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Our Next 6 League Matches

TH1239

Well-Known Member
Jan 28, 2011
3,691
8,964
Coming into this season, I felt that it was critical for us to get off to a strong start. This league is as strong as ever, and a slow start can snowball into a collective loss of confidence with an inexperienced side. In particular, the matches against Stoke and Leicester are ones that I thought we had to win to really get the momentum going. Unfortunately, we dropped points against both.

Now, the major reason why I believe the last two matches were critical for us to win (or at least take 4 points from) was because we have a very difficult stretch of games beginning in September, coincidentally when Europa matches begin. Considering all the angst supporters have over our transfer strategy and unsettled squad, the next 6 matches (all of which will have their own complications) will be one of the most important stretches of Pochettino's tenure thus far. Here's our upcoming schedule:

Everton (H): They played fantastic football last week away at Southampton. Their backline is very solid, have no weaknesses in their first XI, and are excellent on the counter. The atmosphere at the Lane next week is going to be tense, I feel, so dropping more points here against a direct rival (no Europa this season for Everton) is something a team hoping to finish top 6 can't afford.

Sunderland (A): They looked very poor the first two weeks, but I watched the latter half of their match today against Swansea, and they were very good. We drew there last season, so while a win should be the expectation, it's not going to be straight-forward, as they've made a lot of decent signings (Lens looked very good today).

Crystal Palace (H): They have looked very good these first three weeks. Cabaye has transformed their midfield, and they have lots of pace on the wings. We struggled against them last year, and they are much stronger now than then, so this is another very difficult game. Note that we have our first Europa group stage match the Thursday before this match.

Manchester City (H): The best team in the league, who will add two more top class players (Otamendi and De Bruyne) on top of their already elite squad by the time we play them. A draw would be an excellent result. I believe we'll also likely have a 3rd Round League Cup match the week of this match.

Swansea (A): For my money, they have been the second more entertaining team to watch so far this season. They didn't have Ki today at Sunderland, so they faded a bit late, but their first XI play outstanding football. They are exceptionally difficult to beat at home. Note that we have our second Europa group stage match the Thursday before this match.

Liverpool (H): They've done their business early and are on six point through two games. They also have a very difficult start to the season, but they have a much more seasoned squad than us. This game is going to be a huge one for us, as we have been throttled by them the last two seasons.

The reason why I spelled all of this out is to provide context for why some of us are seriously worried about the slow start to the season and believe we desperately need to get our business done as soon as possible to bring in 2-3 signings to balance the squad with a bit of experience and skill to weather the upcoming storm of difficult matches. These teams we are playing are full of quality, experienced players, so we shouldn't be expecting some of our younger players, with little to no Prem experience, to just debut and win us the points. We must do whatever we can to put together a complete squad as soon as possible, so that we can enter this early difficult stretch at maximum strength. Otherwise, the atmosphere around the club can revert to November 2013 very quickly.
 

TH1239

Well-Known Member
Jan 28, 2011
3,691
8,964
Are you suggesting a 'two points after eight games' scenario???:cautious:

"Harry, it's Daniel. Are you busy?":eek:

No, but a failure to seriously strengthen the squad with *multiple* signings could see us have less than 10 points after 9 games.
 

theShiznit

Well-Known Member
Jul 26, 2004
17,800
23,813
Players already playing with fear away from home.

Not a good sign with "easy" home games around the corner...
 

TheChosenOne

A dislike or neg rep = fat fingers
Dec 13, 2005
47,874
49,706
Liverpool should not have won the other night and Arsenal shouldn't have won either against Palace.
 

0990

New Member
Aug 20, 2013
10
14
my prediction is

Everton - draw
Sunderland-win
rest - loss

I think poch needs to change tactics to suit the players we have at our disposal otherwise he will be gone by Christmans.
 

Yid_Summers

Active Member
Apr 27, 2012
722
762
Will everyone give the eternal pessimistic nature a fucking rest. 2 points from 3 games, anyone would think it's the end of the world. It's not!

Start supporting, instead of moaning. Spurs fans do my head in.
 

Everlasting Seconds

Well-Known Member
Jan 9, 2014
14,914
26,616
Start supporting, instead of moaning. Spurs fans do my head in.
What does it mean to "start supporting", though?
"YES!, Get in, 2 points already, and it's still August. Way to go. AND we even scored twice! Best fucking season in a long time!".

I'm guessing we'll pick up 5-7 points from the fixtures listed above.
 

dude573

Well-Known Member
Aug 31, 2012
1,589
4,813
Everton - win 2-1
Sunderland - win -1-0
Palace - win - 2-1
City - lose 3-1
Swansea - draw 1-1
Liverpool - win 2-1

We're not as bad as most people think.
 

hellava_tough

Well-Known Member
Apr 21, 2005
9,429
12,382
Everton - win 2-1
Sunderland - win -1-0
Palace - win - 2-1
City - lose 3-1
Swansea - draw 1-1
Liverpool - win 2-1

We're not as bad as most people think.

To win 3 PL games in a row, you've got to be creating chances and dominating teams.

And you've also got to be solid at the back.

We could do it, but things have to change, and that's not very likely considering we've only won 6 of our last 17 PL matches (or something like that).
 

Flashspur

Well-Known Member
Jul 28, 2012
6,882
9,068
I think we'll be competitive but giving away soft goals or getting hit on the counter easily points to some major work required on our defence in training
 

Everlasting Seconds

Well-Known Member
Jan 9, 2014
14,914
26,616
To win 3 PL games in a row, you've got to be creating chances and dominating teams.

And you've also got to be solid at the back.

We could do it, but things have to change, and that's not very likely considering we've only won 6 of our last 17 PL matches (or something like that).
I agree with the general sentiment of your post, however, I can't really support using statistics in that way. Picking out a strain of matches to amplify a point to the extreme doesn't really make for a good cause. Yes, the last 17 matches aren't impressive, but we can't empirically say that those 17 matches are the best and most indicative representatives either.
 

hellava_tough

Well-Known Member
Apr 21, 2005
9,429
12,382
I agree with the general sentiment of your post, however, I can't really support using statistics in that way. Picking out a strain of matches to amplify a point to the extreme doesn't really make for a good cause. Yes, the last 17 matches aren't impressive, but we can't empirically say that those 17 matches are the best and most indicative representatives either.

The last 3 matches are, though

:)
 

spursfan77

Well-Known Member
Aug 13, 2005
46,680
104,957
It does feel a bit like the 2 points from 8 games season. You could tell the manager had lost the players as they were just not trying. I'd have to watch a couple more home games live in the stadium though before I could say its got to that point, which i don't think it has by the way.
 

spursfan77

Well-Known Member
Aug 13, 2005
46,680
104,957
Will everyone give the eternal pessimistic nature a fucking rest. 2 points from 3 games, anyone would think it's the end of the world. It's not!

Start supporting, instead of moaning. Spurs fans do my head in.

People who say that do my head in. We do support them in the crowd at the game. Writing our concerns or praise on here has no bearing on how they are going to do on match day,
 
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