Consistency the Key?

[Rackybear]

Consitency - one of our major flaws that has prohibited us from steady improvement?

The problem is, whilst we have been taking 1 step forward, 2 back and then 1 forward again. Villa, Everton and other teams around us have only really been moving in one direction.

Its time we had some consistency, I dont want to see wholesale changes in the summer - for once, why can't we just stick to a group of players and give them the chance to develop into a TEAM. Football is a TEAM game, and whilst having special individuals helps, it seems to have been forgotten that without coherence and understanding - a TEAM cannot really develop into a mature stage.

Recently I did a piece of coursework, the difference between a team and a group largely relies on ONE major characteristic. A group is defined as a band of people, who are aware of each other's presence, they interact, but they all have different goals they wish to attain. Whilst a TEAM also are aware of each other's presence, but they strive to motivate one another, they all wish to attain the same goal and they will all put in the required effort to achieve what has been asked of them by their manager (be it a top 4 finish, beating United in the CC final or avoiding relegation in this case).

In light of the window just gone, im relatively satisfied with our signings, infact im pretty happy. But come the summer, all I really want to see is maybe the addition of 1 maybe 3 players. A left winger, a center back, and a striker (prioritise them as you wish). I feel we are pretty much sorted in every other position, perhaps too much so (we now have Hutton, Chimbo, Corluka, Gunter at RB for example and a whole host of Central Midfielders).

This thought of our need to be consistent very much stems from times when pundits mention how just 3 or 4 players remain in our starting 11 that started the XXX match last season. For example the CC final, I mean, its been just 1 measly year, and yet our lineup has pretty much a whole host of new faces. I dont really want to go into the in/out flow of players at this club - we all know its ridicolous and amongst the highest in europe. But whilst we have been improving the general quality of our players & squad, our success on the pitch has had no correlation what so ever. Look up Tottenham Hotspur in the dictionary and you will see the words Inconsistent & Unpredictable.

Im satisfied with our team, can we hold this group of players together for a while now and see their true potential?

As always, only time will tell.

 

[dontcallme]

Good post but I think consistency is one of the laziest terms used in football. It's used to describe most teams problems outside the top four. ""We're good but we're just not consistent enough" I hear almost all fans say about their team. This is just a lazy cover for the real reasons the team is not at the top.

Some of the reasons include:

1)The team isn't good enough. Football is one of the lowest scoring games in the world. In the Prem the games are tight and different teams play different styles. The margin for error is low and the difference between a win and a lose is very slight. To consistently win you need to be considerably better than the opposition which is why the top four consistently win and no-one else does. It's not because we're good one game and crap the next.

2) Lack of leaders. When the going is tough we have few who are man enough to fight our cause and bust a gut to get the result. Now we have Keane, Dawson and Palacios this situaiton may improve slightly but not radically.

3) The opposition is sometimes good too. We look at oursleves as the Mighty Spurs and should walk past the likes of Wigan, Portsmouth, Bolton etc. Well these teams also have good players, who also sometimes play well and deserve to win. When we lose it's not always simply because we played poorly.

The list could go on but my other hate with the use of consistency is with individual players. We often call flair players inconsistent. Give Lennon space and a full back he can beat and he will be dangerous and look great. Double up on him and mark him out of the game and he becomes quite anonymous. His anonymity is not because he is inconsistent but like point 3 because sometimes the opposition make things difficult for us.

I agree with your general post and a together team will see us improve because we'll be a stronger unit.

 

[adzsim]

if we're consistent we stay up, end of!

 

[Knarf44]

[/quote]The list could go on but my other hate with the use of consistency is with individual players. We often call flair players inconsistent. Give Lennon space and a full back he can beat and he will be dangerous and look great. Double up on him and mark him out of the game and he becomes quite anonymous. His anonymity is not because he is inconsistent but like point 3 because sometimes the opposition make things difficult for us.[/quote]

All very true but when one of your players is being marked out of it, whether it be Lennon or Modric or whoever, you need others in the team to step forward and take responsibility. Like, for example, taking advantage of the space being provided through the defending team's attention being directed towards one or two specific team mates. Unfortunately, this is where our players have been failing miserably.

However, with Keane back in the side, I can see Modric and Lennon and Bentley to some extent benefitting because our opponents now have another player who they can't afford to give too much space to.

 

[mil1lion]

The key in my opinion is functionality. With that comes the consistency. I'm a believer in using the squad depth and using different players dependant upon the opponent. I'm not talking about 5 or 6 changes to the team for every game. Just a couple of key changes here and there. Thats why i think its important to have different types of players in different positions. Players who can offer that something different to the side. And that was one of my arguments for getting Bentley. With Bentley and Lennon, we have 2 different types of right midfielder. And i think thats important in the modern day game.

Its crucial however, that each player understand their role within the team. That they understand how the team works and how other players around them can work. Harry will need to make sure that every player knows what he wants of them. He may have a different role for a different player one week from another. So Harry needs to know what that player is capable of, but also be able to communicate with the player so he understands what is expected of him. In order for the team to perform, they need to function as a unit. It doesn't have to be in one specific formation every week, but to function as a team which understand their responsibilities.

Jose Mourinho was fantastic at doing that at Chelsea. He set the team out in every game, with each player knowing what they had to do. With that understanding between each player and knowing what each of their role is, it becomes an organised team. And if you have an organised team, the consistency will follow. So while consistency is important, its how you gain that consistency which is the real key to success.

 

[Ossie85]

Agree. We have to stop changing so much players and managers.
Look at everton, they have a worse squad that we have, but they are a team, that know each other for a long time. They're also used to work with Moyes, who's also a mediocre manager, no more than that.
And they are consistently in the top 10 because of that. One maybe two in/outs in the transfer windows and that's it.
It' doesn't matter if we have several players who appear not to be good enough. We have to stick with them, and maybe offload one or two, but not a massive exodus like last summer
I don't have much faith on harry's tactics, but if we stick with this current squad, with a possible addition of Downing in the summer, we should be going up in no time. And we should def hang on on our best players. No matter if the want to leave or if the bid is large enough.
Consistency. A reason that many may not want to believe, but thru the years it shows how important it is.

 

[Rackybear]

Its more about keeping a consistent starting 11 and general squad.

If the whole of your football club is consistent, then so will the results on the pitch.

But like Spurs - If your changing manager every 2 season, their is a new system implemented every now and again, and because of the new managers; each want their own set of players.

Slow and steady wins the race, its a marathon not a sprint - these terms come to mind.

Look at Wenger, Ferguson, Moyes, Curbishley (when at charlton, and how they fell apart when he left). I mean, Mourinho as well for example. I rate him as the best manager in the world, and many chelsea fans did too. He won them 2 PL titles on the trot, Carling Cup, F.A cup, they were becoming the dominant force in world football, but yet they felt the need to part ways - Big Mistake, look where it has taken them now; they just dont look the same.

I think we need to stick with a manager and let him do his thing - ideally again, I would have loved it if Jol was our manager till this day; sooner or later I feel, CL football would have come. But..

Whilst we have Redknapp now, I think we should stick with him in the long term, give him time and see where he can take us in 5 years.

 

[DC_Boy]

we had a weak squad, especially with injuries, even now it's not strong without gomes and defoe and the failure to get another big striker in (who was good at attacking and defending set plays)

then there are our fans who don't help much at times, and when it comes to some of our players really discourage them and are very negative

then HR has done some good stuff and some poor stuff

the list goes on - consistency will never be a feature of our team if that means consistently doing well like the big four, until we get a far better squad, and I have to say, more supportive fans

 

[dee66]

Ramos/Comoli and Levy created a mish mesh squad... This team did not look right Getting rid of Teemu/Chimbonda and above all Steeed was a very bad mistake !

 

[robbiesavagehasbreasts]

Nahh,

we are Spurs, if we don't buy 5+ players in a window it isn't a window.