Tottenham as a team looks a lot like Chelsea did last year. No confidence, toothless, and sllllllloooooooowwwwww tempo. There is no urgency to their play. That works in a super technical continental league. Not sure that is going to translate to the super fast EPL. Harry built a track team....big change to AVB. It's a lot different dominating the Portugese league where there are basically 3 decent teams. He managed the biggest by far, and now has come to the EPL where "any given Saturday" can happen. I said it the other day. I'm not sure AVB makes it past this season. I'm worried about CD not for breaking into a good team. He will. I'm worried that he's going to be part of a revolving door of managers like Spuds were before Harry.
Just watched the second half of the Tottenham game against Norwich City, gotta say, it is going to take a while for me as a fan to get used to watching the Spurs. I am so used to Fulham and their fantastic fans that watching Tottenham play at home felt a little dead. Matter of fact, the singing and sounds that filled the stadium, all Norwich fans. So yeah, it is a major shift in gears in terms of spectacle for the fans watching an ocean away. Looking forward to seeing what Demps can do for this team though, maybe he can spark some life into them, they need it.
Their fans are fed up and disheartened at the moment. White Hart Lane can have amazing atmosphere (especially when London rivals Arsenal, Chelsea and West Ham visit).
Careless throw away of 2pts at the end. Stupid foul by Livermore. Dembele and Dempsey will help this team a lot. No one should worry about Dempsey getting minutes. At a minimum, he is rotating with Bale, Sigi, Ade, Lennon and Defoe for all games (Prem/English Cup/Europe), but I reckon he will force his way to start more of the games (which will mean less games for Sigi/Lennon/Defoe). Bale also needs more rest. But this side- in no way- looks above Dempsey's level. Actually, they really need him
Because they know they just fired a manager that got them two 2 UCLs in 3 years (freaky bad luck in last one) for a man that couldn't do a thing with the eventual UCL winners. I'd be pissed as hell if I were them too.
You're saying nationality blinds us to some degree? Luke was more effective than agudelo and I'm a big fan.
Just why did they dump their last manager ? AVB's "success" (or lack thereof) with Chelsea would seem a reason to find a different manager assuming there was good reason to fire Harry.
Based on today Dempsey's going to have no problem breaking into the starting lineup. Tottenham needs him like crops need a rain.
If Dempsey plays on the Wing, will he be expected to cross the ball in AVB's system ? I do not recall Dempsey crossing the ball very often at Fulham; he was usually the target for that cross.
They looked a lock for third place, but then faded very badly - starting from the exact moment Rednapp was connected with the England job - and ended up in fourth. That ultimately cost them a CL place given Chelsea's CL victory. It certainly seems plausible that Rednapp would still be around if Chelsea had lost the final. As for AVB, I just shook my head when Spurs appointed him. Why go for someone who clearly "lost" the players at Chelsea last season? And of course he looks like he's already losing them at Spurs this:- lots of good players out there today like Bale, Lennnon etc who really didn't seem to be there mentally.
Yep. The biggest thing missing on that squad today was heart. They needed someone who will fight out there in the second half.
Its just too early to make sweeping judgement. Losing Modric (who, by the way, was not as good 2nd of last season) and VdV (who asked to be moved and was not as sharp the first 2 games- causing one penalty) is a big adjustment for this side. So they will find their way through it. New management, new style. Dembele creativity (and Dempsey's too) will be certainly welcome. They had a result in hand today, but that was poor foul by Livermore..who I think will be replaced in the starting lineup going forward. For AVB, I also think people are writing him off too soon. He had a bad end to his Chelsea reign, and bad start here- but I doubt he is this bad. (just like I don't think Di Matteo is as good as his run of form since last season). I expect some reversion to the mean (Chelsea coming back to earth, Tottenham stringing some results together) over the next few weeks. AVB will make some adjustments now. He is a good enough coach that he will pivot. Whether he can see that through the entire season, I dunno. Its one thing to be able to produce a bounceback (a la Steve Kean or Martinez), another thing to challenge for the top. Tottenham are simply too talented to stay in a funk that long. And Clint and Dembele will play a material role in bringing them out of it. Dempsey will be juiced to get back on the field.
He won't. That will come from the backs. He's going to be expected to cut inside like he has done for a long time with Fulham.
Does anyone else find it weird that Dempsey only went for ₤6M & 'Pool still couldn't afford him, when they spent over ₤100M to sign Henderson, Downing, Carroll & Adam last year? I just find that odd. Anyways, I'm really excited to see Clint play alongside Bale, Adebayor, Defoe etc. etc. I think he'll impress & feed off the talent around him.
didn't he lose the players at Chelsea because he decided he wasn't going to start the old players just because of what they'd done before? Everything I've read made it seem like dirtbag Terry & Co. didn't help matters at all. I can't wait till the day that pos retires, I'm so sick of seeing him on TV.
AVB has admitted he made mistakes at Chelsea including trying to change players and the system of play too quickly. And of course those "old players' then proceeded to win the CL after his departure. Terry's a scumbag but he's had a pretty stellar club career.
The story going around is that Fulham were asking for a higher price from Liverpool because of their actions throughout the transfer window. Hope he does well at Tottenham.
I'm not saying AVB was totally blameless. Terry is a decent player, I just hate him so much as a person that I'm always excited when he fails. I was jumping around cheering after Wondo's goal in the all star game, and really couldn't care less what happened in the game lol
That's just below the $10m I was expecting; Transfermarkt had Clint at $15m valuation so a 1/3rd discount to move an unsettled player at the deadline is not unreasonable. The team's (like rumor has it, Liverpool) trying to pick up Clint for <$5m - that was surprising. But the final price was high enough for Fulham to feel they got a fair deal, and still a relative bargain for a goal scorer of Clint's quality. Hence all the moaning from Liverpool fans for management letting Clint get a way over a couple m pounds. (As an aside, seems I gave John Henry, Werner & co. too much credit when they bought Liverpool. They recognized an underperforming asset but haven't yet shown they get what it takes to assemble a winning EPL team.)
half of that was oil monopoly money from abramovich from the torres sale to be fair but yes it's very odd they would lowball Dempsey after that spending spree, especially when 2 years ago they had no problem paying Fulham 4 million pounds for 29 year old mediocre defender Paul Konchesky