*sigh* eriksen hits corner into first defender, then when he gets it back his cross is to the back post when no one is there.
reminds me of the last couple matches last season. except Spurs forgot West Ham are sposed to be rivals
ugh. we don't deserve to win the title. we couldn't get it up for this!? you can't phone it in at this point of the season.
poor match all round I can only remember about a 3 minute period during the whole match where Spurs even looked like scoring
Disappointing evening. I really didn't expect this to be the game we choked on. Alas, the title was never a realistic goal.
This is a reminder that winning the title is not just wanting it, but being able to handle the pressure and expectations, and being able to figure it out when things aren't working under that pressure and expectation.
How much of it is the title race and much of it is the fact that West Ham always "bring it" in this derby? Even in the November game, they were the better team for the majority of the game. I watch a fair amount of West Ham games and they don't rise to the occasion against other opponents the same way they do when they're playing Spurs. Is it just me or do the games against West Ham resemble street fights? It's never a game where both teams are playing technical, attractive football. It's always a physical, dirty game and West Ham are better equipped to play that type of style. I think Poch may have erred by not putting in a player like Janssen on earlier because he's the type who can hold up the ball and bring others into play. In this game, our players had no time on the ball because West Ham closed them down right away. Kane was feeding off scraps as no one could get him the ball.
The next step, other than the obvious winning something, is Spurs leading and trying to hold off a run by the second place team.
Well guys, I'm gonna come out and say it - Spurs were never going to finish the season with 13 wins in a row. It's amazing that they won 9 in a row to even get into the position they had going into yesterday's match, and Chelsea hasn't been dropping points. They didn't play that bad - had several good shots saved. Had we scored first, it could have been a different story. The one thing that would have helped, IMO, would have been to start Dembele because we really were not holding possession very well. Not sure who I would have left out to get him in the 11, though. As for Wet Spam, I think the motivation was to once again be the team that denied us the title (or whatever it was we were trying to do with the lasagnagate affair - finish in 4th?), even though there was little chance for us to get it already.
Good post. In hindsight I'd have gone with Dembele for Wanyama because Vic + Dier was too defensive for this opposition. And the only team that will stop us winning the title is Chelsea.
This season I find that highly improbable, way more than last season. Spurs essentially need 1 point in the last 3 matches, and need Man City to do what they did today for the next 3 matches as well (with an overall difference of 15 goals), or for Liverpool to win the next 3 matches with a goal difference while Spurs only get 1 point with an overall goal difference of 19. All scenarios seem unlikely. Spurs could lock it up next weekend with a win v. ManU, a win which might confirm the top 4. It would be an excellent weekend if that happens.
Yeah I meant for the last few seasons we've done well, but chased a leader and fallen short. I'd like to see Spurs where Chelsea is this season or Leicester last fending off the 2nd/3rd place teams.
I understand. There have been a couple of worst-case-scenario type posts, so figured I'd respond to this one with some math and stuff.
I hear you. Disappointing loss on Friday, but still, absent a similar collapse to last year I consider this a very good year and a major step forward.
West Ham have always hated us, it goes back to the days where we were seen as a "Jewish" club (the East End is the most racist part of London). In modern times, we have poached quite a few of their better players (Defoe, Carrick, Parker) and their board hates Daniel Levy because he screwed them over when he loaned them David Bentley (Bentley was damaged goods and never played a game for them, but they ended up having to pay his wages for half a season). Not to mention the little affair about us trying to move lock, stock and barrel into their territory. This is why London derbies are never a sure thing (look at the game at Palace), and to get 4 of them in a row at this point of the season was unfortunate.
Well, it wasn't a great start to the weekend, but after yesterday's results, Spurs cannot finish any lower than 3rd (which means automatic qualification for the CL group stages for the 2nd consecutive year) and need just 2 points from their final 3 matches to confirm 2nd place. I was surprised Poch didn't try to change anything at HT like he did at Palace. Now that the title's gone, the question will be, what does this team need to go the next step? Of course, everyone says we need a 2nd striker to back up Kane, but finding one is not easy and it is even harder to find one that would agree to be a bench player for most of the season. What we really need is a pacy winger who can chip in some goals and assists. When teams pack their defensive third against us when we are away from home, our 4-2-3-1 formation doesn't have the pace to break them down. That is where we have missed Rose in the wing-back position. We also need cover in the CB position for when Toby and Jan are not available. Dier in MF is ok, but he is poor in the back four because he switches off too often (like on West Ham's goal). A 3rd quality CB would allow us to play with a back 3 more often. And now the Kyle Walker issue. Unfortunately, it looks like he has had his head turned by somebody - his 2 worst performances of the season have come against Palace and West Ham. So if he is sold this summer, we will need to bring in a quality replacement because we have no cover for Trippier. Make no mistake, this summer window will go a long way to determining where the club goes in the next few years. If we get it right, we could go into a golden era of multiple trophies and regular CL football at the new ground. If we screw it up, we could drop out of the top 4 and start losing our good players to the vultures. I would say 3 quality signings could take us over the top. But we cannot have any misses like N'Jie, N'Koudo, Sissoko and Janssen. The squad has to be top notch next season. A trend I have noticed in the 3 seasons under Poch has been relatively slow starts in the 1st half of the league seasons (the last 2 seasons, we have not even been in the top 4 heading into December), then a gathering of momentum once the League Cup and European fixtures are out of the way. I believe that is because we have not had a good enough squad to handle the multiple competitions.