Are we on course for our best ever Prem season?

[Luka Van der Bale]

We are Spurs don't forget! No team can f*** up as well as we can. At the moment we are on fire but Liverpool and A*****l are no that far behind us. Us, A*****l, C*****a and Liverpool could finish anywhere between 3rd and 5th there is not that much difference between us all. Let's just hope we are not the ones that finish 5th.

3rd and 6th*

 

[Narnill]

Liverpool are annoying me because they're winning and picking up points but I do not rare them one bit.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

It's funny because at the end of the transfer window most people seemed to have written off our season altogether. Everyone was down that we had only signed Parker and got Adebayor on loan and we'd been smashed by the two Manchester clubs.

Honestly I think we have such a good side and we have great options to change things up when things are not going to plan but we still just have to go one game at a time. If we can be better than the last win in the next game then we have a good chance to pick up more points at Fulham. There are still things to work on despite how good we were. We can't rest on that performance, it has to get even better.

 

[Lilbaz]

Still a long way to go but I will say this. This is the best Spurs team I can remember seeing. I was born in 78' so can't remember the early 80's teams, 87 I can only remember going to a few games with my dad and the final. 91 I remember fondly but don't think they (even with Lineker and Gazza) could match our current crop and that's just the starting 11, our squad is superb. If it wasn't for the £billions of Chelsea/City and Utd.... well who knows what will happen over the rest of the season, but if we can keep playing and getting results then the Prem's our lobster.

 

[punky]

Obviously it's a long way to go™ but a little comparison with the season we finished 4th:

31st Oct:

Then: Played 11, 19pts, 4th
Now: Played 9, 19pts, 5th

So if we can find some consistency we could even better that season.

And thanks to Ameobe we were a couple of minutes from 3rd and 21 points,

 

[StartingPrice]

I would argue that the reason we are winning somewhat comfortably is because ledley has been playing he has already matched the amount of games he played last season, had he been fit in the last match and the newcastle match we would have 2 more points and wouldnt of been under cosh from blackburn

But the question I was answering was that we ready to challenge for the title and yes united may have won titles unconvincingly but atm man city and united are much more ruthless than us as are chelsea despite their slip up last week and losing to arsenal

When was the last time we battered a team other than liverpool who went down to 9 men, the last time we won by three goals in the league was wigan away feb 2010

Yes, the return of the King is a factor.

I just don't get the rest of your argument - 3 points are 3 points, no matter how 'ruthlessly' they are obtained.

 

[chinaman]

If we can get 3 wins and a draw in our next 4 games, then I'll be convinced that we might actually challenge not only for 3rd place but also 2nd place.

 

[ThorntonSpur]

i think we will equal our league performance of 1989/90 season.

 

[Gilzeanking]

Yes, the return of the King is a factor.

I just don't get the rest of your argument - 3 points are 3 points, no matter how 'ruthlessly' they are obtained.

You do get it SP . Take the last match , did really well 1st half ..2-0 up .

THEN , as Bale put it , 'we relaxed a bit' and whaddya know QPR scored and had opportunities to get level before a genius final Spurs goal quietened our nerves .

This is called ..'Not winning ruthlessly ' . Take a look at Utd beating Arse 8-2 , this y'see is called 'winning ruthlessly' . A team who getting a goal or two ahead does NOT sit back and 'relax' .

Its a v dangerous strategy to ease off when a goal or 2 up and will cost us points for sure. Also in this dodgy mentality area..there may be games where we are 'relaxed' from the off because we think just turning up will be enough . In this scenario 'not winning ruthlessly' turns into 'half arsed defeats' which comes from the same mentality and happened last season you may recall .

Motivating Millionaires is hard to do I wish Harry luck with it .

 

[AngerManagement]

That Newcastle game and the two points we dropped having secured a late lead is really starting to "grind my gears" they picked up a great win last night and Demba Ba is looking very effective (dare I say a better option than Defoe)

I know its a bit unreasonable to complain about that one game where in truth a draw was a fair result, especially when we have been on such an amazing run of form since the Man City match but those extra two points would have meant so much at this stage (we'd be above chelsea with a game in hand) not to mention Newcastle may have cracked and fell away had they lost the confidence that comes from remaining unbeaten.

Not that I think they will maintain their challenge long term but we should have put them to the sword when we took the lead late on, infact we had a chance to extend that advantage before they pulled level.

I hope Chelsea continue to drop points and Newcastle finally lose next weekend, our away fixture at Fulham is massive now and its not an away fixture I generally feel confident about (although we did win last year)

 

[Narnill]

We owe them a thumping after last year's FA Cup game. What a disaster that was.

 

[dannythomas]

Right now I believe that only Man City are stronger. We are stronger than ManU in defence and midfield though they have more quality options up front. We have more strength in depth than Arsenal. Chelsea have a number of players past their sell by date including the goalkeeper and Liverpool have only 2 high quality players in Suarez and the ever injured Gerrard.
My only concern is that if we are going to compete at the highest level we must have better cover for King and Adebayor . A long term injury to either would see us without enough quality in those 2 positions and upset the balance of our team.

 

[StartingPrice]

You do get it SP . Take the last match , did really well 1st half ..2-0 up .

THEN , as Bale put it , 'we relaxed a bit' and whaddya know QPR scored and had opportunities to get level before a genius final Spurs goal quietened our nerves .

This is called ..'Not winning ruthlessly ' . Take a look at Utd beating Arse 8-2 , this y'see is called 'winning ruthlessly' . A team who getting a goal or two ahead does NOT sit back and 'relax' .

Its a v dangerous strategy to ease off when a goal or 2 up and will cost us points for sure. Also in this dodgy mentality area..there may be games where we are 'relaxed' from the off because we think just turning up will be enough . In this scenario 'not winning ruthlessly' turns into 'half arsed defeats' which comes from the same mentality and happened last season you may recall .

Motivating Millionaires is hard to do I wish Harry luck with it .

But, as said over and over again, I personally have watched United winning titles on the back of double figure number of games where they have been neither convincing ruthless, and barely scraping results even at home.

I get the difference between being ruthless and takeing foot of pedal. That's not the point I'm making.
The point I'm making is that these games have gone. Of course, in ever future game I want us to be ruthless, never take our foot of the pedal, dominate teams and trot out 17-nil winners. But, 3 points from a game were a team wasn't ruthless, but won, are every bit as good as 3 pointsfrom a game were a team was ruthless.
I also worry sometimes that fans are developing unrealistic expectations. We performed well on Sunday, createed plenty of chances, scored three goals, won by two goals and trotted out relatively comfortable winners. Even in a gmae like that, against a newly relegated team, at home, I would still expect the oppos to put up a fight, and have a brief period of dominance. I don't worry about something like that - some fans seem to think it is a catastrophy because we didn't dominate completely and utterly for 93 minutes. It's just an unreasonable expectation.
I don't expect us to be utterly ruthless in every single game, though I would like it. If we get a high points total at the end of the season, I, personally, won't give a monkey's testicle (don't worry, Gareth, not yours Eek) if that point total is made up of a combination of games where we were fantastic, average and unconvincing, ruthless and complacent, energetic and a bit less.

 

[Gilzeanking]

OK , well picking up on your worry about unrealistic expectations at Spurs . I reckon for any top 4 aspirant club , QPR at home is bread and butter 3 point stuff . Maybe the attitude is if we want to be top 4 , we have to think like a top 4 club . Is this what is concerning you ?

I feel that what happened 4-5 years ago is irrelevant now .We are focused on a CL place...opening the door to let smaller teams back into a match when they should have been buried , will lead to points loss eventually . This could be the same impulse that contributed to those defeats/draws last year .

So I don't see it as unrealistic to expect top 4 form . Its a new world for us
, this level of expectation , but I'd argue its realistic .

 

[StartingPrice]

OK , well picking up on your worry about unrealistic expectations at Spurs . I reckon for any top 4 aspirant club , QPR at home is bread and butter 3 point stuff . Maybe the attitude is if we want to be top 4 , we have to think like a top 4 club . Is this what is concerning you ?

I feel that what happened 4-5 years ago is irrelevant now .We are focused on a CL place...opening the door to let smaller teams back into a match when they should have been buried , will lead to points loss eventually . This could be the same impulse that contributed to those defeats/draws last year .

So I don't see it as unrealistic to expect top 4 form . Its a new world for us
, this level of expectation , but I'd argue its realistic .

Now it is you who is not understanding.
I didn't mean Spurs fans have unrealistic expectations, which is why I didn't specify - I meant football fans across the board.

QPR at home should be bread-and-butter stuff - and guess what, it pretty much was - you have confused your issues, here. Your issue was that we weren't totally ruthless, but now you seem to be shifting to a claim that the 3 points against QPR wasn't bread-and-butter, which it was. The specific unrealistic expectation I was alluding to, and, indeed, specifically stated, was this idea that any club, even a newly promoted one playing away againsst a top team, is going to be totally 100% under the cosh for 94 minutes or whatever, and not enjoy a small period of dominance. That is totally unreasonable to expect in every game. So, why should it mean the 3 points are less valuable, when, after all, thosse points were bread-and-butter? I don't get it. We got the three points. We outplayed them, we had more shots on target, we scored more goals, we won by two goals...and we got three points.

I mention United specifically to illustrate how unrealistic this expectation is. They have been top dogs for the last 20 years not because they have domkinated 90 minutes of every game - because they haven't. Not because they have been utterly ruthless in every game - because they haven't. Not because average to poor teams in the EPL have never had periods where they had United under the cosh - because they have. Not because they have never lost a game they were expected to win - because they have. It is because they won the majority of there games, by whatever means possible. They scraped wins. They had lucky escapes. They got last minute equalisers and winning goals when they really deserved nothing from the game. And what do the record books show - a minute dissection of all of these games with caveats and limitations on their trophy haul. No, not at all! It shows that they have won titles and cups and nothing else. Some of those titles they won mroe convincingly than others - but they are all listed EPL Champions in the record books.

I don't see it as unrealistic to expect top four form - I see this as top four form. I see it as unrealistic to imagine that top four form is always, on all occasions winning by6 a country mile and dominating every second of every game. And, I repeat, we won this game quite comfortably, really, we didn't open up the back door and allow them to get back into the game to the extent that we lost any games or even didn't win the game comfortably - they just had a brieft period of dominance, after they changed things at half-time and had instructions to get at us, that's all. No biggee.

And I repeat - we won the game comfortably enough. And we will games were we are more ruthless, and where we are less ruthless. I think you are magnifying this problem out of all proportion - we won by two clear goals, it cound have and should have been more, and, on another day, it would have been more. That is all.

 

[Gilzeanking]

Ah...I was starting a new subject purely based on your comment re expectations...this was meant to be communicated by the 'ok' at the start of my reply which meant fair argument on the ruthless...and next : a comment on this worry on expectations .

True theres no biggies here

Also I assumed you meant Spurs' fans expectations so reckon we're lost now:shrug:

 

[StartingPrice]

Ah...I was starting a new subject purely based on your comment re expectations...this was meant to be communicated by the 'ok' at the start of my reply which meant fair argument on the ruthless...and next : a comment on this worry on expectations .

True theres no biggies here

Also I assumed you meant Spurs' fans expectations so reckon we're lost now:shrug:

We're doomed, doomed I tell ye Eek

 

[kendoddsdadsdogsdead]

Now it is you who is not understanding.
I didn't mean Spurs fans have unrealistic expectations, which is why I didn't specify - I meant football fans across the board.

QPR at home should be bread-and-butter stuff - and guess what, it pretty much was - you have confused your issues, here. Your issue was that we weren't totally ruthless, but now you seem to be shifting to a claim that the 3 points against QPR wasn't bread-and-butter, which it was. The specific unrealistic expectation I was alluding to, and, indeed, specifically stated, was this idea that any club, even a newly promoted one playing away againsst a top team, is going to be totally 100% under the cosh for 94 minutes or whatever, and not enjoy a small period of dominance. That is totally unreasonable to expect in every game. So, why should it mean the 3 points are less valuable, when, after all, thosse points were bread-and-butter? I don't get it. We got the three points. We outplayed them, we had more shots on target, we scored more goals, we won by two goals...and we got three points.

I mention United specifically to illustrate how unrealistic this expectation is. They have been top dogs for the last 20 years not because they have domkinated 90 minutes of every game - because they haven't. Not because they have been utterly ruthless in every game - because they haven't. Not because average to poor teams in the EPL have never had periods where they had United under the cosh - because they have. Not because they have never lost a game they were expected to win - because they have. It is because they won the majority of there games, by whatever means possible. They scraped wins. They had lucky escapes. They got last minute equalisers and winning goals when they really deserved nothing from the game. And what do the record books show - a minute dissection of all of these games with caveats and limitations on their trophy haul. No, not at all! It shows that they have won titles and cups and nothing else. Some of those titles they won mroe convincingly than others - but they are all listed EPL Champions in the record books.

I don't see it as unrealistic to expect top four form - I see this as top four form. I see it as unrealistic to imagine that top four form is always, on all occasions winning by6 a country mile and dominating every second of every game. And, I repeat, we won this game quite comfortably, really, we didn't open up the back door and allow them to get back into the game to the extent that we lost any games or even didn't win the game comfortably - they just had a brieft period of dominance, after they changed things at half-time and had instructions to get at us, that's all. No biggee.

And I repeat - we won the game comfortably enough. And we will games were we are more ruthless, and where we are less ruthless. I think you are magnifying this problem out of all proportion - we won by two clear goals, it cound have and should have been more, and, on another day, it would have been more. That is all.

I've watched the second half again and apart from there goal, the only other chance they had apart from the last minute was the Fourlin shot from 20 yards. They really didn't dominate us at all, even for ten minutes. I think the goal got there fans up for it we got a bit nervous because 2-1 is a risky scoreline, but five minutes later we were back on top again. Like you say every team is going to have a little spell in the match.