The race for the title
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VertongHen
Well-Known Member
- Jul 14, 2016
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danielneeds
Kick-Ass
- May 5, 2004
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We'll definitely be involved - we're practically the only side with great continuity, apart from Leicester, but Kante will be a huge loss. A lot depends on how we'll handle the added CL pressure. Chelsea and United having no CL distractions will help their managers bed in their new systems.
Everlasting Seconds
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- Jan 9, 2014
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CL will be very well.
youngyids
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- May 4, 2010
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oskathegobshite
#Spursy
- Jan 20, 2004
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Personally I think we have a good chance. I think top 3 again and an outside shot at the big prize
I reckon there's six who can win it. Then there will be Leicester & Everton sniffing in case a couple of the big six have poor seasons.
I'm not saying they'll win it or even come close to it but Everton could be one to keep an eye on. Koeman outperformed the media darling that is Bilic ( who could be a decent bet to be jobless by Christmas ) which has gone completely unnoticed for some reason, and is now at a bigger club with more resources thanks to their cash boost. Maybe not this season but Everton could be about to throw their hat back in the mix, well overdue too considering they are one of England's biggest clubs.
I'm not saying they'll win it or even come close to it but Everton could be one to keep an eye on. Koeman outperformed the media darling that is Bilic ( who could be a decent bet to be jobless by Christmas ) which has gone completely unnoticed for some reason, and is now at a bigger club with more resources thanks to their cash boost. Maybe not this season but Everton could be about to throw their hat back in the mix, well overdue too considering they are one of England's biggest clubs.
With very little additions and thus interruptions, I feel we could start with a bang and leave others to chase us the rest of the way.
Lighty64
I believe
- Aug 24, 2010
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United have EL so not euro free
danielneeds
Kick-Ass
- May 5, 2004
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I wouldn't be surprised to see Jose sack it off...
"The Europa League is a different competition (to the Champions League), the Europa League is a different level of competition for a different level of player and a different level of club. It is not good for a big club to go there and win it."
Jose Mourinho
Young Nasty Man
Well-Known Member
- Aug 31, 2012
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4th/3rd if we come out of the gate hard and I see a quarterfinal CL appearance, maybe semis. Juventus are different without Pogba, and from there I really only see the Madrids, Bayern, Dortmund (who I think will surprise people with the title because they are stacked), Man City (maybe?), Arsenal (maybe?), as teams that can beat us. As long as we aren't travelling to Azerbaijan and Chechnya, I don't see us facing a lot of the issues we had in the early part of last year. I do foresee dead legs by April but if we get deep in CL and are in the PL hunt, well be running on adrenaline and could do a Man City/Stoke run of it. I do think continuity, a Harry backup, Wanyama (will be as valuable as Toby last year in regards to strengthening our side), continuing to grow Lamela and Alli, and prem adjusted Son are not to be forgotten nor played with. Sonny is an interesting one who could be a different player with confidence and a little more decision making. He's one of our few players that didn't have a summer tournament (unless I'm wrong). He's one of the few in the Chadli spot of "you got this season to show your worth".
If we have a slow start, 6th. Liverpool, Man U, and Man City all improve, but are also all beatable. I'm happy to be proven wrong but Mourinho and Pep struggle against Poch sides, however we struggle against teams that park the bus. Would love to bow out of FA and Carling Cup ASAP. Can't be bothered with that shit.
Chelsea and Man U are the teams of the mix that don't threaten me (believe it or not) because I just don't know how Contes style will translate to the prem. I love him and think he's great, but if the locker room pulls the same business they did with Mourinho, Conte will let his attitude get in the way. Curious to see what will happen if they drop results early. Poch has an unreal record against Mourinho, and that team is gonna need time to adjust. Yes, they have no competitions, but they are bringing in a lot of foreign talent. Everton have a small man complex and West Ham rely on one guy showing up for their team to gel. They won't be as much of a threat with Europa, which I foresee them taking seriously.
We're Spurs at the end of the day and the reality is 3/4/5 is where will wind up, and 6 if we really pull out the predictable BS, but I actually believe Poch has quickly weeded out the excess, the weak, and the selfish players. The whole team wants it, and I think Hugo will want it more than the rest given his age, his heart, and mainly getting so close to a European title and Prem title while coming up short on both.
If we have a slow start, 6th. Liverpool, Man U, and Man City all improve, but are also all beatable. I'm happy to be proven wrong but Mourinho and Pep struggle against Poch sides, however we struggle against teams that park the bus. Would love to bow out of FA and Carling Cup ASAP. Can't be bothered with that shit.
Chelsea and Man U are the teams of the mix that don't threaten me (believe it or not) because I just don't know how Contes style will translate to the prem. I love him and think he's great, but if the locker room pulls the same business they did with Mourinho, Conte will let his attitude get in the way. Curious to see what will happen if they drop results early. Poch has an unreal record against Mourinho, and that team is gonna need time to adjust. Yes, they have no competitions, but they are bringing in a lot of foreign talent. Everton have a small man complex and West Ham rely on one guy showing up for their team to gel. They won't be as much of a threat with Europa, which I foresee them taking seriously.
We're Spurs at the end of the day and the reality is 3/4/5 is where will wind up, and 6 if we really pull out the predictable BS, but I actually believe Poch has quickly weeded out the excess, the weak, and the selfish players. The whole team wants it, and I think Hugo will want it more than the rest given his age, his heart, and mainly getting so close to a European title and Prem title while coming up short on both.
DogsOfWar
Well-Known Member
- Jan 12, 2005
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Toughest shout for as long as I can remember with so many good sides, managers, and variables that it's too difficult to predict with any level of certainty.
In our favour is continuity, further experience for a young side, and a couple of key gaps being filled but I could still see us finishing anywhere between 1st and 6th which is quite a spread compared to the previous few years of 4th to 6th.
In our favour is continuity, further experience for a young side, and a couple of key gaps being filled but I could still see us finishing anywhere between 1st and 6th which is quite a spread compared to the previous few years of 4th to 6th.
Long, but here are my thoughts...
Southampton under Koeman were the 3rd best team in the league from January. Everton have a better squad than Southampton and a new billionaire owner. They have also nabbed Steve Walsh from Leicester. He spotted Kante and Mahrez.
Klopp at Liverpool, Conte at Chelsea, Mourinho at Man Utd and Guardiola at City are all dangerous and also Liverpool and Chelsea are not in Europe, which means extra recovery time.
Leicester have already lost Kante and look likely to lose Mahrez as well, but they have bought 5 players and early in the transfer window. Can they repeat last year with CL football? Who knows!
Chelsea have gained Kante and Batshuayi. Utd Ibrahimovic and Mkhitaryan. Liverpool have Mane and Wijnaldum. Arsenal have Xhaxa and will probably add a couple more (possibly Mahrez). West Ham were very good at home last year. Whether they can replicate that at the new stadium remains to be seen.
This is going to be a tough season and we need to balance CL games as well. Wamyana, Dier, Tobby and Verts (Wimmer) look as solid a formation as you will see in the Prem. With Alli sitting in front, I can't see much getting through. Walker and Rose looked excellent at the Euro's and hopefully they will bring added experience and confidence for next year. Kane had a slow start last year, so hopefully he can hit the ground running with Janssen as well. We don't tend to play with a lot of width and use the full backs to supply crosses, so speed and width would be one area we should be focusing on this year. N'Koudou should supply that and he can play off both wings and score with both feet ( if we sign him). Hopefully, Son will show a bit more this year. We have plenty of good youngsters coming through like CCV, KWP and Edwards and maybe they can start pushing for places.
The problems are the CL games, and many of our players having not had a decent break for a couple of years. Poch needs to rotate more. We have a big squad, so use it.
Can we win the Prem? Why not. We are as good as the top teams and most of the squad are settled. I still feel,we need an experienced 'winner'. When we signed Davids the young players learnt loads from him and his maturity and experience benefitted the squad greatly.
Southampton under Koeman were the 3rd best team in the league from January. Everton have a better squad than Southampton and a new billionaire owner. They have also nabbed Steve Walsh from Leicester. He spotted Kante and Mahrez.
Klopp at Liverpool, Conte at Chelsea, Mourinho at Man Utd and Guardiola at City are all dangerous and also Liverpool and Chelsea are not in Europe, which means extra recovery time.
Leicester have already lost Kante and look likely to lose Mahrez as well, but they have bought 5 players and early in the transfer window. Can they repeat last year with CL football? Who knows!
Chelsea have gained Kante and Batshuayi. Utd Ibrahimovic and Mkhitaryan. Liverpool have Mane and Wijnaldum. Arsenal have Xhaxa and will probably add a couple more (possibly Mahrez). West Ham were very good at home last year. Whether they can replicate that at the new stadium remains to be seen.
This is going to be a tough season and we need to balance CL games as well. Wamyana, Dier, Tobby and Verts (Wimmer) look as solid a formation as you will see in the Prem. With Alli sitting in front, I can't see much getting through. Walker and Rose looked excellent at the Euro's and hopefully they will bring added experience and confidence for next year. Kane had a slow start last year, so hopefully he can hit the ground running with Janssen as well. We don't tend to play with a lot of width and use the full backs to supply crosses, so speed and width would be one area we should be focusing on this year. N'Koudou should supply that and he can play off both wings and score with both feet ( if we sign him). Hopefully, Son will show a bit more this year. We have plenty of good youngsters coming through like CCV, KWP and Edwards and maybe they can start pushing for places.
The problems are the CL games, and many of our players having not had a decent break for a couple of years. Poch needs to rotate more. We have a big squad, so use it.
Can we win the Prem? Why not. We are as good as the top teams and most of the squad are settled. I still feel,we need an experienced 'winner'. When we signed Davids the young players learnt loads from him and his maturity and experience benefitted the squad greatly.
I said in the last couple of months last season that this has to be our year as we will never get another chance like this when all the usual suspects went missing. Well it didn't happen and with the main sides having top new managers and money to burn it wont happen this season either or in fact for many seasons to come. Last year should have been our year and it wasn't.
All this talk about the top sides will need time for the new players to gel is not going to happen. If they were buying young players with potential possibly but these are experienced internationals that will settle in straight away.
If you think we will finish above City, Utd or Chelsea then you can think again. 3 top managers all with a desire to win bringing in world class players it's not going to happen. Then of course there's Arsenal who ever they bring in if any it wont matter as they will finish top 4 again and above us, just look at what happened last season.
I don't think Everton will finish above us or Southampton or West Ham but they will make it hard for us, but I do believe Liverpool with Klopp now settled in will. So that leaves us at best 6th. Also when you think that we supplied half the England team for most matches I think many of our players are going to be a little stale.
I would be interested in anyones opinion on why they think I'm wrong.
I'm still upset on how we blew last season,our best chance ever.
P.S
I will make a prediction that Ibrhimovich will fail at Utd and will clash with Mourinio and very possibly walk out as that is two ego's that cannot work. I'm surprised that he bought him in the first place. He will probably score a sensational goal that will more than likely be goal of the season but that is all and will spend more time on the bench.
All this talk about the top sides will need time for the new players to gel is not going to happen. If they were buying young players with potential possibly but these are experienced internationals that will settle in straight away.
If you think we will finish above City, Utd or Chelsea then you can think again. 3 top managers all with a desire to win bringing in world class players it's not going to happen. Then of course there's Arsenal who ever they bring in if any it wont matter as they will finish top 4 again and above us, just look at what happened last season.
I don't think Everton will finish above us or Southampton or West Ham but they will make it hard for us, but I do believe Liverpool with Klopp now settled in will. So that leaves us at best 6th. Also when you think that we supplied half the England team for most matches I think many of our players are going to be a little stale.
I would be interested in anyones opinion on why they think I'm wrong.
I'm still upset on how we blew last season,our best chance ever.
P.S
I will make a prediction that Ibrhimovich will fail at Utd and will clash with Mourinio and very possibly walk out as that is two ego's that cannot work. I'm surprised that he bought him in the first place. He will probably score a sensational goal that will more than likely be goal of the season but that is all and will spend more time on the bench.
millsey
Official SC Numpty
- Dec 8, 2005
- 8,735
- 11,504
Agreed. But new manager and probably 4-5 new players by season starts may even things out. Got a feeling Mourinho won't take Europa seriously at all so Man Utd the most dangerous for me
FreddieYid
Well-Known Member
- Aug 1, 2011
- 1,369
- 4,020
Top 4 would be a BIG achievement this this season. It will be tougher than last, due to the points already raised by everyone, but there's no reason to believe that we too won't be stronger than the last campaign.
Qualifying for the CL in consecutive seasons will be HUGE for us in so many ways, it's what the top teams do and I believe will be the foundation for us to really push on to the next level as a club, in terms of our finances, mentalility and appeal.
If we can go into our season at Wembley, 12 months away from moving into the best stadium in the country, as a club playing CL football in back to back seasons, I think we will be here to stay LONG TERM.
The big clubs seem to be getting their shit in order and will presumably be even stronger in 12 months time, after their managers have had a season to instill their philosophies and a second summer transfer window under their belt.
For that very reason it's crucial that our stable team capitalises on them being in the early stages of their projects, as this may well be the only way to break the manopoly long term.
Forget any talk of titles, CL has to again be our aim.
Qualifying for the CL in consecutive seasons will be HUGE for us in so many ways, it's what the top teams do and I believe will be the foundation for us to really push on to the next level as a club, in terms of our finances, mentalility and appeal.
If we can go into our season at Wembley, 12 months away from moving into the best stadium in the country, as a club playing CL football in back to back seasons, I think we will be here to stay LONG TERM.
The big clubs seem to be getting their shit in order and will presumably be even stronger in 12 months time, after their managers have had a season to instill their philosophies and a second summer transfer window under their belt.
For that very reason it's crucial that our stable team capitalises on them being in the early stages of their projects, as this may well be the only way to break the manopoly long term.
Forget any talk of titles, CL has to again be our aim.