Tottenham vs West Brom: Match Thread

JayB said:

If it were the first time we'd ever had this problem I'd agree with you, but it's the same fucking thing every time we come up against a team in the bottom half of the table.

The players and tactics Poch throws out there time and again have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt to be insufficient for this type of match. So yes, he does need to fucking try something else, even if (God forbid!) that means putting a bit of trust in some of the most talented players in one of the best academies in the country.

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No is agree Edwards should be on the bench, but I'm not ready to chastise out manager for not doing so and I don't think it's why we lost. I can't wait for Edwards to get his chance but I also trust the management to do it at the right time

St José Dominguez said:

Eriksen looked absolutely fucked today. He'll have to start again on Tuesday and again next Saturday. We desperately need Lamela fit cos Eriksen is getting run into the ground. Today's Eriksen is not worth starting but we've got no one to bring in similar to give him a much needed rest. Honestly may as well have started Edwards today.

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One of our biggest failings in the last few windows has been not getting an adequate back-up for Eriksen. It has cost us before when he goes through a bad spell and is costing us again.

thinktank said:

Huge mistake for Poch to diminish it so publicly.

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Winning the League Cup will not bring honour to your family. It is very much the lowest of all the competitions we are involved in and there are too many games to prioritise every one.

Personally I'll take beating Real Madrid and Dortmund in the Champions League over beating West Ham in the League Cup. And no, you can't have both.

Lots of people saying it and it is becoming obvious, Pochettino has to introduce Edwards and maybe even Walker-Peters. We need an injection of some fresh enthusiasm. We also need to rest Eriksen and Alli on occasion.

If we are not going to spend 50m on a couple of players, we have to try to develop and bring through new options. No point worrying about dropping points with them we are doing it anyway.

werty said:

One of our biggest failings in the last few windows has been not getting an adequate back-up for Eriksen. It has cost us before when he goes through a bad spell and is costing us again.

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But we have N'Koudou. There has to be a reason why we spent £11m on him.

Badly missing Wanyama, we need an honest report from the club as to what is wrong with him and when he will be back
We know Toby is out until New Year which is shit but we need Wanyama back badly.... not kept a clean sheet in last 3 games which is unusual for us

jimbo said:

Winning the League Cup will not bring honour to your family. It is very much the lowest of all the competitions we are involved in and there are too many games to prioritise every one.

Personally I'll take beating Real Madrid and Dortmund in the Champions League over beating West Ham in the League Cup. And no, you can't have both.

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Bringing silverware into our new stadium would be the perfect symbol of what it was built for.

Think about it.

2bearis2do said:

A shit result.
An uninspiring performance.
Another harsh reality check against that "type" of team.

Truths?
- Wembley will hurt us in the league this season and we're not going to hit the heights of the last two seasons because of it.
- We don't have a plan B against these types of teams and MoPo needs to find one and buy one or two better options for the bench and for back ups to very tired players. (Eriksen looks spent - needs a break).
- We're still a work in progress.

Aims this season?
- A top 4 spot - we're not and were never going to win it this season - but we MUST get more CLge football next season for the New Lane.
- Some silverware - FA Cup would do, though I do have money on us winning the CLge - we just could you know!

It's frustrating, disappointing, annoying and a little repetitive at the moment - but it is what it is, fair play West Brom - came to do a job and put every ounce of effort into doing it. Rondon gave Sanchez & Dier a few lessons today.

We need to regroup and MoPo needs to rethink and have a very good look at the transfer market in January. In My Opinion - it's obvious what this team lacks and it was perfectly communicated in yesterday's article "Zaha could be the final piece in Pochettino's jigsaw" by the Telegraph.

God - that's two weekends in a row completely ruined - it god damn kills me and my mood.

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This season is going pretty exactly as I expected it to.

-We are struggling at home and have dropped a lot of points
-We have put in a much better CL showing as the boys were motivated after last seasons shitshow and more used to it
-We look tired as we rely on the same players and have yet again failed to add the right quality where we really need it. We needed an attacking midfielder option either creative or with pace and we didn’t get it, we also needed a suitable back-up for Kane and we’ve not got it. Llorente hasn’t had enough minutes to be fair to him but he just doesn’t suit how we play and prime example is NLD Kane is 60-70% fit, any other top team would be playing their back up striker but Poch again doesn’t trust the back up so plays a half fit Kane.
-Allis form has dipped as it was bound to after the heights he hit so quickly at a young age.
-We miss Walker’s pace and have missed Rose’s also on the big Wembley pitch.
-We have missed Wanyama and Dembele looks like his career at top level is coming to an end due to injuries which leaves us short in CM.
-Being our last season at WHL the atmosphere was electric and that helped win us some points we mabye didn’t quite deserve so those heights were never going to get hit again.

It’s not all doom and gloom for sure and our fork will pick up but arsenal and lpool have improved as have the man.c clubs while we have regressed slightly so we have a real fight on our hands. We’ve had some amazing performances this year but for me the big disappointment was the league cup, if we were still progressing in that I could accept the dip in league form as we still have 3 trophies to go after but our chances of silverware are now extremely slim. I’m sure our form will pick up again but bit concerned that our core players look a bit flat going into the busiest part of the season.

Still a long way to go but we need to put a run of wins together starting at Watford if we’re to start cementing our place in the top4 which will be very difficult this year. Hopefully we can really try and win the FA Cup, finish top 4 and give the CL a good run to quarters or semis would be amazing but unlikely.

COYS.

Gaz_Gammon said:

And Walker was any different?

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Walker was miles better, he could beat his man with pace and was an absolute beast defensively. Trippier has none of those qualitys.

We looked like dog shit this time last season too. Remember all the draws and the Champions League meltdown? We’ll get it sorted and finish in the top 4. We always look like crap until December under Poch for whatever reason.

Bloody hell some people losing the plot. Here you go if it all gets too much

Samaritans 0208 368 6789

I’ve seen criticisms of Trippier, Davies and Alli today, and a lot of doom and gloom. But while our league form is a concern and our performance today below par, there’s no need to make sweeping cnonclusions that write players off.

First, Trippier and Davies have been excellent this season and deserve praise for their application when playing second fiddle for a long time, not criticisms. They do not explain our run of results.

Second, Alli has been inconsistent this season. He is, however, 21 - a fact that gets overlooked. He’s not going to put in world class performances every week. And for those who don’t like how often he gives the ball away overlook that it’s because he tries to make things happen and take risks. I prefer a player continually try to make things happen and risk losing the ball than one who’s a serial sideways passer.

Third and finally, while it seems ridiculous that we throw points away to a beleaguered West Brom, it’s not. Under Pulis, we regularly dropped points to them. The Pulis departure probably lifted them and drew a line under their previous poor form. On top of that, they were written off while we were lauded as victors before kick off because of our Champions League efforts. But It’s not unusual for teams doing well in the Champions League to dip in domestic form for reasons that aren’t clear. We’re also dealing with the Alderweireld injury - and not very well. Wanyama’s injury probably exacerbates the problem.

We have problems, yes. But we’re also into the Champions League knockout stage topping a group that includes Real Madrid. How far we’ve come under Poch...

You could throw a blanket over our players when we get into the final third. Clueless. No fucking thrust round the outside on either flank.

We made a balls of the summer transfer window.

SugarRay said:

I’d love to see Lanzini and Eriksen playing in the same side. Be nice to have more than one player who can pick a lock

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I don`t see Lanzini as being good enough

heelspurs said:

Some of us never even saw that train. Has moments of exceptional effectiveness but they mostly entail actions without the ball and in attack. Outside of that he's footballing ability is questionable and always has been. And no matter what any of the fan boys say those moments do not make up for the other 89 minutes of fuckery.

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They earnt us a point today when no one else did anything either

StevePil said:

Badly missing Wanyama, we need an honest report from the club as to what is wrong with him and when he will be back
We know Toby is out until New Year which is shit but we need Wanyama back badly.... not kept a clean sheet in last 3 games which is unusual for us

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Wanyama has fallen down the hole that Lamela disappeared down last season.

Bilko said:

Oh do shut up all you moaners- it's one game, the reasons will be sorted- we will recover
I have one thing to say to all the Poch critics-get a grip

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I'm not saying Poch has to go, because that would be retarded. But it's more than just one game. Swansea 0-0, Burnley 1-1, WBA 1-1. We were very lucky and Crystal Palace and Bournemouth and won both games with 1-0. We have scored four goals against those teams. That's awful. Apart from the Huddersfield, Liverpool, Everton and West Ham (most of the game), we have been playing really really poor in the league.

Just to add I think the fact that NONE of the players have been rewarded with pay increases after last seasons 2nd place finish may be playing on the players minds.

This is not a knee jerk comment I've been thinking this for awhile.

Streetspur77 said:

No is agree Edwards should be on the bench, but I'm not ready to chastise out manager for not doing so and I don't think it's why we lost. I can't wait for Edwards to get his chance but I also trust the management to do it at the right time

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I do trust Poch to manage Edwards' integration responsibly, and he obviously thinks there's something Edwards needs to learn before being promoted to the first team.

That's fair enough, but Edwards is not the only alternative we have to the 15 or so senior players who have failed to produce the level of performance that we need against the WBAs of the league. Shashoua and KWP are both tricky little fuckers who can take on defenders and possibly open up some space to exploit. I'm just asking for him to try SOMETHING ffs, because what we see week in week out against this type of team is not getting the job done.

Does anyone else find it tediously boring every time we don’t win, the same old brigade come out and commit collective suicide. And start wetting themselves. I mean I hate us losing, but good grief people, get a grip,