Well, this is basically it. Lose this and our CL hopes are done for another season and Jose Mourinho will come under tremendous pressure if he is not there already. The Portuguese has transformed us from an exciting side that won nothing into an abysmal team that may win something. No Lo Celso, Kane or Dele. Heading back to the Happy Thread now...
In the spirit of not just complaining, here's the lineup I would like to see: Lloris Aurier Rodon Alderweireld Davies Sissoko Hojbjerg Ndombele Son Vinicius Bergwijn I would be really surprised if that is the starting 11.
Aurier? You can't be serious. Would love to see Tanganga get a run in the defense, he can't be worse than what we currently have.
Knowing Mourinho, he will go ultra-defensive with a back 5. It will work for about 45-50 minutes, until Aurier does something idiotic and we go down 1-0.
I have to work and will be unable to see/monitor this. I do not lament that fact. That said, I will concede that it is often when I'm most pessimistic that we put in a good performance and get a result. Our League Cup match v Chelsea earlier this season is a good example. Anyway, good luck to the lads (whichever ones play) and COYS!!
Tottenham: Lloris, Aurier, Alderweireld, Dier, Davies, Hojbjerg, Ndombele, Sissoko, Son, Bergwijn, Vinicius. Substitutes: Hart, Doherty, Tanganga, Winks, Sanchez, Moura, Bale, Lamela, Rodon.
I actually thought Dier would come in for Alderweireld, but I knew he would be in the 11. Really glad Aurier got off with just a one game banishment, as he is the only half decent right back we have. We need Reguilon back ASAP, too.
As a fan at the very least you expect to be entertained. I can stomach losing if we actually played exciting football. The kind of football where we take chances... be ballsy etc... This today, was more of the same dross we've had to endure since mid December. 9 points from 30. https://www.flashscore.com/standings/AJuiuwWt/zTRyeuJg/#form/overall/10
Oh look Arsenal two points behind. At this point I just hope Levy is less patient than Woodward. I mean not a snowball’s chance we make it to the final of the FA or UEFA Cup. Sack Jose as soon as we’re out of both and rebuild. Again. Probably without Kane.
Following comments elsewhere, sounds like another dull as ditchwater game with negative play until a desperate ending flurry. What makes it worse is we gift 3 points to another struggling team. Dier is today's chump. Next week, Sanchez, Aurier week after? There's always one. If we're going to lose anyway I'd much rather see attacking football a la Leeds. I think I threw up in my mouth a bit.
The chairman must have been sitting in his plush den watching that and wondering why in the flying name of ***** did I spend all that money to sign Gareth Bale. The next thing he'll wonder about is how much it's going to cost him to get rid of this dumpster fire of a manager.
It seems like there is one bonehead mistake every time. Otherwise 0-0 would be a fair, albeit boring, result.
I didn't see it, but the match reports I've read made it sound as though getting a draw (that is, had Vinicius' free header not gone wide) would've been a very much undeserved point. They made it sound as though Chelsea was wasteful and had bossed us until fairly late. Having not seen it, I'll certainly be glad to defer to those who did. But I will concede that reading we were toothless and uninspiring didn't exactly come as a shock.
We didn't generate much attack, but neither did the opposition. The second half was much better, with the team pressing high instead of sitting back and letting them control the ball. They were finding a lot of space in the first half, but I don't recall Hugo making a bunch of saves. Still pretty shit overall, though.
Agree that despite the territorial dominance, they didn't create much - their final ball was poor, if we had been playing Man City, it would have been 5-0 at HT. The problem is, you can defend all you want, but if you can't do anything with the ball (we would lose possession as soon as we won it back), those tactics will never work. You'll get the odd outlier, like the wins over Man City and the Arse, but there are teams in the bottom half who do the same every season. Remember, even a broken clock tells the right time twice a day.
Sorry to say it, but it's time for the JM era to come to a conclusion; JM hasn't bothered to update his skillset to account for changes in the game, and I'm not sure he has that in him. It's a rare trait to find someone who has the introspection to reinvent themselves as needed. To be fair, 10 years ago, what he's putting on the field today, would have worked in spades and none of us can take from JM his past successes - only a handful of managers have 2 or more CL trophies. Ultimately though je doesn't have the pedigree like a Fergie. A guy who can change his philosophy to match the changes in the game. And, that's JM's Achilles heel. Until JM can sort himself and recognize his weaknesses, he's a liability to everyone around him.
This to me was his last chance. In the Levy era, no manager who he has axed has gone on to a) a bigger club, and b) have major success elsewhere. Of course, the jury is out on Poch, who will most likely win his first pieces of silverware with PSG. Once again, another poor appointment by the chairman has set us back. The window of possibility with Kane and Son in the side is beginning to shut.