Momentum is everything in football and I can give two classic examples just from this season of how one unlikely result can change a clubs trajectory of all a sudden.
Let’s start with West Ham United and the game before they drew 3-3 with us at the Tottenham Stadium.
They travelled to the King Power Stadium to play Leicester City and won that game 3-0 and from that point onwards they have barely looked backwards.
Prior to that game they had lost three and won once in their opening four games. After the win against the Foxes they have since lost to only Liverpool (twice), Man Utd and Chelsea in 21 Premier League games.
That win over Brendan Rodgers was a catalyst for the Hammers to haul themselves up the table and are now genuine contenders for a top-four finish.
The second example is Arsenal.
They were in free fall, they were being talked about being in a relegation fight and we all laughed at their expense.
They were in a terrible run of form when Chelsea visited them and most pundits and fans alike, including most deluded Gooners and there is a ton of them thought that the Blues would put them to the sword.
Well, it never happened, they won the game 3-1, their first league win in 8 games and then they won four and drew two of their next six league fixtures.
OK, they have fallen by the wayside a little since but the point is that an unlikely win over Chelsea and bang, 14 points from a possible 18 and relegation talk was over with and they are now just two points behind us in the standings.
If Tottenham are able to replicate Arsenal’s little run or even what West Ham have achieved then there is every reason to think that Spurs could still sneak into the top-four.
Look at the next six Spurs Premier League matches.
Spurs v Burnley
Fulham v Spurs
Spurs v Palace
Arsenal v Spurs
Villa v Spurs
Newcastle v Spurs
Now, the way we are playing it is possible we could lose all six, however, it is also very possible that we could win all six. There is no City, Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, Leicester or Everton in that run.
This is a great opportunity for Mourinho to turn things around. Even 15 points from a possible 18 would send us flying up the table and almost certainly into contention for a top-four finish once again.
All the teams above us have some very tricky games coming up, for example, Everton has Chelsea and Southampton to play in their next six games, the Blues have Man Utd, Everton, Liverpool and Leeds, West Ham have to face off against City, Arsenal, Leeds, Man Utd, Wolves and Leicester.
I could go on but I think you get the picture, the next six games for Tottenham are very favourable compared to their closest opponents.
So yes, it is unlikely but not impossible, not if Mourinho can get the lads back to winning ways.
Brilliant analysis, Brucie. If my grandmother had wheels she’d be a bicycle.
Is this the section only for those on Levy’s payroll or what?!
What makes you think that if I may ask?
I take it that’s an attempt at sarcasm?
I’d say we have to win two of those first three fixtures or we’re kidding ourselves, I think that would be that for top 4.
I think before we talk to win games 1st we have to have consistent team and try to stop leaking elementary goals that means we need to sort out the defence side of our games then we can talk to win or not to win besides there is no easy games in PL nowadays for example the teams you mentioned above let’s say Burnley they won against Liverpool in Anfield, Villa they won against Liverpool with 7 goals they won against Arsenal twice they won against Leicester can we say they are easy teams you figure it out that is my opinion.
You can bet your bottom pound José believes the top four is still on
Of course, he’s over confident and currently trading on past glories, which is why he took the job in the first place.
We are on terrible run and playing like cr*p, that’s the reality.
No such thing as over confidence. You can underestimate though. I trade off my impressive CV too. I always take good work when it’s offered to me too. This may come as a surprise that wages play a big part in it too. Your last sentence suits you perfectly coz you want José out. Happy days for you then.
This is more like it
COME ON YOU SPURS
YIDZ
YID AAARRRMMY
We seem incapable of playing ninety minutes. Usually it’s nothing in the first half and they wake up in the second or worse rouse themselves for the last ten minutes.
On rare occasions they start fast and then run out of steam. Fitness seems to be all over the place for most teams this season.
This has been the case for years, under various managers/head coaches, or whatever we call them. I cant get my head around it. You watch City and Liverpool (before this latest blip on form) and they play with intensity and desire for 90 minutes plus injury time. It doesn’t matter whether they’re 2 goals up, 2 goals down, or level-pegging, they want to score goals, and more goals.
What we’ve done for years is this:
Against the ‘big’ sides we tend to come flying out of the traps and play with energy from the off. Then if we nick a goal or two we come off the gas and sit back to protect the lead. We then concede, panic, lose our heads, drop back further and our rubbish defence gets found out.
Against ‘lower’ sides we tend to come out jogging, square-passing and back-passing and generally fannying around, and get stifled when we try to go forward due to spending too much time on the ball. Then we concede, panic, lose our heads….. you know the drill. Kick into gear second half, (like against WHU) but then it’s too late.
Winning teams with a winning mentality kick into gear from the first whistle, and don’t drop into neutral till the final whistle.
The ropey league is the easier route now. Less games, and arguably easier opposition. Plus the silverware, we have to go all out to win the ropey… Of course the league is mathmatically possible, but the top 5 teams are flying now with form. We are not.. It’s wishful thinking to expect those top 5 to drop more points than us. Keep on fighting though, its a crazy season amidst crazy times.
Of course they could Bruce a few results a bit of confidence and we could fly up the table.
The caveat is that thus far there have been no signs of that happening.
Maybe the last 40 mins of the second half were that kick up the jacksy.
Let’s hope so.
If Jose stops playing the chuckle brothers at the back who knows..
If they start playing as they did at minute 55 vs WHU they could win 5 of those matches.
If they start as they did from minute1, they could lose most of them.