He deserves better really.
Then we will be left with another sucker working under a Director Of Football as we slump back into being ‘comfortably numb’ back in the Ropey League.
Back the manager so we can judge him properly, back sacking Poch and you are giving into the ENIC lies and their deflection techniques.
7th wage bill, one of the lowest net spends. Poch has been amazing…
Anyone wanting Poch out will regret it if he leaves and secondly should flush their head down the toilet….
Pretty good fitness coach who’s done what he’s done be with the 7th highest wage bill and one of the lowest net spends.
You and a few others on here just aren’t making sense…
The Jig has been up for some time? You mean every season he’s got the team into the top 4 with the 7th highest wage budget and squeezed a C.L Final appearance in there too only months ago?
You’re right, Levy probably won’t change his ways, so if you can show me a replacement who can do the same with those resources then fire away. I’m all ears….
Can you believe that Chavski tweeted the league table down to 14th to mock us?
Juvenile rubbish, zero class. They are so bothered about what we do that it’s actually quite sad.
Go on Chavski, you’re great, go and shake the world of football to its core with Mr plastic (public schoolboy) cockney Lampard. I have no problem with public schools, only when people that went to them try and pretend they’re something else.
Enjoy it while it lasts…
The Times are reporting that Poch wants 3 defenders, a defensive midfielder and two forwards, one of which a striker.
Levy messed about yet again in the summer which is why Aurier and Wanyama are still at the club for example.
Levy is now seeing the fruits of his labour of the last few years. He’s the one who should be sacked…
I knew that, just making my point to legover in agreement with you.
Or the monkey?
Or the monkey?
Bored of each other. Poch can’t get a new tune out of em. Time to change the organ grinder.
I’m paying you £8.5 million a year. You dare “call me out”.
I know poch ain’t tactically the weakest in the league. I Was quoting legoverlass
92 games since we fielded the same starting eleven, Lpool don’t seem to rotate to the same extent we do, maybe they have better sports science available. Since winning the League Leicester have overhauled their team, freshened it up with a nice blend of experience and youth and have revitalised the older players. They are everything we are not and they didn’t spend a fortune to do it. I don’t believe a leopard changes its spots, the three new players in the summer were a bare minimum, it’s what normal clubs do. This club needs a minimum of £250 million spent on new recruits, it ain’t gonna happen, especially with almost nothing coming in for the four musketeers. We’ve done the impossible, we’ve almost, “done a Leeds”, but without spending any money.
Poch isn’t ‘tactically’ the weakest in the league. Just because Sheffield Utd have their way of doing things that’s working very well at the moment doesn’t mean that Wilder is a tactical genius and Poch is clueless.
It’s all about timing, the players you have at your disposal, where they are in terms of fitness and form etc.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, anyone wanting Poch out is a stone-cold idiot…
Poch needs young fresh and hungry players for his methods to work.
The fact we now instead have lots of unmotivated and underpaid contract rebels approaching 30+ and didn’t sign anyone for over a year is nobody’s fault other than Baldy.
“We could easily have spent more on players” does he want someone to take a contract on him or what. Arrogant…
In fairness Walker wanted out and if he wasn’t sold he wouldn’t have been happy.I bet he regrets that decision(sarc).In Dembele’s case he was done with the physicality of the PL,his body wouldn’t take it and he picked up more and more injuries.
Levy wouldn’t sanction purchases without them being balanced by sales which screwed us big time,but Poch should have fronted him up about it.So now we have the mess we are in.
“Tactically one of the weakest coaches in the EPL? Top four consistently for how ever long and a CL final with no help from his chairman. Whatever you say mate.
Midfield Dynamo Mousa Sissoko….. breach of the trade description act with that comment…..
Sissoko is all that is wrong with our style of play. Slow and predictable. N’castle are still laughing at the fact we paid £30 million for this ocean liner in a canal
Listened to the last match on the Spurs web site live commentary link.( and regretted my decision to not go to bed at half time). If I had to describe our performance in one word it would be ‘turgid’. If i had to use a shorter word it would be ‘turd’, cos we are stinking the joint out at the moment. Typical post-Europe ‘glory, glory night’ performance. We were knackered before kick-off on Saturday.
We have been in relegation form since January. Every week Pooch rotates and disrupts and we play this nonsensical playing out from the back that means the opposition can fall back deep into their own halves, sit down, have a brew, read a paper and still we are playing sideways backwards passes in our own half. Toby and Jan are still two of the best central defenders around. When we were playing Toby would ping long diagonals across the park and often Ali would come in from the blind side. We had two fullbacks that had pace and tore down both flanks pulling defensive opponents all over the park opening up spaces for Kane and Eriksen to operate in. We also had one of the best transition players in the world in Moussa Dembele who could carry the ball forward and pass with accuracy. Pooch allowed this to be dismantled by selling Walker and selling Dembele. They were replaced by Trippier and Aurier who are no comparison in that department. They replaced Dembele with Sissoko which is like replacing Messi with Coco the Clown. We desperately needed another striker alongside Kane. Toby and Verts have looked vulnerable because our fullbacks leave them exposed and we have no quality cover in front of them. Pooch has failed to even remotely address these issues in the way Liverpool did. Yes Levy and ENIC are the root of the problem but he was “appy” to take an enhanced deal and sit there while Levy told Toby, Verts and Eriksen they couldn’t have one. Eriksen has been on far less than bling boy Ali for several seasons and I can understand why he has had enough of that situation. What has Ali done for over two seasons that is of any real merit to the squad. Pooch has now reverted to nonsensical mumbling in pre and post match pressers. As has been said he is basically a fitness coach. Tactically he is one of the weakest coaches in the EPL and has a losers mentality.
I agree. He has never had a plan B, no player can you honestly say is a better player under him than when we signed them. He is a glorified fitness coach.
Or should I put the grand on us going down
There is quality in the side but Its lost its way, the one most noticeable fact is the lack of energy and speed of passing that was so prevalent in the past, and Poch is all over the place with his selections etc etc.
The bottom line is 3 points from our last 5 games. Over a full season that is 23 points, which equates to certain relegation. I am sure Levy does not want to sack Poch, but just like with Juande Ramos, if we continue to stare into the abyss of relegation then the end is nigh and it will be swift and unmerciful.
Yes, there is plenty of blame to be apportioned to Levy, as we all know. However, Poch has brought much of this on his own head. His recent unpredictable mood swings and uncharacteristic outbursts of petulance, started even before the Champion’s League final.
His constant chopping and changing with the team, especially the decision to drop Lucas Moura for the CL final, also appears to have unsettled and demotivated the squad. The recent team selections have been dire and playing Eric Dier at CB over Toby is plain nuts.
The bottom line is the team aren’t playing for him any more. There is no real energy, no relentless high press and a lacklustre attitude, characterised by a lot of aimless passing around at the back, which was in stark contrast to Sheffield United’s performance last weekend, full of passion, energy and directness.
It’s honestly debatable whether Poch can turn this around. Once you have lost the dressing room, or a good part of it, it is very hard to get it back. The game against a horribly out of form West Ham is now looking like a must win, almost a relegation six pointer. A win would give Poch some breathing space, but another defeat and it is almost the end. I honestly reckon Poch has maybe 5 games to save his job, before Levy is forced to act.
Whatever is going on behind the scenes between the club, players and Poch , there is a disconnect that is sucking the life out of us , blame can be apportioned to all those mentioned, but Levy most of all , so he has to fully realise and understand the real state of affairs. Something has to give in all of this to find a solution to get everyone back focused and moving forward, and decisions have to be made to secure this asap. The alternative would mean the break up of what has been built the past 5 years or so, and what a waste that would be , if they let that go.
Forget about Levy, ENIC changing their ways . Would you trust Botch with unlimited resourses ? Anyway he is Limited as a Coach , Tactician , and Non Existant as a Manager . The Jig is up , and has been for some time .
If you really believe that I suggest you visit your local Bookie with a Grand. You will make a fortune .
I do agree, but each summer he could have called Levy out, he didn’t. so he is complicit.
People on here banging on about Poch needs to do this,Poch needs to do that.Unless Levy/ENIC put proper money into the squad as they should have done over the last few years,Poch is a dead man walking because his hands are tied. How much flogging does a dead horse need before it does a Lazarus? It doesn’t,it dies,and that’s what is happening to our team in front of our eyes.
I always say this,but the next transfer window is absolutely crucial.If Poch doesn’t get the players in that he wants then this era is finished.I just want to see Levy’s face when a half empty stadium hosts a possible relegation fight.But it won’t be his fault of course.
Too late? Come on man. It’s never too late to “wise up. We’re not that far away from it man. Everything is in place. 2020s and beyond man. Big tings ago gwarn. I truly believe that. Before I’m 60. just over five years. Big glory.
He did build a decent squad in his time here but as we know he didn’t keep freshening it up. You need at least two bits of quality brought in every season. £150m ish net a season should be made available and will be soon I reckon.
I would say he has had enough time to build a squad, that he kept his mouth shut during the building of it. He has made his bed.
It could be too late by then, although I see we’re still 300-1 outsiders to drop. I dont think we will but hopefully we’ll finish below the Thursday night places and come back stronger next season, IF levy finally wakes up to reality.
However, if those relegation odds come to generous Joe’s attention it will excite him. He’ll probably clear his desk and start wildly lumping on under a variety of assumed names. (Remember he became a billionaire by betting against the £ on Black Wednesday).
Yep. I think ENIC gonna be a bit more generous (with our money) soon. Especially if we finish outside the top four. That player contact “joke ting” will be learned from I think.
A bit gloomy in Percy house just now. I love the way they’ve restored Percy’s old gaff. Dial house next door is next. No period features left in that old gaff. It proper got raided. Most of the good stuff probably gracing monster yards in Holland park
There is still much quality in the side. The problem is it has been essentially the same team for five years A group that has experienced repeat near misses and might have beens and now lacks the same intensity, drive and commitment.
Old whiskey face always said that even the best teams have a maximum shelf life of four years before transformation is required Poch told levy that publicly for two years and was ignored because the latter thought he could defy football logic indefinitely with the 20th highest net spend in the PL. (Even Sheff Utd had a higher net spend in the championship in the five years prior to last summer).
Even Klopp’s great Dortmund team fell victim to this iron law of football. A title winning and CL finalist team was not renewed and refreshed and suddenly just plummeted to the bottom if the league for no seeming reason.
Klopp has no more forgotten how to coach than Poch has The reason for spurs’ struggles rests is the unresponsive enic tapeworm, which is succeeding in killing the host. This season is simply chickens coming home to roost and for me is the final conclusive evidence that no coach will ever be able to sustain success under the enic regime.
And what if we go unbeaten from January?
What if those 10 results are in the Championship ?
Couldn’t be a worse time to play anyone in the league really. I agree with a lot of what you said. Our feetball isn’t reflecting our quality. It’s got to this how it’s got to this. we must fix it and learn from it quickly whilst moving on. Poch just needs to get all the don’t wanna be here mob gone and get in betterequal replacements. He will. Not getting top four would be disastrous (in comings wise). We gotta give poch a bit a grace. This is his first job at a massive club remember of course he’s gonna make mistakes. If he had a squad full of talent like ours that did want to be here and he wasn’t getting the results then sack him yes. I wouldn’t sack him till I saw the first 10 results next season.
Why are we only talking about this season, our form in 2019 has been relegation form .somebody needs to be brave and leave for his own good, Poch could leave now and still be regarded as being a bright prospect in management whereas the team has run its course there’s elements of a rebuild in there but the rot is infecting them aswell! If Poch genuinely wants to rebuild then dump Erikson, rose, Jan and Toby in the reserves til January and play Sessegnon, foyth,Sanchez and aurier(until Jan) it might take some time for them to gel but at least you will get rid of the bad smell
couldn’t be a worse time to play West Ham…after an international break when our form has been dreadful for almost 12months. The break couldn’t come soon enough, but realistically, what I see when we play is not lack of talent, its lack of desire. I forced myself to watch the first half yesterday, and WOW our defence if it wasn’t standing still was walking, I saw one instance where Dier (playing CB) was caught on the left edge of our 18yrd box while Sheff Utd attacked and he stood and watched the game unfold in our area before slowly jogging back. This was all over the park. The team simply don’t want to play, our deadball game is poor, but always hs been since Poch been in, but our open play movement looks more like a bunch of retiree’s playing golf, strolling around with no real purpose and questionable direction like they are looking for a ball in the rough.
(had to do a swear check…keep getting posts blocked) lol.