Alli’s rush of blood renders Tottenham’s intent fruitless

[Jenko]

when the pressure is applied to this team,
it folds like paper !

Our failure at against chelsea last season was not repeated. When we played them at the lane this season we made them our bitches.

Youngest team in the league and we expect them not to have these issues.

We can't have it both ways. The core is good. Strip out the rest in the summer and try again. This team is improving but its just harder to see after a loss.

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

I'm struggling to reconcile this with the performances against Chelsea and City, particularly the away game against City.

Sure we were second best in that match, but we came back from a 2 goal deficit.

That is not folding.

We've been beaten, but that doesn't equate to the same thing.

Anyone who watched our away game at Citeh were bewildered how we didn't get trounced. The answer lies on how many points we have picked up against the top four or five sides and the return has once a gain been pitiful. Two wins (from memory) and three draws from Citeh, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chel$ea. So nine points from a possible twenty one so far with Arsenal at home yet top come.

That is far too many points dropped, and will be two thirds if we lose to Arsenal. If that turns out to be the case then that is folding in my opinion when we play teams who come out to play.

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

I think that's a bit glass-half-full. We do compete toe-to-toe sometimes. Chelsea and Man City at home, for instance. In anyone's book, they were superb results. And we're certainly not going to win all our games against the top teams; that's why they're top teams; they have the will and the wherewithal to win.

But you're right. We still haven't quite got that inner steel we need if we're going to win anything. We've got rid of the inner fragility we've had for the last thirty years. We're stronger now, just not strong enough.

I am not daft enough (just) to suggest we are going to win ALL our games against the top four sides, but winning just HALF of them played so far this season would have put us level with Chel$ea.

 

[Ionman34]

Anyone who watched our away game at Citeh were bewildered how we didn't get trounced. The answer lies on how many points we have picked up against the top four or five sides and the return has once a gain been pitiful. Two wins (from memory) and three draws from Citeh, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chel$ea. So nine points from a possible twenty one so far with Arsenal at home yet top come.

That is far too many points dropped, and will be two thirds if we lose to Arsenal. If that turns out to be the case then that is folding in my opinion when we play teams who come out to play.

We didn't turn up at Old Trafford and were outplayed by the scouse at Anfield & City at Maine Rd. We lost the OT game 1-0 and Anfield 2-0. Neither of those score lines suggests we "folded." Against City we were comprehensively battered for a good 3/4 of the game, but fought back to draw. This is a team folding?
At Stamford Bridge, Chelsea edged a close fought game where a draw would have been a fair result. Against them and City at WHL we were the better team and won. We've yet to see how we do against Utd and the goons at home.

None of the above examples suggest anything like a team that folds under pressure against the top sides. You seem to equate not gaining 3 points from our peers as folding, by that measure City folded against us as we took 4 points from them this season. If we beat Utd and the goons at home does that mean they folded? Did Chelsea fold when we beat them 2-0?

We are not "entitled" to 3 points from these games, we have to battle for them. 4-6 points from Utd and the goons and you could say that we're par against our direct rivals, that's not "folding." Folding suggests that, once we go a couple of goals down, we lose all discipline and fight then get hammered. Newcastle aside, that hasn't happened to us for a long time.

Where we need to improve is turning the plethora of draws against mid to lower teams into wins. That's not folding either, it is just a lack of final third quality. Turn just half of those draws into wins and we're roughly a point off Chelsea.

So moaning about our form against our peers is incorrect and missing the point, we're holding our own against our rivals, improve our end product against the rest and we're in the drivers seat.

 

[Gaz_Gammon]

So moaning about our form against our peers is incorrect and missing the point, we're holding our own against our rivals, improve our end product against the rest and we're in the drivers seat.

Where was i moaning?

"We're holding our own against our rivals" is patently untrue, you only have to look at the results. Two wins, in seven games so far is not holding our own.

 

[Ionman34]

Where was i moaning?

"We're holding our own against our rivals" is patently untrue, you only have to look at the results. Two wins, in seven games so far is not holding our own.

Not you specifically, more a general observation.

Results to date against top 6;

Goons away: 1-1, Home tie pending
Utd away: 0-1, home tie pending
City home: 2-0, away 2-2: honours even
Chelsea home: 2-0, away 1-2 honours even
Liverpool home: 1-1, away 0-2

The only games we were outplayed in were Liverpool & City away, every other game we have either competed in or been superior, barring Utd where we didn't turn up and they still only managed to squeak it.

Yes, we're holding our own so far with only 2 defeats from the 7, particularly as the majority are away games.