Somewhat surprised Deli made it this many games without a red, and that it wasn’t for retaliation/off-the-ball shenanigans.
Will be surprised if Dier is still in the Spurs team next year, he has been a total shambles this season...
Including FA Cup, a minimum of 14 games to go and a maximum of 16. Will be interested to see what the excuses are now if the team falters down the stretch - the crutches of Wembley and the Europa Thursday to Sunday claptrap are gone...
They play even better when he is not in the team at all - don't know what has happened to him and Wimmer - they were decent last year but have fallen off a cliff, this....
I only watched the highlights, but got the impression that Spurs were better, even with Dele's red. And I wrong about that? As for Dier, I agree that he is better as a DM, but hard to put Wanyama on the bench. Also, Spurs played with a back 4+ Dier and that is not the current preferred formation.
No, you are correct. We were on the front foot from the whistle, and, even when down a man, we looked the better side. As I said earlier, I can't fault the effort. The effort was there. Aside from Dele losing his head, we were a little unlucky.
glad I read the last two posts. I had to work today, and didn't see it. popped on to see the result (no shock, I'll concede), and then after work, went to espnfc to see the highlights. I watched them, but also saw the headline for another clip, which said, 'Nicol: Spurs totally, utterly dominated' (or something close to that). I interpreted that as Spurs were dominated, rather than we dominated them. very pleased to know that we put a strong side out and made a fist of it, because it wasn't the impression I was under.
yeah, the effort was all there, if you check the stats - possession 65% : 35% (with 10 people!); shots 25 : 5 (think here lies the main culprit, shots accuracy was terrible); shots on target 3 : 1 (a bit unlucky here with kane's own goal); corners 9 : 2; fouls 12 : 20. so just the stat was great bit it doesn't win games alone. obviously dele's red changed everything, but even w/o him spurs were looking better and more likely to score... and probably the ref did tilt some of the decisions not in our favor, not that he decided the game...
if we make the CL next year I don't think we will see Ali in the group stage...he's going to be sitting a while.
I think our golden boy manager needs to sign up for Remedial Europe 101. Here is Pochettino's record in Europe as Spurs manager: played 28, won 12, drawn 7, lost 9 As Jerry Seinfeld would say: Not good... Compare that to some of our other managers in Europe this century: AVB, played 20, won 12, drew 7, lost 1 Martin Jol, played 13, won 9, drew 2, lost 2 Harry Redknapp, played 25, won 11, drew 7, lost 7
Aside from the obvious talking points (Alli and Dier), I think this year's European adventure proved that we still need an x-factor type of player.