Are we ready?

[nicdic]

I personally don't feel we are ready, we are short in quite a few areas (CB, ST, LW,) and once the injuries mount up (As they always do with us) we will be even shorter.

None of our WC players have had a preseason which means they will be learning Poch's system as we go along which is not ideal, especially considering in this league every single point counts and this year it will be even more competitive.

Adebayor also goes to the ACN remember, that means we will be relying on Soldado (Who could have another season like last) and Harry Kane who I personally like but do not feel he is the answer to our problems especially on his own as a lone striker.

Not to mention if Ade suffers a long term injury we could be in serious trouble and even if he doesn't how do we REALLY know what Adebayor is going to turn up? He is hardly mr consistency let's face it.

Our first priority should be getting another TOP CB to partner Vertonghen, our second should be getting a consistent ST that can play with strength up top on his own (Bony would be my choice) and our third should be a LW because I think we are in desperate need for some creativity from that side of the pitch.

Of course the reality is I can see none of this happening and us entering into the season with our squad as it is, Levy likes to do this quite frequently, wait until the last minute, have us all believing he is doing something when in reality nothing is happening and the fax machine breaks etc etc (You get my point)

Truth is, realistically as it stands we should expected 6th/7th with this squad, I doubt we will finish any lower than that unless we have a complete meltdown, if however we get the signings I mention above I think we could challenge for fourth.

I personally think we should go all out to try and win the EL this year, especially considering it is a trophy and there is a CL place up for grabs for whoever wins it.

Those are all areas that we could improve (I'd change the order of importance cb - lw - st), but I don't believe any of them are as desperate as you make out. Centre back is the nearest to being a pressing issue, the others, improvement would be welcome if possible, but we're not light in any of those areas.

I actually do believe for once we have the right manager in charge, the reality is though, do we have the right players? Is Poch relying on the unreliable? History would say yes with some of them.

I don't think we can judge any of the players on performances last season. All of them were negatively affected by the sheer amount of shakeup both in terms of playing staff and the management issues. Add to that the massively contrasting approaches to tactics, last season needs to just be written off.

Poch turned a an average Southampton side into a well oiled machine very quickly, and not many would have foreseen that upon his arrival. Lets hope he can do similar here. Few of our players will have played under anyone like him, with directions like his. Think we have to give everyone clean slates.

 

[sim0n]

I'm ready

Me too - you beat me to it

 

[Shadydan]

I'd sooner get a CB in as we need to shore up our defence which is the most important thing, would like Schneirderlin but not too fussed if wr dont get him.

 

[talkshowhost86]

A clear gap that would require us selling at least two players to even make it possible?

Agree it's clear we'd like him, but don't think it's necessity.

We've yet to see Dembele and Paulinho.

I think there's scope for the pursuit of Schneiderlin to be to do with speeding up the adoption of the new system than necessarily him being miles better than anything we already have if that makes any sense.

I'd love it if we signed him, but think we'll be fine without him too.

All I'm saying is that Poch clearly thinks we need him and we don't have him.

I'd also add that Dembele and Paulinho are clearly not similar players to Schneiderlin, but in any case they haven't played in Poch's system yet so don't think we can say we are 'ready' if we're aiming higher than 6th.

 

[Everlasting Seconds]

That was a long opening post. In short, it's a no for me. However, what I think we are ready for, is the Europa League part of the season. Come late February, when the knock out stage begins, the squad will thoroughly understand Pochettinos system, and they will have had time to prepare to take on what faces them around that specific corner. On those grounds, I am optimistic. However, I don't think we are specifically ready for the start of the season.

 

[RuskyM]

We'll get better as the season progresses. Expecting a few dropped points against QPR, Liverpool & Man City, before we start to hit our stride and we have moments of excellence and times when we think we're going to rule again before finishing 5th.

Basically I'm expecting 2012/13 again.

 

[ultimateloner]

Of course we are ready we had a pre-season and added defenders.
however it's not the numbers its the quality that counts.

 

[ginola99]

No we're not ready, but we're not unprepared which - given the vast staggeringly obscene resources of others - ain't necessarily a bad thing.

 

[benski]

Basically, we have a team that finished 6th last year (when Manchester United had their worst performance of the Premier League era) plus Southampton's manager and Swansea's left-back.

I'd argue that we haven't replaced Bale. Levy and Baldini (with a little help from Levy's "chosen one", AVB) pi$$ed away almost £100m from last summer's sales and yet somehow most of the people on this forum ended up blaming last season on Sherwood!

I'm continually astounded by how many posters on here unquestionably swallow whatever excuses Levy & ENIC have for yet another 'also ran' season.... heck, those same people probably think we're going to have a new stadium in 2017.

Probably 70%+ of posters on here start every season with the same cheery outlook. Unfounded confidence and optimism that our new signings (a back-up 'keeper, Swansea's left back and an unproven U21 centre-back) and yet another new manager are going to herald the dawn of a successful season. Nevermind that all of our main competitors have made a bigger splash in the transfer market than us. Nevermind that, yet again, Spurs are the team involved in the prolonged transfer negotiations, while others go out and quietly do their business before the season starts.

And when our team fails to meets those unreasonable expectations, it'll be the manager who gets the blame, not Levy.

Same old story, same old excuses, same old Tottenham. It'll never change under the current ownership.

Samaritans hotline 0800 998 6738

 

[Mullers]

I voted no because Poch is still looking to add quality to the squad, I think schneiderlin is very important to him.

 

[thePessimist]

Read an interview with Schneiderlin a while back about Poch and Soton. Iirc he said it took them about half a season to play the way they wanted and to get everyone comfortable with their role. I believe this was after Soton's promotion, and Schneiderin had to form a new partnership with Wanyama, with also other new signings coming in

For us it's a new apporoach not just for 1-2 players but for the whole team. Some will fit right in while others will need more time. There will be ups and downs

 

[Nebby]

Haven't addressed any of last season's problems, while all around seem to have strengthened. 7th at best for me.

 

[diamond lights]

Haven't addressed any of last season's problems, while all around seem to have strengthened. 7th at best for me.

Our problem last year was poor management, badly communicated tactics, players with no motivation and a lack of any vision. In Poch and his team I think we've addressed all these issues.
We'll not be winning the EPL but we are well equipped to punch above our weight ie. to challenge the top four

 

[theShiznit]

I think the first few weeks of the season will be forming a lot of things in poch's mind. Lots of players have had no/few minutes in pre season and there was a lot of trying different combinations to see how well players gelled in a fluid attacking formation.
And I can see that continuing albeit to a lesser extent over the next 5 weeks.

In a way I'm glad we've got a busy start to the season as it will hopefully help poch come to some conclusions a bit earlier...

 

[thfc1989]

I think we are ready to get three points against West Ham, but I would be bitterly disappointed if we do not strengthen before the end of the window.

 

[Mr Pink]

I think we've already made our most important signing, by a distance.

Pochettino.

Obviously I hope we get the players in that he wants but we all know its never straightforward.

I'm still relatively confident that we'll continue to strengthen before the window closes - even if they arn't our first choice targets.

Overall though I'm excited to see how Pochettino does and have a feeling that he'll surprise a few.

 

[sunnydelight786]

The truth will be in the pudding come 5pm Saturday.....

 

[sf135]

I believe we will kick some serious ass.

 

[mill]

Read an interview with Schneiderlin a while back about Poch and Soton. Iirc he said it took them about half a season to play the way they wanted and to get everyone comfortable with their role. I believe this was after Soton's promotion, and Schneiderin had to form a new partnership with Wanyama, with also other new signings coming in

For us it's a new apporoach not just for 1-2 players but for the whole team. Some will fit right in while others will need more time. There will be ups and downs

Poch had already been there half a season before Wanyama came in and yes it was after their promotion

 

[Flobadob]

It all depends on what you're saying we are ready for. Are we ready to challenge the top 4? Definitely not. Are we ready to get top 6? I think so. Are we ready to play the entertaining football that we all crave? I've been pretty entertained in pre-season and I'm expecting the tempo to go up a notch on Saturday in a competitive match, so yes, I think so.

I'm looking forward to this season because my expectations aren't sky high like last year in terms of achievement but I do expect to be entertained so much more this season. That's just as important as winning to me. We won a fair amount last year in the scheme of things but there was often this slight down feeling after the game that we didn't play well and we won despite that. I want to feel content after we've won a match!