United drubbing a brutal reality check for Pochettino's work in progress side

Gaz_Gammon · Mar 16, 2015

Lacking organisation, discipline and endeavour, lamentable Spurs looked a long way short of Champions League standard in losing 3-0 at Old Trafford

Read the full article at Daily Mirror

Gaz_Gammon · Mar 16, 2015

This side is light years away from CL qualification.

DCSPUR · Mar 16, 2015

Gaz_Gammon said:
This side is light years away from CL qualification.

frankly that makes zero sense.
We are 6 points from 4th, 8 points from 2nd (and each of those teams have spent hundreds of millions more than us). Our very small trusted group of young players have played about 15 games more than Utd.
IF Poch gets 1-2 players he wants/ needs (that is Morgan S, a back up striker of some worth and maybe Jay Rod) and a full preseason, the lads will have in with a big chance of CL.

DCSPUR · Mar 16, 2015

the only other thing of worry is EL - which few English teams have sussed out

Jonesey · Mar 16, 2015

Gaz_Gammon said:
This side is light years away from CL qualification.

Not necessarily ... in the summer we just need a new LB ...

... and a new RB ...

... probably a new CB ... or two for cover ...

... and only two new strikers.

Oh and we could do with a marauding RW who can cross the ball.

And a marauding LW who can cross the ball.

And they all need to be proven at PL level instead of cheap (and young so the club can make a profit on them when they turn out to be any good).

OK, yes you're right ... light years and about 120-million quid away.

If only we had a player we could sell to Real Madrid again in the summer ...

Block D Spurs · Mar 16, 2015

Our players were mentally still on relaxation mode.. ie. on holiday. Yes there were too many of them at 70% effort in first half, and we deserved to be 3-0 down. Players had candy floss brains and errors to match...Poch. tried to get them working but to no success, as Man Utd eased off as we applied more, but too late at 85% effort from the squad.

Not good enough.. again players will say we are disappointed we lost..., fans deserved more... Damn right we do... This has happened 4 or 5 times this season, and Poch. should read them the "riot act" with hairdryer treatment to follow .... The league table does not lie, we are where we deserve to be... but we have played a lot more games than Man Utd.

Dougal · Mar 16, 2015

We had an off day at Old Trafford and lost 3-0. A few seasons ago we would have expected it. Take the blows and move on. Spurs ability to self destruct is our biggest match up of the season. We've come too far to go back again.

UncleBuck · Mar 16, 2015

For years consistency has always been our achilies heel and I can't see it ever changing unfortunately

DOX · Mar 16, 2015

Just when you thought it wasn't possible... Ladies & gentlemen, the level of fickleness has officially hit a new, impressive low point.

We've been improving on all parameters, but the squad is young, and off-days are bound to happen. I, for one, am looking forward to the next season with Poch in charge.

Everlasting Seconds · Mar 16, 2015

Gaz_Gammon said:
This side is light years away from CL qualification.

We will know for sure in a month, me thinks.

striebs · Mar 16, 2015

Graham Souness said he had a soft spot for Tottenham and was bitterly disappointed with what he saw yesterday .

Vertongen for all his experience is not a leader .

Neither Vertongen nor Dier participate in the physical side of the game .

doom · Mar 16, 2015

I've heard Bale may be available

chico · Mar 16, 2015

Lads, this side is very much "work-in -progress" for Poch. He wanted Schneiderlin and was given Stambouli. Last summer was frustrating, and I don't think many of us felt he was massively backed in the transfer market? Yesterday was undoubtedly a stinker. But the youngsters will learn a lot (hopefully) from the chastening experience. There is much to be done in the summer , lots of deadwood to be shifted (always painful given Levy's price expectations?) and quality to be brought in...subject to the first part of course.
The big downer for me personally was the realisation that we will probably be consigned to another year Europa dross.....too many games vs teams that would be fit for League Two footy, and Thursday /Sunday matches.
Meanwhile, I'd like to see Poch offer some game time to a few more of our youngsters in the upcoming games.

Amo · Mar 16, 2015

UncleBuck said:
For years consistency has always been our achilies heel and I can't see it ever changing unfortunately

Well, at least we're consistent.

Japhet · Mar 16, 2015

DOX said:
Just when you thought it wasn't possible... Ladies & gentlemen, the level of fickleness has officially hit a new, impressive low point.

We've been improving on all parameters, but the squad is young, and off-days are bound to happen. I, for one, am looking forward to next season with Poch in charge.

I agree for the most part. However, our biggest weakness is that we stick rigidly to the same formula. Van Gaal's set up is tailor made to nullify ours and Poch should have had a plan B to go to. We needed an extra man in CM to mop up and allow our other 2 midfielders to cover the flanks. Coping with our 'out' ball to Kane, Townsend and Chadli was like taking candy from a baby. I'm 100% good with Poch being in charge but we need at least an element of flexibility.

JonnySpurs · Mar 16, 2015

Gaz_Gammon said:
This side is light years away from CL qualification.

Come on dude, you know that isn't true so let's not overreact off of the back of one bad defeat. Granted, we were nowhere near even an average performance, let alone our best, but had we been at our best then it wouldn't have been anything close to 3-0.

DOX · Mar 16, 2015

Japhet said:
I agree for the most part. However, our biggest weakness is that we stick rigidly to the same formula. Van Gaal's set up is tailor made to nullify ours and Poch should have had a plan B to go to. We needed an extra man in CM to mop up and allow our other 2 midfielders to cover the flanks. Coping with our 'out' ball to Kane, Townsend and Chadli was like taking candy from a baby. I'm 100% good with Poch being in charge but we need at least an element of flexibility.

I, absolutely, agree. I'm in no way concluding that this Tottenham side is a finished article. ...and neither is Poch. But I strongly believe that the foundation, the potential and the ideas are there.

Sweetsman · Mar 16, 2015

Some people's comments just show where their true feelings lie. ManU had three strikes on target and scored with each one; we gifted them two of the goals; and they played with ten men behind the ball at times, at Old Trafford. MP got it wrong by not playing Fazio; Bentaleb should have taken down Rooney; and we played around in midfield without any daring to go at the heart of their defence. The last issue was due to them being shot in terms of confidence. The injury to Walker has highlighted his weakness in defence, because he can't correct his mistakes so readily. Rose on the other hand has learnt and applied himself, such that on his own he can now marshall the left side better than before. So, unsurprisingly, a young team froze, but they will learn as will Poch. I hope Poch learns one thing from Mourinho: the game is for winning, and sometimes style needs to take second place.

rupsmith · Mar 16, 2015

Extracts from some of my previous posts:

We are Tottenham Hotspur. City and Chelsea have almost unlimited financial resources , Arsenal and United have 60-80 K seater stadiums, Liverpool are on their way to 60. We have a capacity of 36K. We are not that big a club anymore. Having said that we are a very well run club - financially sound and well managed off the field. Dan Levy has turned this club into a strong, financially stable club. We may not agree with his every decision (for me it was Harry getting sacked after two fourth place finishes), but we should remember the dark days of the 90s and early 2000s before his work started to take effect.

He is a savvy businessman and like most clear thinking leaders he has not tried to dabble in the details of the business where he is not that knowledgable and experienced - the actual football. What he therefore sought to do is appoint someone reliable to "direct" the development of the football side of our club - my understanding is that person is Franco Baldini. What they have sought to do is define a way of playing our club will be associated with considering our history and the players who have played for our club in the past - a philosophy. Players in the development squad and and first team recruits will be brought in based on that philosophy and the approval of Baldini, the first team coach - Poch - and the youth development coach - not based on the judgement of a first team manager no matter how reliable and experienced because it is not a sustainable model. Sounds good on paper but not so easy in practice. Santini, Jol, Ramos, Redknapp, AVB, Sherwood since 2004, with Redknapp - the manager not in keeping with this structure - the most successful and longest serving.

Now lets assess Poch's approach

- he simply does not set his team up to play with a winger. In an ideal set up, I think his team will be a 4-3-3, pressing the opposition every second they have the ball and will give us a result and performance like the Everton game - a very strong start with intensive running but with the team tiring out towards the end (remember our win over his Saints team last year). Hence his preference for Lamela and Eriksen cutting in from the flanks.

- the writing is on the wall for Paulinho,Kaboul, Capoue, maybe even Dembele.

- While Lamela can improve (CRonaldo took some time as well although he did have two feet), Soldado looks like his will not fit into such a system. The narrowness of the approach means that his space to attack will be more limited than if we played with wingers getting the ball in from the flanks while also pulling a couple of players out of defensive areas in their own box. This does not help his confidence and quite frankly for a striker who is 29,30, is pretty useless in the air and lacks pace and physical presence, the premier league is not the place to be - we will need to cut our losses and get in a decent striker - we cant afford an Aguero but a decent premier league striker who can find the net 7/10 times if given decent service and does not lack intelligence.

I guess however this season is one of 'transition'. Pardew got time, so did big Sam, so did Harry and it is benefiting their clubs. A bit fed up of philosophy talk and the like - we are not that big a club anymore, we should be targeting 5/6th consistently, 4th is punching above our weight with a stadium of 36 K. City and Chelsea are too much, Arsenal and United have 60-80 K seater stadiums, Liverpool are on their way to 60. We are way behind so lets not be unrealistically over ambitious. 5th or 6th will do nicely.

the shelf · Mar 16, 2015

DCSPUR said:
frankly that makes zero sense.
We are 6 points from 4th, 8 points from 2nd (and each of those teams have spent hundreds of millions more than us). Our very small trusted group of young players have played about 15 games more than Utd.
IF Poch gets 1-2 players he wants/ needs (that is Morgan S, a back up striker of some worth and maybe Jay Rod) and a full preseason, the lads will have in with a big chance of CL.

Unfortunately as is becoming a familiar pattern we have missed the boat with Schneiderlin, he has far bigger fish to fry than us now. Levy will never learn though, penny pinching to the very end as usual.

Forums

What's new

Matches

Sportsbook

Members

United drubbing a brutal reality check for Pochettino's work in progress side

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

SC Veteran

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Well-Known Member

Similar threads